The Effect of Engine Modifications to Water-Cooled Exhaust Systems And Supercharging Systems on Engine Power
For a ship, its heart part is the engine. Engines are the power that drives the giants of the sea, and their efficiency, economy, reliability and environmental friendliness make them a vital driving force in the maritime transportation industry. They provide stable and powerful propulsion for ships by converting fuel energy into mechanical energy, enabling the efficient transportation of goods and people. In the future, engines will continue to innovate and adapt to stricter environmental requirements and the need for energy sustainability, making even greater contributions to the marine transportation industry.
Whether for cargo ships or passenger ships, its engine composition and working principle are the same, so when the ship sailing, the engine will keep running to provide a constant flow of power. Due to the working principle of the engine is to burn fuel in the cylinder to produce a large number of high-temperature thermal energy into mechanical energy, and in the work of the cylinder temperature up to 2000 ℃, so that the direct contact with the gas cylinder head, cylinder liner, pistons, valves and other parts of the serious heat. So the engine and its surrounding space environment will be affected by the temperature, serious heat will cause:
1，decrease in the mechanical properties of the material, resulting in greater thermal stress and deformation, leading to fatigue cracks or plastic deformation of the above components;
2，destroying the normal clearance between moving parts, causing excessive wear and tear, and even mutual occlusion or damage accidents;
3, the temperature of the parts around the combustion chamber is too high, so that the temperature of the intake air increases, the density decreases, thus reducing the intake; the temperature of the air after pressurization will also increase and affect the intake;
4, the temperature of the lubricant is also gradually increased, the viscosity decreases, which is not conducive to the formation of the friction surface oil film, and even lose lubrication.
In summary, in order to ensure the reliable operation of the engine must be cooled to the engine heated parts, oil and pressurized air, etc. Standard marine engines generally use water-cooled exhaust system and water-cooled pressurization system, which is used to reduce the temperature of the engine compartment and the whole ship, to reduce the risk of fire, and to improve the safety of the ship’s navigation.
However, from the point of view of energy utilization, the engine cooling is a kind of energy loss, excessive cooling will lead to prolonged fuel stagnation period, resulting in deflagration and incomplete combustion, increasing heat loss; inside and outside the temperature difference between the parts is too large, so that the thermal stress exceeds the strength of the material itself and cracks, lubricating oil viscosity and increase the friction power consumption; in the combustion of high content of heavy oil, low temperature corrosion will be produced, so that the cylinder liner serious corrosion and so on. Therefore, in the management should not make the engine due to the lack of cooling and lead to overheating, but also do not make the engine due to excessive cooling and cause adverse consequences, should be taken into account. The main task of the cooling system should be to ensure that the engine works at the most suitable temperature, to avoid damage to the parts and reduce their wear and tear, but also to fully send out its effective power.
The engine cooling system is mainly composed of water pumps, radiators, water tanks and cooling lines. When the engine is running, the water pump pumps the water out of the tank and circulates it through the pipeline to take away the heat generated by the engine, and then cools it through the radiator, and finally returns it to the tank for circulation. In short, the marine engine cooling system plays a vital role, not only to prevent the engine from overheating and damage, but also to improve the efficiency of the engine and extend its service life, is an essential part of the ship.
Water-cooled exhaust system theoretically reduces the exhaust temperature, but the exhaust temperature is low will affect the pressure of the exhaust, it may cause to affect the effectiveness of the turbocharger, which leads to reduce the engine output. Because the working principle of the diesel engine supercharger is mainly through a specialized compressor to compress the engine exhaust waste and increase the intake air density. This allows more fuel to be injected under the proper coordination of the fuel supply system, so that more fuel is burned well to achieve the purpose of improving diesel engine power, increasing specific power, improving fuel economy, reducing exhaust emissions and noise.
So will the modification of water cooling affect the power? We use the test to verify, EMAC Group aims to become a one-stop supplier of Cummins engines in the mechanical power industry, adhering to the mission of “Better Power, Better World”, we have brought together an excellent high-quality team of professional mechanical engineers and engine commissioning masters. We have an excellent and highly qualified team with professional mechanical engineers and engine tuning masters.
In order to provide customers with better performance engines, EMAC’s mechanical engineer team launched a series of optimization, modification and other work on the cooling system of Cummins engine in 2021, and after continuous modification, testing and verification work, we have achieved stage-by-stage experimental results, and have been applied in actual scenarios, and the effect has been significantly improved, and the engine’s working condition is obviously greater than that before the modification. The working condition of the engine is obviously improved more than before the modification.
The engine model selected for the water-cooling system modification of the engine is Cummins 6BTA5.9-M150 engine, which has a rated power of 110kW and a rated speed of 2200 (r/min). We carried out bench tests on the engine, and the test items include: starting performance test, propeller propulsion characteristics test, sudden loading and unloading test, high load continuous operation test, and monitoring of the engine parameters, including engine speed, engine power, engine torque, oil pressure, oil temperature, outlet water temperature, intake air temperature, exhaust temperature, and engine speed. The test items include: starting performance test, propeller propulsion characteristic test, sudden loading and unloading test, high load continuous operation test, and monitoring of the engine’s own parameters, including engine speed, engine power, engine torque, oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature, air intake temperature, and exhaust gas temperature. In this test, we used multiple tests, multiple verifications, and carried out the data performance of the engine under different working conditions. Finally, after many tests, we get the test data results for the engine 100% full load operation, the engine power can still reach the rated power standard value of 110kW, torque value reached 478N.m; and in the overload 110% test operation, the engine power reached 118kW, torque value of 510N.m.
EMAC team after this modification test, we conclude that the modification of the water cooling system is important to improve the engine performance and extend its service life, this modification whether in the field of passenger ships or in the field of cargo ships, will gradually be widely used, many people may consider the stability of the modification and the economic type and the later maintenance, in fact, not, we will not be on the core components of the engine modification, only the cooling system to do structural optimization and does not affect its original performance. We will not modify the core components of the engine, but only optimize the structure of the cooling system without affecting its original performance. Although the modification will increase the capital cost of the engine, but we combined with the operation and maintenance cost of the engine, in the long run, this modification has a better economic efficiency, but also greatly enhance the performance of the engine, a stable performance of the engine power to adapt to different sailing conditions and load changes to ensure that the ship in a variety of conditions can maintain good performance to adapt to the different needs of navigation. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. And so far, we have done Cummins engine modification program for many overseas customers, and the effect and subsequent use of the state are very good.
With the rich powertrain experience accumulated continuously for 15 years, EMAC is involved in system design, product supply, installation and commissioning, we are not a supplier but a system solution provider. We provide complete powertrain system and related parts on the basis of Dongfeng Cummins standard engine, let us know your needs, EMAC can quickly understand and respond to your needs and provide one-stop solution.
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