English - MTU Onsite Energy

A tognum Group Brand 

MTUreport 

The magazine of the MTU and MTU Onsite Energy brands I Issue 03 I 2012 I www.mtu-online.com 

At the limit 

Engine testing under extreme conditions 

Reconstruction project 

Building the new World Trade Center 

The wedding planner 

Yacht-building in the Emirates 

+++ MTU is preferred traction unit supplier for 92 British high-speed trains +++

Editorial 

Joachim Coers, Chairman and 

CEO of Tognum AG and Chairman 

of MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH. 

Passion and performance 

Do you know what inspires me about Tognum? The passion with which everyone in our workforce 

of over 10,000 people works. They are proud of what they do. And rightly so – because it is their 

passion that drives them on to ever greater achievements. This issue of MTU Report once again 

makes that abundantly clear. Our cover story describes the extreme operating conditions in 

which our products have to perform and how our developers create the engines to cope with such 

conditions. They test the engine’s cold-starting capabilities, tilt them over at extreme angles and 

simulate disaster scenarios such as earthquakes. We demand a lot from our products so that they 

will give you the best possible performance. 

Our products will soon be expected to demonstrate their outstanding qualities once again in the UK. 

As the preferred supplier of 250 diesel-electric Powerpacks for the Intercity Express Programme 

(IPE), MTU is part of one of the largest passenger transport projects in recent decades. We are 

taking on responsibility for ensuring the Powerpacks deliver trouble-free performance for the next 

27 years or more. This type of arrangement has never existed before in this form. 

The meaning of passion is something the people of America have shown us too. In New York they 

are building the new World Trade Center on the site where the famous twin towers stood until 

eleven years ago. Our clients, Cornell Cranes, are involved in the construction work and have 

upgraded their turntable tower crane to the latest technological standards – using MTU engines of 

course. Erwin Bamps is somebody with a passion for unique luxury yachts. He is now the managing 

director of shipbuilders Gulf Craft in the Arab Emirate of Al-Quwain. In the space of ten years he 

has turned a small shipyard in the Emirates into the largest in the Gulf Region. Our genset engines 

are also powerful performers. At Nordfrost, a food logistics provider, they are used in combined 

heat and power plants. They produce energy for absorption chillers in order to create the perfect 

temperature and humidity levels in the various food stores. 

A passion for ensuring the highest product standards for our customers is obviously something that 

has to start at Board Room level. That is why we have considerably strengthened our team on the 

Executive Board. My new colleague, Chief Sales Officer Dr. Michael Haidinger, is keenly aware of his 

role as the customers’ mouthpiece within the company. And that helps to ensure that we are always 

able to offer you the best solution for your application. 

I hope you enjoy reading this issue of MTU Report and am sure that you too will discover the 

passion behind the stories about our engines and energy systems. 

Joachim Coers 

2 I MTU Report 03/12

10 

16 

20 

Contents 

26 

28 36 

46 

Current issues 

Interview 

10 Customer-centered 

Dr. Michael Haidinger is the new Chief 

Sales Officer for MTU and MTU Onsite 

Energy brands. We find out what motivates 

him and what his aims are. 

12 News 

Rail 

16 Lifelong service 

The UK Department for Transport has 

ordered 92 Super Express Trains. MTU is 

to supply the drive systems and provide 

maintenance over the next 27 years. 

Technology 

20 At the limit 

Very low or high temperatures, high 

altitudes, high waves and earthquakes 

are serious challenges for an engine. To 

make sure that MTU engines can handle 

anything, they are bench-tested under 

extreme conditions. 

26 How to make …a cylinder head 

A cylinder head might not look particularly 

spectacular. But making one is quite a 

challenge. 

Developments 

Industrial 

28 Reconstruction project 

Thousands of people and machines are 

working on the construction of the new 

World Trade Center in New York and so 

creating a symbolic new landmark on the 

city’s skyline. 

34 King of the hill 

Bomag landfill compactors have the job 

of compressing waste so that as much as 

possible can be fitted in the tip. 

Marine 

36 The wedding planner 

The yacht-builder Gulf Craft of Dubai 

makes luxury motor yachts up to 

40 meters long and precisely to 

bespoke specifications. 

44 Blowing hot and cold 

A modular heat and power plant combined 

with an absorption chiller keeps frozen 

food cold in a deep-freeze storage depot. 

Oil & Gas 

46 Silent power 

Emergency gensets safeguard operations 

at the Norwegian oil and gas processing 

plant in Kårstø. 

History 

50 Learning to fly 

Ninety-five years ago, Karl Maybach 

tested the first modern aircraft engine 

at 1,800 meters above sea level. 

MTU Report Europe 

Marine 

52 Inconspicuous qualities 

MTU is one of the few manufacturers 

worldwide with the capability of removing 

an engine’s magnetic signature. It is a 

complicated procedure. 

Energy 

58 Morning delivery 

Custom-built MTU Onsite Energy 

generator sets in a diesel power station 

provide control reserve power as well as 

emergency and peak-load supply. 

Talking of … 

64 Afterthoughts 

Things our editors have been especially 

impressed by. 

65 Cartoon 

Cover picture: The outlines of an MTU engine are recognizable beneath a shimmering 

sheet of ice. To test how well it starts under extreme conditions, developers froze it from 

the inside out. The result: Approved. 

MTU Report 03/12 I 3

More on this... 

A slideshow with impressions 

of the hybrid railcar 

Don’t have a QR code reader? 

Go to bit.ly/TXtgoO 

ONLINE 


No longer 

unrecognized 

The hybrid railcar has already completed its first 

kilometers on the rails – albeit inconspicuously in 

the ordinary red livery of the Deutsche Bahn. But 

since its unveiling at the world’s biggest railway 

industry show, the InnoTrans, there is no more 

hiding away. Now it is obvious at first glance that 

this railcar is something special. Its MTU Hybrid 

Powerpack is capable of converting the kinetic 

energy from the movement of the train 

into electricity. That electrical energy is stored in 

batteries to be drawn on as required to power the 

traction system. The aim is to to reduce 

CO 2 emissions and fuel consumption by as much 

as 25%. “Deutsche Bahn has firmly enshrined 

sustainability in its new corporate strategy, DB2020. 

We want to lead the way globally in environmental 

responsibility and lower our specific CO 2 emissions 

by 20% by 2020,” stated Dr. Volker Kefer, DB 

Infrastructure and Technology Director, on the 

occasion of the railcar presentation. “To dynamically 

advance the railway system, we need marketable 

innovations. By using hybrid technology we can 

drive forward energy-efficient and ecologically 

sustainable rail transport.” 



Grate addition to 

London’s skyline 

Faster, higher, stronger. The London Olympiad may be 

over but the city itself continues to follow the motto 

of the Olympic Games. The UK capital is building on 

an Olympic scale. In the past, its skyline has lagged 

behind those of other major world cities. This was 

because of historical restrictions on building heights 

and limitations imposed by protected views such 

as St. Paul’s Cathedral. However, the rules have been 

relaxed in more recent times and new skyscrapers 

are sprouting up in large numbers. Among them are 

the 225-meter Cheese Grater and the 160-meter 

Walkie-Talkie. The two towers are due to be ready for 

occupation in 2014 and together will provide more 

than 112,000 square meters of floor space for offices, 

shops and restaurants. They will also accommodate 

four MTU Series 4000 generator sets capable of 

2,250kW each to make sure they are never 

inconvenienced by power cuts. Once the emergency 

power systems are installed, they will be able to 

restore the power supply in less than ten seconds in 

the event of a mains failure.




Specially special 

Elegance, aesthetics and functionality. Yacht buyers 

love the unique and individual. As does MTU. And 

very soon it is something captains will not only feel 

– they will see it too. Because MTU has teamed up 

with top Italian designers Pininfarina to produce 

new concepts for bridge controls. Power lever, digital 

display, analog instruments and the control desk 

buttons are all made in the same mold – tastefully 

and artistically crafted. So in future even standarddesigned 

yachts will be able to have a splash of 

individuality. The Pininfarina-design components 

can be fitted in any bridge control desk and are 

combinable with the latest MTU Blue Vision New 

Generation automation system. “In the luxury yacht 

sector, at which the design concept is aimed, there 

is currently no other comparable solution on the 

market,” says Martin Boll, Bridge Design project 

manager at MTU, “Shipbuilders that fit out their 

yachts with the new-design MTU components can 

set themselves apart from their competitors and 

gain a significant market advantage.” 



Interview with new CSO, Dr. Michael Haidinger 

Customer-centered 

As the group’s new Chief Sales Officer (CSO), 

Dr. Michael Haidinger has been in charge of 

Tognum’s global sales and service operations 

since the middle of this year. He spent the 

first few months getting to know the people 

at MTU and MTU Onsite Energy and their 

clients, after previously working primarily in 

the aircraft industry – at DASA, Fairchild/ 

Dornier, Airbus and Eurocopter. Most 

recently he headed aircraft engine maker 

Rolls-Royce’s German operations and its 

global sales of small and medium-sized 

engines. We found out in this interview how 

he can nevertheless identify with diesel and 

gas engines and efficient energy systems and 

why an airline company is like a mining 

operation. 

If MTU Report were to publish an article 

on your work as Tognum CSO in a year from 

now, what headline would you hope for? 

'Tognum even more successful in focusing all 

its efforts on the customer' would be good. 

Further improving customer satisfaction with 

high-quality products and a matching range of 

support services is my main aim. 

In the past you have worked for companies 

in the aircraft industry. How did the switch 

to Tognum, a producer of terrestrial and 

marine engines and energy plants, come 

about? 

I have had a lot to do with engines in recent 

years. So it wasn’t such a big leap as it might 

appear. Of course, an aircraft engine is only 

comparable to a limited degree with a fastrunning 

diesel engine. But the clients’ business 

models are similar. The operator of a fleet of 

haul trucks has to earn its money from those 

vehicles, so they have to be available 24 hours a 

day, seven days a week, must never break down 

and must be economical to run. The manager of 

an airline has precisely the same concerns. Just 

like a mining truck, an airplane must never be out 

of action any longer than absolutely necessary. 

Train operators are in a similar situation too. A 

yacht owner, on the other hand, might only use 

his engines very occasionally – but he still has 

demanding expectations of them. In his case it is 

more a matter of speed than stamina. He wants 

his engines to accelerate quickly and deliver 

high performance, to work perfectly whenever 

needed – and to look good as well. That is similar 

to the way owners of private business jets think. 

They don’t have to make money out of their 

aircraft, but it is very nice to have one and woe 

betide if it does not work just when you need it. 

So the demands and expectations that clients 

have of our products and services are not at all 

unfamiliar to me. 

What attracted you about Tognum? 

Tognum operates in growth markets, and it is 

always more enjoyable to work in an expanding 

business than a contracting one. This company 

has outstanding products and is well placed in 

many different markets. That means there are 

a lot of opportunities, and it is up to us to make 

use of them. That is an exciting task. 

You will undoubtedly have met a large 

number of clients in your first few months 

as CSO. What is their message to you? 

Quite rightly, clients expect that I am their voice 

inside the corporation. They want me to be aware 

of what they want, and that I take it on board 

here and put it into practice. 

And what do they want? 

In short, that we offer them the best possible 

solution at a competitive price. It is difficult 

to be more specific than that because the 

individual requirements are very different from 

one application to another. Service is always a 

major issue. Some customers are very satisfied, 

whereas for others dissatisfaction with the 

support services is enough for them to switch 

to another supplier. That should never happen. 

Our clients are not buying a disposable product. 

They expect to be able to use their propulsion 

system or energy plant economically for years, 

if not decades. To do so, they need a reliable 

partner. And that starts right from product 

development. Even at that early stage we have to 

be looking ahead to how the product will behave 

in operation. And, of course, we will always be 

working on getting spare parts and technicians 

on site even faster to deal with any problems. 

Already we are at the point where clients are no 

longer buying just an engine, a propulsion system 

or an energy plant from us – they demand 

service backup as well. In future it may be that 

they will ask only for 'kW per hour' to achieve 

«Even at the development stage we have to be looking 

ahead to how the product will behave in operation. » 

Dr. Michael Haidinger, Tognum CSO 

their mission. We are currently breaking new 

ground in this area with the Intercity Express 

Programme (IEP) rail project in the UK together 

with our consortium partners, Hitachi. We are 

sharing the operating cost risk for a period of 

over 27 years. That is both an opportunity and 

a challenge, and it shows the demands that the 

market is placing on us. We accept them willingly 

and with total commitment. 

Your co-Director, Dr. Ulrich Dohle, 

announced in the last issue of MTU Report 

that Tognum would be investing more in gas 

engine development as well as diesel 

engines. How do you see gas engines 

developing? 


Interview 

For me, it is no longer a question of whether 

gas is the fuel of the future, but when it will be 

used in which applications. Oil reserves are 

limited whereas gas will last for a very long 

time – so we have to change over sooner or later. 

Nevertheless, despite all the euphoria, we should 

bear in mind that there will still be problems to 

overcome with the gas infrastructure, especially 

for mobile applications. It is quite a different 

thing always operating a gas-engine powered 

ferry between the same ports on the Norwegian 

fjords compared with traveling from one side 

of the world to another in a gas-fueled ship and 

depending on a well-developed gas infrastructure 

in every port. And the development of the rawmaterial 

cost of oil and gas will also play a part 

in determining when and where a changeover 

makes sense. So the diesel engine will continue 

to perform an important role for some decades 

yet. Its share of the overall market will shrink, but 

will remain large enough for us to continue to do 

everything to make it even cleaner and more 

efficient. 

Have you got a favorite Tognum product yet? 

So far, I haven’t found any product that 

doesn’t excite me. Tognum has fantastic 

products. Be they engines for luxury yachts, 

Powerpacks for trains, energy generation plants 

or big marine engines, they are all in their own 

way masterpieces of technology. And I am a 

technophile and an innovation enthusiast. But 

that’s not a surprise, because I wouldn’t have 

been in the business for over 20 years otherwise. 

Interview: Lucie Maluck 

Picture: Robert Hack 

Since summer 2012, Dr Michael Haidinger 

has been responsible for global business 

involving the MTU and MTU Onsite Energy 

brands and for Tognum's distribution and 

service business. 


News 

At www.mtuonsiteenergy.com, prospective and existing customers can find solutions and products for the 

distributed power sector. 

New website for MTU Onsite Energy 

MTU Onsite Energy has a new website. At www.mtuonsiteenergy.com, prospective and existing 

customers can now find the right distributed power product or solution even faster. Alongside 

enhanced navigation and the new 'Solutions' section with descriptions of applications 

and markets, a Project Center is also under development. The Center aims to give project 

managers, engineers and specialists access to more technical information, making it easier, for 

example, to carry out power calculations. 

The site adapts automatically to the user’s terminal device so on-screen displays are 

optimally sized. As a result, information can be easily accessed via the web browser on PCs, 

laptops, tablets or smartphones. 

Re-design of the site also includes content updates and revision. On the product pages 

visitors will find detailed information on complete systems available on the basis of MTU gas 

and diesel engines together with the relevant services available. The new 'Solutions' section 

covers various applications and 

markets where MTU Onsite Energy 

products are used. 

The new MTU Onsite Energy website 

adapts automatically to page size and to 

different terminal devices. 


SKL Motor becomes MTU 

Reman Technologies 

New from old: remanufacturing makes engines that have reached the end of their 

first life as good as new again. MTU Reman Technologies GmbH in Magdeburg is 

the technology center for standard remanufacturing of MTU engines and 

components. 

Tognum took over SKL Motor GmbH in Magdeburg in 2008 and has since 

equipped the facility for standardized reconditioning of MTU engines and 

components. And now it has a new trading name to reflect the new focus 

of its operations: MTU Reman Technologies. 

“In the past few years we have invested more than €20 million in the 

enterprise,” pointed out Wilfried Probian, CEO of MTU Reman Technologies. 

The remanufacturing of engines that have completed thousands of hours 

of high-performance service in generator sets or high-speed trains, 

for example, saves not only money but raw materials too. The engines 

are dismantled and the individual components restored to a condition 

equivalent to that of a brand new part. Defective components and worn 

parts are replaced by new ones. After only a few weeks, the client gets 

back a new engine, which has undergone a complete test run. And it is not 

just complete engines that are remanufactured, individual components that 

are removed are reconditioned and reused as reman parts. 

As well as that, the Tognum Group carries out research into the engines 

of the future in Magdeburg. New combustion processes, combustion 

chamber geometries and alternative fuels are investigated on single-cylinder 

test benches. 

This year 148 young people started 

an apprenticeship or a dual-study 

course at Tognum and its 

subsidiaries in Germany and other 

parts of the world. 

Class of 

2012 

This year 148 young people 

started an apprenticeship or a 

dual-study course at Tognum and 

its subsidiaries in Germany and 

other parts of the world. “We 

develop, produce and maintain high-quality engines and energy systems. 

To do so we need highly qualified staff. With this investment in the future, 

the company is making an important contribution to combating the 

shortage of skilled workers,” explained Ingo Metzer, Tognum HR Manager, 

on the occasion of the apprenticeship launch at the MTU lead plant in 

Friedrichshafen. That is also where the large majority of the new MTU 

trainees are starting their careers. For the first time, however, Tognum 

America is also taking on six apprentice industrial mechanics at its Aiken 

facility. The program initiated in conjunction with the Aiken County 

School District, the Aiken County Career and Technology Center and 

the Aiken Technical College combines high-school education, technical 

instruction in the classroom and practical training at the MTU plant in 

Aiken and is based on the dual education model common in Germany. 

Five apprentices have also been learning the finer points of engine 

installation and servicing at MTU South Africa since the beginning of 

2012. And three new trainees have been taken on at MTU Asia. 


News 

Green hospital 

The new MTU Onsite Energy model 8V 1600 400kW generator set offers 

particularly high fuel-efficiency as well as being durable and versatile. 

Bronze medalist 

MTU Onsite Energy has won a bronze medal in the 8th annual 

“Product of the Year” awards. The prize-winning product was the diesel 

generator set based on the MTU V8 Series 1600 engine. The awards 

are presented by the trade magazine “Consulting Specifying Engineer” 

for the best products introduced in the year concerned, in this case 

2011. The bronze-medal generator set offers high fuel-efficiency, 

outstanding durability and great versatility in the important 400kW 

class. To ensure maximum flexibility across various applications, the 

genset achieves a mean load factor of 85% under fluctuating load over 

24 hours in reserve mode, as compared with the typical mean load 

factor of 70% over 24 hours. It is thus ideally suited to demanding 

applications such as emergency backup power generation. 

A combined heat, cooling and power plant from 

MTU Onsite Energy has made the Turgutlu Public 

Hospital Turkey’s first `green´ hospital. Based 

on the company’s Series 400 and 4000 gas 

engines, the plant produces 1,235MW of electric 

power and 1,350MW of thermal energy – enough 

to supply the 300-bed hospital with electricity 

and hot water for the air-conditioning system. 

The plant also scores a triple first: it is not only 

the first of its type in Turkey and the first plant 

in the country to supply a public hospital, it is 

also the first plant to operate outside Turkey’s 

strict licensing system. By issuing licenses for 

power generation, the country’s Energy Market 

Regulatory Authority (EMRA) intends to improve 

the country’s energy policy as well as its energy 

efficiency. To avoid paying power generation 

license fees, companies in Turkey must ensure 

that any generation plant they operate has an 

efficiency rate of at least 80%. With an efficiency 

rating approaching 90%, the MTU plant at Turgutlu 

Public Hospital is the country’s first license-free 

power generation facility. "We expect the hospital 

to recoup its investment in less than two years,” 

said Sadullah Iscanoglu from MTU Onsite Energy. 

Environmentally friendly gensets supplied by MTU Onsite 

Energy supply emergency backup and peak load power for 

a Caribbean shopping mall. 

Shopping power 

In the Dominican Republic, more than just the tourist industry is booming. In the past three years, four high-class 

shopping malls have opened. One of them is the Agor Mall. The 120,000-square-meter environmentally friendly and 

energy-saving development built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards was opened 

in the summer. MTU Onsite Energy distributor Equipos Diesel S.A. installed a 7MW emergency power generation 

system in the shopping center. It consists of three 1,750kW, 12-cylinder Series 4000 generator sets and covers the 

power demand in emergency backup and peak load situations. The gensets meet LEED standards too. They have 

heat exchangers specially designed to work together with the mall’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. 

Such interaction is made possible by MTU Onsite Energy open protocol controls. And it means that connectivity, 

operational availability, stability and fuel-efficiency are guaranteed whenever the generator units are required. 


In brief: 

Yacht engine for EPA Tier 3 and IMO Tier III 

MTU and Marina Barcelona 92 have signed a service and overhaul cooperation 

contract for MTU yacht engines. 

MTU and Marina Barcelona 

team up 

MTU and the Spanish ship repairers Marina Barcelona 92 (MB92) have 

signed a cooperative agreement. It governs the technical and business 

relationships between the two parties when working together on the 

servicing and overhaul of MTU engines in yachts brought in for repair. 

MTU maintains an office at the shipyard for that purpose. MB92 is located 

in Barcelona harbor and is one of the world’s largest repair yards for 

overhauling, servicing and maintaining superyachts and megayachts. Since 

the end of 2011, MTU has assisted MB92 with its work on more than 50 

yachts. 

The MTU Series 2000 is being 

upgraded to comply with the US 

emissions standard EPA Tier 3 

(Leisure Craft) and the IMO Tier III 

international emissions standard. 

The new generation of the engine 

designated the 2000 M96 covers 

a range of power outputs up 

to 1,940kW (2,600bhp) and meets the IMO Tier II and EPA Tier 

3 requirements using internal engine design features alone while 

achieving IMO Tier III compliance with the addition of SCR exhaust gas 

aftertreatment. Despite the engine’s lower exhaust emissions, its fuel 

consumption is even more economical than previous models. 

The new units will be available in 2014 (EPA Tier 3 Leisure 

Craft) and early 2016 (IMO Tier III) respectively. 

Ironmen for next stage of emissions limits 

Tognum is upgrading the MTU Series 

4000 “Ironmen” engines to comply 

with the US emissions standard EPA 

Tier 3. Like the present generation, 

the future engines will be offered 

as 8, 12 and 16-cylinder versions 

for diesel-mechanical and dieselelectric 

propulsion or onboard power 

generation. The mechanical-propulsion versions span a power range 

of 560 to 2,000kW, while the diesel-electric and power-generation 

alternatives offer between 650 and 2,000kW. These engines 

require no exhaust gas aftertreatment. The first units will be 

available from summer 2013. 

10MW Series 8000 

MTU and Navantia run a joint training center in Cartagena/Spain. 

New Training Center 

MTU Ibérica and the Spanish shipbuilder Navantia have opened 

a shared training center in Cartagena, Spain. It is part of a longterm 

strategic cooperation program between the two companies 

and extends the existing licensing agreements for marketing and 

production of MTU Series 396, 956 and 1163 engines. The training 

center is a component of the worldwide MTU service network which 

includes numerous training establishments and meets correspondingly 

high quality standards. 

The Series 8000 is now available 

with an output of ten megawatts. 

Previously, the 20-cylinder unit 

offered a maximum output of 

9,100kW. A project-specific 

endurance test over a period 

of 1,500 hours under tropical 

conditions has now demonstrated 

the IMO Tier II compliant engine’s power increase and reliability, 

however. The Series 8000 now covers a range of outputs from 7,200 to 

10,000kW. So MTU is now in a position to offer economical 

diesel-engine-based propulsion systems capable of up to 40 

megawatts per vessel. 


MTU Brown MTU Brown 

0-17-28-62 80% der Farbe 60% 

CMYK CMYK CMYK 

MTU Blue MTU Blue 

60% 

50-25-0-10 80% der Farbe 

CMYK 

CMYK CMYK 

40% 

CMYK 

40% 

CMYK 

20% 

CMYK 

20% 

CMYK 

▬▬▬ East Coast Main Line 

▬▬▬ Great Western Main Line 

Inverness 

Aberdeen 

Glasgow 

Edinburgh 

United Kingdom 

North Sea 

Newcastle 

Irish Sea 

Harrogate 

Doncaster 

Hull 

Irland 

Lincoln 

Carmarthen 

Hereford 

Kings 

Lynn 

Swansea 

Cardiff 

Bristol 

Reading 

London 

North Pole 

Plymouth 

Paignton 

British Channel 

France 

The Great Western Main Line runs from London to Southwest England and South 

Wales. The line’s most important section is between London and Bristol. The East 

Coast Main Line is an electrified high-speed rail link over 600 kilometers long 

connecting London to Edinburgh via Peterborough, York and Newcastle. 


Powerpacks and maintenance for British High Speed Trains 

Rail 

Lifelong service 

The Intercity Express Programme, or IEP for short, is one of the biggest transport 

projects in the UK in recent years. After a tendering process spanning roughly 

five years, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) placed an order with Agility 

Trains for 92 trains comprising close to 600 carriages for two of the country's 

major rail routes, the Great Western Main Line (GWML) and the East Coast Main 

Line (ECML) in July 2012. The Agility Trains consortium headed by Hitachi Rail 

Europe was awarded the contract to develop and build the Hitachi Super Express 

Train and maintain it for 27½ years. The trains are scheduled to start service on 

the GWML in 2017 and on the ECML from 2018. MTU is the preferred supplier 

for 250 diesel-electric Powerpacks and also to maintain the Powerpacks for the 

entire life of the trains. 


Rail 

proud to have been chosen on the basis of its many years of experience 

in comprehensive maintenance contracts and in supplying ultra-reliable 

Powerpacks to be part of the Intercity Express Programme and to be 

working with Hitachi,” stated Tognum Sales Director, Dr. Michael Haidinger, 

at the joint press conference with Hitachi in September 2012 at the 

Innotrans railway industry show in Berlin. 

Hitachi’s Super Express trains operate either purely on electricity or bimodally. 

That means that they run on electric power when they are on electrified routes 

and switch to their MTU Powerpacks when no overhead power lines are available. 

As well as purely electric trains, the Super Express class also includes 

what are known as bimodal trains, which run on electricity where there are 

overhead power lines and with diesel-electric traction on non-electrified lines. 

The electric-only versions are each to be equipped with a Powerpack serving 

as an auxiliary electricity generator to enable onward travel to the next 

station and maintain an emergency supply for the train's services if there is a 

fault with the overhead power lines. The bimodal versions will have three, four 

or five Powerpacks depending on the length of the train (five, eight and nine 

carriages respectively) so as not to be dependent on electrified lines. 

MTU will be supplying the traction modules to Hitachi between 2013 

and 2018, while the maintenance contract starts from 2017. “Tognum is 

Lifelong service 

MTU will guarantee the availability of the traction systems for the entire 

service life of the trains. The comprehensive maintenance contract required 

to do so covers preventive maintenance as well as necessary repairs and 

complete overhauls. To that end MTU is planning to have its own service 

engineers working not only at the East Grinstead depot, which has been 

specially extended for this project, but also at the North Pole (London) and 

Doncaster (South Yorkshire) rail depots. MTU previously supplied engines for 

the present generation of British High Speed Trains, the InterCity 125, and 

provided comprehensive preventive and corrective maintenance for them 

under a similar service concept. The maintenance services will be delivered 

by the British subsidiary, MTU UK, based in East Grinstead (West Sussex). 

Hitachi Rail Europe based in the UK capital, London, is a subsidiary of 

Hitachi Europe and part of the Japanese Hitachi Group. The Shinkansen 

train in Japan is the best-known example of a high-speed train produced 

by Hitachi. The first rail contract secured by Hitachi was for a fleet of 29 

British Class 395 high-speed trains. 

Words and Interview: Mirko Gutemann 

Pictures: Hitachi, Tognum, Robert Hack 

To find out more, contact: 

Alexander Kerschgens, alxander.kerschgens@mtu-online.com 

Tel. +49 7541 90-7042 

MTU Series 1600 Powerpack 

MEMO 

18 I MTU Report 03/12 

The MTU Powerpacks for the Hitachi powered coaches are diesel-electric underfloor 

traction modules with an output of 700 kilowatts each. The core component of the unit 

is the twelve-cylinder MTU 12V 1600 R80L diesel engine. It meets the emission limits 

required by EU Stage IIIB, which has been in force since 2012, and is equipped with 

exhaust gas aftertreatment. As well as the engine and generator, the Powerpack also 

contains all auxiliary systems necessary for vehicle traction.

Interview 

Jim Brewin (left) is a development engineer at Hitachi Rail Europe. In an interview, he explains the requirements which Hitachi and MTU have to meet in 

the IEP project. 

"We are being paid for availability and reliability" 

Mr. Brewin, as development engineer at Hitachi Rail Europe you were responsible 

for the technical side of procurement of the generator units within the IEP project. 

What were the key requirements demanded of the Powerpacks? 

The available installation space was the starting point for all technical requirements as far 

as the train designers at Hitachi were concerned. The designers at our Kasado Factory in 

Japan defined what we required with regard to external dimensions, power output and 

interfaces between train and generator unit. From a maintenance viewpoint, we decided 

that the simplest solution is a module that we can remove and refit quickly and easily – 

like a pit-stop in Formula 1. 

What were the arguments in favor of the Powerpack? 

There were pros and cons with every potential supplier. With some, the technical solution 

was better, with others, the support services offered. For us it was important that the 

solution was well-balanced. Hitachi worked out the ideas together with the bidding 

suppliers rather than rigidly specifying, “This is exactly how it should be done” – instead, 

we expected suggestions from the potential suppliers. Through that very close 

collaboration process, we built up a very good relationship with MTU and are confident 

that the Powerpack will be a success. 

Why did Hitachi opt for a 700-kilowatt Powerpack instead of choosing the standard 

560-kilowatt version? 

The simple answer is more flexibility and greater redundancy. The requirement for the 

engine output power is 560 kilowatts. But if, for example, the train leaves a station behind 

schedule or an engine fails, the 700-kilowatt Powerpack gives reserves to make up the 

time where possible. It also allows the flexibility of running key auxiliary systems such as 

air conditioning without limiting the traction power. 

Hitachi also had strict demands regarding low levels of noise and vibration 

from the generator units. Why? 

The European TSI standard (Technical Specifications for Interoperability) is very, very 

strict. For example, when a train pulls out of a station, it must not exceed a specific 

volume level. As well as that, the passengers want to feel as little vibration as 

possible. Meeting those demands is a significant challenge for MTU and Hitachi. We 

carried out very thorough bench-tests in Japan and are working hard with MTU at 

minimizing the noise and vibration. 

How will Hitachi and MTU work together in the future? 

The IEP contract includes maintaining the trains for 27½ years. Hitachi is the general 

contractor and MTU is responsible for maintaining the generator units. The Powerpack 

experts are at MTU and we want to ensure they are involved over the full term. That 

is the only way we will always be able to offer maximum availability and reliability. 

And that is what we are being paid for. MTU has been able to demonstrate its 

maintenance contract expertise over many years in the previous HST (High Speed 

Trains) project in the UK. In addition, some of our colleagues have previously worked 

with the MTU service organization and have been favorably impressed. Those were 

the factors that persuaded us. There are, of course, still some challenges to overcome, 

but the basic outlines of the collaboration are clear and we have a very good solution 

for the Intercity Express Programme. 


MTU engines in extreme deployment conditions 

At the 

limit 

Jogging at a temperature of minus 10°C is not 

pleasant – but it is possible. At minus 15°C, just the 

breathing is painful. At minus 20°C the body is no 

longer capable of warming up the cold air before it 

hits the lungs – jogging then becomes a health risk. 

Physical exertion at temperatures over 60°C is not 

advisable either. And most joggers avoid steep 

uphill gradients as well. MTU engines, on the other 

hand, have to run in all conditions – whether it is at 

temperatures of minus 60°C in Russia’s so-called 

refrigeration zone or on the high seas, battling giant 

waves which cause other vessels to founder. They 

must never fail, not even in an earthquake. 


Technology 


Technology 

It is a bizarre sight. As if out of nothing, ice crystals start to form on the engine on MTU 

Test Stand No. 132. Just a few to begin with; then more and more. As in the fairy tale, 

the ice envelops the engine like a second skin. Within a few hours, the silver engine has 

been transformed into a crystalline, white work of art. Then the engine starts up, and 

inside a few minutes the ice melts away. 

The engine in winter 

On Test Stand 132 the starting capabilities of MTU engines are tested at extremely 

low temperatures. Air conditioning compressors are used to lower the engine’s cooling 

system temperature to as cold as minus 25°C. That allows the developers to test how 

easily the engine starts at different temperatures. To improve starting characteristics, 

MTU developers optimize fuel injection pressure, volume and timing. The data are then 

stored in the engine management system and are adapted for engine start-up on the 

basis of outside temperature and coolant temperature. This comes into play on the 

haul trucks that are in constant use in the Aikhal diamond mine in Siberia, for example. 

This spot in the Republic of Yakutia is known as Russia’s refrigerator with good reason. 

According to an ancient myth, when God created the Earth he sent an angel with a sack 

full of riches to Siberia. When the angel flew over Yakutia, his fingers froze with cold and 

he dropped the sack. All of the riches – gold, silver and platinum – were scattered all 

over the ground. Out of anger at the loss, God punished the area with frozen winters. 

Engines adapted to the cold 

If you work in Aikhal, you are allowed to retire earlier. You are also paid an extra 

allowance and sent on a rest and recuperation holiday on the Black Sea every two 

years. That is unless you are a haul truck. They have to carry on working reliably at 

temperatures as low as minus 60°C – when people find it difficult just to breathe. “In 

the beginning I was skeptical as to whether MTU’s high-performance engines could really 

cope, but they work perfectly,” recounted Vladimir Koyhevnikov, chief engineer for the 

mine operator Alrosa. They only have to be serviced every 30,000 hours. That is no more 

frequently than engines in any other mines. And it is down to the fact that they have 

been specially prepared for the arctic Siberian conditions. Because the polar diesel used 

in the region has a kerosene content of 60%, and is therefore substantially less viscous 

than normal winter diesel, MTU modified the fuel injectors so that the very thin fuel does 

not destroy them. Louvers in front of the radiator prevent the engine being overcooled. 

They are closed whenever the temperature is too cold. Consequently the engine can still 

be reliably started even at extremely low outside temperatures. The engine controller 

automatically adjusts fuel volume and injection timing to the air temperature. Also, 

depending on the ambient temperature, pilot injection is activated in addition to main 

injection during start-up. 

***** 

High-altitude kit for deployment in Chile 

Anyone who has traveled through high mountains knows the feeling: the air gets thinner, 

breathing becomes difficult. The oxygen content of the air decreases with every meter of 

ascent. Anyone used to hiking at altitude would not notice too much difference at 3,000 

meters or so. However, those of us used to lowland areas may well experience breathing 

difficulties at 1500 meters. And the situation is the same for the Leopard 2 tanks which 

have formed the backbone of the Chilean army for the last three years and which have 

to deliver top performance at altitudes up to 4,300 meters. This presents a particular 

challenge for the vehicles’ turbochargers which increase their speed but still feed less 

combustion air into the engine. As a result, exhaust temperature rises and the service 

life of many components decreases. To stop this happening, a new compressor wheel in 

the turbocharger acts together with the sensors in the exhaust temperature monitoring 

system to ensure that the engine does not overheat and engine output is throttled 

back almost unnoticeably. In this way, the engine is able to deliver the high levels of 

performance demanded of it, even high up in the mountains. 


«In the beginning I was 

skeptical as to whether 

MTU’s high-performance 

engines could cope with 

the arctic conditions in 

Russia, but they work 

perfectly. » 

Vladimir Koyhevnikov, 

chief engineer at Alrosa 

Winter on MTU Test Bench No. 132: 

developers cool the engine to minus 

25°C to test out and improve its 

starting characteristics at such 

temperatures. The water that 

condenses on the surface of the engine 

freezes in just a few minutes to form a 

sort of icy armor-plating. Then once the 

engine starts, the sparkling white coat 

melts away again. 


Crashing waves, biting spray and freezing temperatures. Lifeboats are usually called out 

when the wind is at its strongest, the waves at their highest and other vessels cannot 

cope with the conditions. So that the lifeboats do not become rescue cases themselves, 

they are self-righting in case they capsize. “We design our engines specifically to cope 

with such extreme conditions and to make sure that there is always enough oil available 

to coat the moving parts with a lubricating film, we also test them on a special tilting test 

stand,” explained Dr Carsten Baumgarten, Test Team Leader for Series 2000 engines. 

The engines are tilted over at angles up to 45° on the special test stand and subjected 

to all load and speed combinations. The tests enable the developers to answer questions 

such as what the oil pressure is, how much air there is in the oil or how much oil there 

is in the engine’s blow-by, which is fed back into the intake air via the crankcase venting 

system. Engines that are used in haul trucks or excavators have to be able to operate 

at inclinations up to 15° in any direction. For marine engines, that figure is significantly 

larger in some cases. In armored vehicles, some MTU engines are required to operate at 

inclinations as extreme as 45°. To do so, they are equipped with a special type of drysump 

lubrication system. The oil is pumped continuously from the sump into a smaller 

reservoir from which it is delivered to the engine. This ensures that sufficient oil always 

reaches the engine lubrication points. 

So that vehicles – be they tanks or haul trucks – function reliably 

even in the thin air at altitudes above 4,000m, they are equipped 

with a special high-altitude kit. 

The engines in the lifeboats of the British Royal National Lifeboat Institution, for instance, 

have things even harder. They have to be able to roll over around their own longitudinal 

axis and still keep running. No easy undertaking, because overturning could potentially 

cause the engine oil to run out through the crankcase venting system and so find its way 

into the cylinders, where it would burn uncontrollably. MTU designers have therefore 

designed the crankcase venting system and the engine oil cavities so that the oil cannot 

run into the intake system if the engine completes a 360° rotation. 

***** 

The lifeboats of the British lifeboat service, RNLI, frequently have to 

put to sea when other craft would capsize and the conditions are at 

their worst. 

Emergency power in an earthquake 

And what if there is an earthquake? Emergency generator sets – regardless of whether 

they provide the backup supply for nuclear power plants, data centers or hospitals – 

must not fail even in such conditions. In California the earth moves 10,000 times a year; 

and quakes are far from a rarity in the rest of the world, so they are something that MTU 

Onsite Energy gensets have to be able to contend with. The developers at MTU Onsite 

Energy in Mankato, USA, therefore recently simulated an earthquake on a special test 

stand at UC Berkeley PEER Labs in northern California. A 3,250kW MTU Series 4000 

genset was placed on a special platform and then subjected to the violent effects of 

an earthquake. Prior to and directly following subjecting this unit to the considerable 

stresses it will encounter during an earthquake, the unit was tested under load and 

performed its intended function of supplying power to critical loads. This qualified 

the genset to adhere to compliance with the International Building Code (IBC). IBC is 

increasingly referenced as the standard for seismic qualification in specifications in the 

US when a unit must perform after a seismic event. 

***** 

Up to the limit 

MTU developers recently carried out the ultimate extreme endurance test on a 

Series 890 engine. They simulated a descent down a mountain road and increased 

engine speed up to failure point. “At 5,555rpm we had to abort the test due to a 

mechanical fault,” said Frank Skrzypinski, MTU team leader for Engine Trials. And was it 

still approved? “Yes,” answered Skrzypinski with confidence. “Because that is 800rpm 

above the maximum speed of 4,700rpm that the engine was designed for.” 

Words: Lucie Maluck 

Pictures: Dennis Gering, Robert Hack, Tognum, RNLI

Technology 

MTU developers can tilt engines over to an angle of 45° on a test stand. In that way they can simulate the conditions on steep ascents or descents 

or in heavy seas. 

More on this ... 

Video clip of earthquake 

simulation on the test stand 


Log on to http:// bit.ly/TCDUwq 

ONLINE 


Technology 

Series 2000 cylinder head production 

→How to make 

...a cylinder head 


It starts with a rectangular cast-iron blank 

– and a design drawing. The drawing shows 

the precise dimensions. From those basic 

materials a cylinder head is produced within 

one and a half days. But how? 

A cylinder head has to be able to withstand 

temperatures as high as 700°C and ignition 

pressures over 200bar when the engine is 

running. It closes off the top of the cylinder and 

forms the upper part of the combustion chamber. 

Fitted inside it are the inlet and exhaust valves 

and the fuel injector. So the cylinder head 

not only has to be made of absolutely top 

quality material, it also has to be precision 

manufactured. 

Virtual production 

The drilling and milling operations start not on 

a machine tool but on a computer. Every single 

drilling and cutting operation performed by the 

machining center to turn the metal blank into 

a finished cylinder head is programmed and 

simulated beforehand using the ProEngineer and 

NCSimul software. Bernd Scherer is an expert in 

such virtual machining. He is a production planner 

and NC coordinator at MTU. He describes the 

programming procedure thus: like the machine 

tool operator, he first selects the right tools for 

the specific cutting and drilling operations from 

the tool management system on the computer. 

Then he places the three-dimensional virtual 

cylinder head on the virtual machine table and 

secures it with the virtual workholding fixtures. 

With a few mouse-clicks he tells the ProEngineer 

software where and how much of the surface 

is to be cut away and where which holes are to 

be drilled. “The system helps to make sure you 

are always using the right dimensions,” Scherer 

explained. Then he programs the next step. “The 

tricky part of programming is finding the best 

possible sequence of movements on the machine 

tool so that all surfaces are efficiently machined 

and an economically and technologically perfect 

program is produced,” the expert added. 

Computer simulation 

To check whether the program is right, he then 

simulates the machining of the cylinder head on 

the computer. He can then see exactly how the 

tool moves and where there might be collisions 

between the machine and the workpiece. That is 

a major benefit because in real-world production, 

any collision can cause substantial damage to the 

machine, the tool and the machined part. 

Cylinder head step by step 

Then it is time for the real thing. The virtual 

machining program created in ProEngineer 

is transferred to the real machine tool. To be 

precise, two machine tools are used to transform 

the metal blank via a number of machining 

stages into a finished cylinder head. A machine 

operator places the cast cylinder head blank 

on the workholding fixture on the first machine 

table. He closes the large sliding doors of the 

milling machine and starts it up. From this 

point the process proceeds automatically. A 

milling cutter runs over the surface and cuts 

away the metal bit by bit. Hardly anything of the 

operation is visible, however. Coolant-lubricant – 

required, as the name suggests, for cooling and 

lubricating the cutting tool – splashes all over 

the machine tool windows. The first machining 

center machines the top and bottom of the blank 

in turn on its first and second machine tables. 

Afterwards, the machine operator checks the 

most important drilling, milling and clearance 

dimensions to make sure the process and the 

tools are working properly. The part then moves 

on to the second machining center where the 

surfaces on the sides are machined and drilled. 

The cylinder head is then cleaned in a washer. 

Afterwards, a production worker inserts the valve 

guides and seats into the drilled holes. Next, the 

casting is checked for flaws, cracks and other 

damage, cleaned and deburred. 

Multi-stage machining 

The second machining center finish-machines the 

valve guide holes and valve seat recesses at the 

same time so that they are exactly flush. Checking 

the geometry and dimensions to an accuracy 

of a hundredth of a millimeter after machining 

guarantees that the valves function perfectly. A 

second washing stage ensures that the technical 

cleanliness requirements are met. Finally, an 

assembly worker fits the protective sleeve and 

plugs. If the part passes the subsequent gastightness 

test, it is ready for the last production 

stage – the fitting of the inlet and exhaust valves 

which respectively let the air into and exhaust out 

of the combustion chamber. Then the cylinder 

head is fully kitted out for a long life of high 

performance operation on an engine. 

Words: Katrin Beck, Pictures: Robert Hack 


Bernd Scherer, bernd.scherer@mtu-online.com 

Tel. +49 7541 90-3464 

The cylinder heads arrive at MTU from the foundry 

as cast blanks. Before being passed on for assembly, 

their surfaces have to be machined and holes drilled. 

An MTU production worker deburrs the 

machined part, removing rough edges and shavings 

from the workpiece. 


Tower cranes at 3 World Trade Center 

The Tribute in Light was originally a temporarily installed memorial light feature made up of 

88 floodlights set up next to Ground Zero, the site of the former World Trade Center, from 

March 11 to April 14, 2002. They created two vertical columns of light shining upwards into 

the sky symbolizing the towers of the destroyed World Trade Center. The memorial display 

was erected again in 2003 and since then has lit up the New York sky every year on the night 

of September 10 to 11. 


Reconstruction project 

Eleven years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 

Ground Zero still gapes like an open wound in the middle of New 

York. A wound that the city remembers every year on September 

11, by shining two blue columns of light into the sky over the 

exact spot where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood. 

But the signs of healing are unmistakable. Massive cranes can 

now be seen lifting steel girders into the air while excavators dig 

into the ground of the most profoundly significant building site in 

the USA. The Americans are rebuilding the World Trade Center. 

Industrial 


The morning of September 11, 2001 started as 

another routine day of crane work for Cornell & 

Company. The project was a high-rise in Jersey 

City, New Jersey, just across the river from 

Manhattan. After a long climb up the tower 

ladder, crane operators were in place, hoisting 

steel beams across the bright sunny sky. Project 

managers and crews worked on the ground below, 

and high above. On her way to a meeting onsite, 

Delor Cornell, owner of Cornell & Company, was 

busy checking progress on the job. 

In an instant, everything changed. A plane 

appeared, coming up the river much too low. It 

continued its descent, traveling northwest directly 

towards Manhattan. Work at the site stopped. 

Crew members, along with Delor Cornell, watched 

the plane hit the World Trade Center. It was a 

moment the world would never forget. 

Years later, when given a chance to help construct 

Tower 3 at the new World Trade Center, Cornell & 

Company considered the job a special privilege. 

“This project has a great significance to us, and 

for our owner,” says Don Garrahan, Cornell Crane 

general manager. “It’s a great honor, and we’re 

very humbled by the whole experience. It’s a very 

moving thing, and sends chills up my spine.” 

Going to great heights 

The new World Trade Center will include five new 

skyscrapers, the National September 11 Memorial 

& Museum, 550,000 square feet of retail space 

and a performing arts center. Three large tower 

gantry cranes from Cornell & Company are 

currently constructing 3 World Trade Center, the 

third-tallest building on the World Trade Center 

site. Rising 80 stories, Tower 3 will include 2.8 

million square feet of office space, spread across 

53 floors and five trading floors. The tower 

consists of a reinforced concrete core with steel 

structure outside the core, clad in an external 

structural steel frame. Scheduled to be completed 

in the summer of 2014, the gleaming new 

skyscraper will be situated at the center of the 

various buildings around the memorial. 

At 1,080 feet high, 3 World Trade Center has been 

designed to meet or exceed modern standards for 

safety and sustainability. A switch to fuel-efficient 

and cleaner-burning engines enabled Cornell 

& Company to bid for and win the World Trade 

Center tower crane work by complying with New 

York’s tough local emissions standards. 

Running more efficiently 

As one of America’s most densely populated 

cities, New York passed Local Law 77 to reduce 

the impact of exhaust emissions on human 

health. The city regulation requires operators of 

diesel equipment to use ultra low-sulfur diesel 

(ULSD), install diesel particulate filters (DPF) on 

the exhaust and comply with EPA diesel emissions 

regulations for Tier 3. 

The old Detroit Diesel 2-Cycle 12V71T diesel 

engines in Cornell & Company’s crane fleet 

were simple and dependable, but they were not 

as clean burning or as fuel efficient as today’s 

modern 4-cycle diesels. Due to their design, 

«This project has a great significance to us, and 

for our owner. » 

Don Garrahan, Cornell & Company general manager 

the 12V71T engines used a lot of fuel, and their 

exhaust emissions were too high to comply with 

any of the EPA Tier levels or Local Law 77. Cornell 

& Company had to update the engines in its fleet 

of cranes if it wanted to win construction jobs in 

New York. 

“As an initial test, we bought an MTU Series 60 

engine and put it in one of our TG1900 tower 

gantry cranes,” said Garrahan. “We looked at 

other manufacturers’ engines too, but the people 

who offered the best service and who helped us 

the most were Johnson & Towers, the local MTU 

distributor. They made it happen. They gave us an 

excellent product and excellent service. That’s a 

good combination. Good engines, good people 

and a lot of effort made this a success.” 

A new face for Ground Zero 

MEMO 

Until September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center was the symbol of the New York skyline. Then came the moment 

when not only the towers were destroyed but the whole of America suffered a devastating blow. Eleven years have now 

passed since that day and America is constructing a new building complex on the site of the old World Trade Center. At 

its heart is One World Trade Center, a new skyscraper that was originally to be called Freedom Tower and will dominate 

the future Manhattan skyline as New York's tallest building. The main tower will be flanked by three smaller buildings, 

Towers 2, 3 and 4. A high-rise block slightly to the side of the World Trade Center was previously reconstructed in 2006. 

In the shade of the steel and glass giants surrounded by a coppice of oak trees is a memorial to the attacks: two granite 

basins built into the rectangular footprints of the collapsed twin towers. Waterfalls cascade over the sides and into the 

pools below while the names of the victims are engraved on bronze plaques around the parapet walls.

Industrial 

New York is to have one of its symbols restored. Thousands of people and machines are currently working on construction of the new World 

Trade Center building complex. 


Industrial 

Cranes supplied by Cornell & Company are helping to erect Tower 3 of the new World Trade Center. To meet the strict environmental 

requirements of the City of New York, the operator has had the cranes refitted with MTU Series 60 engines. 

Power meets efficiency 

MEMO 

The MTU Series 60 engine has been proven at construction sites all over the world, setting the standard for 

performance, fuel economy and low emissions. Rated at 525hp at 2,100 RPM with 1,313 foot-pounds of torque, 

Cornell & Company’s new Series 60 engines deliver 17% more torque in the lower and middle speeds than its old 

Detroit Diesel 2-cycle 12V71T diesel engines. While the old and new engines are comparable in size, weight and 

displacement (14 liters), the Series 60 Tier 3 engine has greater heat rejection, necessitating a specially designed 

radiator that required some modifications to the crane’s chassis. The Series 60 is also providing much improved fuel 

efficiency and is EPA certified to Tier 3 emissions standards. To meet New York City’s environmental ordinance, the 

engines are equipped with diesel particulate filters to further reduce particulate matter in the exhaust.

The company’s TG2300-B tower gantry cranes are 

leased to Falcon Steel Corporation, a Delaware 

company in charge of fabricating and erecting 

the steel structure. Each TG2300-B crane has a 

minimum 230-ton lifting capacity and a maximum 

boom length of 240 feet. The cranes employ 

a modular design so they can be modified for 

individual project needs. As a building grows in 

height, the crane can grow, too—by hoisting and 

stacking an additional tower structure on itself. 

Improvements all around 

After the first test engine was installed, Garrahan 

said there were immediate improvements in 

performance, noise, exhaust emissions and fuel 

efficiency. “In today’s world you need a today 

engine and we found the Tier 3 Series 60 to 

be that. We maintained the power and muscle 

requirements to do the work, and also increased 

the fuel efficiency—we’ve almost cut it in half. On 

this job with three cranes, that’s a fuel savings 

of approximately $500 per day or upwards of 

$90,000 to $100,000 annually,” he said. 

Engine noise was also a concern—especially since 

these cranes operate for eight or more hours a 

day in densely populated Manhattan. The Series 

«It feels good to know that we worked together to make 

cleaner air. And not to mention it gave them a step up on 

the competition. » 

Bob Shomo, Senior Vice President Engine Sales Johnson & Towers, Inc. 

60 Tier 3 engine is significantly quieter than the 

old Detroit Diesel 2-Cycle 12V71T engines. “This 

engine operates within acceptable noise levels 

in the city. It almost makes the crane feel brand 

new. It’s been a very positive experience,” says 

Garrahan. “You’re always trying to operate at 

levels below typical street noise, or less, so that 

people don’t notice it. These engines do that.” 

A huge commitment 

Repowering three cranes was one thing, but 

repowering a whole fleet of 18 cranes was quite 

another in terms of investment by Cornell & 

Company. Because the repowering project would 

have a significant, positive impact on air quality at 

construction sites in New York and around the 

Northeast, Johnson & Towers decided to help 

Cornell & Company apply for a federal grant 

as part of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act 

(DERA). This federal program set aside $150 

million to help subsidize the replacement of older 

diesel engines in marine, rail and industrial 

equipment throughout the United States. Of 251 

proposals submitted to DERA in 2010, Cornell & 

Company’s application was one of only seven in 

the country that were approved. 

The grant covered 75 percent of the cost of the 

new engines and paved the way for repowering 

Cornell & Company’s total fleet of 18 gantry tower 

cranes. By repowering its entire fleet, Cornell & 

Company expects to reduce NOx emissions by 

30 tons/year and particulate matter by 1.5 tons/ 

year. Shomo says, “Cornell & Company is the 

only crane fleet in America to make this kind of 

environmental commitment. It feels good to know 

that we worked together to make cleaner air. And 

not to mention, it gave them a step up on the 

competition.” 

Going above and beyond 

The repowered cranes are currently hard at 

work, erecting the steel structure at 3 World 

Trade Center five days a week, sometimes 

working double shifts. The cranes can hoist 

steel components weighing more than 50 tons. 

Garrahan says, “The work is relentless. An eightto 

ten-hour day is expected. If it’s down, people 

are screaming and yelling. So reliability is key. The 

crane is the lifeblood of the job. It sets the pace 

of the entire project. Uptime is critical.” 

After starting the job in the fall of 2012, two of 

the three cranes will continue until the last beam 

is set in place in the winter of 2013. So far, the 

results are very favorable, according to Garrahan. 

“Every aspect of this project has been a win. 

I can’t say enough about how happy we are to 

have hooked up with Johnson & Towers and MTU. 

Their expertise and support have been excellent. 

It’s been a really good experience. Since we 

repowered, our clients have gone with this 

engine upgrade again and again. It’s been a very 

successful thing for us and for MTU.” 

In the bigger picture, there’s a sense of 

accomplishment that can’t be measured. 

Everyone at Cornell & Company is honored to 

work at the Manhattan site. After all, they’re not 

simply building a skyscraper; they’re helping to 

rebuild the hopes and spirits of many Americans. 

“We’re very proud to be affiliated with the 

project,” says Garrahan. “For me to get involved 

is a great privilege. And for Delor Cornell, it’s a 

bit stronger because she was across the river, 

on a jobsite when it happened. And now we’re 

restoring that piece of our country.” 

Words: Chuck Mahnken 

Pictures: Cornel Company, Fotolia, Getty 

Images 


David Combs 

david.combs@tognum.com 

Tel. +1 248 560 8182 


MTU-powered landfill mobile compactor 

King of the hill 

BOMAG vehicles compress 3,500 tons of garbage every day. 


Every day, nearly 3,500 tons of trash arrive at the City of Riverview 

landfill in Michigan. Fortunately, the site’s new BOMAG landfill 

mobile compactor is equipped to handle a steady intake of trash. 

Powered by an MTU Series 500 engine, the rugged machine spreads, 

shreds and tramples waste material 11 hours a day. 

Industrial 

At a landfill, every inch of airspace matters. Because when a site reaches a 

maximum height, it must cease operation. At the City of Riverview landfill, 

a team of machines—including Riverview’s new BOMAG landfill mobile 

compactor—traverses the mountain of waste six days a week, compacting 

material to conserve space. “You can’t go back and re-compact trash from 

two days ago. It’s just airspace lost. If you make a habit of working on half 

the amount of compaction, you’ll only get nine years out of a site instead 

of 17 or 18,” sayed Ed Worrell, City of Riverview’s lead operator. “When we 

tested the BOMAG, it had the best results every time.” 

Based on Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle engines, the compactor’s 

MTU Series 500 (Mercedes OM 502 LA) engine delivers up to 440kW and 

meets Tier 4i emissions requirements. The Series 500 is engineered to be 

maintenance-friendly. And thanks to the new engine, the BOMAG is faster, 

helping it climb steep slopes, cover more ground and compact larger areas 

of material. 

Strength in numbers 

Dave Dennison, BOMAG product manager and manager for marketing 

services, commented, “The Tier 4i package and the strong reputation of 

MTU and Mercedes attracted us to the engine, along with the strength 

of MTU’s global service network. We’ve also been very pleased with the 

fuel savings that we’ve seen out of the machine.” Machine operators at 

Riverview have noticed a big improvement at the fuel pump between the 

new BOMAG and the older compactors. Fuel savings add up quickly, since 

the average mobile landfill compactor consumes 15 gallons of fuel per hour. 

And it also means drivers spend more time working, and less time on the 

job refueling. 

Ready for anything 

Every day, thousands of tons of garbage flow into Riverview’s 400-acre site 

from Detroit and 13 other communities. MTU distributor W.W.Williams is 

ready to make sure the machines stay on the clock. With a full line of MTU 

ValueCare products and services, including engine parts and maintenance 

solutions, W.W.Williams will help maximize performance for the BOMAG’s 

Series 500 engine for years to come. For added peace of mind, the 

compactor is also backed by an MTU Extended Coverage warranty. 

The City of Riverview was so impressed with the MTU-powered BOMAG 

landfill mobile compactor, it has ordered a second machine. “The BOMAG 

was our first vehicle we’ve had with the MTU engine,” says Worrell. “It’s a 

nice, smooth-running engine. We’ve got no complaints. There’s no lack of 

power at all. The turbo kicks in and it goes right up the hills it needs to. The 

torque and groundspeed are top-notch – better than the previous non-MTU 

engine, and they don’t ever bog down. I was glad we moved to BOMAG and 

MTU. With availability of parts and great service, it’s a win-win.” 

Words: Chuck Mahnken; Picture: Bomag 


David Combs, david.combs@tognum.com, Tel. +1 248 560 8182 


Yacht-building in the United Arab Emirates 


Marine 

The 

Wedding 

Planner 

It is an odd fact. Most owners of large luxury yachts come 

from the United Arab Emirates. But the yachts themselves 

are built in Europe or America. That is set to change if 

Gulf Craft achieves its ambitions. Based in the Emirate of 

Umm al Quwwayn, close to Dubai, the shipyard makes 

yachts up to 50 meters in length – featuring the latest 

technology and every one of them to bespoke 

requirements. 

Erwin Bamps has been COO of Gulf Craft for ten 

years. He compares yacht-building with planning 

weddings because in both cases it is matter of 

fulfilling your clients’ greatest dreams. 



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A megayacht under construction: the 

low wages in U.A.E. enable shipbuilders 

Gulf Craft to hand-craft virtually the 

entire yacht and accommodate clients’ 

individual wishes. 

About 80 people work on a yacht from gigantic scaffolds. After one and a half years, it is ready to be set afloat. 

You have to be a little bit eccentric to compare 

yacht-building to planning weddings. Or 

perhaps we should say creative. Erwin Bamps 

is eccentric and creative. He compares yachts 

with a wedding cakes, cars with cupcakes and 

the business of selling yachts with an ice-cream 

parlors. But maybe it is precisely his eccentricity 

that makes him so successful. Erwin Bamps is 

the Chief Operating Officer of Gulf Craft, the 

biggest yacht-building yard in the United Arab 

Emirates and the Gulf Region. His motto is 

“making miracles come true”. It sounds like a 

platitude, but those who witness him at work 

believe him. 

Meteoric rise 

Erwin Bamps came to U.A.E. ten years ago. At 

that time, Gulf Craft employed 200 people and 

sold its yachts in the United Arab Emirates – to 

Saudi 

Arabia 

Iran 

Emirat Al-Quwain 

United 

Arab 

Emirates 

Oman 

Arabian 

Sea 

«U.A.E. isn’t just simply a country; it is home to the 

whole world. » 

Erwin Bamps, COO, Gulf Craft 

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and occasionally to Oman or 

Bahrain if things were going well. But Mahammed 

Al Shaali, the Gulf Craft chairman, had bigger 

plans. “We want to become one of the largest 

yacht-builders in the world,” he said at the time. 

To make that ambition a reality would definitely 

require a miracle. Or that is what Bamps, newly 

arrived from his native Belgium, thought at the 

time. But he didn’t know U.A.E. very well then. 

Today, the shipyard employs 5,000 staff and 

builds as many as 500 boats a year. From small, 

six-meter pleasure cruisers to megayachts over 

40 meters long. He will not hear of anybody 

describing it as mass production, however. The 

opposite is the case, he maintains. And this is 

where his first comparison comes in. Making 

cars is like baking cupcakes. Building yachts, on 

the other hand, is like making a wedding cake – 

and that is the business Gulf Craft is in. What is 

special about their yachts is that they are made 

to the clients’ specifications. Only two features 

are unalterable: all Gulf Craft yachts are made 

of fiberglass and they are all monohull designs. 

Everything else is the client’s choice, whether it’s 

the color of the hull, the interior fittings or the 

size of the swimming pool. “Other manufacturers 

of comparably sized yachts do not offer their 

clients as much choice as we do,” states Bamps 

with conviction. Despite that, he can still claim, 

“We are cheaper than our competitors in 

Europe.” 

Motivation the key to success 

How is that possible? One glance into the gigantic 

sheds in which the yachts are constructed 

provides the answer. It is absolutely teeming with 

people in blue overalls. Standing on scaffolds 

such as you would only expect to see on large 

building sites, they fill, paint, hammer and drill. 

The hum of their voices in the background 

is like the sound of a fairground. It is hard to 

believe, but there are three megayachts under 

construction here at the same time. “People who 

come to U.A.E. do so for one reason above all: to 

make money,” points out Erwin Bamps. Unlike in 

Europe, the lives of his employees revolve around 

work rather than their free time outside of work. 

“They are so motivated that I have to forcibly 

send them home in the evening, otherwise they 

would spend all night here,” he recounts with a 

mischievous laugh. 

“Culture of change and uncertainty” 

But that was not the only reason for the success 

of his company, he told us. “U.A.E. isn’t just 

simply a country; it is home to the whole 

world,” the Belgian expanded. And that was an 

advantage he aimed to exploit. “We don’t just 

know one market, we are familiar with them all,” 

Bamps believes. Chinese buyers, he revealed, do 

not require bedrooms on their yachts because 

they never stay on their boats overnight. And 

large sail shades were very important to them 


Mostafa Agib El Nahta (left) is Gulf 

Craft’s Operations & Technical Manager. 

He has been fitting MTU engines for 

20 years. 

«Fuel-efficiency is where MTU scores extra points. 

Which is important, because nothing is more tiresome 

than refueling. » 

Mostafa Agib El Nahta, Operations & Technical Manager, Gulf Craft 

because – unlike Europeans – they were not at 

all keen on lying in the sun. “Building for U.A.E. 

means building for the world,” he states. Twenty 

percent of Gulf Craft clients come from Europe, 

40 percent from the Gulf region and 25 percent 

from Asia. 

However, the speed at which the market is 

expanding presents Gulf Craft with more than 

just advantages. “We are living in a culture 

of change and uncertainty,” Erwin Bamps 

illuminates. So he wasn’t sure how the wages of 

his staff would develop. And suppliers had to be 

frequently changed because businesses were 

constantly disappearing and being replaced by 

others. One thing was certain, however: The 

market has potential. 

Breaking down complexity 

“Seventy percent of the world is covered with 

water but only thirty percent of people have ever 

been on a boat,” he says, positively bursting with 

enthusiasm. So you couldn’t help but see the 

potential of the yacht business. And he has an 

idea how to convince even more people to buy 

a yacht. “Yachts need to be easier to operate,” 

he observes. He believes that up to now it has 

simply been too complicated to own a yacht 

– you need a crew and are hardly ever allowed 

to steer the boat yourself. “If I buy a yacht I get 

an instruction manual the size of a phone book; 

but ultimately, a yacht is nothing more than a 

great big toy which I want to be able to play 

with without having to wade through reams of 

instructions,” he expounds with another of his 

interesting comparisons. 

As he does, he laughs and his voice gets louder. 

This is undoubtedly a man who is convinced of 

what he is saying. Almost silent by comparison 

is Mostafa Agib El Nahta. He is the Operations & 

Technical Manager at Gulf Craft and meets us in 

the engine room of a new Majesty 135. The yacht 

is standing there in all its magnificence, waiting 

to be set afloat for the first time. In a couple of 

days, that time will have arrived. It will be a big 

moment for Mostafa, because he and his team 

having been building the yacht for a year and 

a half. The most striking feature of the yacht is 

its golden hull, though the engines take some 

beating for aesthetic appeal as well – gleaming 

white with sparkling chrome cylinder heads. 

Mostafa admires them adoringly. The two MTU 

Series 4000s will each supply 2,580 kilowatts of 

propulsive power. The buyer? “Secret,” whispers 

Mostafa. It is a VIP is all he can reveal. He would 

rather talk about the fact that it is the biggest 

yacht Gulf Craft has ever built. 

Range decisive 

For 16 years, Mostafa has been responsible for 

ensuring that an initial plan turns into a finished 

yacht. He comes from Egypt but U.A.E. is his 

home. He is sure that yacht-building will expand 

enormously. It isn’t just the yachts that need 

to be easier to operate; the same is true of the 

engines, he concedes. “MTU can still improve in 

that regard,” the engineer ventures. It appears 

almost painful for him to say it. “These engines 

are the Lamborghinis of yacht engines. They 

are very powerful, but unfortunately not always 

easy to operate,” he said. “But I know that MTU 

is working on it, and a lot has already been 

done,” he adds, almost apologetically. He looks 

across with a smile at Walid Ibrahim from MTU 

distributors Al Masood of U.A.E. and Bahrain. 

The two know each other well and meet regularly. 

“We have been fitting MTU engines for 20 years, 

and for us, Al Masood is not only a supplier but 

also a trusted partner,” he said: a partner with 

whom he constantly discusses the latest trends 

in the yacht business. And complexity is not the 

only issue the two have identified. Fuel-efficient 

engines are just as important to clients. “And 

that is where MTU scores extra points,” Mostafa 

says with a smile. He is certain that the price 

of diesel will rise in the next few years and so 

sees economical engines playing an important 

role, from the point of view of range as well as 

cost – because “nothing is more tiresome than 

refueling." 

With a length of 40 meters (135 feet) the “Majesty 135” 

is the biggest yacht built by Gulf Craft. 


Marine 



Marine 

Erwin Bamps (left) and Walid Ibrahim of MTU Distributor Al 

Masaood (right) are in regular contact. 

After one and a half years under construction, the 'Majesty 135' was launched in March 2012 on 

the 30th anniversary of Gulf Craft. 

The wedding planner 

Erwin Bamps is now striding through the factory 

sheds. He laughs and waves to an employee in 

the distance. “We are the United Nations here,” 

he relates with a chuckle. Staff from almost 

80 different countries work together here. In 

the front part of the building they are making 

a new Majesty 135, the same length and size 

as the one outside the shed waiting to be set 

afloat on the water. But this one is just having 

its windows fitted; there is a lot of hammering 

and drilling going on. Bamps is already looking 

forward to handing over the craft to the client. 

And, as ever, he is aiming to make miracles come 

true. The elusive “wow effect” is what he wants. 

“If the customer is happy, that’s great. But we 

want more. We want them to be delighted when 

they get their yacht,” he says with conviction. 

He points out that achieving that isn’t so easy, 

because most customers are not interested in 

the technology, only the design. “We are selling 

ice cream, and everyone has their own favorite 

flavor.” Another one of those curious metaphors. 

What have ice cream and yachts got to do with 

each other? Erwin Bamps laughs. He explains 

Left: Mohammed Al Shaali founded Gulf 

Craft 30 years ago. Even then, his ambition 

was to one day make Gulf Craft the 

world’s biggest yacht-building shipyard. 

«My yacht has to be powerful, reliable and fitted with 

the latest equipment. » 

Mohammed Al Shaali, Chiarman of Gulf Craft 

that, just like design, ice cream is a matter of 

taste, and selling taste is a difficult job. “It’s 

funny. Our clients are interested in almost nothing 

but the design. And they have very precise ideas 

in that regard. But yacht-building is actually all 

about technology; for us, the design is the last 

part of the process.” He tells of customers who 

ask for a helipad on a ten-meter yacht. Or another 

who wanted his bathroom painted completely 

green. Yet another wanted the hull covered 

entirely in Swarovski crystals. “Sometimes I 

start to feel like a wedding planner,” he says with 

laugh. “The clients have an idea in their minds 

that they can’t exactly describe. So it is my job 

to find out what it is they have always dreamed 

of and build a yacht just like it,” the self-styled 

wedding planner elucidates. 

Powerful, reliable, innovative 

It was presumably a lot easier when he built a 

yacht for his boss, Mohammed Al Shaali, the 

chairman of Gulf Craft, because he knew exactly 

what he wanted: “My yacht has to be powerful, 

reliable and fitted with the latest equipment,” 

he said with a smile. It was obvious that MTU 

would play an important part in the project. 

“We have an excellent working relationship with 

MTU and the distributor Al Masaood,” he said 

quietly. A few years ago, Gulf Craft was still a 

niche supplier and he had never dreamed that his 

boatyard would one day become so big. But now, 

the aim is clear: “Reach the number one spot.“ 

And Erwin Bamps has never forgotten that. You 

can tell that he has been working in U.A.E. for 

some years. The can-do mentality appears to be 

infectious. Could he have imagined ten years ago 

that he would be planning proper weddings and 

baking five-tiered wedding cakes? Hardly. But 

if you asked him today, the answer would be an 

unhesitating “Absolutely!”. 

Words: Lucie Dammann 

Pictures: Robert Hack 


Walid Magd E. Ibrahim 

mtuauh@emirates.net.ae 

Tel. +971 2 551 0707 

More on this… 

Slide-show with impressions 

of Gulf Craft 


Go to http://bit.ly/ZrutGS 

ONLINE 


CHP plant generates power for absorption chiller 

Blowing hot and cold 

44 I MTU Report 03/12 

Nordfrost utilizes the heat given off by the CHP plants to power 

an absorption chiller which maintains the right temperatures in 

the cold stores.


Nordfrost, a food logistics service provider, 

operates cold storage facilities throughout 

Germany, keeping food imports from every 

region of the world in the best possible 

condition. Its cold storage centers are 

organized into different climate zones which 

are kept at just the right temperature by 

special chillers powered by the heat given 

off by cogeneration (CHP) modules from 

MTU Onsite Energy. 

Pineapples are one of Germany’s favorite fruits. 

They can be bought in any supermarket all year 

round. But have you ever thought about how far 

they have traveled from the plantation to the 

supermarket shelf? And how they still manage to 

be so fresh? The secret lies in efficient logistics, 

proper storage and suitable transport things 

that Nordfrost, based in Schorten in Northern 

Germany, knows all about. Nordfrost is one of 

the leading service providers in Germany and 

Europe in the field of temperature-controlled food 

logistics. The newest of Nordfrost´s 40 locations 

is its seaport terminal in the Jade-Weser-Port, 

Wilhelmshaven, Germany’s only deep-water 

container port. The location began operations 

on August 1, 20012, and is currently building 

up to full capacity. In future, its 23,000m2 of 

space will be used for temporary storage of fresh 

fruit and vegetables, sausage, dairy products 

and general freight goods. Nordfrost will also 

be able to handle and process animal and 

vegetable products at the facility. For the fruit 

and vegetables there are cool stores in which the 

ideal conditions for storage are maintained. And 

that is a science in itself because not only is it 

important to keep the temperature between 1°C 

and 14°C, the air humidity is a critical factor too. 

Energy supplied by modular CHP plants 

For energy generation at the seaport terminal, 

Nordfrost relies on two natural-gas fueled 

combined heat and power (CHP) plants supplied 

by MTU Onsite Energy and driven by one 

12-cylinder and one 20-cylinder Series 4000 

engine. They produce a combined electrical 

output of roughly 3.1MW and a thermal output 

of around 3.5 MW; the overall energy efficiency 

is over 87%. As a result, the site is entirely 

self-sufficient in energy terms. The electricity 

generated supplies the power for electrical 

At Nordfrost’s seaport terminal, two natural-gas-powered combined heat and power modules (CHP) from MTU 

Onsite Energy produce around 3.1MW of electric power and 3.5MW of thermal energy to keep the facility 

running. 

consumers such as lighting, cold store doors, 

offices and IT. Any surplus is fed into the public 

power grid. The heat recovered from the CHP 

modules is used for heating in winter, but 

more especially it is used in combination with 

absorption chillers to provide the refrigeration 

and cooling systems for the cold stores. 

Ammonia as refrigerant 

They operate within a sealed circulation system 

using two substances, a refrigerant and a 

solvent. The solvent is capable of absorbing the 

refrigerant, hence the name absorption chiller. 

In this case the two substances involved are 

ammonia and water. The recovered heat from 

the CHP modules provides the energy for the 

absorption chillers to perform their refrigeration/ 

cooling function by means of a chemical 

process. The circulation process is divided into 

four essential stages. In the first stage, water 

and ammonia are separated from one another 

by being heated in a desorber. The CHP plants 

supply the necessary heat at a temperature of 

100°C. The ammonia evaporates first because 

of its lower boiling point and is passed into a 

liquefier. There it is recooled and liquefied again 

in the second stage of the process. From there 

the ammonia passes into the evaporator. This 

third stage of the process is where the actual 

refrigeration effect is produced because in 

order to evaporate, the ammonia must absorb 

heat. That heat is provided by cold water at a 

temperature of –2°C (ammonia evaporates at 

low pressure and very low temperatures) running 

through coiled pipes. The evaporation process 

further cools the water to a temperature of –7°C 

so that it can be used for air conditioning the 

cold stores. The ammonia vapor then passes into 

the absorber where it is re-absorbed by the water 

in the final stage of the process. From there, the 

ammonia-and-water solution is returned to the 

desorber and the cycle starts again from the 

beginning. 

Six sites in Germany equipped with CHP plants 

Nordfrost employs the principle of combined 

heat, cooling and power generation at a total of 

six sites in Germany – using MTU Onsite Energy 

plants in each case. “Energy is getting more 

and more expensive – take the higher electricity 

prices due to come in next year as a result of 

the renewable energy legislation, for example,” 

explained Peter Wilke, Technical Manager at 

Nordfrost. “So we have clearly done the right 

thing by opting for CHP modules. And we are 

doing our bit towards preventing climate change 

by using CHP plants that save CO2”. 

Nordfrost means logistics solutions from a single 

source. So, the next time you are standing in 

front of the pineapple display in the supermarket, 

you will know what the secret of keeping them 

fresh is. 

Words: Katrin Hanger 



Jürgen Bockhold 

juergen.bockhold@mtu-online.com 

Tel. +49 2530 46420 


Emergency power system for Norway’s biggest natural gas processing plant 

Silent power 


Oil & Gas 

Norway is known for its breathtaking scenery. Picturesque coastlines 

intermingle with impressive fjords and imposing mountain ranges. It is a holiday 

destination made for nature lovers. But energy experts enthuse about this 

Scandinavian beauty spot too. They call it the “battery of Europe” because it 

has vast natural resources of oil and gas. A large proportion of the natural 

gas is treated at the Kårstø onshore processing plant. So that business-critical 

production processes are not put at risk in the event of a power supply failure, 

five MTU generator sets provide emergency backup – and do so as unintrusively 

as possible to be thanks to their special sound insulation features. 



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Tysvær is a small Norwegian town a good two 

hours by car north of Stavanger. It is well off 

the beaten track even for the most adventurous 

of holidaymakers. But it is a place that has 

something special to offer, nevertheless. This 

is where the world’s third-largest natural gas 

processing plant, the Kårstø facility, is located. 

It is an industrial complex in the middle of 

nowhere; a landscape of tanks, pipes and 

chimneys. Middle of nowhere it may be, but this 

spot is undeniably a nerve-center. Around a third 

of Norway’s natural gas is exported from this 

processing plant. Pipelines connect the facility 

to the 50 or so offshore fields that supply the gas 

that is processed here and fed into the European 

supply grid. If Kårstø were to stop working, 

the entire Norwegian oil and gas supply would 

collapse within a very short time. Little wonder, 

therefore, that everything is done to make sure 

the plant keeps running. 

In the past few years, Kårstø has grown to five 

times its original size – and it is set to become 

even bigger. “We want to renew parts of the plant 

so as to make operating Kårstø safe, reliable and 

efficient for many more years,” explained Asbjørn 

Søndenå, electrical systems commissioning 

manager at Norway’s leading natural gas and 

oil producer, Statoil. Western Europe’s secondlargest 

natural gas supplier after Russian 

energy giant Gazprom, Statoil is responsible 

for technical operation of the facility and is 

in charge of technical implementation of the 

modernization program. “We want to ensure the 

systems are safe for people and the environment 

and that the production sites continue to run 

smoothly,” the engineer added. Together with 

his team he is modernizing the safety, control 

and supply systems in particular, the electrical 

and mechanical components of which are being 

extended and improved. 

Safely into the future 

The new emergency power supply system from 

MTU will provide energy for the most important 

electrical equipment in the event of a mains 

grid failure. The output of the backup gensets 

previously installed had become inadequate. So 

Statoil replaced the aging units with new ones. 

In the summer of 2011, they were commissioned 

by MTU engineers after successfully completing 

a series of test runs. “We had already formed 

a favorable impression of MTU from a previous 

project. The price/performance ratio is fair, 

the quality of the products is very good, and 

the amount of experience that they have with 

emergency power systems is very large,” said 

Asbjørn Søndenå in explanation of Statoil’s 

choice. “Apart from that, MTU was the only 

bidder that met our specific demands in respect 

of sound insulation.” And those specifications 

were wide-ranging. 

«The MTU price/performance ratio is fair, the quality of the 

products is very good, and the amount of experience they have 

with emergency power systems is large. » 

Asbjørn Søndenå, Statoil 

North Sea 

Bergen 

Norway 

Tysvær 

Oslo 

Sweden 

Italy 

Finland 

Noise level below 104 decibels 

The gensets had to operate extremely quietly. 

The health and safety regulations at Statoil 

require that the noise of the generators must 

not be louder than 104 decibels (dB(A)) at a 

distance of one meter. That is roughly equivalent 

to the volume of sound you would experience 

on the ground from a jet airliner flying overhead 

at an altitude of 300 meters. To make things 

more difficult, that sound limit had to be 

satisfied without substantially increasing the 

cost of the installation. And that was a major 

challenge because the most obvious solution 

– building a soundproof enclosure around the 

generators – was out of the question. It would 

have made access to the engines for servicing 

more difficult. So MTU engineers came up with 

an alternative solution. They reduced the air 

induction noise of the turbocharger by means 

of special supplementary silencers. In addition, 

a soundproofed generator housing muffles the 

air intake and outlet noise. The result is that the 

noise from the generators is only between 100.7 

and 102.6 decibels at a distance of one meter. 

The emergency power system 

If there is a mains power failure, the system 

supplies all essential emergency equipment 

with electricity. That includes fire-extinguishing 

systems, emergency lighting, battery chargers 

for uninterruptible power supplies, and HVAC 

systems that maintain positive air pressure in 

buildings in potentially explosive atmosphere 

zones. But auxiliary equipment such as lubrication 

pumps, cooling systems for compressors, and 

motorized valves also has to be kept working if 

the grid goes down. 

A new generator house built by Statoil according 

to MTU specifications is the new home for the 

MTU gensets. Inside it are the five MTU Type 16V 

4000 G63 generator engines. Four of them are 

enough to supply the energy required to run the 

entire facility in emergency mode after a power 

outage so that critical systems can be safely shut 

down. The fifth unit serves as a reserve system. 

Each of the gensets has a connected load 

capacity of 2,338kVA and an electrical output of 

1,870kW at a frequency of 50Hz and a voltage of 

69V. In total, therefore, the four gensets deliver 

an electrical output of just under 8 MW – enough 

energy to cover the power requirements of a 

small European town. 

MTU supplied the gensets complete with 

baseframes and resilient mountings and 

all necessary system components such as 

switchgear, fuel tanks and ventilation systems. 

Five flatbed radiators with very low noise levels 

mounted on the roof of the generator house 

were also supplied by MTU. Exhaust silencers 

make sure that as little noise as possible escapes 

through the exhaust system – which guarantees 

that the noise levels outside the building are 

extremely low as well. 

Ten seconds to load take-up 

The fuel for the gensets is stored in two special 

tanks supplied by MTU. If the mains power fails, 

they contain enough fuel to keep four gensets 

running at full power for up to 17 hours. MTU 

also supplied the control systems that monitor 

the emergency power systems and electricity 

infeed. They issue the start-up command for 

the emergency backup gensets if there is a 

grid outage – and they react very quickly. The 

Norwegian operators demanded that the gensets 

had to be able to reach their rated output within 

15 to 20 seconds. So they are up and running 

within ten seconds and operating at full power 

inside a further ten seconds – doing their job 

quietly and reliably so that the gas never stops 

flowing from the middle of nowhere in Norway. 

Words: Katrin Beck 

Pictures: Øyvind Hagen/Statoil 


Jörg Habermaas 

Joerg.habermaas@mtu-online.com 

Tel. +49 7541 90-4850

Kårstø is one of the largest natural gas processing plants in the world. So that all systems can be safely shut down in the event of a power failure, it has five emergency 

backup gensets. 

The generators are driven by 16-cylinder MTU Series 4000 engines. Thanks to modifications to the engines and generators, the noise pressure level close to the units 

never exceeds the specified limit of 104 dB. 


95 years ago: Karl Maybach tests the first modern aircraft engine 

In 1917 Karl Maybach set up a test rig at 1,800 meters above 

sea level to show that his aircraft engine produced more 

power at altitude than its competitors. 

Learning to fly 

Testing engines to their limits under extreme conditions 

before they are sent out to the clients is by no means a new 

idea at MTU. Ninety-five years ago, Karl Maybach – one of the 

founders of Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH from which the 

present-day MTU is descended – tested an aircraft engine at 

1,800 meters above sea level on a specially constructed rig. 

It was an occasion that signaled the birth of the first modern 

aircraft engine. 

The First World War was raging at the time and Maybach wanted 

to show he could supply engines for airplanes as well as airships. 

The challenge that had to be overcome is that at high altitudes 

the air density is lower, so the engine cannot produce as much 

power. Maybach’s solution was to compensate for the power loss 

by increasing the cylinder capacity and the compression. So the 

engine only developed its maximum output of 184kW (250hp) at 

an altitude of 1,800 meters. At ground level, it was throttled back. 

To convince the authorities that this engine really was superior 

to the competition, Maybach had a special test rig set up on the 

Wendelstein, a mountain in Bavaria. And he was proved right. The 

tests were a success and Maybach was soon able to try out his 

Mb-IVa engine in an airplane. In a test flight, a reconnaissance 

plane with the Maybach engine was able to climb to an altitude of 

5,000 meters in only 24½ minutes. Using a rival power unit that 

was equally powerful on the ground, the aircraft took 42 minutes 

to reach the same height. And the Mb-IVa engine had other 

advantages too. The oil was air-cooled by means of air scoops 

on the crankcase. Plus, it boasted twin fire-safe butterfly-valve 

carburetors and altitude-dependent control of the air/fuel mixture 

combined with simultaneous ignition timing adjustment – all of which 

made sure that fuel economy was efficient. The Mb IVa went into 

series production from 1917 and was used in Rumpler and Heinkel 

biplanes, among others. 

After the end of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles banned German 

companies from making aircraft equipment of any kind – which, of 

course, included Maybach aircraft engines. The Allies destroyed all 

of the plant and equipment for making them. From that point on, the 

company started producing high-speed diesel engines. 

Words: Lucie Maluck; Pictures: Tognum Group Archive 

To find out more, contact: Dr. Heike Weishaupt 

heike.weishaupt@tognum.com, Tel. +49 7541 90-3225 


Maybach’s aircraft engine 

was used in Heinkel 

biplanes, among others. 

History 

The first modern aircraft engine: the Mb IVa was a sixcylinder 

inline spark-ignition engine with a capacity of 

23.1 liters. At 1,400rpm it was capable of a maximum 

power output of 206kW (280hp) on the ground but 

was throttled back to 180kW (245hp). At an altitude of 1,800 

meters it produced 184kw (250hp). 

After Karl Maybach had 

successfully demonstrated 

the engine’s capabilities on 

the top of the Wendelstein 

in Bavaria (bottom left), it 

was fitted in biplanes made 

by Rumpler (right) among 

others.

Finnish Navy minehunters fitted with demagnetized engines 

Inconspicuous 

Geographical North 

Pole 

qualities 

The Earth's magnetic field protects 

the planet from cosmic rays. Sea 

mines also make use of it to 

identify and destroy ships. To 

prevent this, MTU is able to erase 

an engine's magnetic signature. 

The Earth’s magnetic field is what produces the 

magnetism present in any normal engine. It is created in 

the core of our planet and extends roughly 60,000 

kilometers out into space. Since the poles of the magnetic 

field shift by around 50 kilometers every year, there is a 

divergence between the magnetic poles and the 

geographical poles. 


Marine 

Magnetic 

South Pole 

Magnetic Equator 

Geographical 

Equator 


The cylinder liners and the other 16,000 components 

of the engine are then demagnetized in a coil. Ranging 

Facility Manager Albert Hagenlocher does this by 

passing an electrical current with a special wave 

envelope through the coil.

Marine 

They lie hidden, often hundreds of meters 

below the surface of the water – but their 

effect is devastating. Today there are still 

well over 200,000 sea mines at the bottom 

of the Baltic Sea. They are left over from 

the Second World War and seriously limit 

commercial fishing and merchant shipping 

operations. If they are not spotted and a ship 

happens to pass over them, there will be no 

help for the vessel and its crew. That is why 

the Finnish Navy is aiming to commission 

three new minehunters in 2015 – costing 

a total of €250 million. MTU is supplying 

specially demagnetized engines both for 

propulsion and onboard power generation 

on the new ships. 

Some things are just there all around us, 

unnoticed and taken for granted. Like the air we 

breathe, for example. Or the sun, without whose 

light and warmth we could not survive. The 

Earth’s magnetic field is another example. None 

of us is aware of it, but without the magnetic 

attraction of the poles, our world would be 

entirely different. Highly energized particles from 

the sun or outer space would very likely make 

life on Earth impossible if they were not trapped 

by the magnetic field thousands of kilometers 

above the planet. Whales, sharks and turtles 

use the magnetic field as a navigation aid. But 

it is also used by sea mines for more sinister 

purposes. They are fitted with magnetic sensors 

so that they can detect when ships that they are 

programmed to destroy are close by. The job of 

seeking out mines and rendering them harmless 

is the purpose of a minehunter. The Finnish Navy 

is currently in the process of commissioning 

three such new vessels. The 52-meter craft 

will each be powered by two 8-cylinder MTU 

Series 396 engines. In this type of application, 

the performance of the engines is a secondary 

consideration because, when on minesweeping 

duty, the ships travel at no faster than five 

knots (9.3 kph). So that the minehunters can 

slip as silently as possible through the water, 

the engines have double resilient mountings. 

And their magnetic signature has all but been 

indistinguishably erased. 

Accuracy and precision 

Building such engines is a highly complex 

process that takes several weeks. “We need 

well over a hundred hours for one engine,” said 

Albert Hagenlocher, test track manager at MTU. 

That is because the engine is not demagnetized 

all at once. Hagenlocher has to demagnetize 

every component individually. The crankshaft, 

the camshaft, the con rods, the turbocharger, 

the cylinder heads and even the bolts – 16,000 

components for every engine. A lot of work by 

any standards. “But that is how we make sure 

that the magnetic signature of the components 

remains permanently weak,” he said, seemingly 

lost in his own thoughts as he placed a cylinder 

liner inside a demagnetizing coil. 

Permanent and induced magnetic signatures 

At this point the magnetic signature is still very 

strong. A sea mine would immediately detect an 

engine with this component in it, and explode. 

To weaken the magnetic signature, the test 

track manager passes an electrical current with 

a special wave envelope through the coil. The 

wave envelope has a total of eight variables. The 

frequency and maximum strength of the current 

flowing through the coil are two of them. Setting 

exactly the right wave envelope is a very precise 

art. “You can’t teach this,” claimed Hagenlocher 

with a mischievous grin. He maintains it is much 

more a matter of experience, because every 

magnetic component has two different magnetic 

signatures – a permanent and an induced one. 

The permanent signature of the cylinder liner 

is something he can erase; but not the induced 

signature. That is determined by the Earth’s 

magnetic field, and it fluctuates constantly as 

well as varying between geographical regions. 

The Finnish minehunters are initially to be 

used only in the Gulf of Finland. But even that 

geographical limitation is far too wide-ranging. 

After Albert Hagenlocher has erased the magnetic signatures from all of the individual components, the engine can be assembled. 

The Ranging Facility Manager can then check the strength of the engine’s residual signature on a test track. 


Interview 

“We’ve got a sauna on board” 

Interview with Heikki Vierelä, Commandant of the „Katanpää” 

Heikki Vierelä is Commandant 

of the ”Katanpää”, the first of 

three new minehunters 

commissioned by the Finnish 

Navy. 

Why does the Finnish Navy need minehunters? 

In the Gulf of Finland there are still thousands of mines left over from the Second World War. 

They put a serious limit on commercial fishing and merchant shipping operations. And apart 

from that, in asymmetrical warfare mines are a favored means of blockading port entrances, for 

example. Once we are thoroughly familiar with the ship, the Katanpää will also take part in 

international missions and clear mines in combat zones. 

How do you track down mines under the water? 

We have sonar equipment on board that can locate mines under the sea by changes in the echo 

pattern. Some of the detection systems are permanently mounted on the ship, some are on selfpropelled 

robots. The great advantage of the robots is that the ship and crew can stay back at a 

safe distance. 

And what happens to the mines? 

That depends on how dangerous they are. Sometimes it is enough just to know their exact 

location so that we can mark them on sea charts. But if they pose any danger to other ships, 

fishing boats or divers, they have to be blown up. 

The Katanpää is powered by MTU engines. What are the important features of the 

engines from your point of view? 

Quite clearly, a minimal magnetic and acoustic signature. Closely followed by reliability. The 

power is of secondary importance because the ship only travels at high speeds between 

deployment zones. When we are actually searching for mines, we use electric propulsion and 

only need one of the four MTU engines on board. 

The Finns are famous for their saunas. Do you have one of those on board? 

Yes, we actually do have a sauna on board. It’s the same on all Finnish Navy vessels over a 

certain size. Saunas are part of Finnish culture and so are part of life on board a minehunter too. 

But it’s also there for safety reasons as well. Our divers have to defuse mines in the freezing 

waters of the Finnish Gulf, so being able to warm up in the sauna is very important. 

A ship that has no magnetic signature when off the coast of 

Helsinki can be magnetically charged again when only 150 

kilometers away off the coast of Turku, and thus be detectable 

by sea mines. So there are coil systems installed on board. 

They hide the ship’s magnetic signature by creating an 

opposing field that counterbalances the residual signature of 

the ship as a whole. 

Measuring residual signature 

MTU determines the strength of the engine’s residual 

signature on a purpose-built magnetic testing track. It is 

housed in a shed made entirely of wood and a special type 

of steel. With the aid of a probe 20 meters below ground 

and numerous coils in the shed, Albert Hagenlocher can 

simulate the magnetic field anywhere on the Earth with 

just a few mouse clicks. Then the engine – with its 16,000 

demagnetized individual components now fully assembled – 

rolls along a track through the shed on a truck. On the three 

computer screens in front of him he can see the engine’s 

residual signature represented in nanotesla accuracy. 

Hagenlocher laughs with satisfaction. The engine has only a 



0-17-28-62 80% der Farbe 60% 



60% 

50-25-0-10 80% der Farbe 

CMYK 

CMYK CMYK 

40% 

CMYK 

40% 

CMYK 

20% 

CMYK 

20% 

CMYK 

Marine 

The Finnish Navy has placed an order for three new minehunters at a cost of €250 million. MTU is supplying engines for them which have had their magnetic signatures 

removed by a complicated process. That makes them undetectable by sea mines. 

very weak residual signature that will be easily 

counteracted by the onboard coil systems. 

Quiet, inconspicuous and non-magnetic 

And that means the engine is ready for duty on 

the Finnish minehunter Katanpää. She is due to 

enter service in 2015 and start clearing mines 

from the coastal areas of the Finnish Baltic 

along with her sister ships, the Vahterpää and 

Purunpää. Commandant Heikki Vierelä is already 

preparing himself and his crew for the mission. 

To begin with, his new ship will only operate in 

the Baltic, though he intimates that international 

missions are envisaged in five to ten years’ 

time. “Here in the Baltic Sea off the Finnish 

coast all the mines date from the Second World 

War. But in asymmetrical warfare, mines are a 

favored means of blockading port entrances, for 

example,” he explained. Using special sensors on 

the ship, he and his crew locate the mines then 

defuse or detonate them. The MTU propulsion 

engines paired with Voith-Schneider propellers 

enable the crew to maneuver the vessel very 

precisely even in heavy seas and high winds 

because that combination allows the thrust to 

be infinitely varied without changing the engine 

speed. And with the help of the Callosum ship 

automation system, they can concentrate fully 

on the job in hand. The system controls and 

monitors not only the propulsion plant but 

also the MTU on-board power supply, the fire 

alarm system and the tank measuring system. 

“However, the most important requirement 

of the engines is that they are reliable,” the 

Commandant adds. They too should simply be 

there, unnoticed and taken for granted. Quiet, 

inconspicuous and – above all – non-magnetic. 


Pictures: Robert Hack, Martin Roscher, 

Freddy Philips 


Martin Roscher 

martin.roscher@mtu-online.de 

Tel. +49 7541 90-2694 

Sweden 

Finland 

Gulf of Finland 

Estonia 

Latvia 

Russia 



1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 7 

8 

1 7 o'clock in the morning in Germany, Italy and in France. 2 Martin is having a shave. 3 Michelle is making fried eggs. 4 Tim and Laura are making their morning toast. 

5 Maria is boiling water for a cup of tea. 6 Lara is switching the computer on. 7 Luigi is warming the kitchen with a fan heater. 8 Hans is making coffee. 

They are all using so much electricity that the power being produced by the big public power plants and the small private plants at this moment is simply not enough and 

the diesel powered plants have to supply peak-load power. 


MTU Onsite Energy electricity generators supply emergency, control and peak-load power 

Morning delivery 

The future of energy generation is localized 

and renewable. But that also changes the 

demands placed on the power grids. They 

will increasingly have to cope with larger, 

fluctuating amounts of energy from wind 

farms and solar arrays without allowing the 

grid voltage or frequency to drop out. To do 

so, they need flexible energy sources that the 

grid operators can call upon at short notice. 

The energy supplier ÜWAG in Fulda operates 

such an energy source. In recent years it has 

upgraded its power plant with custom-built 

diesel generators from MTU Onsite Energy 

and now supplies flexible emergency, control 

and peak-load power on the dot. 

What does Hans Müller in Germany do at 7 in the 

morning? He makes a cup of coffee. Luigi Motta 

in Italy uses a fan heater to warm up the kitchen. 

Michelle Potier in France cooks breakfest. They 

all enjoy the last few moments of calm before the 

sun rises. Silence reigns but the grid is starting to 

hum. Because right on the dot of 7 a.m., not only 

Hans Müller, Luigi Motta and Michelle Portier use 

electricity – millions of other people do too. The 

electricity being generated just at this moment by 

power plants both big and small is not enough to 

cover the demand. The grid is overloaded. 

Combined European grid delivers 

This is the moment for flexible power plants. 

Überlandwerk Fulda Aktiengesellschaft (ÜWAG 

for short) is one of them. It was built 100 years 

ago – originally to supply electricity to the citizens 

of Fulda. But nowadays there is a combined 

European power grid into which not only largescale 

power stations but an increasing number 

of smaller, localized energy plants feed their 

electricity. That power is distributed to the 

individual households and industrial facilities via a 

network of transformer stations and substations. 

ÜWAG in Fulda had to find itself a new place in 

that system – and succeeded in doing so. 

Power for demand peaks 

The plant supplies peak-load power when demand 

is so high that there is not sufficient capacity 

available in the combined grid. Just about the time 

when Hans Müller, Luigi Motta, Michelle Portier 

and millions of others switch on the lights or put 

on the kettle. “Between 7 and 8 in the morning 

and at about 8 in the evening demand for power 

rockets,” explained Frank Weinmann, head of the 

Energy Generation and Procurement department 

at ÜWAG. In the past, the demand peak occurred 

around midday, whereas now people use most 

electricity in the morning when they get up and 

when they get home in the evening. “The demand 

pattern gives you a good idea of how people’s 

lifestyles have changed,” he smiled. 

To be able to balance out the demand peaks more 

effectively in future, ÜWAG in Fulda has spent 

€10 million modernizing its power plant in recent 

years. Two old diesel engines were retired and 

replaced by six smaller generator sets supplied 

by MTU Onsite Energy. The key component of 

each genset is a 20-cylinder MTU Series 4000 

engine. “I don’t know of any diesel power station 

in the world that is more modern than ours right 

now,” said Frank Weinmann looking down proudly 

from the control room onto the blue MTU Onsite 

Energy power modules. “Those engines are real 

Ferraris,” he enthused. They can start up and 

synchronize with the European power grid within 

a matter of a few seconds. The old engines would 

have needed several minutes to do so. 

Control power balances out grid fluctuations 

“In today’s power generation world you have to be 

fast,” he explained and he went on to point out 

that it is not just because demand peaks occur 

much more frequently nowadays. The constantly 

growing proportion of electricity from renewable 

sources is also a factor because, in contrast 

with conventional large-scale power plants, it 

is not possible to precisely predict how reliably 

they will supply energy to the grid. Put simply, 

When ÜWAG Fulda was built 100 years ago it was 

on the edge of the town. But the city has grown since 

then and now it is right in the middle of the urban 

area. 

Frank Weinmann is a qualified engineer and heads 

the Energy Generation and Procurement department.

Sven Kunkel (right) was in charge of the power plant conversion work. He worked closely with Dietmar Witzigmann (left) from MTU Onsite Energy. 

“When there were problems, most of the time nobody apart from us was aware of them, because we resolved them by talking directly to one another 

and avoiding bureaucracy,” is how the two describe their collaboration. 

if the sun is shining or if it is windy, there is a 

power aplenty. But what happens on windless 

days or if the solar panels are covered in snow? 

That is when the supply frequency of 50Hz is at 

risk and the possibility of a power outage looms. 

So that it does not happen, the transmission 

grid operators fall back on sources of control 

power. These are mostly provided by the energy 

suppliers themselves. But local authority power 

plant operators like ÜWAG in Fulda are becoming 

increasingly important. The ÜWAG staff do not 

know when the engines will start up. The grid 

operators pay for the privilege of being able to 

call on the generators in an emergency. But when 

that point is reached is up to them. When they do 

draw on the supply, they have to pay the going 

rate. And what that is depends on how quickly 

the power plants can supply the electricity. Up 

to now, ÜWAG has mainly supplied what is called 



Six gensets supplied by MTU Onsite Energy can start up within a few seconds and generate control energy as well as emergency and peak-demand power. 

tertiary or short-term operating reserve energy. 

That has to be available within 15 minutes of 

being called upon. However, with the new MTU 

Onsite Energy gensets, ÜWAG will be also be 

able to supply the substantially more lucrative 

secondary reserve power. To do so, a provider 

has to be capable of supplying 100% of the 

registered capacity within 5 minutes. Generating 

and delivering electricity that quickly is a major 

challenge because not only do the generators 

have to start up from standstill, they also have to 

synchronize their frequency, voltage and phases 

with the combined grid system within a matter of 

seconds. “Our modules can only do that because 

they are highly sophisticated and perfectly 

integrated systems made up of engine, generator 

and engine controller,” explained Dietmar 

Witzigmann, who was in charge of the project at 

MTU Onsite Energy. 

Backup supply for emergencies 

That ability to supply energy within a few seconds 

also benefits the local population. Because ÜWAG 

not only provides peak-demand and control power 

for the big power grids, it also supplies electricity 

to the city of Fulda. If the national grid suffered 

a failure, the generators at ÜWAG would make 

sure all the lights do not go out. In that case, 

a “blackout startup” genset that requires no 

external electric pumps or auxiliary equipment to 

fire up automatically starts up and supplies the 

energy for the other five gensets to be started. 

Together, they can supply 24.8MW of electricity 

to power the street lights, traffic lights, hospitals, 

care homes, refuge hostels and community 

buildings. “Fulda is one of the few towns in 

Germany that can do this,” recounted Frank 

Weinmann confidently. So far, such an emergency 

has not happened, but the energy expert is 

certain that the Germany can expect to see more 

power bottlenecks in the future. 

Challenging conversion 

Project Leader Sven Kunkel was in charge of 

converting and updating the power plant. It 

was a considerable challenge for the electrical 

engineer because diesel engines had not been 

his specialist area before then. “I know all about 

power grids. But electricity generators were not 

part of my world before,” he smiled. There is little 

evidence of that now. Full of enthusiasm, he told 

of the many challenges he faced. It started even 

before the conversion because the power plant 

was actually too small for his plans. He wanted 

to be able to generate nearly 25MW of electrical 

power – as cleanly, economically and reliably 

as possible. “I did consider whether we should 

extend the plant, but that would have involved 


An SCR system cleans the exhaust from the diesel engines so that their emission levels remain well below the limits demanded by the German TA Luft clean air 

regulations. 

Control energy 

MEMO 

Olaf Dempewolf installed and commissioned the gensets in Fulda. Using a special 

remote access system he can not only monitor the plant on site but also from the 

office in Friedrichshafen. 

The expansion of renewable energies has brought with it greater fluctuations in 

the power grid because the wind is not always blowing and there is less sun on 

some days than on others. Despite that, the power grids in Europe hardly ever fail. 

Why is that? First of all, the electricity suppliers are obliged to submit accurate 

predictions of the amounts they will generate so that infeed to the grid can be 

planned as precisely as possible and the normal frequency of 50Hz can be 

maintained. But what happens if electricity consumption suddenly rises despite 

the most careful planning? That is when control power is called on to avert grid 

failure. This reserve supply balances out the fluctuations in the grid within a 

matter of seconds (primary energy reserve), minutes (secondary energy reserve) or 

a quarter of an hour (tertiary energy reserve). 

■ Primary reserve: energy supply has to be fully available within 30 seconds and 

remain on stream for a total of 15 minutes. 

■ Secondary reserve: full reserve capacity has to be available within five minutes. 

■ Tertiary reserve: this has to be available within 15 minutes to take over from 

the primary and secondary reserves. 


MTU Brown 

0-17-28-62 

CMYK CMYK 

MTU Brown 

80% der Farbe 

60% 

CMYK 


60% 

50-25-0-10 80% der Farbe 

CMYK 

CMYK CMYK 

40% 

CMYK 

40% 

CMYK 

20% 

CMYK 

20% 

CMYK 


a vast amount of approval work,” he recalled. 

He was also impressed by the open and positive 

approach adopted by the team from MTU Onsite 

Energy. "We always regarded each other as equals 

in our discussions and developed our ideas jointly. 

That was how the suggestion came about to 

replace the two large gensets with six smaller 

ones and build a gallery floor to accommodate the 

SCR systems for exhaust gas aftertreatment.” 

Cleaner, faster, more economical 

He reported proudly how cleanly and efficiently 

the units run. “With the new engines we have 

reduced the particulate emissions to a sixth of 

what they were, nitrogen oxides to a quarter 

and carbon monoxide to half the previous level 

per kilowatt-hour generated, and even lowered 

fuel consumption by 10% at the same time,” 

he recounted. The reason for those impressive 

figures are the modern engines with commonrail 

fuel injection and controlled SCR catalytic 

converters. The latter clean the exhaust by 

injecting urea into it. In the catalytic converter, 

the urea reacts with the nitrogen oxides to form 

the hamrless substances water and nitrogen. 

“These generator sets are inside the air pollution 

limits by a long way,” he stated with conviction. 

And with the power plant being right in the town 

of Fulda, it goes without saying that the emission 

levels have to be as low as possible. Because of 

that inner city location, ÜWAG also paid particular 

attention to reducing noise emission. Special 

soundproof walls allow almost no sound at all 

to escape to the outside when the engines are 

starting up and running. 

system installed. It allows the specialists at 

MTU Onsite Energy in Friedrichshafen to access 

the gensets and other components of the plant 

remotely and give advice on how to prevent or 

rectify faults. 

“Something special” 

The first three of six gensets went into operation 

in the power plant on December 23, 2011. Sven 

Kunkel remembers the period just before then 

very well. He and the whole team were under 

extreme pressure. Especially because at that 

time the plant had to be kept running constantly 

at 75%. “We were contractually obliged to 

supply electricity, we couldn’t shut down.” It 

was not until September 2012, when the local 

authorities in Fulda celebrated the inauguration 

of the power plant that Kunkel was finally able 

to relax. "The flexibility of this power plant meets 

the demands of the current market perfectly. It 

really is something special for a local authority 

supplier to have something like this," recalls 

the electrical engineer who is now also a diesel 

engine specialist. 

North Sea 

Netherlands 

Belgium 



Germany 

Fulda 

Italy 


Dietmar Witzigmann 

dietmar.witzigmann@mtu-online.de 

Tel. +49 7541 90-4841 

Berlin 

Austria 

Poland 

Czech 

Republic 

Olaf Dempewolf checks the oil level in the engines – though an automatic oil replenishment system and a 

maintenance-free filter mean he only rarely has to do so. 

That is something that will be happening more 

frequently in the coming weeks. It is in the winter 

when the weather is cold that the demand for 

electricity increases. “In the run-up to Christmas, 

everyone is baking,” said Sven Kunkel. “And apart 

from that, it’s cold outside, the days are short, 

and businesses are working at full tilt to get the 

jobs finished before the end of the financial year,” 

he added. As at any other time of year, reliable 

generators are a must in this period. For that 

reason ÜWAG has had a special remote diagnosis 


Talking of... 

What impressed our editors 

1 

2 

1 Lucie Maluck visited the Gulf Craft shipyard to see how yachts are built in the United 

Arab Emirates. 2 On her visit to a commercial deep-freeze facility, Katrin Hanger 

discovered how to turn heat into cold. 3 Bernd Scherer explains NC programming for 

cylinder heads to Katrin Beck. 

3 

Afterthoughts 

Fabulous yacht-building 

This is where luxury yachts are made? I found that hard to imagine as I 

wandered through the production halls at the Gulf Craft shipyard in the 

United Arab Emirates. The place was packed with people sawing, drilling, 

hammering and spackling. I had imagined luxury a little differently – ultramodern 

with state-of-the-art machines glittering and sparkling. But, at Gulf 

Craft, yacht-building really does mean hand-built. Labor costs are low, 

so the shipyard can afford to pay people to do work that is carried out 

by machines in other companies. However, I do not intend to ponder too 

long on the issue – especially as the Belgian managing director explained 

that his workers liked to work long hours and thought that leisure time 

was unimportant. Nevertheless, the United Arab Emirates are simply 

fascinating and my stay there was like a visit to a land from the fables. 

And, of course, the story of Gulf Craft´s development is a fabulous tale. 

Find out more in our feature `The wedding planner´ (Page 36). 

Artificial land 

“Please turn now”, “Please turn now”, “Please turn now” our satnav was 

obviously under the impression that we had already been driving around in 

the North Sea for quite a while. In reality, of course, we still had dry land 

under our wheels, albeit artificial land. The scene of our visit, the Jade- 

Weser-Port in Wilhelmshaven, was reclaimed by dumping sand and our 

satnav was obviously not yet completely familiar with this particular area. 

The Jade-Weser-Port is also the site of the latest facility to be built by 

Nordfrost, the food logistics company, and it was here that our 

photographer and I wanted to visit the two combined CHCP modules set 

up by MTU Onsite Energy to provide heat, power and, most important of 

all, cooling. The process relies on absorption chillers, chemical reactions 

and the affinity of ammonia for water. And it is fascinating. Read about it 

for yourself on Page 44. 

Production from a different angle 

In this issue of MTU Report, I explain how an MTU cylinder head is 

manufactured. Before beginning the article, I had imagined myself in the 

production halls, standing at the conveyor belt next to a colleague from 

the assembly section. Accompanied by the typical sounds and smells of 

the assembly halls, my guide would take me through every single step in 

the process – or so I thought. I was therefore quite taken aback when I 

met Bernd Scherer sitting in front of a regular computer with no signs of 

production or assembly anywhere in sight! What I then found out was very 

impressive. Initially, a cylinder head is created on the computer – virtual 

production. The NC programming stage is the first and most important 

step and without it, the production machines could not even start up. 

Using multicolored but easy-to-grasp graphics, Scherer explained how the 

programming worked, what the vital factors were for production and why a 

cylinder head is created on the computer. You can read more on Page 26. 


Talking of... …extreme 

conditions 

Read more about extreme conditions of MTU engines on pages 20-25. 

Imprint 

IMPRINT 

MTU Report online 

MTU Report The magazine of the MTU and MTU Onsite Energy brands Published by Tognum AG; 

Publisher's representative: Wolfgang Boller Editor in chief Lucie Maluck, e-mail: lucie.maluck@tognum. 

com, Tel. +49 7541 90-2974 Editors Katrin Beck, e-mail: katrin.beck@tognum.com, Tel. +49 7541 90- 

6535; Bryan Mangum, e-mail: bryan.mangum@tognum.com, Tel. +1 248 560-8484 other Authors 

Mirko Gutemann, Katrin Hanger, Chuck Mahnken Editor's adDress Tognum AG, Maybachplatz 1, 88045 

Friedrichshafen DESIGN AND PRODUCTION designmanufaktur|ries, 88214 Ravensburg ORIGNATION 

wagner ...digitale medien, 88690 Uhldin gen-Mühlhofen PRINTED BY Druckerei Holzer, Weiler im Allgäu ISSN- 

Nr 09 42-82 59, reproduction quoting source permitted. WEBSITE ADDRES http://www.mtu-online.com 

You can find the online version of MTU Report on the MTU 

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Interested in getting news about the Tognum Group 

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mtu-online.com, "About MTU" tab, 

"MTU Report".

English - MTU Onsite Energy

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