10 Steps for Converting a Conventional Marine Propulsion Engine to an Intelligent Electronic Controlled Engine

With the evolution of GREEN shipping in the maritime industry, the machinery and equipment which drive the industry are seeing a myriad of changes for cutting down pollution and operating costs.

The main engine of the ship is probably seeing most number of changes. The conventional 2 stroke marine propulsion engine, a mechanical achievement of skilled engineering, is now been converted into new electronically controlled smart engine, providing instant adaptability of the engine process which benefits both marine environment and ship operators.bal recession and be in sync with the strict maritime pollution norms.

In this article we will take a look as to how a conventional marine propulsion engine is converted into an intelligent electronic controlled engine.

For the conversion, let’s take the most popular marine propulsion engines in the shipping industry, MAN diesel engines and Wartsila/ Sulzer engines.

10 steps for converting MAN MC Series mechanically controlled engine into MAN ME electronically controlled engine:

1.  Remove Camshaft and reversing attachments (fuel roller and starting air cams) from the engine.

2.  Remove Chain Drive of the engine.

3.  Remove Fuel pumps, Exhaust valve actuating gear (Pumps) and starting air distributor.

4.  Attach Cylinder control system in each unit (CCU) comprising of starting air control, electronic fuel injection control, and exhaust valve electronic actuation. The latter two systems are operated by Hydraulic Control Unit (HCU).

5.  Provide system oil at 200 bars for operating HCU of each cylinder unit via cylinder control system.

6.  Attach a common hydraulic oil supply unit.

7.  Attach a tacho system unit in the crankshaft which gives engine speed signal to CCU.

8.  All these added systems are controlled by electronic main operating panel via solenoid valves and electronic signals.

9.  Remove conventional cylinder lubrication system and replace it with Alpha Adaptive Cylinder Lubrication Control Unit (ACC).

10. Remove conventional Piston and replace it with OROS type modern piston.

10 steps for converting a conventional Wartsila/Sulzer RTA engine into RTFlex electronically controlled engine:

1.  Remove Camshaft along with reversing servomotor connections from the engine.

2.  Remove Gear drive from the engine.

3.  Remove Fuel pumps, Exhaust valve actuating gear (Pumps) and starting air distributor.

4.  Attach an exhaust valve actuation, starting air control and common rail platform with Volumetric Injection Control Unit.

5.  Provide system oil at 200 bars.

6.  Provide fuel oil to common rail at 1000 bar.

7.  Remove conventional Cylinder Lubrication system and replace it with Pulse type Lubrication Control Unit.

8.  Remove conventional piston and replace it with Jet shaker type modern piston with Sulzer Integrated Piston Wear Analysis (SIPWA) system.

9.  A Delta tuning control system instead of conventional fuel injection system for cutting of fuel supply to one or more unit at low load.

10. Install a Tribo Pack which is a combination of design features of combustion chamber components for increasing Time Between Overhaul (TBO).

Watch the Video:

These are the basic changes required to convert a conventional mechanical controlled engine in to an electronically controlled engine.

Do you know more ways to convert a Conventional Marine Propulsion Engine to an Intelligent Electronic Controlled Engine? Let us know.

Image Credits:

marinelog, rivieramm

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