Trouble free operation

The stationary gas engine market is certainly a growth market, with new engines being introduced to help in the exploration for new gas reserves, the transportation of gas to market and the generation of more electricity from a wider range of gas sources.

It is likely that gas engine sales will stay broadly in line with gas usage growth at about 6-7%.

In the exploration world, gas engines are being used to replace conventional diesel engines as companies expand their efforts to find new gas reserves.

The boom in natural gas production has far exceeded demand for the fuel, pushing prices down – something that is forcing producers and their suppliers to look for ways to reduce costs. For example, gas engine manufacturer GE estimates that powering a drill rig with natural gas instead of diesel can reduce emissions and result in 60% lower fuel costs.

On the infrastructure side, a large population of gas engines currently transfers gas from the wellheads to compression stations and then on to consumers.

New gas finds mean that to move the gas, thousands of miles of pipeline will be installed every year for the foreseeable future.

This in turn means that to get the gas to market the number of gas engine driven compressor installations will also increase. In the power generation world, reciprocating engines, fuelled by a range of gases including the more severe landfill and farm biogas, can be used to generate electricity and heat.

Around the globe

In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that over half of the candidate landfills are now operational, while the farm biogas recovery industry remains in its infancy. Laws and incentives are needed to drive growth in this sector.

In the European region the use of gas engines for power generation is growing steadily – a trend that looks likely to continue.

Russia, one of Europe’s major producers and exporters of natural gas, has the largest combined heat and power system in the world. Here, gas engines are becoming the power plant of choice as Russia works to upgrade its power generation infrastructure.

Some analysts expect the number of gas engines to increase here by more than 40% over the next five years, which should lead to an increase in consumption of more advanced, specialised gas engine oils.

In Asia Pacific, the lack of gas piping infrastructure means power is largely delivered as electricity rather than through onsite gas engines. There are however pockets of opportunities in gas-rich countries like India, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

In China, natural gas dependency is lower than many other countries and coal is the energy resource of choice. But, in recent years China’s natural gas market has begun to expand, and between 2011 and 2015 gas consumption is expected to increase by some 70 billion m³ – although it will continue to be a non-core energy resource for China for many years to come.

The increasing global gas engine population is expected to drive reasonable growth in the demand for gas engine oils.

New US emissions regulations

Emissions regulations are key drivers for hardware and fluid changes in other large engine lubricants markets, like heavy-duty vehicles and marine vessels.  And in the US new EPA regulations will add emission and management practice standards for existing engines.

The maximum intervals specified for oil and filter changes mean many four-stroke engine operators may be required to change their oil every two months of operation.

Although oil analysis programmes can be used to extend the oil change frequencies, once an oil receives a failing result it must be changed within two days. With this small window of opportunity some operators, especially those with engines in remote locations, may choose to reduce their drain intervals.

This would clearly result in lubricant volume growth. However, there are also opportunities for higher quality, specialised lubricants that can help to ensure trouble free operation and which can eliminate engine downtime between service intervals. 

OEM requirements 

OEMs are not necessarily developing completely new engine designs to meet changing market requirements. However, they are looking at a wide variety of ways to improve efficiency and durability while reducing emissions and running costs and increasingly expect lubricants to make a greater contribution.

Oils for use in gas engines must be able to handle the high oxidation and nitration stresses of gaseous fuel while maintaining engine durability and reliability.

They must also be carefully formulated to make sure the ash content is correctly balanced. This ensures that the valve seats are adequately lubricated whilst avoiding the formation of excess ash-based deposits on the valves and in the combustion chamber, which can lead to valve torching and pre-ignition respectively.

As gas engines become more powerful, hardware becomes more complex, emissions limits tighten, and specific lube oil consumption decreases, the stress on the lubricant will increase.

Infineum has developed products using its unique salicylate chemistry to deliver the right level of protection so that gas engines running on natural gas can keep doing their job reliably for longer.

 Operator requirements

Gas engines can only make money if they are running. And, to maximise profitability, engines may need to run continuously at full load under very severe operating conditions.

Gas engine operators are looking for ways to maximise engine in-service time and avoid unscheduled maintenance, while keeping costs down.

To help meet these requirements, oils must deliver exceptional engine protection so that operators can keep their engines running for longer without impacting upon engine life, durability, and reliability.

To meet the needs of operators and engine manufacturers, gas engine oils must be carefully formulated for each type of service to maximise the time between overhauls and reduce maintenance costs.

Advanced salicylate technology

Lubricants formulated with Infineum salicylate technology can vastly decrease the amount of deposits within an engine, deliver enhanced engine reliability and help to ensure trouble free operation.

These advanced and specialised lubricants have demonstrated their ability to leave piston crowns, valve faces and the engine as a whole visibly cleaner than other products, which typically use either phenate or sulphonate as their detergent source.

The performance of Infineum salicylate technology has been proven in around three million hours of field reliability with all major engine manufacturers.

In addition to the clear technology advantages delivered by salicylate chemistry, Infineum customers benefit from the reliability of Infineum supply, which avoids stock-outs and ensures operators can carry out oil changes at the correct drain intervals.

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