Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 1984)

(continued from page 13) last five years and, consequently, on fuels refined by the latest sec- ondary processes, which means cracking of different kinds. Such fuels have combustion properties which substantially differ from the heavy fuels available 10 years ago.

The evaluations are based on experiences of the purpose de- signed heavy fuel engines Vasa 32 and Vasa 22HF in a lot of differ- ent installation types such as main engines in ro-ro vessels, supply vessels, tugs, icebreakers, ferries and small tankers as well as a number of auxiliary engine ap- plications.

The Vasa 32 engine was intro- duced in 1977 and has since then attracted much attention. At that time it was one of the first new en- gine designs developed after the 1973-74 oil crisis. It filled a gap between the heavy fuel burning 15.75-inch bore engines and small marine diesel engines. The Vasa 32 covers an output range of 2,010 to 9,180 bhp.

The Vasa 22HF engine, with the same basic features as the Vasa 32, was introduced in 1980. With the output range of 720 to 3,480 bhp it extends the range of Vasa 32 downwards. In the upper end of the output range it is, with its smaller size and higher speed, an attractive alternative in small vessels.

Practically, it can be said that the Vasa engines are well suited for all heavy fuels existing on the market today. They also form a stable base from which the devel- opment towards using further de- teriorating future fuels can be continued.

A paper describing the Wauke- sha AT25 Series of diesel and heavy fuel engines was presented during the second day of the sym- posium. The Waukesha AT25 En- gine Series consists of a family of four engine models including six and eight-cylinder in-line, and 12 and 16-cylinder vee configura- tions. The engines have a common 250-mm bore with a 300-mm stroke and were designed and developed by Sulzer Brothers Limited of

Winterthur, Switzerland. The

Waukesha Engine Division of

Dresser Industries Inc., is manu- facturing and further developing this new engine family at Wauke- sha, Wis., under a license agree- ment with Sulzer for marketing throughout the world.

The engine series has been de- signed for both diesel and heavy- fuel operation and covers a speed range of 720 to 1,000 rpm. The diesel (distillate) fuel maximum continuous power range covers 1,260 to 4,800 bhp, whereas the heavy-fuel (residual) rated power range covers 1,140 to 4,320 bhp.

This new AT 25 engine series combines the four-stroke diesel cycle with direct injection, turbo- charging and intercooling. The de- sign results in a high-density reciprocating power producing package including low fuel-oil and lube-oil consumption, high relia- bility and durability, and multi- fuel capability for cost effective op- eration. The first engine of this new series produced at Waukesha was a 12-cylinder model.

Over 3,000 engines of the A25 type have been applied by Sulzer and its licensees in universal ap- plications including main marine propulsions (deep sea and inland waterways), ship auxiliary power generation, offshore oil-drilling platforms, railroad traction and stationary power generation.

R. Peter Spock, American

Commercial Barge Line Co., de- scribed "The ACBL Blended Fuel

Program."

ACBL decided to pursue blended fuels after a lengthy discussion and study of the current technolo- gies. Several other conservation methods were put into effect, but blended fuel was to be the major effort because it showed evidence of providing the greatest amount of savings potential. At that time, about 40 percent of ACBL's line haul towboats were equipped with

Alco engines, which had under- gone previous blended-fuel test- ing. Also in 1980, our future new vessel construction called for sev- eral vessels to be equipped with

Alco engines. Thus in light of the pricing structure of diesel and blended fuels, it was determined that significant fuel cost savings could be obtained in these vessels.

Another factor which influenced the decision was that ACBL had previously purchased a tank farm in Memphis as a hedge against any future oil shortages. This would prove advantageous since the quality of blended fuels must be controlled in order to provide successful operation in diesel engines.

Over the long term, it is ex- pected that diesel fuel prices will increase much more than residual.

This is the most significant reason why blended fuel is a rational ap- proach to controlling operating costs. This must obviously be tem- pered by the increased mainte- nance costs associated with blended fuel.

The author then described in de- tail the impact of these changes and how ACBL arrived at its cur- rent position. Finally, the paper takes a look at the most recent

ACBL heavy-fuel project which in- volves the re-engining of the tri-

FERISISTRUML

MIT

ENGINEERED

KEEL COOLING

COMPLETELY

ASSEMBLED

R. W. FERNSTRUM & COMPANY

MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. 49858

Phone (906) 863-5553 • Telex 26-3493 - Answer Back FERNSTRUM MNOM

R. W. FERNSTRUM S. CO., EXPORT OEPT.

MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. 49858

Phone 906'863 5553 • Telex 26 3493 • Answer Back FERNSTRUM MNOM ple-screw towboat M/V Bill Elmer with three MaK engines equipped to burn 3,500-ssu fuel.

Kenneth Siegman of the Mid- land-Ross Company reported on "Midland's Heavy Fuel Oil Expe- rience." He advised that in late 1981 Midland made the decision to build two boats capable of burning heavy fuel oils of varying viscosity and varying quality. This decision was based on many factors both within the Midland organization and external to the company. The external factors were many, but were primarily concerned with the present and future cost and supply of fuels.

In November 1982, Midland took delivery of the M/V Jim Ludwig from St. Louis Ship. In May 1983,

Midland took delivery of the M/V

Justin T. Rogers. Both of these boats came out of the yard burn- ing an IF-80 (600-SRI) fuel and have continued to burn this blend.

This paper covers Midland's expe- riences during design and con- struction, plus much of their oper- ating experience to date. Much of the operating data is very recent.

Each day a new or unexpected bit of information is learned and they expect the learning experience to continue.

Along with the decision to go to heavier blends of up to 2,100 SRI, there were questions raised on storage tank configuration. The original hull design had two large port/starboard tanks on each side.

This was later changed to divide each of the large tanks in half to give four port/starboard tanks, each side. More but smaller capacity tanks were required for two rea- sons. The first and prime reason was the concern of possible fuel compatibility problems. The var- ious bunkers if purchased from different suppliers could be kept separate.

An important part of the boat design once the hull configuration was chosen, was the choice of the main engines. After an extensive search and evaluation, it was de- cided to go with main engines de- signed and built by B&W Alpha of

Frederikshaven, Denmark.

Much of the data and experience contained in this paper is based on the operating experience of the two boats. From what is known now, Midland feels that they can expect to meet or exceed their ex- pectations of the move to burn heavy fuels.

M.H. Brinker, M.A. Cereno and W.H. Rice, Jr., Heartland

Transportation Company, The In- land Waterways Division, Pott In- dustries Inc., described "The In- land Waterways Division, Pott

Industries Inc. Blended Fuel

Program."

The blended-fuel program of IWD began back in the mid 1950s when

Federal Barge Line began operat- ing four towboats on blended/heavy fuel oil. Federal Barge lines oper- ated these four boats on heavy oil from 1956 through 1965 for two boats and 1972 for the other two 12 Circle 109 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News