Effect of water contamination of an environmentally acceptable lubricant based on synthetic esters on the wear and hydrodynamic properties of stern tube bearing

Abstract

The ecological aspects of the lubrication of bearings on ships represent a critical challenge today. Oil leakages are a typical issue, even for new systems, similarly to water ingress from the environment. One of the options for improving environmental protection is replacing mineral oil with an environmentally adaptable lubricant (EAL). This paper reports experimental investigations of the effect of water in the EAL lubricant on the performance of a hydrodynamic journal bearing. Bearings were tested on dedicated test stands in steady and transient states. The results revealed that a mixture of synthetic EAL esters with water, when used as a lubricant in a laboratory test of journal bearings, did not significantly alter the hydrodynamic and wear performance of the system.