Korea provides setting for classification-society approval and subsequent, successful sea trial
MAN Diesel & Turbo has announced that its latest, mark-9, 80-cm-bore engine recently passed its Type Approval Test (TAT). The super-long-stroke S80ME-C9 engine now powers a Maersk Line container vessel and successfully completed its TAT at HHI-EMD, the Engine & Machinery Division of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., in Korea.
The TAT programme ran over three days and was completed in January after a comprehensive series of test runs. All international classification societies were represented during the presentation of the engine, test-bed trials, safety-device tests, performance-data survey and a thorough, internal inspection of the engine and disassembled key components. The societies were, in turn, followed closely by a large group of interested parties, including representatives from the shipowner, shipyard, HHI-EMD and MAN Diesel & Turbo.
The conclusion of the TAT was marked by a ceremony where results were summarised before the IACS members signed the official document.
The engine The S80ME-C9 engine that underwent the TAT is the fourth in a series of 22 ordered by Maersk Line for its new fleet of 4,500-teu container vessels. Constructed at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea, each engine is delivered with waste-heat recovery (WHR) technology, including power-turbine and steam-turbine installations.
With WHR, exhaust gas is removed from the main engine before the turbocharger(s), which results in less air passing through the engine and, accordingly, a slightly increased fuel-oil consumption. However, by utilising the extra energy in the exhaust gas in the power and steam turbines, the overall efficiency of the complete system is increased significantly. When this is calculated in terms of fuel-oil consumption, a reduction of approximately 10 – 15% can be achieved.
Overall, the S80ME-C9 engine performed well both as an individual unit and in combination with WHR. Recently, MAN B&W engines introduced a new efficiency-optimised layout that includes increased scavenge-air and maximum-combustion pressures. With the latest technology, it is possible to reduce specific fuel-oil consumption by 2 g/kWh without increasing NOx emissions, a fact confirmed by the S80ME-C9 engine during testing.
Sea trials Upon completion of its test programme, the two-stroke MAN B&W engine was subsequently installed aboard the Maersk Line container ship. The newbuilding, powered by the S80ME-C9 type, then successfully underwent a week’s sea trials in March 2011.