Talk:Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C

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--Ritinkarsen 12:06, 23 June 2006 (UTC)…--Ritinkarsen 12:06, 23 June 2006 (UTC)I'd say it's a 14 cylinder engine in the picture...

I count only 12 heads. The first 14 cylinder engine is just completed for the biggest maersk container ship, the gudrun maersk, I have to add it after verification. --Marc Lacoste 21:43, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

Hey Marc. its wrong! Gudrun Maersk has a Sulzer 12 RTflex96C engine. a 14 cylinder engine is not built yet. The worldwide first 14 cylinder engine was the MAN-B&W 14 K98 ME, built in S.Korea for the newest Maersk container vessels.217.9.49.2 11:31, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

you're right, 217.9.49.2, the gudrun maersk is powered by a 12 cylinder, but i don't saw a press release from MAN saying they have built a 14 cylinder neither. MAN will break the 100 000 hp barrier in february 2006 with a 12 cylinder, and Wartsila will make a 14 cylinder for 2008 --Marc Lacoste 17:48, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

there is no 14 Cylinder version yet.. i don't think it wil come in this type anyway

[edit] transmission

Is the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C used with direct drive or something else (gearbox? electric transmission?)? njh 06:46, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

The usual installation of marine diesel engines in large commercial vessels like container ships or tankers is a direct connection to a fixed pitch propeller, no clutch, no gearbox, no nothing. This means that such a ship can't move slowly on its own power but on the other hand gives lowest maintanance cost and best fuel economy for the designed speed. - Alureiter 12:04, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Slow speeds, direct drive, Modern Marine Engineering =-) You are partially incorrect about the fixed pitch propellor. Many modern ships used a controllable pitch propeller, allowing the engine to be run at its most efficient speed, and the propeller blades are adjusted in accordance to bridge commands. You are correct about direct drive though, this extremely slow speed of the engine also allows for the long, slow burn that crude marine fuels require. Marine Diesel fuels are getting heavier and heavier (the cracking process in refining which gets the lighter distillate fuels, such as gasoline and kerosene out, is getting "better and better", meanwhile what's left over once that is done is often burned by the Maritime Industry - anywhere else and environmentalists would cry foul...out of sight out of mind). Hengineer 07:16, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

LARGE commercial ships powered by engines like this one don't have CPPs, nobody can make such propellers powerful/large enough. IIRC the largest CPP is <40MW. We are talking about sizes like this. 80.218.218.68 19:50, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Very impressive piece of machinery

How is this engine started? Pneumatically?

Yes, large marine diesels are started with compressed air. - Alureiter 10:37, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

RTA96-C : what are the (a) compression ratio, (b) maximum compression pressure and firing prressure at full load?

Regards

Ritinkar Sen

I have troubles to believe, that the engine is really started by compressed air because the small electric motor left to the flywheel in this picture

http://people.bath.ac.uk/ccsshb/12cyl/rta96c_crank.jpg

looks perfectly like a starting device to me. If the engine is really started with compressed air, what purpose have the gearwheel teeth of the flywheel? Do they drive alternators?

Regards,

euphras

It is started by compressed air. The small electric motor is to turn the engine to carry out maintenance or position pistons etc and the motor drives the flywheel through reduction gears. That's why you see teeth on the flywheel.

oi...Modern Marine Diesel Engines are started by Compressed air admitted to each cylinder in the same order as the firing sequence. Smaller engines are usually started by a small hydraulic or pneumatic motor (even smaller by electric motor). The above person is correct, usually called the "turning gear", that small motor has been in existence since the old steam days. Basically any time maintenance or engine inspections are performed, the turning gear is used to slowly rotate the engine (slowly in that the gearing allows for a smaller motor to be used, at the same time lowering the RPM of shaft speed @ turning gear speed. Hengineer 07:08, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wärtsilä Drops the brand name 'Sulzer'

Wärtsilä has changed the name of this engine into Wärtsilä RT-Flex, do we have to change the name also ??