The Wärtsilä RT-flex96C is a

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

low-speed

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

manufacturer

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

. It is designed for large

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

s that run on

heavy fuel oil Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) is a category of fuel oils of a tar-like consistency. Also known as bunker fuel, or residual fuel oil, HFO is the result or remnant from the distillation and cracking process of petroleum. For this reason, HFO is contaminate ...

. Its largest 14-cylinder version is 13.5 meters high, 26.59 meters long, weighs over 2,300

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s, and produces 80.08

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s. The engine is the largest

reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common fe ...

in the world. The 14-cylinder version first entered commercial service in September 2006 aboard the ''

Emma Mærsk ''Emma Mærsk'' is the first container ship in the of eight owned by the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group. When launched in 2006, she was the largest container ship ever built, and in 2010 she and her seven sister ships were among the longest ...

''. The design is similar to the older RTA96C engine, but with

common rail Common rail direct fuel injection is a direct fuel injection system built around a high-pressure (over ) fuel rail feeding solenoid valves, as opposed to a low-pressure fuel pump feeding unit injectors (or pump nozzles). High-pressure injecti ...

technology (in place of traditional

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 systems ...

, chain gear,

fuel pump A fuel pump is a component in motor vehicles that transfers liquid from the fuel tank to the carburetor or fuel injector of the internal combustion engine. Carbureted engines often use low pressure mechanical pumps that are mounted outside the f ...

and hydraulic actuator systems). This provides maximum performance at lower

revolutions per minute Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensio ...

(rpm), reduces fuel consumption and emits lower levels of harmful emissions. The engine has

crosshead In mechanical engineering, a crosshead is a mechanical joint used as part of the slider-crank linkages of long reciprocating engines (either internal combustion or steam) and reciprocating compressors to eliminate sideways force on the piston ...

bearings so the always-vertical

piston rod In a piston engine, a piston rod joins a piston to the crosshead and thus to the connecting rod that drives the crankshaft or (for steam locomotives) the driving wheels. Internal combustion engines, and in particular all current automobile engin ...

s create a tight seal under the

piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-t ...

s. Consequently, the

lubrication Lubrication is the process or technique of using a lubricant to reduce friction and wear and tear in a contact between two surfaces. The study of lubrication is a discipline in the field of tribology. Lubrication mechanisms such as fluid-lubric ...

of the engine is split: the cylinders and the crankcase use different lubricants, each being specialised for its designated role. The cylinders are lubricated by continuous timed injection of consumable lubricant, formulated to protect the cylinders from wear and to neutralise the acids formed during combustion of the high-sulfur fuels commonly used. The crosshead design reduces sideways forces on the piston, keeping diametral cylinder liner wear down to about 30 μm per 1000 hours.Hanlon, Mike
Most powerful diesel engine in the world
'' GizMag''. Accessed: 24 February 2011. As a piston descends, it compresses incoming combustion air for the adjacent cylinders. This also serves to cushion the piston as it approaches bottom dead centre, thereby removing some load from the bearings. The engine is uniflow-scavenged by way of exhaust valves that are operated by electronically controlled hydraulics, thus eliminating the camshaft. As of 2006, more than 300 RT-flex96C engines and older RTA96C engines were in service or on order.

Technical data (as of 2008)

Notes

References

External links

Wärtsilä.comWärtsilä RT-flex96C / RTA96C
Todd Walke
Gallery of 8 images
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wartsila-Sulzer Rta96-C Rta96c Two-stroke diesel engines Marine diesel engines Products introduced in 2006 14-cylinder engines