Engine Technologies Navy

Battery Charging Technologies for

Advanced Submarine Requirements

Author: Requirements for submarines have continuously changed over the years. This article
describes how MTU’s future submarine engine fullfils these modern submarines’
Arndt von Drathen specifications, while also improving the characteristics of the proven Series 396 subma-
Senior Manager, Application Centre Marine, rine engines. The availability of the first generating sets is planned for 2016; however,
Submarine and MCMV Applications project specific time schedule alignments are possible.

Starting in 2009, MTU began combining the the project team was to maintain the benchmark
properties of its existing successful submarine setting characteristics of the Series 396 SE and
solutions for all customers’ submarine designs simultaneously incorporate abilities to meet the
with new market requests from submarine build- latest operational requirements.
ing shipyards. The resulting product specifica-
tion was then augmented with the modern Following the successful development of the
submarine requirements (partly described on Series 396 submarine engine, the vast experi-
the following pages). In 2011, the detailed con- ence gained with the Series 4000 provides a
cept study for these functional and performance reliable and commercially viable basis for the
requirements showed the feasibility of such an development of the next generation of subma-
improved product. The major challenge facing rine engines.

www.mtu-online.com
The advanced submarine engine will therefore
utilize a large number of proven components from Fig. 1: Combined use of components from M73, M70 and submarine-specific special parts.
Series 4000 (see Figure 1). As for all predecessor
submarine engine designs, submarine specific
components are developed to satisfy the demand- submarine-specific
ing operating conditions on board submarines.

Advanced submarine requirements M73 components

Since the introduction of the Series 396 in the
early 1980s into the submarine application, the
political map of the world has transformed signif-
icantly. This political transition has also altered M70 components
the tasks of navies worldwide. With new assign-
ments, the requirements for naval platforms,
including submarines, have changed and are
likely to continue to do so in the near future.
The following aspects represent a selection of
major changes in the requirements for the die­-
sel powered battery charging units.

Conventional submarines have grown in size over provide rated power almost the entire operational nature management in order to reduce the fuel
the last decades to meet increased transit dis- time to fully utilize the Li-Ion advantages. consumption even further, will offer additional
tance requirements to the operational areas and operational flexibility.
to accommodate various Air Independent Propul- The task to cover increased transit distances
sion technologies into the hull. Despite hydrody- from home port to the theatre of operation is Emissions legislation gains more relevance even
namic improvements of the hull shapes, the larger usually covered at relatively high speeds with for special applications such as submarines. Pub-
displacements have led to higher power demands. no specific acoustic signature requirements. lic and political pressure to spend taxpayers’ mon-
This trend for more power will be even further Acoustic signature optimization of the combus- ey only when complying with emissions regula-
accelerated by new Li-Ion battery technologies. tion process; however, does have a detrimental tions is evident in both industrialized and emerg-
Li-Ion batteries are going to increase underwater effect on the specific fuel consumption. To ing countries. As emissions optimization effects
endurance and performance of submarines signifi- avoid increasing the size of a submarine or the fuel consumption and emissions legislation
cantly. However, the diesel engine driven charging limiting its range and endurance it is essential requirements vary depending on the platforms
unit technology needs to adapt to the new require- to improve specific fuel consumption in general. geographic position, again more flexibility in the
ments: firstly, more electrical power and secondly, When the tactical situation allows, acoustic sig- diesel engines’ combustion settings is desirable.

12V 4000 Submarine Charging Unit

MTU’s 12V 4000 based battery charging
unit is designed to improve the well-known
submarine engine characteristics by addres-
sing the advanced submarine requirements

Battery Charging Technologies for Advanced Submarine Requirements | MTU | 2

As another aspect, the industry’s demand for Characteristics of the new submarine panel. All power generating system relevant
highly skilled personnel has made it increasingly charging solution information will be available to the operator in
difficult for navies to recruit and retain sufficient- Due to the great numbers of 16V 396 SE engines one location and only one person on duty is
ly trained numbers to man their fleets. These in the existing submarine designs, one of the needed for local operation. The operation of the
continuing crewing challenges will demand a design objectives was to meet dimensions, charging unit can be independent from the sub-
higher degree of automation as well as a reduced weights and volume flows of such generating marines’ automation system when it is not avail-
degree of equipment maintenance to operate the sets as closely as possible. This will allow an able. Due to the continuous charging of an
platforms safely. It is therefore necessary to installation in existing submarine designs with uninterruptable power supply directly via gener-
reduce the number of interfaces to the ship’s a minimum of changes to the actual submarine ator (including a power safe function during
systems as well as to the human operators. blueprints. A submarine charging unit with a standby), the generating set can be operated
12V 4000 submarine engine does have smaller under black ship conditions.
Limited budgets lead to longer operation of plat- dimensions compared to a 16V 396 SE design.
forms and therefore increased periods between However, the mechanical power is noticeably The integration of the generator leads to another
overhauls. To ensure longer operational availabil- increased to 1,300 kilowatts (kW) at 1,800 rpm. improvement with regard to the starting pro-
ity, all system components need to be able to be Volume flows of intake air and exhaust gas are cess: The engine is now quietly started via the
operated for such increased periods without slightly higher but almost match those of the 396. generator. The starting process includes the
sacrificing their availability rates. Components normal turning and draining process to protect
already used under maximum maintenance peri- Another major design objective was the reduc- the engine from damage due to hydraulic shock.
ods therefore need to be modified to meet the tion of the specific fuel consumption in combi- For emergency purposes an air start motor oper-
new optimum boat maintenance schedules. nation with greater operating flexibilities for ating the flywheel is part of the design. However,
different scenarios. A common rail system in starting with the air start motor does now also
Another challenge to meet the tight budget situa- connection with combustion processes and include the turning and drain process to in-
tion is to decrease the overall life cycle costs. modern engine electronics is able to satisfy crease the safety even further.
Reducing the fuel consumption is one positive both requirements. One completely new feature
improvement which will in addition increase the of the Series 4000 submarine engine is there- As for all submarine engines, high shock and
range of the submarine and is therefore pursued fore the ability to operate in different modes. acoustic requirements demand a special mount-
with high priority. The other important LCC factor The standard operation mode is the acoustically ing of the generating set. The new engine foot for
is maintenance costs including labour and spare optimized mode. In this operation mode, the Series 4000 includes an integrated shock limiter.
parts. If the maintenance periods are increased engine has the lowest air- and structure-borne Its compact and easy to install design (see Figure
without increasing the maintenance tasks them- noise emissions with a specific fuel consump- 2) results in very low effects of the foot’s dynamic
selves, this will automatically lead to a reduction tion improvement of at least 5 g/kWh. For long behavior on the structure-borne noise signature
of man-hours and spare parts. The costs and operational periods in transit to the theatre of of the engine. In addition, the engine foot also
availability periods of spare parts themselves can operations, the engine can be switched to a fuel features a very high mechanical impedance at the
best be influenced by products which are derived consumption optimized mode with slightly in- connection point to the rubber mounts. Therefore
from modern COTS commodities. creased acoustic signatures. This will allow re- the rubber mount’s optimum acoustic perfor-
duced specific fuel consumption by at least mance can be taken full advantage of.
Experience gained with Series 4000 10 g/kWh. Finally, it is possible to select an
MTU’s Series 4000 has been successfully estab- emissions optimized mode for surface opera- One of the most significant improvements, how-
lished in various applications, including navies, tion. The emissions optimized mode operates ever, relates to the logistics challenges de-
commercial vessels, yachts, locomotives, mining under IMO II-compliant conditions without in- scribed previously: Maintenance and LCC.
trucks and generator sets since 1996. It is the creasing the specific fuel consumption. Following the operational cycles of a modern
first off-highway engine with a common-rail fuel submarine with long periods of transit as well as
injection system. As of today, more than 21,300 With the Series 4000, MTU is integrating the a more demanding Li-Ion-battery based load
Series 4000 engines have been delivered. More charging unit even further. The charging unit has profile, the complete overhaul of the engine can
than 3,100 of those are used in the marine appli- only one interface to the ship’s automation as be increased to more than 20 years. As a com-
cation. The delivered engines have accumulated the generator and exhaust system can be moni- parison, the Series 396 SE engine when operat-
more than 35 million operating hours. tored and controlled from the local operating ed according to the less demanding lead-battery
based load profile does require the first com-
plete overhaul after 12 years. Along with the
Fig. 2: Integrated engine
reduced number of maintenance steps of this
carrier and shock limiter modern engine in general, this design improve-
ment leads to significantly shortened mainte-
nance hours and cost.

History of the submarine application at MTU

1959 marked the birth year of MTU’s first engine
for the submarine application. The 12V 493 was
a naturally aspirated engine with 441 kW at
1,500 rpm. With more than 3,600 units deliv-
ered, Series 493 was derived from the well prov-
en Mercedes Benz engine MB820 serving in a
broad range of applications such as marine (ca.

Battery Charging Technologies for Advanced Submarine Requirements | MTU | 3

 Almost 250 delivered units of 8, 12 and 16V 396 submarine
engines have accumulated reported unit service times of
over 310,000 hours.

16V 396 Submarine charging diesel generator set

1,970 units; see Figure “Naval surface version of tactical needs for smaller coastal submarines The success and economic benefits of this de-

Photo credits: Page 1, HDW. Pages 2 to 4, MTU.

a Series 493 engine”), rail (ca. 1,030 units) and of many navies at that time. velopment are proven by the number of incom-
power generation (ca. 410 units). Within the ma- ing orders for 8, 12 and 16-cylinder models.
rine sector, more than 340 units are used in sub- Due to increased on-board electronics as well as Meanwhile almost 250 delivered units of 8, 12
marine applications, having accumulated repor- growing displacements, the power requirements of and 16V 396 submarine engines have accu-
ted service times of more than 1,510,000 hours. costal submarine designs could no longer be satis- mulated reported unit service times of over
fied with Series 493. Based on the vast experience 310,000 hours. Before the turn of the century,
In 1980, power requirements for a larger sub- gained with more than 15,000 Series 396 engines, the huge success of Series 396 SE lead to the
marine design led to the development of a vari- which are serving a broad range of applications, use of MTU’s submarine engine also in nuclear
ant of the supercharged Series 652. With more the turbocharged and intercooled 396 submarine submarines. With MTU driven emergency gener-
than 2,300 units delivered, Series 652 was used model has been specially developed for backpres- ating sets, nuclear submarines can utilize the
in applications such as marine (ca. 400 units), sure operation. As early as 1982, a 12V 396 engine less visible snorkeling mode even under emer-
rail (ca. 1,640 units) and power generation (ca. was operated under simulated snorkel conditions gency conditions of their main power plant.
260 units). No more than 24 units of the subma- during an 18 month test phase. Performance veri-
rine version 16V 652 MB81 with 1,200 kW at fication has been produced with a 12V 396 subma- The high market acceptance of MTU’s subma-
1,400 rpm were delivered, as the size of sub- rine engine on the occasion of a 1,000 h type test rine solutions in combination with the positive
marines it was designed for did not meet the at the Bundeswehr Technical Center for Ships and feedback from operators worldwide continues
Naval Weapons, Maritime Technology and Re- to motivate the company to improve its products
search (WTD 71) in Eckernförde. This type test has further. It is the defined goal of MTU to stay the
Fig. 3: Naval surface version of a
been completed successfully. Analysis proved the reliable partner of all navies as well as for their
Series 493 engine impeccable state of all component parts, with no special applications such as submarines.
mea­surable wear. In 1987 the first 16V 396 SB83
engines delivered 970 kW at 1,800rpm. Summary
The operational scenario has changed signifi-
Design improvements of Series 396 continued cantly over the last thirty years. Together with
and in 1990 Series 396 SE84 was established technology advancements, this has changed
with 8, 12 and 16V configurations delivering up advanced submarine requirements. These
to 1040 kW at 1,800 rpm. As the size and pow- surpass the continuously improved and well
er demand of the submarine designs continued established submarine engine designs. MTU’s
to grow over the years, MTU introduced mod- 12V 4000 based battery charging unit is de-
ernized and uprated version of its Series 396 signed to improve the well-known submarine
SE84 in 2002. The "L" in all cylinder variants of engine characteristics by addressing the ad-
Series 396 SE84 L indicates the higher power vanced submarine requirements.
rating up to 1,200 kW at 1,800 rpm of the cur-
rent submarine engine offered by MTU.

MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH

A Rolls-Royce Power Systems Company

www.mtu-online.com September 2011

MTU is a brand of Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG. MTU high-speed

engines and propulsion systems provide power for marine, rail,
power generation, oil and gas, agriculture, mining, construction and
industrial, and defense applications. The portfolio is comprised of
diesel engines with up to 10,000 kilowatts (kW) power output, gas
engines up to 2,150 kW and gas turbines up to 35,320 kW. MTU also
offers customized electronic monitoring and control systems for its
engines and propulsion systems.

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