TURBOCHARGERS
NEW ELECTRICALLY-ASSISTED TURBOCHARGER OFFERS AGILITY For projects where high agility is needed, MTU can now consider using its new electrically assisted turbocharger, which has successfully passed its field tests, Dr Kech said. This was announced in 2018 as a solution to the frustration of ‘turbo-lag’, which occurs at low speeds because there is not enough exhaust to drive the turbocharger. MTU’s solution uses an electric motor to support the turbocharger using technology licensed from G+L innotec and it appears that its development is on track or even ahead of that 2018 announcement: at that time, it predicted a market debut for its first engines with electrically-assisted turbocharging in 2021. Meanwhile, it is focusing development efforts on increasing turbocharger efficiency by developing individual solutions for specific engines. In a way, this is returning to its historical roots, which date back 45 years to when the first MTU engine (series 396) was fitted with an in-house ZR turbocharger, Dr Kech recalled. At that time, turbocharger systems were matched to an engine’s specific requirements, he said, an approach that gave way some years ago to a modular system that could be used across engine platforms. But now “trends in engine development demand more and more specific turbocharging systems that need individual solutions,” he said. “They impose various requirements such as efficiency, compressor pressure ratio and map width, power-toweight ratio and acceleration capability.” In response, MTU is supplementing its modular approach by applying “modern design methods to cope with the broad set of requirements imposed by [each] engine application,” he explained.
Credit: MTU
The watchwords for MTU’s turbocharger development are agility and efficiency, its director of development, turbocharging and fluid systems, Johannes Kech, told The Motorship
In particular, MTU uses “fully automated, multidisciplinary optimisation methods for wheels, flow guiding systems and bends,” which shortens design cycles and minimises development efforts, he said. It also delivers high efficiency and high pressure ratios and the approach is now being applied to gas engines for stationary applications “to ensure highest efficiencies and a minimum of CO2 emissions,” he said.
8 An electric motor ensures that extra fresh air is available whenever the engine needs it
First delivery for new ABB models Two new ABB turbochargers have completed their testing and the first delivery of one of the new models was scheduled to take place as this issue went to press, Alexandros Karamitsos, ABB’s head of global sales for low-speed turbocharging, told The Motorship in late April. The first A260-L turbocharger following in Q4. Although he could not disclose what ships they were destined for, he said that “a good number” of orders for the new units had been confirmed, destined for containerships, chemical tankers, small product tankers, LPG carriers, bulk carriers and general cargo ships. “The market has been very responsive,” he said, describing them as “the ideal duo for vessels up to 50,000dwt.” This is a segment where turbocharger cost and size are particularly relevant, and both of these new compact models will “fit through a door,” he said.
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Last June’s CIMAC World Congress was given a pre-launch overview of the new additions to ABB’s range, at which time they were still in development, and their official launch took place in December at the Marintec China exhibition. Now, with tests completed at ABB’s research centre at Baden in Switzerland, their “high performance levels have been reconfirmed as expected, demonstrating their leading efficiency,” he said. According to a presentation prepared for Marintec visitors, the new members of its A200 series are 50% lighter than the previous generation and 2% more efficient, helping operators save fuel. The same presentation predicted that service costs will be 30% less than the previous generation of turbochargers. It was costs that Mr Karamitsos particularly emphasised. Because they are smaller than
their predecessors, the new models have a lower CAPEX and are easier for engine builders to fit. From a shipowner’s point of view, their smaller size will reduce operating costs. There will be further savings because of their impact on fuel consumption. The A255-L covers engine powers of 3-6MW and the A260-L is intended for engines of 5-7MW, which overlap its existing A160-L. But that model will continue to be available since it has become an established turbocharger in many ship machinery specifications, Mr Karamitsos said. In developing these turbochargers, ABB has collaborated with the two leading low-speed engine designers, MAN Energy Solutions and WinGD, “as a response to their demands for higher turbocharger performance for their modern small-bore engines,” Mr Karamitsos said.
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