Mucky Mariners
ENGINE BASICS (5/7) SULZER ENGINES
5. SULZER ENGINES
1. SULZER ENGINES
1. RD series – It is the oldest engine series from SULZER and very rarely seen in
shipping industry today. It is equipped with rotary exhaust valves and fuel valve with
short spindle. The cylinder liner quills were of wet type and placed only at the upper
part. It has pulse turbo charging system with no auxiliary blower fitted for supporting
the scavenge pressure.
2. RND series – One of the most famous design of SULZER with a slogan of “Our
Exhaust valves never burns” as this engine doesn’t have any. It has loop scavenging
i.e. exhaust and inlet ports are provided in the liner. It was fitted with more liner quills
at the bottom of exhaust port and is of dry type. Auxiliary blowers are provided, and
constant turbo charging system is adopted. It produces more power than the engines of
RD series.
3. RTA series – It is the modern-day engine design with exhaust valves fitted. It has
become very famous in modern shipping as it is a balanced blend of automation and
mechanical engineering. It consumes less fuel and produces more power with three
fuel valves in one cylinder.
4. RT Flex series – It is the latest and the toughest engine from Wartsila Sulzer with
maximum automation installed. It consists of a common rail fuel injection method and
uses fully integrated electronic system based on a high-performance computer
eliminating parts like fuel pump, fuel cam, chain drive etc. resulting in reduced
maintenance.
2. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SULZER RTA AND RT-FLEX
ENGINES
3. SULZER RT-FLEX (ELECTRONIC) ENGINES
Sulzer RT-flex engines are essentially standard Sulzer RTA low-speed
two-stroke marine diesel engines except that, instead of the usual
camshaft and its gear drive, fuel injection pumps, exhaust valve
actuator pumps, reversing servomotors, and all their related
mechanical control gear, they are equipped with a common-rail
system for fuel injection and exhaust valve actuation, and full
electronic control of engine functions.
The RT-flex engine control consists of
1. Internal engine control WECS-9520, and
2. External Propulsion Control System (PCS) (not Wartsila supply) with,
3. Remote Control (ECR, Bridge)
4. Safety System
5. Electric Governor
6. Alarm Monitoring System
3.1 ENGINE CONTROL SYSTEM WECS-9520
The WECS-9520 is the core engine control, it processes all actuation,
regulation and control directly linked to the engine:
Common rail monitoring and pressure regulation
Injection and exhaust- and start valve control and monitoring
Interfacing external systems via CAN open or MOD Bus
Engine performance tuning, IMO setting and -monitoring
WECS-9520 has no central computer but each cylinder has its own
FCM-20 module for the cylinder related- and common functions.
These FCM-20 modules are mounted directly on the engine and
communicate via internal System CAN Bus. An operator access to the
WECS-9520 is integrated in the user interface for the propulsion
control system and flexView.
WECS-9520 is neither an engine remote control system nor a safety
system.
3.2 FCM-20 SYSTEM
The internal FCM-20 functions within the WECS-9520 can be separated
in two groups:
1. Cylinder Related Functions
2. Common Functions
3.2.1 CYLINDER RELATED FUNCTIONS
For synchronizing the valve control timing with the crank angle, each
FCM-20 reads and processes the crank angle signals from the SSI-Bus
and calculates speed, angle, and rotational direction of its cylinder
Start-, injection- and exhaust valve control according to settings in
data container and commands and parameters received across
CANopen System bus
3.2.2 COMMON FUNCTIONS
1. Fuel- and servo oil rail pressure regulation and monitoring, control oil
pumps control
2. Storage and processing of tuning data (IMO, engine-specific and
global settings)
3. Internal WECS monitoring (power supply, SW-watchdog, CRC- & HW-
checks)
4. Calculation and processing of common control variables (VIT, VEC,
VEO, engine state)
5. Interface to propulsion control system and to backup panels in CR
and LC
6. Failure indications with help of module LED’s
7. Aux. blower request at low charge air pressure
3.3. COMMON RAIL SYSTEM
An Intelligent Engine is one which will monitor its condition according
to its feedback and pre-set settings and adjust the key parameters
for the engine’s performance under various conditions without
manual interventions.
1. The improved control reduces
2. Operational costs
3. Exhaust emission
4. Fuel consumption (and)
5. Time between overhauls.
The flexibility is provided by
1. Electronic control of the fuel injection
2. Exhaust valves actuation
3. Starting air (and)
4. Cylinder lubrication
Using common rail reduces the hydraulic power requirements and
allows fuel and hydraulic pumps to be arranged in a neat setup,
driven off the crankshaft.
The WECS 9500 control system electronically controls the function of
1. Starting air
2. Load dependent cylinder lubrication
3. Engine cooling
4. Electronically driven Lanchester balance (ECLB), etc.
Starting air distribution to different cylinders is controlled by individual
solenoid valves controlling the starting air valves, rather than the
conventional mechanically driven starting air distributor.
The is no need for the cam shaft drive, since all functions are operated
by hydraulic pressure (fuel oil or servo oil) under electronic control.
This allows a net reduction in engine weight, simplifies engine
erection work and remorse some physical constraints for future
engine design.
There may be individual fuel pumps in ME engines, but they do not
need cam shaft, they work electronically.
3.4. ADVANTAGES OF RT-FLEX (ELECTRONIC) SYSTEMS
1. Lowest fuel consumption over the whole operating range.
2. Competitive initial cost.
3. Three-year time between overhauls (TBO)(1 year earlier).
4. Lower maintenance cost.
5. High operating flexibility offers excellent slow running compatibility.
6. Full compliance with the NOx emission regulations (Annex VI of
MARPOL 73/78) due to optimizing of fuel injection and exhaust valve
process.
7. Smoke less operation even at lower speeds and loads.
8. Lower steady running speeds (10 to 12% of MCR) can be smokeless
due to sequential shut-off of injectors although all cylinders are
firing.
9. It is a combination of design features which allows the time between
overhauls of cylinder components including piston ring renewal to be
extended to at least three years.
10. It also provides more safety for the piston while working under
adverse conditions.
Summary
Article Name
Sulzer Engines | Marine Engineering | MEO Class 4 | Mucky Mariners
Description
1. Sulzer Engines - RD series, RND series, RTA series, RT Flex series 2.
Difference between Sulzer RTA and RT-Flex engines 3. Sulzer Rt-flex
(Electronic) Engines 3.1 Engine Control System WECS-9520 3.2. FCM-20
System 3.2.1 Cylinder Related Functions 3.2.2 Common Functions 3.3.
Common Rail System 3.4. Advantages of RT-Flex (Electronic) Systems
Author
Harry Nagalia
Publisher Name
Mucky Mariners
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