10% more power for MaK?s M 43 C

The MaK division of Caterpillar has introduced the C version of its successful M 43 medium speed engine. Available in 6- 7- 8- and 9-cylinder in-line and 12- and 16-cylinder vee-form, the new engine has been developed from the earlier M 43 version and incorporates the Caterpillar/MaK ACERT technology for emission control. Output ranges from 6,000 to 16,000kW at 500/514rpm.

The M 43 series is the fourth member of the long-stroke MaK engine family, introduced in 1992. The M 43 was designed for a higher output than the initial release with 900kW/

cylinder and the new M 43 C introduces changes to further enhance engine reliability and performance, and power output is now 1,000kW/cylinder.

To cope with current and future emission regulations MaK has developed low complexity emission reduction systems. This has led

to a step-by-step introduction of an emission reduction concept for medium-speed engines developed as part of the ACERT programme within Caterpillar.

From various alternatives for

flexible injection timing and valve actuation, it chose Flex Cam Technology as the first step to implementing ACERT. This enables MaK to offer invisible smoke engines by using a simple mechanical actuator to influence the lower valve train and injection timing. The system has very high reliability and offers a fail-safe function.

Operational results show NOx emissions of 8g/kWh and below all the way down to 25% engine load, equivalent to around 30% less than the current emission standards. Smoke remains below the visible limit of 0.5 over the whole operating range and can be reduced to 0.3 for engines meeting the IMO NOx standards only.

The next step in implementing ACERT will be the introduction of an electronically-controlled engine.

For reliability the company has drastically reduced the number of individual parts in an engine by integrating as many functions as practical into individual parts. The number of parts needed to build an engine was reduced by 35% when designing the new engine family and another 8% reduction was achieved in the M 43 C re-design.