Twostroke Technology
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- Two-Stroke Milestones Maritime Reporter, Feb 2001 #8
Eastern seaboard operator Gypsum Transportation provided a beacon for the industry when it nominated a camshaftless, electronically controlled Sulzer diesel engine for its 50,000-dwt-bulker newbuild project. Now, the interests behind a Mediterranean reefership scheme have also endorsed the concept, which represents a milestone in twostroke technology, and signals a step change in large diesel engine operating flexibility.
In one sense, MAN B&W stole a march on arch-rival Wartsila through the recent conversion at sea of a low-speed, MC-series propulsion engine to full electronic control. However, Wartsila's latest success in sealing contracts for two Sulzer engines configured from the outset for operation in electronic mode gives new commercial succour to the group's technological drive.
As with Gypsum Transportation's selfunloader, due to be commissioned in July, a newly-booked pair of reefer vessels for the Israeli export trade will provide an operating platform for the innovative Sulzer RT-flex system.
Just as the results from the extended, 10,000-hour test of the 6L60MC electronic engine in the chemtanker Bow Cecil will influence the future MAN B&W two-stroke program, the RT-flex contracts have potentially enormous, long-term significance for Wartsila's low-speed engine business and future technological endeavors.
If shipowners can realize the gains in reliability, economy and flexibility across the complete engine operating profile promised by the advocates of the electronic mode, demand for such plant will surely accelerate. The capital cost of low-speed machinery employing computerized fuel injection and valve actuation, relative to the conventional, camshaft-fitted product, would not appear to be an issue. Rather, and in time-honored fashion, the shipping industry will be looking to a fair spread of operating and performance results from such a fundamental change in engine design before it unreservedly embraces the technology. The Sulzer RT-flex system applies common-rail fuel injection to the low-speed sector.
Common-rail systems, first used on smaller types of four-stroke machinery, are also being introduced to the large medium-speed diesel category, as demonstrated by Wartsila's unfolding EnviroEngine program. Extensive tests on the group's full-sized research engine at Winterthur, Switzerland, show that the RT-flex layout is conducive to operation on the same grades of high viscosity, heavy fuel oil as ingested by standard RTA-series engines.
The electronic two-stroke Sulzer engines specified for two 13,200-dwt reeferships ordered from a Portuguese yard will have the same cylinder diameter, albeit with a longer stroke and a seven-cylinder rather than six-cylinder arrangement, as MAN B&W's first electronic 6L60MC power unit in Bow Cecil. Each Sulzer 7RT-flex60C engine will deliver 22,470-bhp (16,520-kW) to ensure the 21.3-knot service speed required by Israel's Agricultural Export Co. (Agrexco) for its new, combined pallet and container-carrying new vessels.
Ordered from Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo, the ships are destined for the fresh produce traffic from the eastern Mediterranean to France and Spain. German technical, design and finance-raising influence in the newbuild project is substantial. Wartsila said that the owner's expectations with regard to operational economy and environmental standards led to the adoption of RT-flex technology. The first Sulzer RT-flex production engine has been manufactured by Hyundai Heavy Industries for transfer across the Ulsan peninsula to Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, where the recipient, self-unloading bulkship for Gypsum Transportation is taking shape. Also described as the first "smokeless" engine in the two-stroke category, the 6RT-flex58T-B was chosen for its favorable exhaust emission characteristics and overall fuel efficiency, including performance at non-optimum speeds.
The conversion of the 6L60MC main engine in Odfjell's stainless steel chemtanker Bow Cecil has made the muchvaunted Intelligent Engine concept a seagoing reality. With the two-stroke unit in the 1998-built vessel already prepared for switchover, the adaptation from standard camshaft operation to fully-computerized fuel injection and valve actuation was accomplished in just an hour and a half, with the ship lying off Borneo.
"This event is the climax of 10 years of dedicated development efforts to pave the way for a future generation of extremely reliable engines with comprehensive flexibility in terms of operating modes," stated MAN B&W. Another milestone is in sight: Concordia Maritime's two V-max crude carriers, due for delivery by Hyundai in the spring, will each be powered by twin MAN B&W two-stroke engines arranged for conversion to electronic control at each ship's first scheduled drydocking. Getting the measure of pods The industry's uptake of podded, azimuthing electric drives has proved to be one of the most pronounced technical trends of recent years, most especially as regards the cruise ship and specialized vessel categories.
New and upcoming applications in the crude carrier, products tanker and RoRo passenger ferry sectors attest to an ever-widening appreciation of the design and operational merits of podded electric propulsors.
As with any area of innovation, though, it is important that the ongoing design process is attuned to actual operating experience in the field. Hydromechanical and structural performance have been thoroughly investigated numerically and by means of model testing. However, since the preponderance of seagoing systems date from as recently as 1998, the basis for demonstrating the long-term integrity and reliability of the concept remains theoretical.
A three-year, pan-industry study program drawing in extensive European and U.S. participation will provide an important conduit for service results with pod systems. Called Pods in Service.
and coordinated by the Dutch Maritime Research Institute MARIN, the project is intended to assess and evaluate the reliability and integrity of podded propulsors under operational conditions.
In measuring performance, loads encountered by pods and the dynamic response of the pods and the vessel hull throughout the ship's service pattern, including extreme conditions, a key objective is to provide a method for determining and reflecting such loads at the design stage. The breadth of ascription by shipowners, yards, pod manufacturers and classification societies and other bodies to the joint industry project militates in favor of a productive exchange of knowledge and experience.
There are 24 partners in total. The pragmatic nature of the endeavor is underscored by the fact that measurement campaigns will be conducted aboard four vessels equipped with three differ- ent pod systems. The first ship to provide an operational focus is the Finnish combined icebreaker and supply vessel Botnica. Three newbuildings will enter the program on delivery, namely Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, Celebrity Cruises' Millennium-class Summit, and one of two diesel-electric RoPax ferries under construction for Germany's TT-Line.
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 45ronments. The new agreement will address speci? c techni- cal gaps in the UUV defense and offshore energy markets especially for long duration, multi-payload mission opera- tions where communications are often denied or restricted. As part of the new alliance, Metron’s Resilient Mission Autonomy portfolio
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 43Image courtesy Kongsberg Discovery Image courtesy Teledyne Marine New Products Teledyne Marine had its traditional mega-booth at Oi, busy start to ? nish. Image courtesy Greg Trauthwein offers quality sub-bottom pro? ling capability without the need tion of offshore windfarms. GeoPulse 2 introduces new
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 41Image courtesy Outland Technology Image courtesy Exail Image courtesy Submaris and EvoLogics Vehicles The ROV-1500 from Outland Technology represents a leap forward in underwater robotics, a compact remotely operated vehicle (ROV) weighing in at less than 40 lbs (19kg) the ROV- 1500 is easy to transport
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 40NEW TECH OCEANOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 2024 All photos courtesy MTR unless otherwise noted NEW TECH, PARTNERSHIPS LAUNCH IN LONDON With Oceanology International now one month in the rear-view mirror, MTR takes a look at some of the interesting technologies launched before, during and after the London event.
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 33regulated industry in the world.” How- ever, commercial success depends on many factors, not least a predictable OPEX. Over the past four years, SMD has worked with Oil States Industries to calculate cost per tonne ? gures for prospective customers. Patania II uses jet water pumps to Oil States’
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 32FEATURE SEABED MINING by a sea? oor plume from its pilot collection system test. pact, nodule collection system that utilizes mechanical and The Metals Company recently signed a binding MoU with hydraulic technology. Paci? c Metals Corporation of Japan for a feasibility study on The company’s SMD
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 30FEATURE SEABED MINING bilical. It has passive heave compensation which nulli? es the necott. “The focus since then has been on scaling while en- wave, current and vessel motions that in? uence loads in the suring the lightest environmental impact,” says The Metals power umbilical. The LARS can
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 29n January, Norway said “yes” to sea- bed mining, adding its weight to the momentum that is likely to override the calls for a moratorium by over 20 countries and companies such as I Google, BMW, Volvo and Samsung. Those against mining aim to protect the unique and largely unknown ecology of the sea?
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 27SEA-KIT USV Maxlimer returning from HT-HH caldera in Tonga. © SEA-KIT International data and further assess ecosystem recov- ery. What is known, noted Caplan-Auer- bach, is that the impact of submarine vol- canoes on humans is rare. “The HT-HH eruption was a tragedy, but it was very unusual. It let us
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 26FEATURE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTATION & SENSORS Kevin Mackay, TESMaP voyage leader and Center head of the South and West Paci? c Regional Centre of Seabed 2030. Kevin in the seismic lab at Greta Point looking at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano 3D map completed with data from the TESMaP voyage
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 25Auerbach explained that ideally, “one ? ed layers of geothermal activity,” noted changes over an area of 8,000 km2. They would have both instruments: seismom- Skett, “and the change in salinity and dis- found up to seven km3 of displaced ma- eters to detect and locate subsurface ac- solved particles for
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 23elatively inactive since 2014, the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai (HT-HH) submarine volcano began erupting on December 20, 2021, reaching peak intensity on January 15, 2022. This triggered tsunamis throughout the Pa- R ci? c, destroyed lives and infrastructure, and generated the largest explosion recorded
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 202024 Editorial Calendar January/Februay 2024 February 2024 March/April 2024 Ad close Jan.31 Ad close March 21 Ad close Feb. 4 Underwater Vehicle Annual Offshore Energy Digital Edition ?2?VKRUH:LQG$)ORDWLQJ)XWXUH ?2FHDQRJUDSKLF?QVWUXPHQWDWLRQ 6HQVRUV ?6XEVHD'HIHQVH ?6XEVHD'HIHQVH7KH+XQWIRU ?0DQLS
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 19About the Author vey with the pipe tracker is not required, resulting in signi? - Svenn Magen Wigen is a Cathodic Protection and corrosion control cant cost savings, mainly related to vessel charter. expert having worked across The major advantage of using FiGS on any type of subsea engineering, design
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 18TECH FEATURE IMR There are also weaknesses in terms of accuracy because of FiGS Operations and Bene? ts signal noise and the ability to detect small ? eld gradients. In Conventional approaches to evaluating cathodic protection this process there is a risk that possible issues like coating (CP)
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 17• Integrity assessment, and otherwise covered, e.g., by rock dump. As for depletion of • Mitigation, intervention and repair. sacri? cial anodes, this can be dif? cult or even impossible to Selecting the best method for collecting the data these work- estimate due to poor visibility, the presence of
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 16TECH FEATURE IMR Image courtesy FORCE Technology OPTIMIZING CATHODIC PROTECTION SURVEY USING NON-CONTACT SENSORS By Svenn Magen Wigen, FORCE Technology he principle behind sacri? cial anodes, which are water structures, reducing the need for frequent repairs and used to safeguard underwater pipelines
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 15sensor options for longer mission periods. About the Author For glider users working in ? sheries and conservation, Shea Quinn is the Product Line Manager the Sentinel can run several high-energy passive and active of the Slocum Glider at Teledyne Webb acoustic sensors, on-board processing, and imaging
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 13nyone familiar with glider hardware options integrated for a broad Glider answers that need,” said Shea autonomous underwater ve- range of missions. Quinn, Slocum Glider Product Line hicles (AUVs) is certainly “As the use of Slocum Gliders grew, Manager at TWR. A familiar with the popular- so did
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 11assist in identifying mines and act as a neutralization device. About the Author Bottom mines pose even greater chal- David R. Strachan is a defense analyst and founder of lenges. Unlike contact mines, bottom Strikepod Systems, a research and strategic advisory mines utilize a range of sensors to
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 9from marinas along the western coast. The exact number of lizing laser detection systems can detect mines just below the mines, as well as their locations, remains largely a mystery, surface, even those hiding in murky water. The Airborne Laser although reports suggest that over three hundred have been
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 4Editorial NIWA-Nippon Foundation TESMaP/ Rebekah Parsons-King www.marinetechnologynews.com ast month marked the resounding NEW YORK 118 E. 25th St., New York, NY 10010 return of Oceanology Interna- Tel: (212) 477-6700; Fax: (212) 254-6271 tional in London, perennially one Lof the world’s most important