Navantia, the Spanish shipbuilder, recently completed the 'José María Entrecanales', a modern Ro-Ro vessel, at its Bahía de Cádiz facility in southwestern Spain. Built for Spanish shipping line, Acciona Transmediterránea, the ship is powered by four MAN 9L48/60B main engines.
Navantia is also currently finishing a second Ro-Ro vessel, the 'Superfast-Baleares' for Acciona Transmediterránea, with delivery planned for May 2010. The vessel has been fitted with the same engine configuration.
The 'José María Entrecanales' is powered by four nine-cylinder MAN 48/60B main engines, each delivering 10,800kW at 500rpm. This configuration is widely used in tankers, cruise liners and container ships as the successful 48/60 series is well-known for its excellent performance and flexibility.
The 48/60 series has been redesigned recently with a focus on further improving performance. Primarily, this concerns the cylinder head where a higher-pressure injection results in improved atomisation and better combustion, ultimately reducing both fuel consumption and emission levels. The cylinder head also contains a system for automatically adjusting injection timing (VIT) to minimise nitrogen oxide emissions.
The TCA axial-flow turbocharger that MAN Diesel & Turbo initially introduced to the market in 2001 also plays a vital role in the success of the 48/60B engine and the 'José María Entrecanales' has integrated the TCA66 model into its propulsion system.
The turbocharger's components have been optimised with regard to flow control and stress reduction through 3D-modelling, CFD and FEM calculations, resulting in highly resistant turbine blades. In addition, the removal of the turbocharger's damping wire has also improved efficiency and facilitates maintenance.
Another new design feature is the incorporation of high-performance thrust bearings and floating bushes to minimise mechanical losses and improve turbine performance. Furthermore, inspection of the thrust bearing no longer requires removal of the shaft.
Auxiliary engines
The new Ro-Ro cargo vessel features three eight-cylinder, auxiliary MAN L21/31 engines, delivering 1,93 kW per engine at 1,000rpm and characterised by a pipe- less design. This enables the swapping in of a spare cylinder unit aboard, dispensing with the need to break voyages to return to the workshop in the event of breakdown.
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