Marine Copper Fuel Pump

I. Product Overview

Marine copper fuel pumps are the "core of fuel delivery" in ship power systems, designed specifically for fuel supply to equipment such as diesel engines and gas turbines. Constructed with tin bronze (ZCuSn8Pb3) or leaded brass (HPb62-1) as the main material, they achieve precise metering and delivery of diesel, heavy oil, residual oil, and other fuels through gear pump or plunger pump principles. Their working principle involves a power source (electric motor or main engine transmission) driving gears/plungers to rotate, generating pressure through volume changes in chambers to draw fuel from the tank, pressurize it, and deliver it to injectors or burners after filtration and heating (for high-viscosity fuels). This ensures stable fuel supply to equipment under varying loads. The pump body undergoes precision machining and anti-corrosion treatment, with a corrosion-resistant service life of ≥8 years in fuel and high-temperature environments. It meets IMO Ship Fuel System Safety Specifications and fuel equipment certification requirements of classification societies such as LR and ABS, widely used in fuel-consuming equipment such as main engines, auxiliary engines, and boilers.

II. Core Technologies and Material Characteristics

1.Copper Material Selection and Performance

2.Key Technical Parameters

Flow range: 5-200m³/h, suitable for equipment power 500-30,000kW (e.g., 20,000kW main engines require flow ≥50m³/h)

Pressure control: Outlet pressure 1.0-4.0MPa, pressure stability ≤±0.05MPa, ensuring injector atomization effect (atomized particle diameter ≤50μm)

Medium compatibility: Capable of conveying light diesel (viscosity 2-8cSt), heavy diesel (10-30cSt), marine heavy oil (100-500cSt, requiring heating to 100℃), and fuel with sulfur content ≤3.5%

Temperature adaptability: Operates in a wide temperature range of -20℃~150℃; tin bronze material withstands short-term high temperatures up to 180℃ (during overheating of heavy oil heating)

Metering accuracy: Volumetric efficiency ≥98% (light diesel), ≥95% (heavy oil), 3%-5% higher than cast iron pumps, reducing fuel delivery loss

3.Safety and Explosion-Proof Design

Motor adopts Ex d IIB T4 explosion-proof grade, suitable for Zone 1 hazardous areas such as near fuel tanks to prevent explosions caused by oil and gas leakage

Inlet fitted with a 10μm precision filter to intercept mechanical impurities in fuel (e.g., rust, carbon particles) and protect injectors from wear

Equipped with an overpressure protection valve that automatically relieves pressure when outlet pressure exceeds 1.2 times the rated value, preventing pipeline bursting

III. Technical Advantages and Innovative Design

1. High-Viscosity Fuel Delivery Capacity

Precision gear meshing: Uses 0.005mm-level ground gears with meshing clearance ≤0.01mm, maintaining volumetric efficiency ≥95% for heavy oil at 100℃ and 500cSt — 8% higher than ordinary fuel pumps — ensuring stable fuel supply for full-load main engines.

Integrated heating jacket: The pump body is wrapped in a steam heating jacket (working pressure 0.6MPa), capable of heating room-temperature viscous heavy oil (viscosity 10,000cSt at 20℃) to 100℃ (viscosity reduced to 300cSt) to avoid fuel solidification and blockage at low temperatures.

2. Corrosion Resistance and Wear Resistance Enhancement

Copper-alloy friction pair: Gear shafts use a tin bronze base with surface nitriding (hardness HV800), with a friction coefficient ≤0.002 against copper sleeves, 50% more wear-resistant than steel gears, especially suitable for sulfur-containing heavy oil.

Carbon deposition-resistant flow channel: Surface roughness of flow-through components ≤Ra0.8μm, reducing fuel flow resistance by 15% and minimizing colloid deposition at high temperatures (carbon deposition ≤0.1g/100h), extending cleaning intervals to 300 hours.

3. Adaptation to Ship Fuel Characteristics

Wide viscosity adaptation: By replacing gears with different tooth profiles (involute gears for light oil, cycloidal gears for heavy oil), it can cover fuels with viscosities ranging from 2-1000cSt without replacing the pump body

Vibration-resistant structure: The pump unit and base use spring shock absorbers with vibration ≤2.8mm/s, maintaining stable fuel supply at ship heel ±15° and trim ±10° (pressure fluctuation ≤±0.03MPa)

IV. Typical Application Scenarios

1. Main Engine Fuel Supply

Low-speed diesel engine fuel supply: 15,000kW low-speed engines are equipped with tin bronze fuel pumps (flow 20-40m³/h, pressure 3.0MPa) to deliver 380cSt heavy oil at 100℃ to injectors, with stable outlet pressure at 3.0±0.05MPa, ensuring combustion efficiency ≥46%.

Medium-speed diesel engine fuel supply: 5000kW medium-speed engines use leaded brass gear pumps (flow 10-20m³/h) to deliver light diesel at 40℃, cooperating with flowmeters to achieve precise fuel consumption metering (error ≤±0.5%).

2. Auxiliary Engine and Boiler Fuel Supply

Generator fuel system: 1000kW diesel generators use leaded brass fuel pumps (flow 2-5m³/h, pressure 1.6MPa) to provide low-pressure fuel to fuel injection pumps, ensuring stable fuel supply for generators in the idle-rated load range.

Fuel boiler fuel supply: Marine steam boilers are equipped with tin bronze plunger pumps (flow 1-3m³/h) to deliver heavy oil at 120℃ to burners at 2.0MPa, cooperating with oil quantity adjustment mechanisms to achieve stepless fire control.

3. Special Fuel Adaptation

Low-sulfur fuel switching: When ships enter Emission Control Areas (ECA) and need to switch to low-sulfur oil with sulfur content ≤0.1%, tin bronze fuel pumps can deliver stably without adjustment, avoiding compatibility issues (e.g., corrosion of steel pumps) with low-sulfur oil.

Polar low-temperature fuel supply: In -30℃ environments, tin bronze pumps with heating jackets heat diesel from -10℃ (viscosity 80cSt) to 20℃ (viscosity 8cSt) with flow 5-15m³/h, ensuring smooth cold start of main engines.

V. Selection and Maintenance Specifications

1. Key Selection Parameters

Fuel type: Tin bronze pumps for heavy oil and high-sulfur fuel; leaded brass pumps for light diesel and low-sulfur oil

Flow requirement: Configure 1.2 times the maximum fuel consumption of the main engine; e.g., a 10,000kW main engine (fuel consumption 2000kg/h, diesel density 0.85kg/L) requires flow ≥2.8m³/h

Viscosity range: Models with heating jackets + cycloidal gears for viscosity ≥300cSt; standard gear models for viscosity ≤100cSt

2. Maintenance Points

Daily monitoring: Check outlet pressure (fluctuation ≤±0.1MPa), pump casing temperature (≤160℃), and motor current (≤110% of rated value) every 400 hours

Regular maintenance: Clean the inlet filter every 800 hours; inspect gear wear (tooth thickness deviation ≤0.02mm) and replace mechanical seals (oil-resistant fluoroelastomer material) every 1500 hours

In-depth maintenance: Disassemble and inspect every 3 years; apply anti-corrosion treatment to tin bronze components (copper protectant coating); test pump metering accuracy (deviation ≤±1%)

VI. Compliance and Certification

International standards: Complies with IMO MARPOL Annex VI and ISO 8217 fuel standards for delivery equipment

Classification society certifications: Passed type approval for fuel pumps by LR, ABS, and CCS (including 1000-hour heavy oil operation tests)

Explosion-proof certification: Ex d IIB T4 Gb explosion-proof grade, meeting ATEX 137 requirements for equipment in hazardous areas