POWER September 2023 - 6

Companies Announce
Advancements for Diesel-,
Gas-Powered Engines
The global market for diesel- and gaspowered
engines continues to grow, as
manufacturing companies unveil products
designed to produce power more efficiently
while at the same time lowering
emissions. The market also is being supported
by the use of engines that can run
on multiple fuels, including both renewable
diesel and renewable natural gas.
Rolls-Royce, the UK-headquartered
group, recently opened a new production
facility for its mtu 2000 series engines
in Kluftern, near Friedrichshafen,
Germany. The company said relocating
the assembly of the mtu 2000 is part of a
modernization strategy that also will provide
long-term production space for the
company's 4000 series engine. Dr. Jorg
Stratmann, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power
Systems, said, " Our investments are a
clear commitment to the region and to
our products and solutions, which are
important building blocks of the energy
transition in various application areas.
We are convinced that, in conjunction
with sustainable fuels and new technologies,
the internal combustion engine will
play a central role in the future. Because
it's the fuel that matters, not the engine. "
Rolls-Royce is focusing on developing
engines that can run on a range of what
it calls sustainable fuels, in order to reduce
emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2
).
The company already is producing hybrid
engines for the power generation space,
in addition to engines for the rail and shipping
industries. Rolls-Royce has said it is
focused on providing power for energy
systems that cannot move to complete
electrification. Officials said recently that
renewable diesel-hydrogenated vegetable
oil, or HVO-is an important part of
its strategy for decarbonization, with many
of the group's mtu brand engines already
able to run on the fuel. Rolls-Royce said the
use of HVO supports as much as a 90%
reduction in CO2
; it also reduces emissions
of particulate and nitrogen oxide.
" We are doing everything we can to
make the internal combustion engine climate-neutral
with sustainable fuels and
in combination with new technologies, "
said Strattman. " But this can only be
achieved if the political framework conditions
are set so that alternative fuels can
be successfully ramped up. "
6
Rolls-Royce in July announced that its
mtu Kinetic PowerPack units, based on
the 4000 and 1600 series diesel engines,
have been approved to use renewable
diesel along with other synthetic fuels.
The company said that tests on the RollsRoyce
Power Systems test bench at the
Liège site in Belgium showed that the
use of HVO did not affect the engine's
performance during critical phases under
typical load conditions. Officials said the
engines using HVO performed the same
as an engine using standard diesel fuels.
Rolls-Royce said the Kinetic PowerPack
features a constantly rotating kinetic energy
storage unit with a flywheel, a diesel
engine, and a generator that doubles as
an electric motor for the purpose of compensation,
depending on the operating
mode. The company said a synchronous
generator acts as an electric motor in this
operating mode, driving a flywheel in the
kinetic energy storage unit, " which is laid
out as an electric machine with double rotor
system, which makes energy available
in the event of a power outage. "
Germany's MAN Energy Solutions
recently said its first ME-GA Otto-cycle
engine has completed gas trials in a liquefied
natural gas (LNG) carrier built by
Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries for
Knutsen OAS Shipping, a Norwegian
company. " This successful gas trial is a
very important milestone in the development
of the ME-GA engine, " said Bjarne
Foldager, head of two-stroke business
at MAN Energy Solutions. " We developed
this engine for easy application to
most contemporary LNG carrier designs
and, indeed, all ME-GA orders to date
have been exclusively for this segment. "
MAN said the Knutsen ME-GA engine
is equipped with exhaust gas recirculation
(EGR), which reduces methane-slip
emissions compared to first-generation
Otto-cycle engines without EGR.
" We have had more than 260 orders
for the ME-GA since its launch in May
2021 and our orderbook contains ME-GA
engine orders for ship deliveries stretching
all the way into 2027, " said Brian
Østergaard Sørensen, vice president and
head of research and development for
the two-stroke business at MAN Energy
Solutions. " EGR as standard enables
the ME-GA to significantly reduce emissions,
while simultaneously improving
fuel efficiency and operation in both gas
and fuel-oil operation. "
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Thomas S. Hansen, head of promotion
and customer support at MAN Energy
Solutions, said the ME-GA has continued
to evolve since development of the
technology began in 2018. Hansen said
the " completion of sea (trials) and gas
trials marks another significant step in its
timeline as it approaches its commercial
debut. " The engine is designed for LNG
carriers with the ability to " boil off " gas
as a source of fuel. The company said the
ME-GA " joins the well-established MEGI
diesel-cycle engine in MAN Energy
Solutions' two-stroke-engine portfolio,
which now offers both low- and highpressure,
dual-fuel solutions for operation
on LNG. "
MAN Energy Solutions also recently
announced that four of the company's
51/60DF dual-fuel engines will supply
power for a solar-glass production plant
on the island of Borneo, in the Malaysian
state of Sabah. The order includes three
18V51/60DF engines (Figure 1), and one
8L51/60DF engine. The engines will
work together as a generator set to provide
65 MW of generation capacity for
the industrial facility, which is currently
under construction near the city of Kota
Kinabalu in northern Borneo.
Martin Chmiela, regional sales head,
Power Plants, Asia-Pacific at MAN Energy
Solutions, said,
" Our dual-fuel
engines are ideally suited for the reliable
and decentralized power supply of
industrial plants in remote regions and
on islands. This power plant will be able
to run on both low-emission natural gas
and liquid fuels, offering the greatest
possible security of supply. " The company
said the four engines will mainly
run on low-emission natural gas, in the
form of compressed natural gas (CNG).
CNG, which is mostly methane, is com1.
Three 18V51/60DF engines (shown here)
from MAN Energy Solutions, along with one
of the company's 8L51/60DF units, will supply
power for a solar-glass production plant on
the island of Borneo, in the Malaysian state of
Sabah. Courtesy: MAN Energy Solutions
POWER | September 2023
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POWER September 2023

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