LEADER BRIEFING

December 2015 www.motorship.com 13

RIEMENSCHNEIDER, WHO HAS worked with thebusiness unit since 1991 (the last four years at thehead of the organisation), believes that theSwitzerland-based inventor of the turbocharger is wellplaced to deliver those solutions. Not only does thecompany – accounting for around a third of the globalturbocharging market for marine two-stroke engines– share a common research roadmap with the mainmarine engine designers, but it can also draw onextensive experience from land-based applicationsincluding trains, trucks and power stations.

Together these land-based applications representaround 40% of ABB Turbocharging’s installed base.That puts the company in a strong position as issuespreviously encountered on land – among themincreasing emissions regulations and the emergenceof gas engines – come to bear in the marine market.In the following interview, Riemenschneider outlineswhat he sees as the main near-term challenges facingthe market, and how ABB Turbocharging is striving toaddress them.

In the hierarchy of industry requirements,improving fuel efficiency is right at the top.

What recent contributions has ABB Turbochargingmade in that area?

Through our long standing cooperation with theleading 2-stroke and 4-stroke engine builders

around the globe, we have developed a very goodunderstanding of what is needed in the long-term. Wehave our own R&D activities aligned to that view andwe provide equipment for their test beds. Theadvantage that we bring is that as we cover such awide spread of applications we can really learn fromall of those what might be the next steps and addadditional value. For example the experience we havewith gas engines, which are well advanced in powerplants, means we are a good partner with a lot ofexperience.

An example of that cooperation is the new Wärtsilä31 engine. It is now the most efficient engine on themarket for diesel, dual-fuel or gas, and it uses a two-stage turbocharging system from ABB which wasspecifically designed for that engine. And the efficiencythat Wärtsilä has achieved is ground breaking.

Turbocharging efficiency is around 75% with thetwo-stage concept, compared to around 68% forconventional turbochargers. This translates directlyinto engine efficiency – the maths, for example fortwo-stroke engines, is that 1% of turbochargerefficiency represents about 0.3% of engine efficiency

- and allows for higher power output, which meansreduced costs. The higher pressure ratio also meanswe can work on NOx emissions, which is related tothe temperature of combustion. With more pressureyou can do much more in that direction, balancing fuelconsumption and NOx formation.

Did your experience on land-based applicationscome into play when designing the Power2

two-stage turbocharger for the marine market?Yes, we have around 150 Power2 installations on

stationary high speed gas engines and one on amedium speed engine at a power plant. When

engine builders were canvassing industry response fortwo-stage turbocharged engines, one of thecomments that came back was about serviceability. ThePower2 turbocharging system has a cartridge system,new to the second generation unit, that allows you toextract the inside of the turbocharger much more easily,allowing for very short downtimes. The engine itself isalso designed with more modules so you can takecomponents out in a very short time. It’s all aboutserviceability, which has always been a key demand.Now we are in a better position to cater for it.

So the higher pressure offered by two-stageturbocharging is one major boost for engine

efficiency. And I understand improved control of theturbocharging process is another area of development?

Valve Control Management (VCM) allows us tomake best use of the pressure gains from two-

stage turbocharging. There we are progressing withthree OEMs, testing a hydraulic component withcontrol software that allows much more flexibility inopening the valves once or multiple times during thecycle. We expect to launch in serial production in 2017.

This offers new possibilities in the combustionprocess. Combined with the capabilities of multipleinjections and different injection volumes, it givestotally new liberty to work on the combustion atdifferent load points. At different engine load pointsyou have different temperatures and fuel/air mixes,so this ability to improve efficiency and performanceof the engine across load profiles is essential.

Why is efficiency across engine loadsbecoming a greater focus for ABB?Because we see that the operational profiles ofthe equipment changes is far more varied these

days than in previous times. If you look at containervessels, previously there was one design point and the

vessel would run at that design point for more or less80% of the time. These days you see much wider useof an engine’s speed range over the course of avoyage. At the end that is about the fuel efficiency ofvessels, versus meeting schedules.

There has been a lot of discussion about thefact that future gains in efficiency will be found

more through enhanced control and monitoring, asopposed to mechanical improvements. Do youagree with that view?

Completely. I think we will see much moredevelopment in monitoring and planning. Today

there are a lot of activities around voyage planning,including weather, currents, trims and foulingparameters. That’s the first level of getting immediateresults.

The second level, which will come in the next threeto four years, is to optimise the energy ‘household’ onthe ship. There is more equipment available toaccurately measure parameters such as torque andfuel consumption. What also comes out of this is thatthe roles and responsibilities between teams onboardand onshore will change. All this capability to extractand analyse data about what is happening to the shipallows for more support from the onshore staff.Looking at our R&D roadmap, performance monitoring- and related technologies to make it connectable - isa major thrust for us.

Rethinking efficiencyIncreasing demands on fuel consumption and emissions aredriving the emergence of innovative solutions from marinepropulsion suppliers, argues Oliver Riemenschneider, headof ABB Turbocharging, in this month’s leader interview.

The clear direction is that we should havesmaller engines withhigher efficiency, evenon the biggest ships’

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Oliver Riemenschneider, head of business unit, ABB Turbocharging

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LEADER BRIEFING

14 www.motorship.com December 2015

The other major thrust of our activities is looking atwhat kind of ships are being built right now. We stillsee capex-intensive propulsion is used, with deratedengines and slow steaming. It is a fuel saving matter,but the capex investment is huge, and we believethere should be better solutions. The clear direction isthat we should have smaller engines with higherefficiency, even on the biggest ships.

That seems to go against the industry beliefin ever-bigger two-stroke engines?The common knowledge right now is based on ahuge installed base. The immediate reaction to

high fuel prices and a tough market situation was slowsteaming. The assets were already available so thenatural solution is to slow down and run more assetsto get loads from A to B. But they are existing assetsand current ideas; the next logical step to us is findingbetter solutions.

This challenge goes hand-in-hand with discussion ongas or dual-fuel applications and how to make themefficient from an installation point of view. Different gasinstallations have different capex requirements – high-pressure systems tend to cost more to install but aremore fuel efficient, while low-pressure gas concepts areless efficient in diesel mode right now, but provide forIMO Tier III compliance without aftertreatment in gasmode That is in a development stage. I think that thefuture lies in smaller engines, used better.

The turbocharger has a key role to play here as itincreases power density. That goes for the mainengine as well as the auxiliaries, which are not somuch in focus at the moment. But looking at their fuelefficiency will draw attention to them.

What is the challenge for fuel efficiencyconcerning auxiliary engines?Most auxiliaries are currently optimised for fuelconsumption at 100% load. That doesn’t make

sense because auxiliary engines hardly ever run at fullload except on a test bed. Previously it was not infocus, everyone promoted their efficiency level at100% load, but as owners are getting sophisticatedand looking at fuel consumption and the energyhousehold onboard the ship, they are also looking atthe auxiliary engine system. Some went to shaftgenerators saying they don’t care about auxiliaryengines at all, so there as well you can see that thismarket is moving. Engine manufacturers need to askhow they can address these changes.

Our strategy, since a year ago, is to be much moresegmented in our offering and our service. Next yearwe will come out with some products which are muchmore tailored to specific needs.

Looking at the impending IMO Tier III NOxlimits, which come into force next year; you

have already mentioned the role that higher-pressure turbochargers can play in combatting NOxformation. Do you have a view on the other NOxabatement technologies available?

Solutions have to get better. What we are reallylooking for in the long term is a Tier III solution

internal to the engine, rather than the whole after-treatment chemical plant. A built-in solution involvingbetter control and more advanced combustion. Somedesigners are working towards this and there aresome results in particular constellations that suggestwe shouldn’t give up on the idea.

After-treatment is expensive. It is not easy tohandle for the crew and any solution without thatcomplication would be valued by the market. It is agood business proposition and that is why we arelooking into it.

What are the other key regulations on thehorizon that are likely to influence the

development of marine propulsion?I anticipate that we will have to deal withmethane slip regulations for gas engines, as well

as legislation on formaldehyde [another by-product ofgas combustion]. Formaldehyde regulations arealready being discussed for land-based engines but itwill come forward for marine as well.

I assume the SOx limitations that we already facewill be made tougher. And on top of that we have theIMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index. That will triggerfurther developments to make engines much moreenvironmentally friendly, and much more profitablefor the user.

Finally I think that China’s inland waterways andshort-sea shipping regulations will toughen up - and Ithink that will give a big technology boost to a marketwhich is not regulated with regard to emissions. Thereis a heightened public awareness in China about theenvironmental impact of business, and waterways arean important part of the economy in China, and alsoto get higher living standards further into the inland.This combination will see some regulations cominginto force that will allow for advanced technologies tobe applied.

As this issue goes to the Marintec exhibitionin Shanghai, let’s conclude on China, where

you have a long established business. What’s yourperspective on that market today?

We have had a license agreement in China foralmost 40 years, and since 2006 we have a joint

venture with our licensee. We have a manufacturingfootprint, as well as a service footprint along the coast.We have around 500 people in China for turbochargingalone.

Engine imports to China are slowing down assubsidies from the Chinese government for buildingnew ships incentivise the use of domestic, China-builtengines for new ships. The Chinese engine market isregrouping and also starting to be more engaged indesign – CSSC buying 70% of Wärtsilä’s two-strokebusiness [to form Winterthur Gas & Diesel] is a goodexample.

There is a clear drive towards technology for the Chinese marine industry, and for me it is clear thatthis will be a global player with even moresignificance in the future than today. Therefore I think the Chinese engine market will remain pretty stable, while we see some slowdown in otherareas.

How do you view some of the challengesengine designers have traditionally found in

the Chinese market? Specifically, in protecting theirintellectual property?

I think there are precautions to be takenconcerning intellectual property, but we have

issues elsewhere too, for example in Europe. China isan important market, technology is moving forwardand there are resources for research on enginedevelopment.

It would not be wise to hold back on technologybecause of those issues.

ABB Turbocharging’s Power2 two-stage solution, combingin high- and low- pressure turbocharger units, contributes

to the efficiency of the new Wärtsilä 31 engine

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