The Largest And Most Powerful Diesel Engine in The World

Mar 21, 2013 44 comments

Container ships are some of the largest and heaviest vessels that plough on the seas. They measure up to 1,200 feet in length and can move 10,000 to 16,000, 20-foot steel containers in one trip. To push these vessels through the water require immense amount of energy, that are derived from massive diesel engines. Some of the larger cargo ships have engines that look like this.

RT-flex96C-1

This is RT-flex96C - a two-stroke turbocharged diesel engine designed by the Finnish manufacturer Wärtsilä and is currently the largest and most powerful diesel engine in the world. Standing at 13.5 meters high and 26.59 meters long, it is almost as big as a small apartment. It weighs over 2,300 tonnes and its largest 14-cylinder version produces 80,080 kW of power.

The 14-cylinder version was put into service in September 2006 aboard the Emma Mærsk, a container ship – the largest at that time. The design is based on the older RTA96C engine, but revolutionary common rail technology has done away with the traditional camshaft, chain gear, fuel pumps and hydraulic actuators. The result is better performance at low revolutions per minute (rpm), lower fuel consumption, and lower harmful emissions.

One of the most remarkable feature of this behemoth is the high thermal efficiency, which exceeds 50%. This means that 50% of the heat generated by burning fuel is converted to power. For comparison, most automotive and small aircraft engines can only achieve 25-30% thermal efficiency. Even at its most efficient power setting, the big 14-cylinder engine consumes 1,660 gallons of heavy fuel oil per hour.

Some stats about the engine:

Bore: 960 mm
Stroke: 2,500 mm
Displacement: 1,820 liters per cylinder
Mean piston speed: 8.5 meters per second
Engine speed: 22–102 RPM
Torque: 7,603,850 newton metres (5,608,310 lbf·ft) @ 102 rpm
Power: up to 5,720 kW per cylinder, 34,320–80,080 kW (46,680–108,920 BHP) total
Mass of fuel injected per cylinder per cycle: ~160 g (about 6.5 ounces) @ full load
Crankshaft weight: 300 tons

Emma-Mærsk

The Emma Mærsk

RT-flex96C-3

RT-flex96C-5

RT-flex96C-7

RT-flex96C-8

RT-flex96C-9

RT-flex96C-4

Sources: Wikipedia, Dark Roasted Blend, Emma Mærsk

Comments

  1. Man can do this yet we can't stop hunger and wars.

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    Replies
    1. But You know how to stop world hunger and wars over the globe Blacka ?

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    2. Why should we? Hunger and war drive effort.

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    3. the technology to do such things COMES from war and the need to feed people. Bleeding hearts, your brain is always in the "off" position.

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    4. The designers of this engine can show you blueprints and specs for the design efficiency and metals used, plus have research and design tests on record going back decades for study.
      No two regions suffering from war, hunger, or both have the same root causes; ethnicity, local climate, geological conditions, religion, culture and scarcity all play roles in the causes of hunger and war, but by far the single biggest contributors are humankind's greed, ignorance and indifference. Your mission BLACKA, should you choose to accept it, will be to find a common, planet wide solution to this issue. Good luck........

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  2. I don't know about wars, but a ship this big can carry a whole lotta groceries.

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    Replies
    1. How did they assemble that engine

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  3. 2strokes don't have camshafts

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    Replies
    1. Sure they do...eveesel?r heard of the Detroit Di

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    2. It has intake ports like a bike and exhaust valves ran by cam

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    3. Imagine a motor mount breaking lol

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    4. They had camshafts until this common rail system.

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    5. They do have camshafts because they have exhaust valves. The new MAN ME series (marine diesel engines) do not have camshaft because the exhaust valves are controlled electronically.

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  4. this engine as powerful as a GE90-115B turbo fan's

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    Replies
    1. I've never seen a GE90 converted into a gas turbine. The closest that GE makes is the LMS100, which makes approx 150,000 hp. They do make the 9HA gas turbine that makes approx 730,000 hp, but it's not an aeroderivative gas turbine, but is made specifically for powering power plants.

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  5. Thanks for that completely unnecessary and unwanted info. Great work on the copy/paste.

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  6. Replies
    1. Compressed air

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    2. You start it by standing well away from the air intake, or exhaust - indeed any moving part ;-)

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    3. You pull the start rope, duh.

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  7. imagin kicking a rod

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  8. 25480000 cc engine

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  9. does the exhaust exit under the ship?

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    Replies
    1. nope. threw the smoke staff's on top.

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    2. In the funnel are pipes coiled to gather waste heat for hot water on the ship and in some cases to make steam to either dtive a small steram turbine, or in past times steam to act under the piston as in been a bit of a steam engine,

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  10. Why don't we use stargate electric motors (if you don't know what this is Google it) basically if this design was incorporated internally into every electric motor and the speeds were doubled on just a 12v input and more than quadrupled on 24v input just by this simplistic modification over the exterior of this electric motor using neodymium magnets staggered based on field lines. So more power from less voltage aka smaller battery banks to run your motor as well with torque and extra power two charge the battery banks off the same motor bieng powered by the batteries. If you don't get it a little Google it stargate motor.

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    Replies
    1. Because it does not work at the scale they need it to, that is why.

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    2. For those wondering, a stargate motor is a free energy device - pseudoscience.

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    3. Titanic used electric motors - scale is not an issue.

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  11. BrightVerge: when we talk about ship's length, width and hight, please feet and or meters are much better than stories or football fields. also tonnage stats are good. I know you want to put things in perspective but we are smart enough to use real figures and understand.

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  12. how they assemble this its impossible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. just like and other inline13. just much much MUCH bigger parts and with a massive engine lift.

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  13. heck of an engine

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  14. please explain how they can change a piston & connecting rod in one cylinder with the engine running.Iam a diesel mechanic & this has me baffled.Please respond.Thankyou.

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  15. Duke, they cannot do this with engine running. They can 'shut down' a cylinder if it has problems, i.e. no combustion taking place and no compression, but parts will still move. At sea, if conditions allow, the engine can be stopped and a piston removed & replaced in less than two hours.

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    Replies
    1. Who will replace a piston in less than two hours I'll give him a medal

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  16. How can it claim 50% of efficiency when any diesel motor is limited by the Carnot termal efficiency (around 40%)?

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    Replies
    1. I suspect both slightly higher average cylinder temps (due to large cylinder volume) and Exhaust heat recovery, getting exhaust temps closer to atmospheric

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  17. I could drive my truck through the cylinders on this thing.

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  18. "it is almost as big as a small apartment" Where on earth is this a "small apartment"?

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  19. Would have been nice to see the crosshead bearing.

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  20. old air force power tech and have remove a piston with motor running slow down to 2 rpm and had a cure of 12 and had the piston out in 2 hours . Piston was 16 across and 4.5 tons was 6 cly and air start oil change was 10,000 gal

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