A recent conference held brought into focus the opportunities existing for private investors.
A Canadian physicist and inventor Kazimierz Holubowicz puzzled over the low efficiency of the reciprocating engine operating under normal combustion conditions because he knew that the energy released by fuel exploding, is very much more than under normal combustion. The obvious problem was how to build an engine that would allow fuel to explode (detonate) without the engine exploding! He came up with a design that uses a second free floating piston in a very long cylinder. The free piston oscillates as the main piston is driven downwards turning the crankshaft with the exhaust in the upper cylinder expending most of its energy, harmful SOx and NOx products are dissolved allowing simple treatment and disposal. High torque, low speed and multi fuel capabilities are all attributes claimed for this engine as are low fuel consumption with zero CO and particulate emission. The linear torque vs speed characteristics of this engine make the use of a transmission unnecessary for several applications.
In an earlier blog Reducing Air Drag, I mentioned the organization Greenwave. They have another wind power project called the Wind Engine.It is a mechanical sail uses the Magnus Effect and in its practical ship application has a tall cylindrical rotor as pioneered by Flettner in 1926. Test carried out by Auckland University, New Zealand, determined that the thrust produced by the Flettner rotor is eight to ten times more than a sail of equal area. Further tests with a 25:1 model ship indicate that wind assisted propulsion can deliver significant fuel and emission reductions with favorable winds and provides good maneuverability including crash stop performance. Lloyd’s Register provided technical assistance and expertise, for the construction of a full sized prototype rotor that was erected on a site in NE England. The next stage of the project is on board ship tests at sea which will be independently monitored by Lloyd's Register and is scheduled to take place during 2010.
It’s not often that we hear of a new type of piston engine that claims to be lighter, more powerful, less emissions and more efficient that the engines we have today, added to this is the capability to operate on a variety of fuels. Its design combines features of the Jumo J205 diesel aircraft engine and the venerable Volkswagen boxer engine. The inventor of this new engine is Prof Peter Hofbauer, former Director of Engine Development at Volkswagen Group, and later with the company developing the engine EcoMotors, established in early 2008. The engine is a turbocharged two stroke Opposed Piston Opposed Cylinder engine (OPOC) and as a high speed engine has automotive, marine, agricultural, stationary and generator applications. It has only one crankshaft and the opposed pistons are moved by rods attached to the single crankshaft. One cylinder module comprises of two opposed cylinders and the concept allows engines of greater power to be produced by adding more modules. The largest version of the OPOC engine module so far, has a cylinder bore of 100mm yet produces 325hp at 3,500rpm for a weight of under 300 lbs giving a power to weight ration of 1.1 hp per lb. Sluggishness in acceleration due to turbocharger lag is eliminated by the novel use of an electric motor used to spin up the turbo when the throttle is cracked open – a supercharger in effect.
In a cooperative development with Stop-Choc part of the Hutchinson Group, MTU the diesel engine manufacturer is offering a range of active engine mounts for some of their engine series. In the MTU system each of the four engine mounts consist of a vibration absorbing mount fixed to a solid box containing three vibration sensors and three force actuators, one for each axis. The inputs are fed to a control unit and using special control algorithms are analyzed and an appropriate signal is generated and fed back to the mount actuators resulting in a net decrease in noise and vibration.
Electronic controls are set to rule the waves
Last month a briefing to underwriters in London covered the increasing incidence of severe engine damage. The drive towards low sulfur fuels is causing fuel refining processes to change, some of which result in below standard HFO being delivered to ships. A higher presence of particles called catalyst fines is precipitating very costly engine damage. Cat fines have always been present in bunker oils and standard ISO 8217 (2005) permits up to 80 ppm, but the problem is that more than 15 – 20 ppm already causes damage to engine parts. The components most at risk to accelerated wear are: the fuel pump, piston rings and cylinder liners. Sadly the prognosis is that with the increasing demand for low sulfur fuel, engine failures are going to increase. Until fuel standards improve a 100 per cent fuel management policy to purify the fuel is the only guarantee to avoid these problems.
The high cost and complexity of modern ships may point to an alternative to the sale or scrapping a vessel as it ceases to fulfill all the requirements of its original task.
In some cases new or upgrading older engines, in other cases the propulsion configuration is changed, rewarding the operator with lower fuel costs and emissions.