USTX kickstarts new, two-stroke generation
First ME-B Sees Light of Day
11 December 2007. MAN Diesel has heralded a new era in two-stroke diesel engines with the production of the first MAN B&W S40ME-B engine.
The new engine has been built by STX Engine at its Changwon works in the south of the Korean peninsula, and successfully passed its Type Approval Test today.
The 6S40ME-B is the first such prime-mover for a series of multipurpose vessels of 25,000 dwt currently being built in China by Shandong Huanghai Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., and ordered by shipowner InterShip Navigation of Cyprus. The engine delivers 6,810 kW at 146 rpm with an MEP of 21 bar.
The ME-B design is based on the experience gathered from MAN Diesel’s existing MC-C and ME-C engine ranges, among the most popular engines available on today’s market. To suit the small-bore segment, the economical ME-B design utilises a camshaft-operated exhaust valve and an electronically controlled fuel-injection system as seen with the ME-C range.
The market requirement for the lowest possible propeller speed in relation to bore size has led to the new ME-B engine having a stroke/bore ratio of 4.4. In turn, the new engine has an increased maximum cylinder pressure, giving rise to an improved fuel consumption that is 2 g/kWh lower than existing, small-bore engines. Thanks to the electronic control of the engine’s parameters, the ME-B is also well equipped to meet the new Tier2 emission requirements.
Market reception for the new series has been very positive to date with a significant 63 orders already received, spread among the 35ME-B, 40ME-B and 50ME-B types.
The 6S40ME-B engine has undergone a successful, comprehensive, test programme at Changwon to optimise its performance and verify the correlation between calculated and measured results.
MAN Diesel introduced the ME-B concept in mid-2006 with the small-bore S35ME-B and S40ME-B MAN B&W engine designs. It subsequently expanded the series in early 2007 with the launch of the S50ME-B MAN B&W engine design, with the result that the entire ME-B programme now boasts a total output range from 2,975 kW to 16,020 kW.
In summary, the ME-B series offers optimal engine performance in powerful, economic, weight-saving and future-oriented diesel engines, ensuring that they will remain market leaders for decades to come. Based on well-proven diesel technology, the ME-B series provides engines geared to market requirements for:
electronic fuel-injection control fuel economy higher power reliability longer time between overhauls lower propeller speed better vessel manoeuvrability very low life-cycle costs
More details on the ME-B engine can be found in the “MAN B&W Low-Speed, Small Bore Engines – Now with Electronic Control” paper, which is freely available from MAN Diesel upon request, or can be downloaded from the MAN Diesel website at: HTUhttp://www.manbw.com/technicalpapersUTH
About MAN Diesel
MAN Diesel is the World’s leading provider of large-bore diesel engines. The company designs two-stroke and four-stroke diesel engines, generating sets, turbochargers and CP propellers, for manufacture by MAN Diesel and its licensees. The engines have outputs ranging from 450 to 97,300 kW. MAN Diesel has approximately 6,400 employees, located in Germany, Denmark, the UK, France, the Czech Republic and China. The company’s worldwide service organisation, MAN Diesel PrimeServ, consists of a network of own service centres, supported by authorised partners. MAN Diesel is a subsidiary of the German industrial group MAN AG, which is listed on the DAX stock index comprising the 30 largest companies in Germany.