Wärtsilä, the marine industry’s leading solutions provider, has been selected to supply its flexible gas propulsion solution for a series of new LNG carriers to be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea. The selection of Wärtsilä gas engines is indicative of the current emphasis by owners on the latest technology, and a growing environmental commitment to reducing fuel consumption and lowering emissions. By installing the Wärtsilä 50DF engines, the ships will be capable of meeting the IMOs strict Tier III emission requirements.
Each vessel will be powered by ship-sets consisting of three 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 50DF in V-configuration, and one six-cylinder in-line Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engine. The scope of supply also includes the Wärtsilä UNIC C3 control system for each ship.
The engines will be manufactured by Wärtsilä-Hyundai Engine Company, the South Korean joint venture company owned by Wärtsilä and Hyundai Heavy Industries. Since the factory was inaugurated in October 2008, the company has delivered more than 80 engines to the Korean market.
The ships are to be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Korea. Delivery of the engines and other Wärtsilä equipment will begin during the first quarter of 2012, and the first ship is scheduled to be delivered in 2013.
Industry leading technology
The Wärtsilä 50DF engine incorporates the company’s famous flexible dual-fuel technology, and has been the propulsion generator of choice for LNG carriers since being introduced in 2006. Before this order, 36 vessels in operation are powered by Wärtsilä 50DF engines, and the engines for a further 20 vessels are awaiting delivery. The reliability of this engine is further emphasised by the fact that it has already accumulated more than a million hours of running time in the marine market.
The engines offer wide flexibility in fuel choice, and can be efficiently operated on natural gas, heavy fuel oil (HFO), biofuels, marine diesel oil (MDO), or in fuel sharing mode. The same lube oil can be used regardless of the type of fuel. When operating on gas, emissions from the engines are minimized and allow the vessel to meet the IMOs Tier III standard without the use of secondary equipment, such as Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) or Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) units. This provides owners and operators with the simplest means to meet current and future emissions control legislation.
The Wärtsilä 50DF engine also features superior propulsion efficiency, lower fuel consumption, and significant operating cost savings.
“The Wärtsilä DF technology not only more than satisfies the commercial requirements for LNG carrier operators, it gives flexibility in fuel choice and allows them to comply with the very latest environmental legislation. Furthermore, in gas mode the power efficiency of the Wärtsilä 50DF engine exceeds 49 per cent, which is truly outstanding. The new vessels will incorporate all the operational benefits made possible by this technology,” says Jaakko Eskola, Group Vice President, Wärtsilä Ship Power.
The vessels will also be equipped with the Wärtsilä UNIC C3 engine control technology to provide a complete embedded engine management system. With some eight years of successful operating experience as a reference point, the UNIC C3 has proven itself to provide better redundancy and greater fault tolerance than earlier systems.
This newbuilding order represents a further step in the recovery of the shipping market. However, the combination of the business slowdown with increasingly stringent environmental legislation has meant that the industry has had to make adjustments. Wärtsilä’s fuel efficient and environmentally sustainable solutions are playing an important role in helping owners and operators to adjust to the new realities of the shipping industry.
