MAN Diesel's type 32/44CR four-stroke, medium speed engine with common rail fuel injection has recently passed the final milestone on its way to commercial applications in the marine sector.
At the MAN Diesel works in Augsburg, Germany, the first production version of the 32/44CR recently completed its type approval programme in the presence of representatives from the shipyard, the ship owner and the classification societies American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, Det Norske Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, China Classification Society and Registro Italiano Navale.
As a result of the approval, the engine is now certified for use as both a propulsion engine and to drive shipboard generator sets. Of special significance is that the 32/44CR has been cleared for use in propulsion systems based on only a single engine. The 32/44CR is MAN Diesel's first all-electronic engine and the first to be offered exclusively with the company's own, in-house developed version of common rail and no other form of fuel injection.
Electronics is the enabling technology of common rail fuel injection and type approval evidences the classification societies' confidence in MAN Diesel's home grown SaCoSone on-engine safety and control system. SaCoSone features a number of inbuilt redundancy features which guarantee that the 32/44CR's electronically controlled systems continue to function dependably even when individual components malfunction or fail.
As part of the test procedure on the first production engine one complete cylinder unit and a crankshaft main bearing shell was removed from the engine and examined. As expected, all components were still in very good condition.
As an integral part of the type approval process, during the engine development process the original six-cylinder inline 6L32/44CR prototype had already been subject to an extreme condition test in the presence of a number of classification societies. The prototype engine was run for an extended period (54 hours) at both maximum permissible output (117 percent) and idling condition with its lube oil and coolant temperatures and pressures close to their alarm limits. After this procedure a more comprehensive range of key components was removed and inspected for accelerated wear.
Interestingly, the engine involved in type approval was the first of two inline eight cylinder type 8L32/44CR heavy fuel engines purchased by K/S Combi Lift, a joint venture between ship owners Harren & Partner of Germany and J Poulsen Shipping of Denmark. The engines are each rated 4,480kW at 750rpm and will be used in the 'Combi Dock III', a versatile semi-submersible heavy lift vessel built at the Christ steel fabrication works in Danzig, Poland and currently under completion at the Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven shipyard in Germany.
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