Bigger engine means better fuel economy, and the best of the lot use only 118 grams of diesel per horsepower and hour (which is about half of what a regular truck engine consume). The downside is that the power to weight ratio sucks, with 21kg engine weight per horsepower, gearbox and fluids not included. Read more here: The most powerful diesel engine in the world. Cheers Olle
I actually think that with diesels bigger is better. In this case there's also an improved overall design that increase efficiency further than a simple upscaling would do. What puzzles me a bit is the background for these big engines. I thought shipping headed towards diesel-electric drive with multiple electrical engines mounted in steerable pods, like on QM2. Cheers Olle
Running a ship on a single engine might provide the best fuel economy for really long hauls, but the alternative to use a number of smaller diesels for a diese-electric drive have several advantages, as can be seen in the Ecoship project: Flexibility, the installed power generating capacity can be used for various ship functions and different situations; Propeller torque capability, full torque at any propeller speeds; Permits running diesel engines at a stable load with smoother transients; Permits running diesel engines at a constant speed; Permits running diesels engines at a more efficient load at optimum specific fuel consumption, hereby reducing emissions and impact on the environment; Uniform machinery; simple spare parts logistics, maintenance, crew training, etc; Flexibility in location of main engines allows to optimise cargo space volume and arrangement; Redundancy, both in the sense of safety and freedom in maintenance routines. Seems better, IMO... unless you have a really huge ship that run best with half a dozen of these mega-diesels powering the generators. Cheers Olle
"118 grams of diesel per horsepower and hour" So you are saying that huge engine runs a hour on 118 grams of diesel fuel???? That seems impossible!
i believe its 119 grams of diesel per horsepower in a hour time. there for if it makes 100 horse power then it uses ...... alot of diesel. -Major (ok so i failed math a few times, no biggie)
It's 0.260 £ = 117.934 g. Max power is 108,920 hp, but that's not at economy speed. It says total consumption is 1,660 gallons/h at economy speed. Question is if that's US or imperial gallons... That boiles down to about 60,000 hp at economy speed, a bit more if it's imperial and less if it's US gallons. Cheers Olle
