| 2 | 2010 - Schiff & Hafen

MAN Diesel and DSME to jointly
develop gas technology
ALTERNATIVE FUELS | MAN
Diesel has recently signed a
development agreement with
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine
Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME).
The two companies have agreed
to jointly develop and exploit
the adaptation of DSME’s highpressure
cryogenic gas-supply
system for installation with
MAN B&W ME-GI engines.
The ME-GI engine is a gasinjection,
dual-fuel, low-speed
diesel engine that, when acting
as main propulsion in LNG
carriers or any other type of
merchant marine vessel, can
burn any ratio of fuel-oil and
gas, depending on the energy
source available on board and
dictated by relative cost and
owner preference.
While LNG carriers carry a gas
cargo, the potential for carrying
gas aboard other vessel types is
currently subject to a parallel
development, for which a cryogenic
gas fuel-supply system can
be used.
MAN Diesel has decided to
make a full-scale demonstration
and performance verifi -
cation test of the GI principle
for all kinds of marine applications
on its 4T50ME-X
R+D test engine, which will
be rebuilt as a 4T50ME-GI
engine ready to operate on
natural gas by end 2010. The
agreement covers the terms
for jointly deciding a time
schedule for developing and
installing DSME’s cryogenic,
high-pressure gas-supply
system on the test engine at
MAN Diesel’s test facility in
Copenhagen. The gas-supply
system will subsequently be
Engine management service
promoting effi ciency
FOBAS | Lloyd’s Register’s marine
fuel and engine performance
consultancy, FOBAS, has
launched a new service, FO-
BAS Engine. FOBAS Engine
is a performance monitoring
service, delivering fuel and
lubricant telemetry regarding
engine performance to ships’
crews and operators. The
FOBAS Engine service aims to
give ships in its programme a
detailed indication of what is
happening within large marine
diesel two-stroke engines and,
importantly, FOBAS will then
provide practical guidance
when any deteriorating engine
conditions are encountered
enabling action to be taken
before damage is caused.
FOBAS Engine is formed by the
fusion of expertise from FO-
BAS technologies and the data
analysis engine from Flame
developed for general use
on MAN B&W ME-GI engines,
and will ultimately
be adopted as an integral
part of the engine’s
gas fuel-supply system for
such applications where a
cryogenic gas-supply system is
applicable.
For MAN, this is said to be
a signifi cant step in the development
of the ME-GI engine
and pertaining systems.
MAN believes there is already
huge industry interest in this
kind of technology as operators
look to control costs and
emissions.
DSME claims that by applying
the ME-GI engine
and the DSME system to a
14,000-TEU containership
this could potentially reduce
annual operation costs by
Engine room fi tted with LR’s FOBAS Engine technology
Marine. This creates a signifi -
cant extension of capability,
adding value and offering true
independence and support in
engine management.
The benefi ts of FOBAS Engine
are said to include reduced
maintenance costs,
diminished potential engine
downtime and reductions in
Graphical rendering of the
ME-GI engine
USD 12 million or greater,
based on current gas and oil
prices. Moreover, SO x , NO x
(with EGR or DeNox) and
CO 2 emissions would also be
reduced at the same time.
cylinder oil feed rate. As the
shipping industry continues
to seek improved engine performance,
this new service
is said to help enhance operators’
ability to operate effi
ciently – reducing both costs
and emissions.
The FOBAS Engine service is
delivered using eight points
of performance analysis via
an assessment of the key condition
variables that affect
the effi cient operation of engines.
The crew are empowered
and enabled to make
any necessary adjustments
to achieve optimised engine
operation. Reports generated
by FOBAS Engine are
claimed to be concise, clear
and provide ship’s engineers
with relevant, easily assessed
information supporting their
decision making.
Ship & Offshore | 2010 | N o 2 33