Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
Since the introduction of the L27/38 se-
ries during the year 1999-2000 a large
number of engines have been ordered
and delivered from the Danish produc-
tion plants and MAN Diesel licensees.
3
M/V MARK AMAY – principal particulars
The stern trawler was delivered from
the building yard in Skagen in Decem-
ber 2000.
Fig. 4 and 5 M/V MARK AMAY on its way to the fishing banks in the Atlantic Ocean
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Until June 2006, the vessel had been Status after two years • A turbocharger breakdown at sea trial
fishing in the Atlantic Ocean on the Experiences accumulated from the first on 17 October 2001. A broken flap
west side of Killybegs, which is the 12,000 running hours – corresponding valve from the by-pass valve entered
home port of the trawler, located in the to the first two years of the operation the turbine due to a design failure on
North-western part of Ireland. In June period: the by-pass valve system. The vessel
2007, the trawler was sold to a new returned to Skagen with reduced en-
owner from the Faroe Islands and the • After approx. 1,000 hrs of operation, gine load. The turbocharger unit was
future working place will be coastal fish- the lube oil consumption is reported exchanged and the by-pass valve
ing banks. However, the prior shipown- to 1.05 g/kWh, which is 50-60% system was modified, and the failure
er, Mr Shaun Conneely and his chief higher than expected. The bore- risk thus totally eliminated. All sup-
engineer Mr Féilem O´Muiri (since 2002) scope inspection did not show any plied free of charge.
have been very helpful providing us with abnormalities and honing marks were
all the necessary information including 100% visible. To avoid any off-hire, it • A combined relay and control valve
the daily observations and records from was decided to postpone withdrawal for the starter motor failed twice and a
the engine log books. of pistons until the end of the year as new improved version was delivered
fishing and fishing prices were very in December 2001. The engine could
The engine usually runs with a shaft al- satisfactory at the time being. be emergency started.
ternator supplying power to the trawler
and main switchboard and powering • After 2,100 hrs, a HT water pump • The air starter turbine was worn out
the hydraulic pumps and stern thrusters failure occurred due to inadequate due to inadequate air filtration. A
during fishing. The average engine load design of the shaft for tightening the reconditioned air starter and a new
varies between 70-80% during fishing impeller. A preliminary repair took modified air filter was sent to the ship
and full load during steaming to and place in May 2001. Consequently, (as a gesture of goodwill compensa-
from the fishing place. both HT and LT pumps were replaced tion) in December 2002, after more
by an improved version a few months than12,000 hrs of operation.
This paper will not deal with how fish- after to avoid further trouble.
ing has performed, as this is beyond The above-mentioned repair work
our knowledge, but based on informa- • The Engine Operator Panel on the mainly took place in Killybegs during the
tion from crew members the fishing engine failed due to lack of vibration unloading of fish or at the planned yard
performance has been excellent and dampers. A new panel with vibration stay in Skagen in October 2001.
expectations have been fulfilled 100%. dampers was fitted.
The voyages of the M/V MARK AMAY Local support in Ireland
have been performed without any inter- • In October 2001, after 5,900 hrs Because of the increasing domestic
ruptions and the entire propulsion plant of operation, the vessel planned to fishing activities and the need for quick
from MAN Diesel has not caused any go back to Skagen for a guarantee support in the western parts of Ireland,
off-hire days. docking, and it was decided to with- we introduced the company Showlin
draw all 6 pistons for investigations Marine Ltd, Killybegs, which today is
concerning the excessive lube oil an Authorised Repair Shop for MAN
consumption. Cylinder liners were Diesel.
cleaned and slightly honed and a
modified ring package was fitted on
all 6 pistons.
5
Figs. 6 and 7 M/V MARK AMAY engine room – very clean and well maintained
Engineer on board 22-02-2003: Modified IR relay valve out at all and the wear rate was not
Also worth mentioning is that a new fitted on the air starter measurable
well-experienced chief engineer Mr (supplied free of charge
Féilem O´Muiri started working on the as a gesture of goodwill) 4 Pistons and piston rings
vessel in the very beginning of 2002. He 03-03-2003: Fuel injection pipes fitted The pistons were modified and up-
had a good understanding of operating on cylinder nos. 3 and 5 dated to the newest design stage
the plant and kept both engine and the and the piston rings were also
surrounding equipment in a very good 20,000 hours of operation renewed to the last development
and clean condition. Subsequently, the owner planned stage. Related costs for the piston
to overhaul the engine since it had modifications were covered by MAN
The only concern for the shipowners reached 20,000 hrs of operation. On Diesel
and chief engineer was the lube oil 19 August 2003, the vessel arrived at
consumption reported at the end of No- Skagen and the following parts were re- Liners, pistons and piston rings
vember 2002, close to 0.9 g/kWh and quested to be repaired/maintained: were modified/renewed at the re-
approx. 25% higher than what MAN quest of MAN Diesel, as an updating
Diesel had specified as maximum. The 1 Cylinder heads to the recent design was also in the
engine had operated a total of 17,000 The cylinder heads were overhauled interest of the company
hrs (11,000 hrs after change of piston at our Service Center workshop in
rings). Since the lube oil consumption Frederikshavn. Exhaust and inlet 5 Connecting rod bearings
did not elevate dramatically, the ship- valves, seat rings, rotor caps, valve In order to carry out laboratory in-
owner decided to postpone the repair guides, and safety valves were con- vestigations, four connecting rod
and the engine check until the summer trolled for wear. Four inlet valves and bearings were replaced. The bear-
period 2003 when the engine had ac- the corresponding seat rings were ings could have continued the op-
cumulated 20,000 running hours. renewed due to some wear on the eration without concern
inlet valves
Seen in the engineer’s Log Book for the 6 Main bearings
period 27 December 2002 to 19 Au- 2 Fuel valves Main bearing nos. 3 and 5 were
gust 2003, the following work had been The fuel injection valves were over- renewed and the old bearings were
carried out by the crew: hauled in Frederikshavn forwarded to the MAN Diesel Augs-
burg laboratory for investigation.
14-01-2003: New coupling fitted to 3 Cylinder liners The remaining five main bearing sets
engine-driven sea water All liners were replaced due to de- continued operation. The extended
pump sign changes. Liners were not worn investigation carried out in our
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laboratories later showed, that the Work carried out by the crew • Main bearing screws and the screws
bearing set nos. 3 and 5 could have February - 2004: for the counterweights were retight-
continued operation, and that the • Replacement of fuel injection pump ened
selected bearing material was fit for no. 6, which seizures after a tremen- • Worked on temporary “Tacho error
purpose dous amount of water in the service failure”, but did not trace the failure.
tank. Afterwards, the crew flushed the • The turbocharger was overhauled
7 Camshafts entire fuel system and replaced all fuel
The camshaft sections were inspec- injection filters on main engine and Fuel injection pumps nos. 1, 3 and
ted and found in perfect condition aux. engines as well 5 were exchanged to reconditioned
pumps by the ship’s crew.
8 Turbocharger April - 2005:
The turbocharger was overhauled at • Replacement of fuel injection pump After the very limited repair and main-
our Service Center workshop in Fre- no 2. with the spare unit, due to leak- tenance work, the engine operated
derikshavn. The rotating elements ages on top cover area trouble-free and only daily maintenance
were controlled for correct balance work took place until the ship arrived
and nothing was to be remarked. May - 2005: at Karstensens Shipyard in June 2007
Only soft parts were required • Exhaust sensor no. 2 renewed for a major overhaul – a new shipowner
from Faroe Islands subsequently took
9 Cooling water pumps 33,700 hours of operation over the responsibility of the ship and
LT and HT water pumps were con- MAN Diesel service engineers attended propulsion plant. The lube oil consump-
trolled and found in good condition the vessel in Skagen, August 2005, tion (after 26,300 hrs of operation after
and carried out the following work after the last overhaul) was still relatively low,
10 Vibration damper 33,700 hrs of operation: but slightly elevated during the last 6
The vibration damper on the crank- months’ operation up to the range of
shaft was controlled and found in • All fuel injectors removed to work- 0.8 - 0.85 g/kWh. The lube oil analysis
good condition shop and reconditioned reports (see appendix) confirm that the
• Bore scope inspection of all cylinder oil is in a stable and good condition.
11 Lube oil filter units. All were found in good condi-
The lube oil automatic back-flushing tion
filter was controlled and assembled • Lube oil consumption recorded to
with new sealing rings approx. 0.5-0.6 g/kWh, which is very
good
Return from Skagen to the fishing
grounds
In September 2003, M/V MARK AMAY
left Skagen and returned to Ireland for
the fishing season. The fishing contin-
ued until August 2005 after 33,700 hrs
of operation when the ship returned to
Karstensens Shipyard in Skagen. The
main engine had operated well and
required only normal maintenance ac-
cording to the standard programme.
The engine did not consume any spare
parts and only the below three top-
ics/events from the chief engineer’s log
books are worth mentioning:
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46,300 hours of operation – class survey
and component inspection
The engine was repaired/overhauled
during the summer 2007, and we fol-
lowed up on the main components after
a total of 46,300 hrs of operation.
Cylinder liners
Cylinder liners were withdrawn and
returned to the Service Center repair
shop in Frederikshavn with the purpose
of measuring the liner wear and also re-
honing the liners.
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Fig. 11: Cylinder head inlet – and exhaust ring. Coke deposit limited Fig. 12: Exhaust seat ring – corrosion-damaged due to inadequate
after 26,300 hrs of operation cooling water inhibitor
Fig. 13: Exhaust valve after 46,300 hrs of operation Fig. 14: Exhaust rocker arm bush after 46,300 hrs of operation.
Can continue operation
Cylinder heads All 24 valve rotators (used on both in- completely free from glanced areas in
All cylinder heads were dismantled for let – and outlet valves) could continue the running layer (Molycote threaded)
cleaning and repair. Components such service despite our best expectations and the lower part of the piston contin-
as valves, valve seat rings, valve rota- for a lifetime of 48,000 running hrs, ued operation without any repair.
tors, valve bridges rocker arm shaft and which can be met easily.
bearing bushes were overall in excellent Also the pressure safety valves were Owing to MAN Diesel’s continuous de-
condition after a total of 46,300 hrs. checked for possible maintenance, velopment philosophy, the piston top
However, at the end of the repair, we which had to be carried out as a matter and the piston ring design have been
have only renewed 2 inlet valves and 12 of routine. However, nothing abnormal modified, since the Mark Amay engine
exhaust valve seat rings. The exhaust was found. was built. We decided to replace all
valve seat rings were replaced because piston tops, despite of the fact that the
of minor water leakages around the 2 Pistons and connecting rods wear rate of piston ring grooves could
seat rings, due to an improper water The two-part pistons were all disman- have continued operation. The benefit
inhibitor added to the HT water. tled for cleaning and overhaul. The regarding better “long time” lube oil
piston skirt (lower part) looked nice and control and less deposits in the ring
9
grooves justified our decision of replac-
ing the piston tops.
Fig. 17: Main bearing no. 1 after 46,300 hrs Fig. 18: Close-up photo of main bearing
of operation no. 1
Fig. 19: Main bearing no. 1 after a blow-up Fig. 20: Main bearing no. 1 - Back side of
(30 times) Miba “Rillenlager” structure in lower main bearing shell
good condition
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The connecting rod bearings had all ac-
cumulated 26,300 running hours. All six
bearing sets are in good condition, and
it was decided to continue operation
with the connecting rod bearing sets.
However, we emphasised to the new
owner of the ship and his engine staff
that we strongly require that the maxi-
mum safe running period for the large
end bearings is to be limited to 36,000
hrs of operation, which meet our ex- Fig. 21: Main bearing no. 2 - Cavitations Fig. 22: Main bearing no. 2 – Close-up of
pectations to lifetime. mark visible the cavitation marks. Visible at the ends of
the oil grooves
Fuel injection pumps
The fuel injection pumps were over-
hauled by the crew, and the lifetime
of plungers and barrels seemed to be
limited to 30,000-40,000 running hours
on MGO. The pump from cylinder no.
4 had the longest operating period of
37,934 hrs, and we took the opportu-
nity to inspect the plunger and barrel.
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Fig. 26 Fuel cam no. 6 Fig. 27 Valve cams and roller guides for cyl. no. 6
12
Continuous development and With the company goal to maintain and
future perspective improve engine performance, reliability
and the market position, the engines
The award-winning MAN Diesel L21/31 undergo MAN Diesel’s continues de-
and L27/38 design generation has velopment philosophy. For instance,
clearly set the new standard for modern engine type L27/38 has been modi-
medium-speed propulsion diesels. A fied/improved with regard to a number
very visible step forward. Right from the of components - first of all with the
very first glance at the clean-lined ex- purpose of making the engine even
terior – to the closer look at the internal more attractive, economic, reliable and
details. clean. Nowadays, there is strict legisla-
tion on engine designs to meet the en-
The modular design of the engines vironmental requirements of tomorrow.
– with front-end and aft-end boxes car- This results in ongoing R&D activities to
rying all auxiliary equipment for lube oil reduce emissions and particles, with-
and cooling water circuits – gives them out conflicting with the overall require-
an uncluttered appearance. Further- Fig. 28: L27/38 complete cylinder unit ments, and simultaneously to have
more, this also leads to practical as moderate investment costs and low
well as aesthetic benefits, permitting operational costs via low specific fuel oil
e.g. removal of each cylinder assembly above the cylinder heads can not al- consumption over the entire load range.
(cylinder head, piston, connecting rod ways be met on smaller fishing vessels.
and liner) as a complete individual unit. Therefore, the design also gives the Furthermore, new costumer-related
This vastly reduces the time required for freedom to separate the components in inquiries have resulted in new develop-
maintenance or replacement. Addition- the traditional way by withdrawing first ments of the engine and its applica-
ally, this well conceived design has only the cylinder heads, piston and connect- tions.
a minimal overhead height requirement. ing rods, and last the cylinder liners.
However, the necessary lifting height
Fig. 29: L27/38 propulsion engine – a service and maintenance-friendly modularised unit
concept
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In the following summary, the most im- Within its power range, the L27/38 is
portant design modifications, features the most attractive and safe engine
and benefits for the L27/38 propulsion investment today. An engine design
engine have been listed: with high safety margins offering lots of
potential for the future.
1 Improvement/modification of piston
and piston ring pack for improve-
ment of the TBO
2 Modification of cooling water jacket
for equal temperature in the liner top
circumference
3 Modification of cylinder liners to “free
hanging” version for improving the
TBO for cylinder units
4 Improvement of fuel injection pumps
in order to minimise the risk of cavi-
tations / erosion in the pipe system.
5 Design of engine control system for
operation with Munters SCR con-
verters, which can reduce the NOX
emissions to a level below 2 g/kWh.
6 Uprating of the engine by strength-
ening / improving some compo-
nents enabling us to increase BMEP
to 25.2 bar. Engine load elevated
from 340 kW/cyl. to 365 kW/cyl.
in order to reach a new customer
demand
7 Introduction of the new MAN Diesel
turbocharger generation type TCR.
The main purpose was to ensure
faster engine response during ma-
noeuvring and additionally to im-
prove the turbocharger and overall
plant efficiency and reduction of the
NOX
8 Introduction of new fuel injection
atomisers “low sack” version for op-
timising combustion behaviour and
reducing soot and particle emission
in order to come closer to the re-
strictive EPA Tier2 legislation
9 New low “dry sump” oil pan (as cus-
tomer option) suitable for plants with
separate oil tank
10 Special insulation of hot surfaces (as
customer option) to meet the de-
mand to ensure all surface tempera-
tures be kept below 100°C
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Appendix: Lube oil analysis
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