This engine is announced to be launched as a genset engine
Propulsion requirements for diesel-electric offshore vessels with deeper-water capabilities have come under the microscope at MAN. Henrik Segercrantz reports
Fredrik Carstens, head of medium-speed offshore sales at MAN Diesel & Turbo, says: “We provide power for solutions in searching oil, finding oil, and drilling for oil. Existing oil is found in shallow waters, but to find the new oil you need to go out in deeper and deeper water.”
Mr Carstens describes the world trend being an increasing demand for oil and gas, with new exploration moving to deepwater areas, resulting in an expected need for more power in these sectors.
MAN Diesel & Turbo is therefore launching a new 32cm-bore genset into this market sector. The first 32/40 genset was launched in 1995. In 2002 it got Tier I approval, in 2004 the 32/40 CD with 500kW/cylinder was introduced, and was further improved in 2007. In 2011 MAN introduced the 32/40 CD Tier II genset.
The next stage in MAN’s development is the 32/44 K engine, designed as a pure genset engine. “It consists of the best solutions of the well proven 32/40 genset and the latest news from the 32/40 common-rail engine, so it is a pretty good mix of the engine types,” Mr Carstens says.
‘K’ stands for ‘conventional’ as many clients want traditional fuel injection. “We have developed the common rail engine but we still have a market for, you could say, old-fashioned diesel engines, which are reliable, easy to maintain, easy to repair, and that everybody knows. MAN has decided to continue this development. Compared to its predecessor, the engine has lower fuel oil consumption, and increased output. The 32/40 CD engine produced 500kW/cylinder whereas the new engine produces 530kW/cylinder. It will also be available in a 10 in-line cylinder version, as compared to nine for the CD engine.”
The bore and stroke of the K engine is 320/440mm, against the old versions’ 320/400mm, and it has a 40bar higher peak firing pressure, at 230bar. Mr Carstens says that the new K engine will offer improvements compared to the CD engine. Although the values will have to be validated during the test period, he estimates that specific fuel oil consumption will remain equal at 100% load, but should improve significantly at part load, particularly in the 40% to 80% load range.
“The engine is going on the test bench within the next three months, after which the numbers will be published,” Mr Carstens says. The physical size of the new engine is more or less identical to the CD engine, allowing retrofitting if necessary. The only extra space will be occupied by a new turbocharger arrangement. The new genset will be made available for sale in 2014, following completion of sea trials in summer 2013.
Among the new features changed are variable valve timing (VVT),as used on MAN’s common-rail engine. It enables short Miller timing at full load and longer opening of the inlet valve at part load, optimising the firing combustion process. The engine offers variable injection timing, which was also available on the CD genset. For the K engine, this has been upgraded to enable higher firing pressure at part load. The crank is being reinforced to withstand the increased firing pressure.
A new TCR turbocharger offers a wider pressure ratio range. The supply of more air results in lower fuel oil consumption and more power. The engine is fitted with MAN’s SaCoSone monitoring and safety system panels.
“This engine is announced to be launched as a genset engine, but actually we have had extremely positive messages from the offshore industry, so it seems like the customers demand it also as a propulsion engine,” Mr Carstens hints.
Source: The Motorship
