eSeal compatibility for seals with EAL lubricants

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Maritime transportation leads to an annual release of 130 to 244 million litres of lubricant into the oceans. This means that every year 4 times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez accident end up in the oceans and 1.6 Milion litres of lubricants are released in the Norwegian Ports. The large amount of contaminant oil spillages into marine waters has triggered the United States Environmental Protection Agency to launch the vessel general permit in 2013 which forces the use of environmentally acceptable lubricants (EAL) in all oil-to-sea interfaces unless technically infeasible. This restricts the use of harmful and contaminant mineral oils and force to replace them with EALs in all vessels larger than 24 meters operating within three nautical miles of US Coastline. However, replacing mineral oils by EALs has brought new problems related to low performance of both the EALs but also due to compatibility with the current seals used or existing vessel components designed for mineral oil lubricants. These challenges are slowing down the implementation of EALs in the maritime industry. Trelleborg Sealing Solutions is actively working in new solutions for expanding the use of Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants in the maritime industry and use the gained knowledge to other markets and help the Norwegian industry to the Green shift.