Scania re-launches 16-litre diesel

“This is a completely new engine designed from the bottom up”, commented Robert Sobocki the senior vice-president of Scania Engines. “It offers more power than our previous 16-litre engine and for the first time we are able to offer an engine of 1,000bhp for marine use”.

This new engine, like its predecessor, is a V8 design based, like all current small marine diesels, on a truck engine. The engine has been developed to meet the latest emission standards demanded by the IMO, EU and US regulations and, along with these high emission standards, Scania is promising low fuel consumption and easy servicing.

The engine is based on a block of 16.4 litres with external dimensions that are almost square so that it will take up minimum space. The engine is available is a variety of ratings from 550bhp for heavy duty commercial use up to the 1,000bhp that is designed for patrol boats and leisure use. All versions of the new engine operate at 1,800rpm. “With the power of this new engine we are highly competitive with engines from other manufacturers well above 16-litres in capacity”, said Lars Eklund, the sales director of the marine engine division at Scania. “The high torque rating of this new engine ensures ample performance even at low revs and this engine is designed for efficient operation across the whole speed range”.

Scania has focussed the marketing of its marine engines on the workboat and commercial shipping sector with references that includes ferries, fishing boats and pilot boats. For prototype testing a pair of these new engines were fitted into two 20m lifeboats from the Swedish Sea Rescue Society. They are reported to have performed faultlessly and to produce the fast response and reliability essential for rescue work. The engines are also designed for powering generator sets on commercial shipping and here the output can range from 430kW to 596kW. The engines are available with either built-in heat exchangers or to operate with keel cooling systems.

The engine features individual cylinder heads on each cylinder and detachable cylinder liners. Scania claims that the size reduction of individual components allows many major overhaul tasks to be carried out without removing the engines from the vessel. The service intervals have been extended by fitting a centrifugal oil cleaner to remove particulates; this allows for a smaller filter cartridge to be fitted and oil change intervals to be raised up 500 hours. While Scania uses electronic control to operate of the injection systems, the injectors are still of the mechanical type which Scania claims simplifies servicing of the engine.

In addition to this new engine at the top of the marine range, Scania is planning to add a 5-cylinder, 9-litre diesel engine in the future. This will be based on an updated version of the current truck engine of that size and will enable the company to offer a competitive range covering lower power ratings.

Scania says it offers sales and service on a worldwide basis, and currently around 10% of its annual 70,000 diesel engine production is used in marine applications.