L’Orange launches anti-sticking pump element

The new element features a special coating and a scraper ring to reduce the phenomenon, also known as the ‘lacquering’ effect. L’Orange said that other solutions – including cleaning the element or moving the control rack with the engine switched off – are time consuming and ineffective.

When oil is carried on the plunger and mixes with fuel it creates deposits in the barrel and grooves. This reduces the clearance between plunger and barrel, which leads to plunger sticking. Factors affecting lacquering include incompatibility between fuels and oils, mixture of incompatible fuels, high fuel temperatures, too fast fuel switching and contamination with metal.

L’Orange has optimised the pump element’s geometry, surface coating and scraper ring. Lubricating oil and fuel are kept separate, while the scraper ring serves as protection if lacquering occurs despite the separation. The solution extends pump running time by four to ten times compared to standard products, the company claims.

The pump elements are currently available for the following systems: 16/24 IMO II, 21/31 IMO I, 21/31 IMO II and 32/40 CD IMO I, II.