Page 80: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2011)

76Maritime Reporter & Engineering News 2011 YEARBOOKMARINE PROPULSIONIn May MAN Diesel&Turbo launched its newly developed low speed dual fuel en- gine at the company's Diesel Research Center in Copenhagen Denmark. Hosted by Thomas S. Knudsen, Senior Vice Pres- ident Low-Speed MAN Diesel & Turbo, the engine was presented for some 300 clients, licensees and media representa- tives. By Henrik Segercrantz MAN Diesel&Turbo has since the 1990s worked on developing a low speed two-stroke engine which can use com- pressed liquefied natural gas as fuel. Sofar the dual fuel engines in maritime use have been medium speed engines. The new ME-GI engine, which is cur- rently being approved by the major clas- sification societies, is capable of operating on gas using only 5% heavy fuel oil. The gas, compressed to nearly 300 bar, is fed into the cylinder a fraction of a second after feeding a small amountof traditional fuel, either heavy fuel oil or diesel oil, to ignite the gas.MAN Diesel & Turbos 4T50ME-X R&D research engine rebuilt as a 4T50ME-GI engine operating on naturalgas has been tested since last year. The performance of the GI gas injection prin-ciple has now been verified, and the tech- nology is soon ready to be applied for arange of the company's low speed en- gines. All MAN B&W ME, ME-C & ME-B engines can be delivered with the GI system. It can also be retrofitted on these engines. Typical engines antici- pated for this technology are the mediumbore engine types S70ME-GI, S65ME-GI & S60ME-GI. "The ME-GI engine isavailable for ship deliveries from mid 2013 and for retrofit installation from the end of 2012," Ole Grøne, Sales Managerof Low Speed engines at MAN Diesel&Turbo, told the audience. Koreas Daewoo Shipbuilding & Ma- rine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) hasprovided the ME-GIs pertaining, high- pressure, cryogenic gas-supply system,based on a separate development agree- ment between the two companies. The technology used in the design ofthe new two-stroke ME-GI engine com- bines the MAN Diesel&Turbo ME-C de- sign with the GI-design of the first MAN B&W dual-fuel engine, the 12K80MC-GI-S, constructed back in 1994 by li-censee Mitsui to produce electricity inChiba in the Tokyo Bay area. This engine has proven to be reliable, available and safe in operation. Differing from this en- gine, the new GI engine is fitted with electronically controlled fuel injection.This has simplified the design, and allows for precise dosing of the two fuels exactly when needed, providing a large degree of adaptability for meeting future emissionregulations. One main market target for the new engine is LNG carriers. De- pending on relative price and availability, as well as on environmental considera- tions, the ME-GI engine gives shipown- ers and operators the option of usingeither gas or heavy fuel oil. Having a gas-burning two-stroke low speed diesel engine aboard an LNG carrier also pro-vides for unmatched propulsion effi- ciency. Being a low speed engine, MAN claims it provides the highest thermal ef- ficiency of any system on the market for propulsion of LNG carriers. In their pres-entation, the company said ME-GI is per- fectly safe for a single screw application, and twin or single screw should be de- cided on by hull considerations only. The engine can use a wide range of gasqualities as there is no requirement forthe methane number and no maximumlimit for the hydrogen content. By usinggas as fuel, the CO2, NOX and SOX and particulate emissions are reduced. Test engine measurements show a NOx re- duction of some 24% and a CO2 reduc-tion of 23% compared to running withdiesel oil. As the traditional engines, the dual fuel version can also operate in con- junction with a waste-heat recovery sys- tem, and meets Tier III emission requirements when combined with thecompany's exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system. MAN Diesel&Turbo has recently also introduced its own waste- heat recovery WHRS Marine Generator Unit and is currently in the process ofstreamlining its compact production ver- sion EGR system. MAN Diesel&Turbo sees significant opportunities arising for gas-fuelled ton-MAN Diesel & Turbo Launches ME-GI Dual-Fuel Low-Speed Gas Injection Engine The new two-stroke ME-GI test engine has an integrated gas supply system. In a spectacular theatrical eventThomas S. Knudsen, Senior Vice Pres- ident Low-Speed, MAN Diesel & Turbo unveiled the company's ME-GI two-stroke dual-fuel test engine for the in- vited audience at the company'sDiesel Research Center in Copen- hagen Denmark.Six shipowners "starting" the dual-fuel test engine instructed by Mr. Knudsen.