German shipowner orders slow steaming upgrade kits

“The Wärtsilä slow steaming upgrade kits will give these ships considerable flexibility for adapting to the prevailing challenging market conditions. They offer considerable cost savings when slow steaming the ships, while retaining the capability for full speed whenever necessary,” comments Herm Jüngerhans, managing director, Jüngerhans.

For ships powered by Wärtsilä RTA and RT-flex low-speed engines with more than one turbocharger, Wärtsilä introduced its SSU kit in 2008. “The SSU kit both extends the load range of the engine for continuous operation, and significantly reduces BSFC (brake specific fuel consumption) in the low-load range,” explains Jürgen Gerdes, director, Services, Wärtsilä in Switzerland.

The SSU kit also helps ship owners, operators and charterers to increase the flexibility of their engines, permitting them to run anywhere from 10% to 100% maximum load without operational restrictions, and to decrease the risk of engine fouling and excessive component temperatures. The BSFC figures that can be achieved are strongly dependent on the final NOX emission balances over the entire load range. For ships that must comply with the IMO NOX emission regulations, the restrictions imposed by the emissions limits will be evaluated in each case and a customized solution package offered.

With the order from Jüngerhans, the total amount of ordered upgrade kits has increased to twelve, and Wärtsilä is already able to assess the initial operating results for its SSU kit. For an 8-cylinder Wärtsilä RTA62U engine, the Finnish engine manufacturer claims it was possible to achieve fuel savings of up to 6-10 g/kWh in the optimal load range. On a 12-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex96C engine equipped with three turbochargers, the measured fuel savings of 8-12 g/kWh were said to be slightly higher because the achievable savings are related to the number of turbochargers.