Page 13: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2003)

ing new ground, by selling its home- grown, aeroderivative machinery into the commercial marine power sector.

The engine's aero parent, the Trent 800, has surpassed two-million running hours since its 1996 service debut. It accounts for nine out of every 10 engines selected for Boeing 111 aircraft, and was the first engine to be certified for ETOPS (Extended range over-water operations by twin-engine aircraft) at entry into service.

The popularity of the Trent 800, and the fact that so much of its componentry is perpetuated in the MT30, has a signal bearing on unit production costs, and therefore on the price at which the marine engine will be cast in the intensely competitive marine market.

The factor of engineering commonality also gives relevance, from a potential marine user's standpoint, to the "99.9- percent dispatch reliability" attributed by Rolls-Royce to the Trent 800 civil aero engine.

The company's commitment to strengthening its position in the marine power domain has been underscored by its creation of a £9-million ($14-million) dedicated test facility for the MT30 at its

Bristol site in the UK, where the proto- type is now being put through its paces.

A second development engine will be used for endurance tests and the obtain- ing of Det Norske Veritas type approval, anticipated for August 2003, in keeping with the scheduled commercial release of the first production engines during early 2004.

A steady stream of interested parties from the naval and commercial marine sectors worldwide, including the USA, is being received at Bristol, and the

MT30 has already been written into the draft specification for the fast, monohull trailership design proposed by Spanish shipbuilding, ship repair and engineer- ing group IZAR, in conjunction with

Rolls-Royce.

The Anglo-Spanish initiative, dubbed the European High-Speed Cargo Vessel (EHSCV), is also expected to lead to a companion RoPax proposal, and was discussed in this column in November's issue. The MT30 has been conceived for both mechanical and electrical drive configurations, and its efficiency is said to be retained at powers down to 25-

MW, making for increased application flexibility. Gas turbine plant has certain strengths in terms of trends in target commercial markets, as GE Marine

Engines has already well demonstrated by its references for LM-series

January, 2003 aeroderivative gas turbines in high- speed ferries and cruise liners.

Lower pollutant exhaust emission lev- els than those of diesel engines will undoubtedly be valued more and more against a backcloth of proliferating envi- ronmental controls and regulations, while a low mechanical noise signature

Investment and readily attenuated structural noise transmission hold increasing value in the context of passenger and crew com- fort. The MT30's thermal efficiency fac- tor of 40-percent or more directly influ- ences specific fuel consumption, and additionally means less emissions per ton of fuel burnt. in Design • By David Tinsley

The annular combustors of the new marine engine are similar to those of the aero parent, and have been designed to burn commercially available distillate fuel to DMA standard. Consumption is said to be comparable with high-speed diesels at maximum power, and the fuel burn is also designed to match compet-

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