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MES puts first commercial ME-LGI engine through its paces

MAN Diesel & Turbo licensee Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (MES) recently tested the very first ME-LGI engine to ever be commercially produced at its Tamano, Japan, works, burning HFO and methanol to demonstrate the liquid-gas-injection concept.

JULY 1, 2015 —The engine, with the type designation 7S50ME-B9.3-LGI, is bound for a methanol carrier vessel currently under construction by Minaminippon Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).

Ole Grøne, Senior Vice President – Low Speed Promotion & Sales – MAN Diesel & Turbo described the event as a significant milestone in the development of Diesel technology.

"The immediate market acceptance of our ME-GI (Gas Injection) engine confirmed the growing demand for low-sulfur, non-HFO options in the face of increasingly stricter sulfur limits in fuel," said Mr Grøne. "In turn, extending our dual-fuel engine program with an ME-LGI unit that can run on liquid fuels was therefore a natural step.

"The interest in our ME-LGI engine confirms this dual-fuel, low-speed trend and will offer even more alternatives to HFO, which – apart from methanol – will include LPG, dimethyl ether (DME), and (bio-) ethanol, as well as several other, low-sulfur, low-flashpoint fuels."

"We welcome our partners' interest in our technology and acknowledge their taking the lead in proving the ME-LGI concept," Mr. Grøne added. "We are confident that their faith will be rewarded in the immediate future."

Mitsui's ME-LGI demonstration involved four separate stages:

Change to methanol running

Methanol running 50-75

Load variation

Change to fuel-oil running.

The demonstration was witnessed by approximately 60 interested guests from the marine industry in Japan.

The ME-LGI concept is an entirely new concept that can be applied to all MAN Diesel & Turbo low-speed engines, either ordered as an original unit or through retrofitting.

With two injection concepts, the ME-GI and the ME-LGI concept greatly expand the company's dual-fuel portfolio and enable the exploitation of more low-flashpoint fuels such as methanol and LPG.

The engine's "ME-" prefix indicates that the new engine benefits from well-proven electronic controls that also encompass the fuel being injected by a so-called Fuel Booster Injection Valve.

This innovative fuel booster, specially developed for the ME-LGI engine, ensures that a low-pressure, fuel-gas supply system can be employed, significantly reducing first-time costs and increasing reliability. The Fuel Booster Injection Valve will also eventually be introduced also regular ME HFO engines.

MAN developed the ME-LGI engine in response to interest from the shipping world in operating on alternatives to heavy fuel oil. Methanol and LPG carriers have already operated at sea for many years and many more LPG tankers are currently being built as the global LPG infrastructure grows.

With a viable, convenient and economic fuel already on-board, exploiting a fraction of the cargo to power a vessel makes sense, with another important factor being the benefit to the environment. MAN Diesel & Turbo is already working towards an IMO Tier-III-compatible ME-LGI version.

"The interest in our ME-LGI engine confirms this dual-fuel, low-speed trend and will offer even more alternatives to HFO, which – apart from methanol – will include LPG, dimethyl ether (DME), and (bio-) ethanol, as well as several other, low-sulfur, low-flashpoint fuels."

"We welcome our partners' interest in our technology and acknowledge their taking the lead in proving the ME-LGI concept," Mr. Grøne added. "We are confident that their faith will be rewarded in the immediate future."

Mitsui's ME-LGI demonstration involved four separate stages:

Change to methanol running.Methanol running 50-75%.Load variation.

Change to fuel-oil running.

The event took place at the company's Tamano works, near Okayama in the western part of the mainland, and was witnessed by approximately 60 interested guests from the marine industry in Japan.

The ME-LGI concept is an entirely new concept that can be applied to all MAN Diesel & Turbo low-speed engines, either ordered as an original unit or through retrofitting.

With two injection concepts, the ME-GI and the ME-LGI concept greatly expand the company's dual-fuel portfolio and enable the exploitation of more low-flashpoint fuels such as methanol and LPG.

The engine's "ME-" prefix indicates that the new engine benefits from well-proven electronic controls that also encompass the fuel being injected by a so-called Fuel Booster Injection Valve.

This innovative fuel booster, specially developed for the ME-LGI engine, ensures that a low-pressure, fuel-gas supply system can be employed, significantly reducing first-time costs and increasing reliability. The Fuel Booster Injection Valve will also eventually be introduced also regular ME HFO engines.MAN developed the ME-LGI engine in response to interest from the shipping world in operating on alternatives to heavy fuel oil. Methanol and LPG carriers have already operated at sea for many years and many more LPG tankers are currently being built as the global LPG infrastructure grows.

With a viable, convenient and economic fuel already on-board, exploiting a fraction of the cargo to power a vessel makes sense, with another important factor being the benefit to the environment. MAN Diesel & Turbo is already working towards an IMO Tier-III-compatible ME-LGI version.The LGI combustion chamber consists of two LGI-fuel valves and two oil-fuel valves, the latter used for pilot oil when running in LGI-mode and as fuel valves when running in normal modeThe LGI parts, highlighted in yellow, are based on the familiar, proven ME-design

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Junichiro Ikeda) has ordered methanol carriers with the world's first methanol burned dual-fueled low-speed diesel main engine. This engine building has already been completed, and its manufacturer, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (MES; President: Takao Tanaka), has test-operated the unit using methanol fuel in Tamano Works, and confirmed that it met expected performance.MOL ordered methanol carriers, which will be equipped with this diesel main engine, from Minaminippon Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., (President: Ryutaro Ikebe). The vessels will be delivered in 2016, and serve for Waterfront Shipping Company Limited (*1) (WFS; President: Jone Hognestad) under a long-term charter contract.By burning methanol with this diesel main engine, emissions of CO2 and NOx are significantly less when burning methanol rather than fuel oil. Thus, methanol is an important fuel that does not include SOx and can replace fuel oil and thereby place fewer burdens on the environment. Besides using methanol to drive the main engine, the new vessel will be one of the first to install the ballast water treatment system and energy saving devices fitted in front and behind the propellers to help improve fuel efficiency. In other words, this new vessel will offer very eco-friendly performance.As one of the world's largest methanol carrier owners, MOL will expand its methanol transport service by meeting a broad range of customer needs with use of the know-how and experience it has accumulated. As part of its environmental strategy, MOL has carried forward its initiatives on air pollution prevention, and continues to take a proactive stance in adoption of various technologies that help reduce the environmental burden of its activities.Study to evaluate the safety of this dual-fuel engine and methanol supply system was supported by the next-generation marine environment-related technology development support program of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It was also chosen as a joint research theme by the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK).Scene from the ME-LGI demonstration at the Tamano works

The LGI parts, highlighted in yellow, are based on the familiar, proven ME-design ➨

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