Available Alternative Powerplants



ALTERNATIVE POWERING FOR MERCHANT SHIPS
Task 2 Survey of Available Alternative Powerplants
for Container Ships


Prepared by
Chris B. McKesson, PE

FINAL
for:

California State University Long Beach
Mr. Stanley D. Wheatley Program Director

Distribution authorized only to US Government agencies to protect information not owned by the US
Government and protected by a Recipient Confidentiality Statement, or received with the
understanding that it not be routinely transmitted outside the US Government. Any requests for this
document shall be referred to the Maritime Administration Office of Acquisition, which will review
such requests in coordination with the Office of the Chief Counsel and the Recipient.
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CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Administrative
Background ................................................................................ 4
1.2
Purpose and Organization of this report.............................................................. 4
2 CURRENT
POWERPLANT
BASELINE The Diesel Engine ................................ 5
2.1 Diesel
Engines..................................................................................................... 5
3
AVAILABLE ALTERNATIVE POWERING OPTIONS ......................................... 9
3.1
Gas Turbine Engines ........................................................................................... 9
3.1.1
Current State of the Art Size ..................................................................... 13
3.1.2
Current State of the Art Efficiency ........................................................... 18
3.1.3
Current State of the Art Weight ................................................................ 18
3.1.4
Barriers to scaling to Container Ship size ................................................. 19
3.2 Electric
Drive .................................................................................................... 19
3.2.1
Current State of the Art Size ..................................................................... 19
3.2.2
Current State of the Art Efficiency ........................................................... 21
3.2.3
Current State of the Art Weight ................................................................ 21
3.2.4
Barriers to scaling to Container Ship size ................................................. 22
3.3
Nuclear Electric Propulsion ........................................................................... 22
3.3.1
Current State of the Art Size ..................................................................... 24
3.3.2
Current State of the Art Weight ................................................................ 24
3.3.3
Barriers to scaling to Container Ship size ................................................. 25
3.4
Fuel Cell Electric Propulsion ......................................................................... 26
3.4.1
Current State of the Art Size ..................................................................... 26
3.4.2
Current State of the Art Efficiency ........................................................... 26
3.4.3
Current State of the Art Weight ................................................................ 27
3.4.4
Barriers to scaling to Container Ship size ................................................. 28
4 CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................... 29




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TABLES

Table 1 - Characteristics of Major Gas Turbines .............................................................. 17
Table 2 - Gas Turbine Weight Characteristiscs ................................................................ 18
Table 3 - Electric Drive Weight Characteristics ............................................................... 21
Table 4 - GT-MHR Propulsion plant weight, compared to diesel plant weight ............... 25



FIGURES

Figure 1 - The first MAN B+W 8-cylinder K98 engine, on test at Hyundai ...................... 7
Figure 2 - Page from MAN B+W sales catalog describing the K98 series......................... 8

4
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Administrative Background
This report was produced by Chris B. McKesson for the Center for Commercial
Deployment of Transportation Technology (CCDOTT). The report documents a
project to study the economic impact of alternative powering systems for
container ships. The concept of the project is to assess whether there is economic
incentive to develop alternative powering systems for container ships: Would
such systems result in improved shipping economies?
This investigation is referred to as the CCDOTT Alternative Powering for
Existing Ships project.
There is a similar CCDOTT project conducted simultaneously which considers
the application of alternative powering schemes to proposed very-fast ships,
specifically using the Fast Ship Atlantic project as a technology baseline. This
larger project looks further over the horizon than does the present project, but
there is nevertheless a significant similarity between the two projects. The larger
project is a contracted effort being performed by John J. McMullen Associates,
Inc.
1.2 Purpose and Organization of this report
This report is the second of three deliverables of this project. This report
discusses the range of powerplants available for propulsion of container liners.
The report begins by recapitulating a discussion of diesel engines which appeared
in report #1 of this series. This diesel engine discussion forms the baseline for
discussion of alternative powerplants. The subsequent chapter of the report then
presents discussions of the characteristics of a variety of alternative powering
systems.


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2 CURRENT POWERPLANT BASELINE The Diesel
Engine
The following discussion is repeated from Report #1 of this project. It is repeated here
because the diesel powerplant forms the basis of comparison against which all of the
subsequent alternative concepts are evaluated.
Container ship powering demands two characteristics: Reliability and Economy. Due to
excellent economy the diesel engine remains predominant. The diesel driveline chosen
for most line-haul container ships consists of a low-speed two-stroke diesel turning a
direct-connected single propeller. Such a propulsion plant consists of a single large
engine turning the propeller at shaft RPM with no intervening reduction gear.
A leading manufacturer of such engines is MAN B+W, who in fact trace their corporate
origins directly to Rudolf Diesel himself.
2.1 Diesel Engines
MAN/B+W have provided an excellent summary of the development of container
ship diesel propulsion:
A substantial number of recent large container ship contracts have called for
main engine outputs up to a the highest ratings available, and for a period, most
large container ships were thus specified with main engine MCR outputs of some
65,000 bhp
However the launching of ratings up to about 75,000 bhp per unit changed the
picture. Now units with such outputs exist and in anticipation of a market for
above 8000 TEU container ships, engines with even higher outputs have been
introduced.
The change in ship size does not in itself explain the substantial increase in the
average engine power seen in recent years. Hence it can be assumed that the
design speed has increased. Increase in the average engine size is an indication of
a changed demand pattern toward higher powered ship types.
The propulsion power requirement is considerably higher for a container ship
sailing with high-value commodities than for bulk carriers and large tankers
transporting raw materials, for which the sailing time is of less economical
consequence. Hence, the propulsion power requirement for a Post Panamax
container ship is 2-3 times the power requirement for a VLCC.
The increasing containerization and competition in this market, together with
demands for the lowest possible freight cost per TEU, will imply a continued race
for transporting as many TEUs as possible on the long-haul routes. This means
that an increase in the average power requirement for container ships is to be
expected.

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The flagship of the MAN B+W product line, and an engine often chosen for
container ship propulsion, is the K98-MC engine. This engine is 980mm bore,
and produces up to 90,000 horsepower (12-cylinder version.) The first of these
monster engines was tested in 1999 at Hyundai, Korea see Figure 1.
Other manufacturers have reported their intent to introduce engines larger than the
K98. Examples include IHIs representation of their intent to introduce a 140,000
hp engine.
RINA reported in June of 2001 that the two leading designers of low-speed
diesel machinery, Wartsila (Sulzer) and MAN B+W have both launched
extended-cylinder inline versions of their most powerful models. This is being
done to provide suitable plants for future generations of container liners without
branching into twin-engine/twin-screw variants.
Specifically, Sulzer can now offer a 14-cylinder RTA96C engine capable of
developing 80,080kW, while MAN B+W has just announced 13- and 14-cylinder
versions of its K98MC and K98MC-C models. These will provide 74,360kW and
80,080kW (K98MC) and 74,