MAN Energy Solutions reports that its portfolio of two-stroke, dual-fuel engines has accumulated 1 million operating hours, the company said in its release. The milestone comes on the back of the 300 engines/6.3 GW sales the company recently announced for the segment – all running on clean fuels such as LNG, LPG, ethane and methanol.
Bjarne Foldager – Senior Vice President, Head of Two-Stroke Business at MAN Energy Solutions – said: “This significant milestone owes everything to the dual-fuel strategy we have laid over the past decade and confirms our leadership in this critical marine segment. Our engines’ efficiency is the best in the market, which gives shipowners enormous flexibility, and we note that all fuel modes are employed.”
MAN Energy Solutions’ ME-GI (-Gas Injection) and ME-LGI (-Liquid Gas Injection) engines form the core of its two-stroke, dual-fuel portfolio and have notched many notable industry-firsts since their market introduction, including the very first oceangoing ships operating respectively on LNG, methanol, ethane and LPG.
The Mk II ME-GI engine features a number of notable innovations, including a PVU (Pump Vaporizer Unit), a standardised, compact, high-quality pump unit for the supply of LNG. Additionally, a PBIV (Pilot Booster Injection Valve) employs smaller or larger atomising holes, depending on fuel mode, to inject fuel into ME-GI engines. In gas mode, the use of smaller holes significantly reduces pilot-oil consumption to just 1.5%, approximately half of what was previously required.
With fuel prices and availability currently in flux, MAN Energy Solutions expects the choice of retrofitting to dual-fuel engines to ultimately become a necessity.