MAN B&W diesel and New Sulzer Diesel are developing “smart”

camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition syst ...

less engines utilizing electronically controlled fuel injection and exhaust

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

actuation

systems A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and is exp ...

. Research and development has advanced so that smart low-speed diesel engines are being installed in new ships.

Intelligent System

The concept of the intelligent engine revolves around the idea that the engine is thinking for itself. The

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

of the system is an electronic control system that analyzes the condition of the engine and the operation of the engine’s system (The fuel injection, exhaust valve, cylinder lube oil and

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

charging system). Along with the control and timing needed to make the diesel run smoothly, the intelligent diesel goes beyond that by monitoring and evaluating the condition of the engine, based on engine conditions the smart system can actively protect the engine from damage due to overload, lack of maintenance and maladjustment. The intelligent engines’ finite control gives the bridge the ability to manually adjust more variables than the current camshaft system. Along with manual controls, operators can specifically design programs that optimize fuel economy, emission, turbo output, allowing for high performance under different loads.

Replacing the Camshaft

The convenience of the

is that not only does it keep the timing of the opening and closing valves and injecting fuel through its cams, it is also responsible for the mechanical force that is required to actually open and close the valves and power the port and helix fuel pump. The camshaftless intelligent system uses the rotation of the engine to power an axial piston pump that pressurizes a

hydraulic Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

oil system. The

potential energy In physics, potential energy is the energy of an object or system due to the body's position relative to other objects, or the configuration of its particles. The energy is equal to the work done against any restoring forces, such as gravity ...

from the hydraulic pressure is directed by the electronically controlled servo system to drive InFI (Intelligent

Fuel Injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All c ...

) and InVA (Intelligent Valve Actuation) systems.

Improving the Marine Diesel Engine

The intelligent, camshaftless Diesel engines offer several potential improvements for marine diesel main engines such as variable electronically controlled timing of fuel injection and exhaust valves for lower specific fuel consumption and higher performance. The electronic controls also offer lower

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

for manoeuvering, including better astern and crash stop performance. With the smarter InFI system the ship operator can more precisely control

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

consumption and improve emission characteristics. The highly integrated monitoring system allows for the potential of longer time between overhauls by equalizing the thermal load between cylinders.

The Smart Diesel in Service

The Bow Cecil chemical tanker was one of the first ships built with an Intelligent main propulsion engine. The success of the MAN diesel 7S50ME-c engine in Bow Cecil, proved to the industry that intelligent diesel is a viable option.

References

{{reflist Diesel engines