Reliability of fuel oil system components versus main propulsion engine: An impact assessment study

Reliability and safety are two vital factors of a large main propulsion engine which propels the vessel at high seas. The fuel oil system is a critical sub-system of the main propulsion engine. The essential components of this important system comprises of the fuel oil settling tanks, purifies, fuel oil service tanks and associated valves and pipings, filters, pumps, heaters and a temperature control valve. The Reliability of these individual components, will dictate the Reliability of the fuel oil system, which in turn determines the Reliability of the main propulsion system. This paper investigates the correlation between the reliability of the fuel oil system components and the impact of the same, on the Reliability of the main propulsion engine. Also methods to improve the reliability of the fuel oil system components will be studied and suggestions made to improve the reliability. This will lead to an improvement in the Reliability of the main propulsion engine.