LSE-powered ship delivered

The first ship with a Mitsubishi UE LSE engine has been delivered to its owner. Pacific International Lines of Singapore took delivery of the 6UEC52LSE-powered 1,098 TEU feeder container ship Kota Hakim from Japanese yard Shin Kochi Jyuko on September 26. The 10,230kW engine, manufactured at the Nagasaki factory of Mitsubishi licensee Kobe Diesel, had earlier completed successful shop tests and sea trials. According to a Mitsubishi Diesel spokesman: “The shipowner and shipyard were satisfied with the result of the performance, overhaul inspection at shop test and sea trial.” The UEC52LSE diesel engine is targeted as a main engine for panamax bulk carriers and feeder container ships. Its design is based on the UEC-LS series. It features a main bearing design developed using highly accurate Elasto-Hydrodynamic lubrication analysis, according to Mitsubishi. It also has a hardened bed plate, column and cylinder jacket, the company adds, with strength optimised to a sufficient fatigue safety factor using three-dimensional finite element modelling (FEM) analysis. FEM analysis was also used, along with combustion calculating simulation, to optimise the thermal properties of combustion chamber components (such as the piston, exhaust valve, cylinder cover and cylinder liner) at temperatures proven on the UEC-LS series, says Mitsubishi. A ten items test during verification of the first engine, looking at issues such as scavenging, exhaust system matching and fuel oil valve matching, helped Mitsubishi optimise and confirm these modelled combustion chamber temperatures as well as engine performance. The verification test also focused on confirming the stress, temperature and vibration characteristics of 23 separate components. The 520mm bore UEC52LSE engine is sold with four, five, six, seven or eight cylinders. The two-stroke engine achieves an output of 1,705kW per cylinder at 127 rev/min, giving a power range of 6,820kW to 13,640kW. The piston travels at an average speed of 8.47m/s through a stroke of 2,000mm (the UEC52LS has a piston stroke of 1,850mm). This gives a stroke/cylinder bore ratio for the UEC52LSE of 3.85. The engine has a brake mean effective pressure of 19.09 bar (1.909Mpa). It consumes fuel oil at a rate of 167g/kWh. Mitsubishi has also developed a 680mm bore LSE engine. The LSE series is designed for economy, reliability and environmental-friendliness, says the company.