Page 8: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 1993)

PROPULSION UPDATE

Paxman Diesel Launches New Engine,

The VP185

By Marcus Gibson, contributing editor "The launch of a new family of diesel engines is a rare occurrence," said William Van-Orden, commer- cial director of Paxman Diesels at

Colchester, England, when he un- veiled the company's latest concept, the VP185 12-cylinder powerplant.

Combining "strength, compact- ness, light weight and economy," said Mr. Van-Orden, the VP185 is the first major initiative of the post-

Cold War era by a company once heavily dependent on military sales.

In the U.S. market the VP185 is intended as a successor to Paxman's widely used and reliable Valenta engines, which have been fitted into the U.S. Coast Guard's Island class and the U.S. Navy's Cyclone fast patrol boats.

The cube-shaped engine has been introduced not only for military craft, but also for use in fast ferries, cata- marans, hydrofoils and luxury yachts.

The VP185 measures 6.5- by 9.1- by 4.9-feet, with a light weight of 6.9 tons. It offers up to 2,610 kWb (3,500 bhp) at 1,950 rpm, providing 1.5 MW and more at 50 Hz or 60 Hz, with a fuel consumption of 200 g/ kWb hr. At continuous ratings at this fuel consumption, the VP185 produces a 15 percent improvement on its Valenta and Vega predeces- sors. Its low weight, small size and high power should enable operators to increase payloads and efficiency.

The VP185's turbocharger, a two- stage intercooler, aftercooler unit, nestles neatly between the cylinder banks and above the engine, a com- pact design created by John

Ramsden, Paxman's chief designer.

The company claims the system de- livers excellent torque characteris- tics and rapid response with this system. The VP185 has a 90-degree

Vee configuration with a 185mm bore and a 196mm stroke. A single, solid, central camshaft, driving valve gear and unit pump injectors, forms the heart of the engine. The crank- case is made of high-strength sphe- roidal graphite cast iron designed to withstand peak firing pressures.

Extra effort was also given to minimize the number of parts, in order to maximize reliability and reduce maintenance. The manufac-

The new P turer claims the engine is very ac- cessible for service.

The user-friendly approach be- gins with good-sized crankcase doors to provide access to connecting rods and crankshaft for in-situ servic- ing. General overall intervals start at 15,000 hours, although many owners of Paxman Valenta engines have reached up to 24,000 hours.

For development and production of the new engines, the Colchester factory has introduced the "right first time" manufacturing methods.

New automated machine tools have been purchased and tolerances of many components are checked on a special quality-control device nan VP185 mounted on a single piece of granite which weighs 80 tons. In addition, an extensive testing program of

VP185 prototypes has been carried out at performance conditions far beyond those to be expected from standard operating schedules. As

Paxman deems a monitoring system as integral to the VP185 package, the data acquisition unit is mounted on the engine itself. Protected by anti-vibration mounts, the system is connected to a VDU screen and up to 128 parameters are available simul- taneously. For more on the new engine,

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