Carnival Corporation’s German subsidiary AIDA Cruises has two 125,00 GT passenger ships each with a capacity of 3,250 passengers is presently under construction at MHI, Japan, with completion dates scheduled for the second quarter 2015 and second quarter 2016. They will use the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System (MALS) whereby blowers bleed air bubbles through small holes in the ship’s bottom to produce a carpet of air which reduces friction. In this first application on a cruise ship, MHI predict a fuel saving of around sever per cent for the two AIDA vessels. The AIDA cruise ships will use a diesel electric propulsion system driving two ABB Azipod XO2100 azimuth thrusters each with a rated output of 14 MW. [More]

Norwegian ship owner Myklebusthaug Management has placed an order with ABB for the supply of a direct current (DC) power grid on board a new 5,000 ton multi-purpose oil field supply and construction vessel of 305 ft, due for delivery in the first quarter of 2013. Using a DC grid offers several advantages including lower installed power thereby reducing fuel bills while producing up to 20 per cent less emissions. The reduction of the space and a weight of transformers leaves more available volume for a larger payload. The total weight saving of electrical equipment alone can be as high as 30 per cent. Many higher efficiency energy source options coming in the future such as solar panels, fuel cells, batteries etc., will be easy to connect and integrate into an onboard DC grid. Depending on the ship’s usage profile, ABB claims that up to 20% fuel savings can be achieved using a DC grid.. [More]

Port authorities are under pressure from their governments to play their part in improving air quality. ABB offer a shore to ship power supply system that can connect any ship to the grid, thereby allowing “cold ironing” or the shutting down of on board engines while in port. The ABB system comprises transformer, converter substations and berth terminal with automatic control of the synchronization process to achieve a seamless power transfer without disruption of the onboard services The first installation was completed last year at the port of Gothenburg, Sweden and they are currently installing two new systems for completion this year in Sweden and the Netherlands. The Netherlands installation is at the port of Hoek van Holland and will permit the simultaneous connection of two Stena Line vessels to the local grid. On board modification to the electrical and automation systems to enable shore-side power supply will be carried out on four ferries. The second installation in Sweden, at the port of Ystad, will have the world’s largest shore connection frequency converter and is capable of supplying up to seven ships simultaneously. [More]

ABB Turbocharging is offering special axial turbine blades with hard-faced tips to counter accelerated circumferential wear for engines burning lower qualities of heavy fuel oil (HFO) and particularly with heavy duty operating profiles. Abrasive combustion residues on the turbine diffuser causes wear resulting in loss of turbocharger efficiency remedied only by replacement of the complete set of turbine blades. ABB’s special hard wearing turbine blades, nicknamed “dragon’s teeth” effectively scrape away hard damaging HFO deposits reducing wear to within tolerance and do not require to be changed at overhaul. Dragon’s teeth turbine blades are optional on new turbochargers and will be offered for existing TPL -A and TPL -C model turbochargers on engines operating on HFO. [More]

Valve Control Management (VCM) is the name of a system under development by ABB Turbocharging, Switzerland and engine component specialist Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG , Germany. It offers engine manufacturers a breakthrough technology for attaining low NOx emissions, optimal fuel efficiency and increased power density. Aimed at four stroke diesel and gas engines above 400 kW output, it’s an advanced variable valve train system, that allows variation of both valve timing and lift, reducing harmful exhaust emissions and allowing engine performance to be adapted to the operating profile of a given engine application.. [More]

Wärtsilä has announced the introduction of an Intelligent Combustion Monitoring system (ICM) for its two stroke engines extending the present Wärtsilä family of condition monitoring devices to provide a performance and condition monitoring solution. The system will be introduced in three stages: initially as a reporting service, then in 2011 it will link with RT-flex engines and lastly it will be linked to the RTA engines. ICM strength as a monitoring system in that it measures combustion pressure against crank angle / piston position for each stroke of each cylinder to give a very accurate report of the combustion process. Earlier this year ABB and Wärtsilä signed a co-operation and distribution agreement for the ABB Cylmate monitoring system which integrates with the ICM. [More]

Automatic optimization of marine diesel engine performance using loop control of the cylinder pressure process has been under development for a number of years at both MAN Diesel & Turbo and Wärtsilä. Targeting the slow speed two stroke engines, the key to successful implementation of automatic loop control is reliable sensors able to accurately measure cylinder pressure, providing key data to evaluate the fuel efficiency and engine conditions. Without automatic loop control, ship engines are tuned manually to operate within safe limits while leaving a safety margin for variations in fuel properties and operating conditions. Engines are poorly balanced between cylinders and are often outside recommended deviation limits resulting in increased fuel consumption and higher CO2 emissions. The benefit of auto tuning is that the cylinder pressures are balance and at the highest acceptable pressure offering reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. MAN Diesel & Turbo, ABB, and A.P.Moller have together been running loop control projects since autumn 2007. [More]