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Wärtsilä 50df

Wärtsilä Wins Historic Engine Order

Rob Almeida
Total Views: 424
November 10, 2014

Wärtsilä 50DF Engine. Photo (c) Wärtsilä via Flickr

Wärtsilä announced today what is likely their largest single order ever order for marine engines.

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) yard in South Korea has ordered a total of 54 Wärtsilä 50DF dual fuel engines to power 172,600 cbm icebreaking LNG carriers being built to serve the Yamal LNG project in Northern Russia. The ships will be owned by one joint venture between Teekay LNG Partners and China LNG Shipping (CLNG), and another joint venture between China Shipping LNG Investment Co.,Ltd. (CSLNG) and Japan based Mitsui O.S.K.

Wartsila notes these engines are capable of operating on liquefied natural gas (LNG), heavy fuel oil (HFO), or low-viscosity marine diesel oil (MDO), but LNG will be the main type of fuel to be used for these particular vessels. Each vessel will have both a 12-cylinder and 9-cylinder Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engine. The total power output from engines is 64,350 kW per vessel.

Executive Vice President Atte Palomaki notes in a phone call these engines will be built in Okpo, South Korea at the Wärtsilä-Hyundai engine manufacturing plant, a joint venture between the two companies.

In a conversation with Wartsila CEO Bjorn Rosengren during the SMM Hamburg trade show this past September, he made it abundantly clear his company is focused heavily on developing the LNG value chain, but that it’s a “chicken and the egg” situation when it comes to using LNG as a bunker fuel.

With scores of LNG tankers currently on order, the supply of LNG to ports globally is rapidly developing and with emissions control areas clamping down on ship emissions, it’s only a matter of time before LNG powered engines become the dominant engine type globally.

This order is a big step in that direction. To date, Wärtsilä has supplied more than 160 ships with 50DF engines.

Rosengren notes that it’s not only ships that will be taking advantage, but LNG-fueled power barges will be built to supplement shorebased power needs as well a small LNG bunkering vessels.

“This very important order once again emphasises the technical leadership that Wärtsilä has established in dual-fuel engine technology. The fitting of Wärtsilä 50DF engines onboard the first LNG carriers in 2006 set a trend in the industry and since that introduction, 65 percent of all new LNG carriers have been fitted with Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines. The strong success of this particular engine over the alternatives is based on its superior propulsion efficiency and the clear environmental advantages that operating on gas allows,” says Mr Lars Anderson, Vice President, Wärtsilä Ship Power.

About the Wärtsilä 50DF engine, via Wartsila:

The Wärtsilä 50DF engine is manufactured in various configurations from a 6-cylinder in-line version to an 18-cylinder version in V-configuration, giving 950/975 kW per cylinder and a total maximum mechanical output of 17,100 kW. The engine speed is 500 or 514 rpm with 50Hz and 60 Hz applications. The maximum thermal efficiency is higher than with any other gas engine.

When operating in gas mode, the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are at least 85 percent below those specified in the current IMO regulations, and CO2 emissions are some 25 percent less than those of a conventional marine engine running on diesel fuel. Additionally, the sulphur oxide (SOx) and particle emissions are negligible at almost zero percent.

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