Experience with Sulzer Common-Rail Engines*

Kaspar Aeberli
Director, Marketing & Sales Support, Marine
Wärtsilä Switzerland Ltd, Winterthur

Summary
The paper outlines the new Sulzer RT-flex60C which is the world’s first low-speed marine engine to be designed and built from
the outset with electronically-controlled common-rail systems for fuel injection and valve actuation. Reference is made to the
building and testing of the first RT-flex60C engines in Italy and Korea. As the Sulzer RT-flex common-rail system is radical new
technology for low-speed marine diesel engines, the paper also reports on the service experience with the first series-built Sulzer
RT-flex engine; namely the Sulzer 6RT-flex58T-B engine which entered service in September 2001 in the bulk carrier “Gypsum
Centennial” and has already exceeded 7500 running hours.
The Sulzer RT-flex engine programme has recently been extended to lower powers with the new Sulzer RT-flex50 engine and
to the higher powers with adaptation of well-established large-bore engines of the Sulzer RT-flex96C and RT-flex84T-D types
for the largest container liners and tankers.

Introduction essential. Common rail was seen as the road ahead.

The latest step in the above chronology is particularly
The major steps in marine diesel technology have been
significant as the Sulzer RT-flex60C engine is the first
surprisingly few: the two-stroke engine cycle in about
large low-speed marine diesel engine designed from the
1905, airless fuel injection in the 1930s, welded
construction in the late 1940s, and exhaust-gas
turbocharging and the use of heavy fuel oil both in the Table I: Some key dates
1950s.
1981: First tests with electronically-controlled fuel
Now we have another major step – electronically-
injection on a Sulzer low-speed engine, using
controlled common-rail fuel injection, introduced in the
individual, hydraulically-operated fuel injection
Sulzer RT-flex engines. Although common-rail fuel
pumps.
injection is itself not new, the addition of integral
electronic control allows full use to be made of the 1990 March: World’s first multi-cylinder
flexibility possible with common-rail injection. This electronically-controlled uniflow two-stroke engine
makes the Sulzer RT-flex engines the most advanced low- is started on the Winterthur test bed. Tested until
speed marine engines available in the world today. 1995.
The Sulzer RT-flex electronically-controlled common- 1993: Project started to develop the Sulzer RT-flex
rail system has already been well described [1, 2, 3]. common-rail system.
However, note should be made of some key dates, see
Table I. 1996: Component testing began for the Sulzer
It is ten years since development of the Sulzer RT-flex RT-flex common-rail system.
common-rail system began and more than 20 years since 1998 June: Starting of the first Sulzer RT-flex full-
the first tests were made with electronically-controlled fuel scale engine on the Winterthur test bed.
injection in Winterthur.
The change in injection concept from individual, 2000 February: Order for the first series-built Sulzer
hydraulically-operated fuel injection pumps to a common- RT-flex engine.
rail system in 1993 was made because the system with 2001 January: Official shop test of the first series-
individual pumps did not offer potential for further built Sulzer RT-flex engine, the Sulzer
technological development despite it having integral 6RT-flex58T-B in Korea.
electronic control. Electronic control was seen as
2001 September: Sea trials of the “Gypsum
insufficient, a new fuel injection concept was recognised as
Centennial” with the Sulzer 6RT-flex58T-B engine.
2002 October: Official shop test of the first Sulzer
* Paper presented at The Motor Ship Marine Propulsion RT-flex60C engine.
Conference, Hamburg, 7–8 May 2003.

—1— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003

bedplate up solely as an electronically-controlled engine
with common-rail fuel injection. In fact, it is not available
in any other form.
When the new 600mm-bore engine was announced in
mid 1999, it was envisaged that it would be primarily
built as a conventional engine with camshaft-actuated fuel
injection pumps, etc. However, the full-scale tests with the
new RT-flex electronically-controlled common-rail system
were progressing so well that it was decided to complete
the design of the new 600mm-bore engine solely in the
RT-flex60C form.

The Sulzer RT-flex60C

The market need for a new Sulzer two-stroke engine
design in the region of 600 mm bore was seen a few years
ago when there was an increasing number of container
liners of 5500 TEU capacity or larger being ordered. It
was evident that there would be a growing market for
container feeder vessels to serve these larger container
liners, and also that the sizes of feeder vessels would tend
to become larger, perhaps in the capacity range of 1200–
3000 TEU.
Market research among shipowners and shipbuilders
showed that the various sizes of feeder vessels envisaged
would need compact engines in the power range of around
12,000 to 19,000 kW for the envisaged range of ship
speeds. There was clearly a need for more power than is
available from the RTA62U-B type, and with a higher Fig. 1: Cross section of the Sulzer RT-flex60C engine.
shaft speed than the RTA58T-B engine type. [02#064]
Thus the decision was made to introduce the Sulzer selected as the best fit between the priorities of operating
RT-flex60C which would cover the required power range and manufacturing costs.
with five to eight cylinders at an output of 2360 kW/ As usual for low-speed engines, the installed maximum
cylinder. The nine-cylinder model was added later to continuous power of the engine can be freely selected over
extend the power range to 21,240 kW. The rotational a layout field down to 70 per cent nominal power and 80
speed selected, 114 rev/min, is a little faster than would be per cent nominal speed to give flexibility for exactly
ideal hydrodynamically for suitable propellers but it was matching individual ship requirements.

Fig. 2: Sulzer 7RT-flex60C

engine in Wärtsilä’s Trieste
factory.
[03#023]

—2— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003

 fully-integrated electronic control.
Table II: Principal parameters of the Sulzer
The key feature of the RT-flex system is that it gives
RT-flex60C engines
complete freedom in the timing and operation of fuel
Bore mm 600 injection and exhaust valve actuation. This flexibility is
Stroke mm 2250 employed to obtain benefits in terms of reduced engine
Output, R1 kW/cyl 2360 running costs, less exhaust emissions and steady operation
bhp/cyl 3210 at very low speeds.
Speed range, R1–R3 rpm 114–91 Additionally, redundancy is a natural key feature of the
BMEP at R1 bar 19.5 common-rail concept, giving safety and reliability.
Pmax bar 155
Mean piston speed at R1 m/s 8.55 Reduced running costs
Number of cylinders 5–9 The reduced running costs come from reduced
BSFC: maintenance requirements and a lower part-load fuel
at full load, R1 g/kWh 170 consumption. The fuel saving, however, is limited by the
g/bhph 125 need to comply with the NOX regulation of the MARPOL
at 85% load, R1 g/kWh 167 73/78 convention.
g/bhph 123 Maintenance costs become more predictable through
better balanced operation and better retention of engine
settings over many running hours. Excellent balance in
The new RT-flex60C engine is equally well suited to
power developed between the different engine cylinders
vessel types other than container carriers, such as reefers,
and from cycle to cycle is provided by the common-rail
large Ro-Ro vessels and large car carriers with similar
system with its volumetric control. As engine settings are
requirements for engine power and rotational speed. The
made electronically, the ‘as-new’ settings are retained so
height of the RT-flex60C, 8.52 m overall above the shaft
that engine performance such as fuel consumption does
centreline, is particularly advantageous for such vessels.
not deteriorate over time. The better running of the
The piston withdrawal height of 10.4 m to the hook can
engine will also make for better prediction of maintenance
be reduced by special lifting tools.
timing and allow times between overhauls to be extended.
Shipbuilders in East Asia have also shown an interest in
employing the RT-flex60C in bulk carriers and tankers, Smokeless operation
for which there is a tendency to operate at higher ship
A clearly visible benefit of RT-flex engines is their
speeds.
smokeless operation at all ship speeds. This was well
demonstrated during the sea trials of the “Gypsum
Sulzer RT-flex Common-Rail System Centennial”. The superior combustion performance with
This Sulzer RT-flex engine is basically a standard Sulzer the common-rail system is achieved by maintaining the
RTA low-speed two-stroke marine diesel engine, except fuel injection pressure at the optimum level right across
that, instead of the usual camshaft and its gear drive, fuel the engine speed range. In addition, the selective shut-off
injection pumps, exhaust valve actuator pumps and of single injectors and an optimised exhaust valve timing
reversing servomotors, it is equipped with a common-rail help to keep smoke emissions below the visible limit at
system for fuel injection and exhaust valve actuation, and very low speeds.

Fig. 3: Cylinder tops of the

7RT-flex60C engine with the
side panels of the rail unit
open for access.
[03#031]

—3— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003

 Lower running speeds
Sulzer RT-flex engines also have the advantage of steady
running at lower speeds than engines with mechanically-
controlled injection. This is made possible by the precise
control of injection, together with the higher injection
pressures achieved at low speed, and the sequential shut-
off of injectors. The result is that RT-flex engines can run
very steadily, and without smoking, at 10–12 per cent of
nominal speed. This has been well confirmed in service in
the “Gypsum Centennial”.

High reliability and redundancy

Although particular attention has been given to making
the RT-flex system reliable, the common-rail concept has
great reliability through inherent redundancy.
The multiple fuel and servo oil supply pumps have
adequate redundancy for the engine to deliver full power
with one fuel pump and one servo oil pump out of action,
and a strictly proportional reduction in power should
further pumps be out of action. High-pressure fuel and
servo-oil delivery pipes, and the electronic systems are also
duplicated for redundancy.

Sulzer RT-flex installation

The RT-flex system is seen on the engine as two principal
Fig. 4: The RT-flex supply unit on the first 7RT-flex60C with elements: the supply unit on the side of the engine and the
fuel pumps to the right and servo oil pumps to the left of the rail unit along the side of the cylinder covers. There is also
gear drive. a filter unit for the servo oil. For the first two RT-flex60C
[03#040] engines, the supply unit is arranged low on the manifold
side but subsequent engines have it higher on the opposite
side. This keeps the engine ‘footprint’ small so that
Fig. 5: Gear drive for the supply unit in the RT-flex60C RT-flex60C engines can be located far aft in ships with
showing how second-order balancer masses may be added to fine afterbodies.
the intermediate wheels. In the supply unit, a number of high-pressure pumps
[02#180] deliver heated fuel at the usual pressure ready for injection.
The pumps have suction control to regulate the fuel
delivery volume according to engine requirements. Servo
oil for injection control and exhaust valve actuation is
provided at a lower pressure by a number hydraulic pumps
also on the supply unit.
Fuel is delivered from the common rail through an
individual injection control unit for each engine cylinder
to standard fuel injection valves. The control units, using
quick-acting Sulzer rail valves, regulate the timing of fuel
injection, control the volume of fuel injected, and set the
shape of the injection pattern. The three fuel injection
valves in each cylinder cover are separately controlled so
that, although they normally act in unison, they can also
be programmed to operate separately as necessary.
The exhaust valves are operated in much the same way
as in existing Sulzer RTA engines by a hydraulic pushrod
but with the actuating energy now coming from a servo
oil rail at 200 bar pressure. The electronically-controlled
actuating unit for each cylinder gives full flexibility for
valve opening and closing patterns. This unit utilises
exactly the same Sulzer rail valves as are used for
controlling fuel injection.

—4— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003

The Core Engine
However, a new marine engine, such as the RT-flex60C,
needs more than electronically-controlled fuel injection to
ensure satisfactory performance and service behaviour. It
needs, at its core, to be a good basic engine.
For example, attention to piston-running behaviour is
essential for engine reliability and long times between
overhauls. For this reason the RT-flex60C incorporates
TriboPack technology. This comprises a combination of
design measures, including deep-honed liners of
appropriate material with sufficient hard phase, multi-level
lubrication, pre-profiled rings in all four piston grooves,
chromium-ceramic coating on the top ring, anti-polishing
ring at the top of the liner, increased thickness of
chromium layer in the piston ring grooves, insulating
tubes in the cooling bores of the liner, and mid-stroke
liner insulation according to the engine rating.
Most of the TriboPack design measures have been in
employed in Sulzer RTA engines with good effect.
However, it has been proven in service that only the
complete package brings the full benefits. Thus TriboPack Fig. 6: Three-dimensional finite-element model for the
was introduced in 2000 for all Sulzer RTA engines. It is RT-flex60C.
expected that this approach will enable times between [02#063]
overhauls to be extended to at least three years.

Optimised structural design, minimum length

In the design of the RT-flex60C, careful attention was also measured +/- 17
paid to the structural design to achieve a reasonable engine calculated +/- 18
weight, economy in manufacturing and above all safety.
The RT-flex60C follows other Sulzer RTA engines in measured +/- 14
having a very rigid structure comprising a fabricated measured +/- 19
bedplate, fabricated box-type columns and cast cylinder calculated +/- 21
block, all secured by pre-tensioned vertical tie rods. The
structural design is based on extensive stress and strain
calculations using a full three-dimensional finite-element
model and always confirmed by strain gauge
measurements on the first engine. Careful consideration
was also given to the structure to ensure that welding and
casting quality can be good.
Certain features in the arrangement of the thrust
bearing as well as the crankshaft and connecting rod
bottom ends have been employed to minimise the length
of the RT-flex60C
Fig. 7: Comparison of calculated and measured stresses in the
Improvements in basic diesel engine technology RT-flex60C bedplate.
Minimising engine length has had an influence on bearing [03#077]
design. All bearings – main, bottom and crosshead – are
fitted with thin shell bearings having a white-metal rods to be located close to the bearing for efficient transfer
running layer. Similar bearings are now standard in the of firing pressure loads. The design also allows aluminium
latest version of the RTA-8T engines, and are running bearings to be incorporated at a later date.
well. The cylinder covers are secured by eight elastic
However, with the flexibility of the thin steel shells of holding-down studs arranged in four pairs. This
the main bearings, it proved necessary to improve the arrangement is compact, so helping to achieve a short
geometry of the bearing housings. Thus the main bearing engine length, while giving good security and accessibility.
bores are machined with the bearing caps in place and There is a support ring between the cylinder block and
tightened. The main bearings each have four elastic the collar of the cylinder liner, thus carrying both the liner
holding-down studs. Two pairs of studs give the most even and the cylinder cover. It also passes cooling water to the
distribution of holding-down load and also allow the tie cooling bores and to the cover.

—5— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003

 measured ±47
measured ±70
calculated ±46
calculated ±69

Fig. 8: Comparison of calculated and measured stresses in the

crankshaft fillet of the RT-flex60C.
[03#078]

Fig. 10: Combustion space of the RT-flex60C.

[02#193]

Fig. 9: Close-up of a crankshaft fillet on the RT-flex60C.

[02#099]
The combustion space of the RT-flex60C follows well-
established Sulzer RTA practice. All the surrounding
components are bore cooled. The piston crown employs
the usual jet-shaker oil cooling principle with an
arrangement of cooling bores in the crown so that the
surface temperatures of the crown are moderate with a
very even distribution.
Scavenge air is delivered by the latest generation of
turbochargers, the TPL-B from ABB Turbo Systems and
the equivalent from other manufacturers. The scavenge air


receiver is of a simplified and modular design with integral Fig. 11: Component surface temperatures measured around
non-return flaps, hanging cooler bundles and two the combustion chamber of the 7RT-flex60C at the full-load
auxiliary air blowers. R1 rating.
The receiver also incorporates, after the scavenge air [03#079]
cooler, a new design of water separator of higher efficiency
than in other Sulzer RTA engines. Removing all water
condensate from the air before it enters the engine First RT-flex60C Engines
cylinders has proven vital for satisfactory piston running. The first pair of Sulzer RT-flex60C engines were specified
There are ample drainage provisions to remove completely by Agricultural Export Co (Agrexco) and Münchmeyer,
the condensed water collected at the bottom of the air Petersen GmbH & Co KG for the propulsion of two
cooler and separator. To avoid blow-back through the 13,200 tdw containerised reefers contracted in Portugal
drains from the higher pressure areas, all the drains are towards the end of 2000. Each seven-cylinder RT-flex60C
collected at the bottom of a vertically mounted pot which engine has a maximum continuous power of 16,520 kW
is filled with water and kept under scavenge air pressure. at 114 rev/min.
Drain water then leaves from the top of the pot with an The engines were built at Wärtsilä’s Trieste factory. The
orifice controlling the discharge. This arrangement has no first engine completed its official shop test on 14–15
moving parts. October 2002.

—6— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003

 The second engine successfully passed a type approval October 2002, the RT-flex system has received full
test on 17–20 December 2002. This test was witnessed by classification society approval for general application in
the representatives of the classification societies, as well as ships.
the shipowners and shipbuilder.
Four similar 7RT-flex60C engines are also being built
under licence at Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd in Korea
Service Experience with “Gypsum
for four 30,000 tdw multipurpose carriers contracted at Centennial”
Shanghai Shipyard in China by Chinese-Polish Joint Stock In parallel with the building and testing of the Sulzer RT-
Shipping Co (Chipolbrok). flex60C, service experience has been accumulating with
The first two of these engines successfully passed their the first RT-flex engine. This is a 6RT-flex58T-B engine
official shop tests on 22–28 January and 6–7 March 2003. which passed its official shop test in January 2001 and is
installed in the 47,950 tdw bulk carrier “Gypsum
Testing of the RT-flex60C engines Centennial”. The ship was built for her owners Gypsum
The four RT-flex60C engines so far tested have been put Transportation Ltd (GTL) of Bermuda by Hyundai Mipo
through the usual test programmes for new engine types. Dockyard in Ulsan, Korea. The Sulzer RT-flex main
For all four engines, initial tests runs were employed to engine has a maximum continuous output of 11,275 kW
optimise the turbocharging and fuel injection equipment. at 93 rev/min.
The usual test measurements were taken as for all The ship was delivered in September 2001 and the
production engines to confirm their predicted service experience with the engine has since been very
performance in terms of power, speed, fuel consumption, good, with currently more than 7500 hours’ operation.
etc. This Sulzer 6RT-flex58T-B is the world’s first series-
However, the first two engines were subjected to built large low-speed engine with electronically-controlled
further tests with measurements of component stresses and common-rail fuel injection. It must be remembered that
temperatures to confirm design calculations. this engine was built to operate using only the
An important part of the test programmes was final electronically-controlled common-rail system with no
adjustment and thorough testing of the RT-flex systems, alternative. It went to sea as a fully industrialised product
particularly of their electronic control systems. fully capable of continuous heavy-duty commercial
During the tests, the four engines all performed as operation. It achieved this performance with very good
expected. The electronic systems were noticeable stable. success.
The engines could be started, stopped, manoeuvred, taken Sea trials of the ship were run during 12–18 September
up to load and unloaded without any hindrance. 2001. During the trials, the Sulzer RT-flex engine ran very
satisfactorily, coming fully up to expectations without
Type approval for RT-flex system causing any delays in the trials.
The 6RT-flex58T-B engine of the “Gypsum Centennial” The ship, however, did not leave the shipyard until 15
entered service with individual approval for the RT-flex November 2001 owing to delays in completing other
system from the classification society Lloyd’s Register of aspects of the ship. After her delivery voyage, she began
Shipping. However, following the successful type approval commercial service on 5 December 2001.
test of the second Trieste-built RT-flex60C engine in Throughout the engine has basically run very

Shutdowns 2 4 1
Faults
Fig. 12: History of all faults which 16
have occurred in the RT-flex system
of the main engine of the “Gypsum 14
15 Nov 2001 Start of delivery voyage

Centennial” to the end of February

18 Sep 2001 Sea trials completed

2003. Faults are defined as events 12

which trip an alarm signal.
10 New fault types
[03#080]
8 Repeated faults

0
Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec Feb
2001 2002 2003

—7— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003

successfully. All the problems experienced can be regarded Experience from the core engine
as ‘teething’ problems since all the new cases occurred The traditional parts of the engine have operated well.
during the early months of service. In the following The only disturbance had been in two of the main
months the faults have been few, and the causes are bearings. The engine had been equipped with the original
understood. In most cases the problems have been design of main bearings and during the drydocking two
remedied, or new components are under development. bearings were replaced by shells of the revised design.
It is notable that the ships’ engineers quickly became The good piston-running behaviour deserves particular
acquainted with the RT-flex system. They have been mention. This is the result of the proven TriboPack design
operating the engine without a Wärtsilä engineer since the measures together with the optimised fuel injection of
end of May 2002. RT-flex technology. TriboPack design measures are now
The fault history differentiates between new faults and standard for Sulzer RTA-series engines to give improved
repeated cases of the same problems. The number of piston-running behaviour.
repeated faults arose through the usual delays in Cylinder No.1 was opened at the docking. The
developing final solutions. Existing spare parts were also maximum diametrical liner wear was measured at 0.01
used until improved parts became available. mm/1000 hours, and the maximum radial ring wear was
The fact that the whole design of the common-rail 0.055 mm/1000 hours. At the time of the drydocking, the
system was made ‘in-house’ proved invaluable when cylinder oil feed rate was 1.2 g/kWh. The liner surface was
troubleshooting problems. In-house knowledge allows in perfect condition, as were the piston rings. There was
quick diagnosis of problems and prompt identification of only moderate carbon build-up above the top ring, while
suitable remedies. the grooves and the areas between the rings were
The great majority of the problems did not interfere completely clean.
with normal ship operation as they caused either an alarm
or the engine to slow down. Some faults were rectified Improved piston running
during normal engine halts while the majority, concerning The good piston-running results from the above engine
common-rail and electronic components, could be are representative of the increasing numbers of Sulzer RTA
rectified by briefly slowing the engine and replacing engines entering service with TriboPack.
components. Six unplanned shutdowns occurred in the TriboPack is now in service in 527 cylinders in 66
first couple of months’ operation, but since then there has engines from 480 to 960 mm bore. They have up to
only been a single stoppage. 28,000 running hours. The engines are all reported to
Problems with sensors occurred mainly concerning the have uniformly excellent wear rates.
right specification and securing the sensor against the local Measurements from engines in service with TriboPack
environment. show that the maximum specific liner wear generally
A number of slowdowns arose through failure of comes below 0.03 mm/1000 hours. The cylinder oil feed
electronic valve drive modules. The problem was resolved rates with these engines are in the range of 1.0–1.4 g/
by replacing them with printed circuits having a revised kWh. Most notably, there have been no cases of scuffing
layout for lower thermal stresses in electronic components. The lack of scuffing and the uniformly low wear rates
In October 2002, the engine was inspected in Tampa, confirm the stability of piston running which is necessary
Florida, as part of the ship’s guarantee docking after her for long TBO and good reliability. The service results
first year’s service, 5295 running hours. The engine was confirm that three years’ TBO can now be routinely
found to be in good condition. The few shortcomings achieved and even exceeded.
could all be corrected. The RT-flex system was thoroughly
inspected to assess the condition of all hardware. Certain
components were exchanged for later detailed inspection
Extension of the RT-flex Programme
in Winterthur. The excellent experience with the Sulzer RT-flex system,
The opportunity was also taken to exchange both in the research engine since June 1998, in the shop
components for new, improved designs where appropriate. testing of now two 6RT-flex58T-B and four
For example, the control oil pumps which had failed in 7RT-flex60C engines, and in the shipboard service of the
service were replaced by a new design, and given elastic first 6RT-flex58T-B since September 2001 has encouraged
mountings and flexible hoses. Wärtsilä to extend the Sulzer RT-flex engine programme
The roller guide of a fuel pump was found to be seized. to both lower and higher powers. The objective is to offer
The problem was insufficient clearance between the roller a comprehensive programme of low-speed engines with
guide and its casing. These components were thus electronically-controlled common-rail systems.
renewed. This and previous exchanges meant that all fuel
pumps were then of fully-modified design. Sulzer RT-flex50
Since the guarantee docking, the RT-flex engine has Following the RT-flex58T-B and RT-flex60C engines, the
run well, behaving much as it had done during the first addition to the programme is the new Sulzer
months immediately before the docking inspection. RT-flex50 engine which is currently being developed.

—8— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003

 Table III: Sulzer RT-flex engines delivered and on order
No. Model Shipowner Ship type Shipbuilder Eng.builder In service
1 6RT-flex58T-B Gypsum Bulk carrier Hyundai Mipo Hyundai 2001
Transportation
2 7RT-flex60C Agrexco Container/reefer ENVC/Portugal Trieste (2003)
4 7RT-flex60C Chipolbrok Multipurpose Shanghai Hyundai (2003/04)
1 6RT-flex58T-B Scinicariello Tanker Sumitomo DU (2003)
2 5RT-flex58T-B Andromeda Prod. tanker Jiangdu Yuehai Yichang (2004)
3 9RT-flex60C Safmarine Container Volkswerft HSD (2004)
4 12RT-flex96C Blue Star Container IHI Marine United DU (2004/2005)
2 8RT-flex96C H. Dauelsberg Container Hyundai H.I. Hyundai (2005)

The RT-flex50 is being adapted by Wärtsilä from the

conventional 500 mm-bore engine with camshaft-based Conclusion
fuel injection, etc., being jointly developed by Wärtsilä Sulzer RT-flex common-rail technology is the successful
and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. implementation of a quantum step forwards in engine
Of 500 mm bore by 2050 mm stroke, the RT-flex50 development. It has even more significance than the
has a maximum continuous power of 1620 kW/cylinder at change from air-blast injection to airless injection some 70
124 rev/min. With five to eight cylinders, it will cover a years ago. Common-rail injection is clearly the future
power range of 5650–12,960 kW at 99 to 124 rev/min. It direction for large diesel engines.
thus offers the right powers and speeds for a wide variety The Sulzer RT-flex engine in the “Gypsum Centennial”
of ship types including the new generation of Handymax was built from the outset as a fully-industrialised product,
and Panamax bulk carriers, large product tankers, fully capable of continuous heavy-duty commercial
container feeder vessels and medium-sized reefer ships. operation. It has achieved this performance with very good
The first Sulzer RT-flex50 engine is scheduled to begin success. No difficulties arose from the concept; all the
testing in the fourth quarter of 2004. problems experienced must be regarded as ‘teething
problems’. All shortcomings are now resolved.
Sulzer RT-flex96C and RT-flex84T-D The Sulzer RT-flex60C is a forward-looking engine
The RT-flex concept will also be extended to the highest offering a new range of benefits to shipowners. Not only
powers with the Sulzer RT-flex96C and RT-flex84T-D does it bring the new benefits of electronically-controlled
engines. common-rail fuel injection, but embodies stepwise
The RTA96C engine type has been popular for the improvements in basic diesel engine technology which will
propulsion of container liners. Some 139 RTA96C give shipowners benefits in better reliability and longer
engines are now in service or on order. They currently times between overhauls.
extend from seven-cylinder engines of 40,040 kW in 3000 The logical extension of the Sulzer RT-flex engine
TEU ships to the 68,640 kW 12-cylinder engines for the programme is also progressing, thereby bringing the
largest ships of more than 8000 TEU. benefits of common-rail injection to all types and sizes of
The RTA84T engine type is employed solely for the ships.
propulsion of VLCCs and ULCCs, predominantly in the
seven-cylinder model. The current 7RTA84T-D gives Bibliography
28,700 kW.
1. Stefan Fankhauser and Klaus Heim, ‘The Sulzer RT-
The benefits of the RT-flex engines – smokeless
flex: Launching the Era of Common Rail on Low
operation, better fuel economy, reduced maintenance and
Speed Engines’, CIMAC 2001, Hamburg.
lower steady running speeds – will certainly be attractive
2. Stefan Fankhauser, ‘World’s first common-rail low-
for both types of ship types.
speed engine goes to sea’, Wärtsilä, Marine News, No.3-
The first RT-flex96C engine is scheduled for shop
2001, pp12–15.
testing in April 2004, with delivery in the ship towards the
3. Kaspar Aeberli and John McMillan, ‘Common Rail At
end of 2004. The first RT-flex84T-D can be built in mid
Sea: The Sulzer RT-flex Engine’, The Motor Ship
2005, according to market requirements.
Marine Propulsion Conference, Copenhagen, 2002.
4. Matthias Amoser, ‘Insights into piston-running
Sulzer RT-flex Engine Orders behaviour’, Wärtsilä, Marine News, No.2-2001, pp23–
Sulzer RT-flex engines are certainly attracting increasing 27.
interest from shipowners. In mid April 2003, there is a 5. Rudolf Demmerle, ‘The first Sulzer
total of 19 RT-flex engines in service and on order, RT-flex60C’, Wärtsilä, Marine News 2-2002, pp4–9.
amounting to 575,670 kW. There is a significant number 6. Huber, Konrad and Beat Güttinger, ‘First year of
of further orders ‘in the pipeline’. The current engines are service successful for first Sulzer RT-flex’, Wärtsilä,
listed in Table III. Marine News, No.1-2003, pp4–8.

—9— © Wärtsilä Corporation, May 2003