Developing power in changing times

Medium-speed market-leader Wärtsilä may not have much to report in the way of big development stories right now that The Motor Ship hasn?t previously covered, but those companies trying to take market share from the Finnish engine designer have plenty on the go

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Hyundai Heavy Industries

Hyundai Heavy Industries

(HHI) is on the verge of selling its first own-design Himsen engine for a main propulsion application

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“We have some negotiations with customers,” reveals JT Kim, project manager in the initial design department of HHIs engine and machinery division

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“The propulsion version of both H21/32 and H25/33 are almost ready

.

“

The company has already secured orders for 50 Himsen engines for marine auxiliary applications, from Korean and overseas shipyards

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Four 6H21/31s are already in service on two of HHIs own 37,000 dwt ballast barges

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The first non-HHI ship application though, is of four 7H21/32 auxiliary engines

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These will be installed on a 3,534 TEU Nordeutsche Vermögen (NVA) containership, provisionally named Northern Devotion, being built at Shanghai Shipyard in China

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The engines will supply power to the ship?s 500 reefer points, among other things

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The ship?s scheduled delivery is in May 2003

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These engines will feature a conventional honed cylinder liner

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However Hyundai is continuing tests of a cylinder liner on which the running surface has small oil pockets

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The intention is to reduce wear during HFO operation, without dramatically impacting lub oil consumption

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Kim explains that the liner with oil pockets has registered about 3,000 running hours under testing with HFO

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“The test results so far show excellent wear pattern,” he explains

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“We think this is a cheap solution for the engine maker

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” However more running hours are planned in order to clarify lub oil consumption rates

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“We hope that oil pockets needs no compromising with wear,” says Kim

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Rolls-Royce Bergen

HHI had cooperated with Norway?s Bergen, part of Rolls-Royce Marine, in development of the larger 25/33 engine

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However this cooperation came to a formal conclusion upon issuance by DNV of a preliminary Type Approval certificate to Bergen?s 25:33 engine in March last year

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The end to the cooperation was brought about by the differing aims (to those held when the agreement was first made) of Rolls-Royce and HHI

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Therefore the latter stages of development of the engine have seen Rolls-Royce and Hyundai follow independent paths

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Both engines still have the same bore to stroke moniker

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HHI separating the digits with a forward slash and preceding them with an H; Bergen separating the digits with a colon and preceding them with a C

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Currently Bergen?s C engine is available only as an in-line model, with five, six, eight or nine cylinders

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The company plans to launch a vee-form range, but the indication from Rolls-Royce is that the introduction is at least 18 months away ? i

.

e

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post-2003

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The company says it has sold 16 C engines, all for offshore applications

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The first four nine-cylinder models were delivered to Norway?s S?viknes Verft, part of Aker Brattvaag, in April

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They have now been installed in a UT 737-design offshore support vessel

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The engines are part of a diesel electric propulsion installation on a vessel scheduled for delivery to Island Offshore at the end of August

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Rolls-Royce has had more success with its Bergen B32:40 engine, launched last year as an upgrade to the BR engine type

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It has sold 34 of the engines, mainly for installation in offshore vessels, but also in a few fishing vessels

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The engine features a new crankshaft design; application of new bearing material technology; modified liner design; new turbocharger technology adapted for pulse-type exhaust systems; a new fuel injection system with increased capacity and injection pressure; modified cylinder head design and material specifications; a complete new pump end module and turbocharger support structure; improved sealing systems; and a new bus-based control and monitoring system with a touch-screen type instrument panel

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Compared with its predecessor the stroke is increased by 10%, the bmep is up 2% to 24

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9 bar and the unit power is raised from 440kW/cylinder to 500kW/cylinder at 750 rev/min

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The specific fuel consumption is 183g/kWh at 750 rev/min

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Like the C engine, the new B engine is initially only available as an in-line model

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However plans to launch a vee-form version are more progressed for the B engine

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The current thinking is to have the B vee-form engine available next year (2003), says Rolls-Royce

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The first application of the new B engine saw four 3,000kW six-cylinder engines installed in Farstad Shipping?s 2,100 dwt UT 728-design anchor handling, tug and supply vessel Far Saltire

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The vessel was delivered from Denmark?s ?rskov Christensens Staalskibsv?rft in March this year

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GM Electro-Motive

The offshore market has also provided the Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) division of US-company General Motors Corporation with a first marine application for a new product

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Chinese Shipyard Yantai Raffles is building five 2,500 dwt, 86m anchor handling, tug and supply vessels for US customer Tidewater Marine

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Each of the vessels will have a diesel electric propulsion system with the diesel element comprising four EMD 16-265H engines

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The first batch of a total of 20 engines was shipped, packaged up with the electric motors – manufactured by the Baylor division of National Oilwell ? from EMD?s distributor, Stewart & Stevenson in Houston, USA

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It arrived in Yantai, China a few weeks ago

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The 16-cylinder vee-form engines produce 4,300kW each at 900 rev/min

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They have a bore of 265mm and a stroke of 300mm

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Their design features twin gas-driven turbochargers, cast ductile iron crankcases, a centrally mounted camshaft, electronic fuel injection, thermo-flex piston crowns and ductile iron cross-flow cylinder heads

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The first Tidewater vessel, John P

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Laborde, is scheduled for delivery from the shipyard early next year, with the other four vessels following at two monthly intervals

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“We have not sold any additional engines like this one,” comments a EMD spokesperson

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“But we have gotten some strong interest on the part of our marine customers

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We are optimistic that the engine?s performance will speak for itself

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“

MAN B&W Ltd

MAN B&W also sees the offshore market as one possible area of application for its new Ruston RK280 engine, launched at the end of last year

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The engine, which has a bore of 280mm and a stroke of 330mm, outputs 450kW per cylinder at 1,000 rev/min

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The company says the engine consumes fuel at a rate less than 190g/kWh through a combination of electronic fuel injection, optimised combustion characteristics and clever component design

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It is targeting the engine at those operators wanting an engine giving a high power density within a compact package

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MAN B&W says that the 20 cylinder engine?s dry weight of 46t gives it a class leading power density of 5

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1kg/kW

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This means that aside from the offshore market, potential commercial ship customers include operators of fast ferries

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MTU

MTU

?s launch of its new 8000 series engine couldn?t have come at a worse time as far as immediate sales into the commercial shipping sector were concerned

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The launch, in the latter part of 2000, coincided with a period where demand for new high-speed ferries ? the engine?s primary commercial market ? came to a virtual standstill

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MTU

? which operates as Detroit Diesel in North America ? has, as a consequence, sold none of the engines for installation in commercial ships

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However the company has notched up sales of 32 8000-series engines to customers in the pleasure craft and military sectors

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A spokesman says that

MTU

is working on a number of projects that would see the 20V8000 engine as the prime driver on a number of commercial ships? and not just fast ferries

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While declining to elaborate further, the spokesman agrees that the nature of the engine means these other non fast-ferry commercial ship projects are on vessels with a relatively-high speed requirement

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The 20V8000 produces 410kW per cylinder at 1,150 rev/min for fast ferry applications (maximum cylinder output is 450kW)

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Bmep is 24

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6 bar and specific fuel consumption is 195g/kWh, on an engine with a bore of 265mm and a stroke of 315mm

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The absence of commercial shipping sales of the 20V has not deterred

MTU

from further developing the 8000-series engine range

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“We have plans to develop both in-line and V16 engines,” confirms a spokesman who declines to give a time schedule for these plans

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The in-line engines would burn heavy fuel and be targeted at freight ship applications

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ABC

Going the other way to

MTU

? that is, developing a vee-form engine from a base of an existing in-line model ? is Belgian-company Anglo Belgian Corporation (

ABC

)

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It has recently recorded a first sale into the commercial marine market of the new vee-form variant of its DZ engine range

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Four 2,150kW V12 engines will be installed on two 4,400m3 trailing suction hopper dredgers being built for

ABC

?s Belgian compatriot Jan De Nul, says the company

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The shipbuilder is Spain?s Astillero de Gijon, part of Izar

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The two engines on each ship will generate propulsion power in a diesel electric installation

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ABC

is scheduled to deliver the four engines in December, with Jan De Nul commissioning the two 25

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4m long by 21m beam vessels in the early part of 2003

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ABC

says it has sold a further six vee-form DZ engines to naval customers

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The DZ engines have a 256mm bore and a 310mm stroke

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They have a maximum output of 221kW per cylinder at 1,000 rev/min with a piston speed of 10

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3m/s

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In its vee-form the DZ engine is available with 12 or 16 cylinders

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The vee angle is 45 deg

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, leading to an overall width of 1,650mm

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The engine?s new parts, such as crankshaft, connecting rods, bearings and intake/exhaust system, are designed for a peak cylinder pressure of 150 bar

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The mean effective pressure of the engine is 16

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6 bar

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The design target was to enable a future power growth of up to 20%

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Caterpillar Motoren

For larger ship applications,

Caterpillar Motoren

has launched a vee-form model of its MaK M43 engine

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This vee-form model registered a first sale earlier this year, for installation on a bulker being built in China (see The Motor Ship, April 2002)

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The 430mm bore and 610mm stroke engine is available in 12, 16 and 18 cylinder configurations

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With an output of 900kW per cylinder at 500-514 rev/min, the engine covers the power band between 10

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8MW and 16

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2MW

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The development of the engine involved taking as many features as possible from the in-line engine, such as the cylinder head design, and applying them to the vee-form version

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Caterpillar says the fuel consumption for the engine is 176g/kWh

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It says it is pursuing a number of engine internal measures to bring NOx emissions down below 8g/KWh, well within its perception of future IMO limits

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The engine is designed to have turbochargers fitted at the coupling end when used in marine applications

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At the opposite end a PTO drive is offered as an option

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The engine has directly mounted cooling water and lubricating oil pumps and a twin-circuit cooling system

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MAN B&W AG

A competing engine for similar large ship applications is MAN B&W?s 48/60 ? a product of the Augsburg works in Germany

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It has recently received a major facelift and been relaunched as the 48/60B

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Since the initial launch of the engine in 1989, 162 units have been sold for marine applications, representing 2

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7 million kW

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However, the company felt the demands on heavy fuel oil engines have changed in recent times

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These demands now require reliability, economy, power density and low concentrations of harmful substances in exhaust emissions, it says

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In addition MAN B&W wanted to reduce the width of the vee-engine requiring a change in the structure as well as the combustion-relevant components

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Hence the 48/60B

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The bore and stroke of 480mm and 600mm are retained

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However output per cylinder is now 1,200kW, compared with 1,050kW previously

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The engine speed is held at 500-514 rev/min

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The company is introducing vee-form variants in early 2003, followed by in-line models later in the year

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The complete range will provide power between 7

.

2 and 21

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6MW

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Fuel consumption of the 48/60B is reduced to 173g/kWh, from 180g/kWh with its predecessor, says MAN B&W

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Components upgraded in order to achieve the improved performance include the injection system, which sprays fuel into the combustion chamber at 1,600 bar, up 23% on the previous model

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Yanmar

Rather than revamping existing models, Japanese company

Yanmar

has chosen to launch a completely new series of engines to replace its older products

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The latest engine developed in the company?s Saveten range is the EY26L

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Models for auxiliary uses are available from October

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A model for marine propulsion will follow, but

Yanmar

gives no time schedule for this

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The EY26L is the first engine released since the launch of

Yanmar

?s ?Core Engine? strategy, which aims to reduce the number of models manufactured

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The 260mm bore engine has a stroke of 385mm and an output of between 280kW and 310kW per cylinder at 720 to 750 rev/min

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Initially it is available with five and six cylinders (1,400 and 1,840kW)

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Long-term there is the potential to launch an eight cylinder model which would eventually allow the EY26L to replace

Yanmar

?s existing 260mm and 280mm bore engines, says a company spokesman

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The design of the engine features the company?s Assign (Available Space, Scattering Injection, Geometric Nexus) combustion system

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The idea is to lower fuel consumption, NOx and smoke emissions, commonly thought of as conflicting goals, without increasing maximum cylinder pressure or injection pressure

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To achieve this, the engines have the purpose-designed Assign spray fuel injection system and deep-bowl combustion chamber

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These help curtail the combustion duration by shortening the injection period and by utilising airflow motion to promote mixture formation, says

Yanmar

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Furthermore a new supercharging system is used to decrease the pressure resistance on the intake and exhaust system

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The piston-ring structure has been reduced from four- to three-ring and the cylinder line cooling system now only cools the upper part in order to increase sliding efficiency, says the company

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Yanmar

says the design enables the engines to realise 10g/kWh lower fuel consumption than engines with a conventional combustion system without affecting NOx emissions

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MAN B&W Holeby

A little further down the development path is the Holeby division of MAN B&W in Denmark

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It has just launched its L21/31 engine for main propulsion purposes

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Its six, seven, eight and nine cylinder variants offer power in the 1,200 to 1,900kW range at 1,000 rev/min

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The engine is largely similar to the genset version launched last year, the main differences being the power layout and the propulsion optimised front- and aft-end design

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It has a specific fuel oil consumption of 181g/kWh and can burn HFO up to 700 cSt, reports MAN B&W

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As its name suggests, it has a bore of 210mm and a stroke of 310mm

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It operates at a bmep of 24

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1 bar

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An eight-cylinder propulsion engine is now running on the test bed at Holeby

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Daihatsu

While the L21/31 is among the smaller engines launched into the commercial shipping market of late, the smallest is

Daihatsu

?s DC-17

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It has a bore of just 170mm and a stroke of 270mm

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Its five and six cylinder configurations give it an output of 440kW and 560kW at 900/1,000 rev/min

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Daihatsu

hopes to sell more than 200 units of the engine for auxiliary use on commercial ships

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This goal will be helped by a licensing agreement signed earlier this year with engine builder HSD Engine allowing the Korean company to build and sell the full range of

Daihatsu

?s engines in its local market

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