Biggest Diesel Engine in the world

[Mt_Goat]

Check this out. (http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ccsshb/12cyl/)

Some facts on the 14 cylinder version:
Total engine weight: 2300 tons (The crankshaft alone weighs 300 tons.)
Length: 89 feet
Height: 44 feet
Maximum power: 108,920 hp at 102 rpm
Maximum torque: 5,608,312 lb/ft at 102rpm

[Geeky1]

Glad I'm not the one that gets to climb down into the crankcase after it's been running for a while...

[lightnin]

damn.... could you imagine the fuel... pressure... pumps... it'd take a religious miracle to get the rack run on that thing properly. i'd love to see the machine they used to turn the crank for that bad boy. :eek2:

[primesuspect]

Hey lightnin! Welcome to our forums, good to see you around here!

[Geeky1]

Lightnin, I'm almost positive they use something along the lines of a big CAT diesel (or more likely, one of their own) that's geared down to get enough torque to crank it over. They sure as hell aren't using an electric starter...

[Templar]

I bet they use VTEC :)

[Geeky1]

:rant:

[Rot Katze]

man..I can't even imagine the sound produced

[Kwitko]

Here's the key they use to start it.

[a2jfreak]

;D ;D ;D ;D
Good one, TD

[Mt_Goat]

Rot Katze said
man..I can't even imagine the sound produced
Actually the sound of those extremely large engines isn't what you would think. It all has to do with the very very low RPMs they operate at. Now the unheard noise (sub-harmonics) are just through the roof. It's not so much what is heard but what is felt! :wow:

[danball1976]

Geeky1 said
Lightnin, I'm almost positive they use something along the lines of a big CAT diesel (or more likely, one of their own) that's geared down to get enough torque to crank it over. They sure as hell aren't using an electric starter...

I bet they do use a electric motor to start it, but it is in the several thousand horsepower range and probably 4 phase 440V.

[Armo]

no no, its a fat guy on one of those exercise bikes that starts it, what are you people dumb?


jk :)

[Geeky1]

Danball, this is on a ship. They're not going to use an electric motor because that would require the batteries and all the ensuing crap. Also, that thing has a rotating mass of several hundred tons. It's got to be started with a smaller diesel engine.

[Red Dawn]

I agree with geeky a smaller diesel would be the most likely starter,

i'd hate to have to do the maintenance on that baby but in a way i would luv to put her together:D

[Leonardo]

They sure as hell aren't using an electric starter...

No, but it might be a diesel-electric setup, like a locomotive engine. That way there wouldn't be a worry about the starters transmission. It could also crank for any length of time without regard to starter RPMs.

[leishi85]

and i thought my dad's v10 7.3liter diesel was big, haha

[danball1976]

Oh, yeah, he's right. I think the newest cruise ship has five of these diesel engines to produce the power required to run the ship.

They also might use high pressure hydraulic lines and a high power hydraulic motor to turn that over. Also, I wouldn't be surprised that at least 1 engine is always on to keep minimum power requirements.

[danball1976]

leishi85 said
and i thought my dad's v10 7.3liter diesel was big, haha

Nah, not quite. Many semi-truck diesels are over 10L in size. And I know what diesel you are talking about. The only 7.3L diesel in that size is the Power Stroke diesel (made by Navistar) in the Ford trucks, and its a V8. Puts out 325HP and 525-575Ft-Lbs of torque. There are no V10 diesels available for regular consumer automotives.

[leishi85]

hmm, it's not a regular consumer vehicle, it's a trcuk with a 20ft box in the back.

[Rot Katze]

same engine though

[danball1976]

Sounds like a Ford in the range of a F-450 to F-650. It still has the same 7.3L V-8 Diesel, just a little bit more turbo added to increase horsepower and torque.

[Templar]

Haha this > 14 Cyl.

http://lascero.no-ip.com/yellowbird.jpg

[Rot Katze]

ROFL

;D ;D ;D ;D

[Kristof2]

lightnin said
i'd love to see the machine they used to turn the crank for that bad boy. :eek2:


If you look at the Second picture there looks l to be an electric motor that is made to turn the ring gear.

Kristof2

[danball1976]

Read the specs on fuel consumption:


Fuel consumption at maximum power is 0.278 lbs per hp per hour (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption). Fuel consumption at maximum economy is 0.260 lbs/hp/hour. At maximum economy the engine exceeds 50% thermal efficiency. That is, more than 50% of the energy in the fuel in converted to motion


This is about 30,279.76 pounds a fuel an hour (I think 1gal of fuel is 8 pounds, so this is about 3784.97 Gallons Per Hour.)

[Leonardo]

there looks l to be an electric motor that is made to turn the ring gear

I think you're right. I think that motor just turns the crank assembly during the engine build and lower end fitting out. There's just no way that little motor could turn the engine once the cylinders were compression ready.

[Mt_Goat]

A lot of real large engines like that are started one cylinder at a time. First they get the whole thing turning with a compression release valve open on each cylinder and no fuel flowing. then they close the valve for one cylinder and supply it fuel. After that one starts they keep repeating the process until all are running. This way they do not need very large starter motors. It also allows for smoother starts and eliminates excessive stress on the crankshaft and eliminates erratic firing during startup.

[primesuspect]

danball1976 said
Read the specs on fuel consumption:


Fuel consumption at maximum power is 0.278 lbs per hp per hour (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption). Fuel consumption at maximum economy is 0.260 lbs/hp/hour. At maximum economy the engine exceeds 50% thermal efficiency. That is, more than 50% of the energy in the fuel in converted to motion


This is about 30,279.76 pounds a fuel an hour (I think 1gal of fuel is 8 pounds, so this is about 3784.97 Gallons Per Hour.)

"Even at it's most efficient power setting, the big 14 consumes 1,660 gallons of heavy fuel oil per hour."

- direct from that page, right below the efficiency figures.

[primesuspect]

I found a picture of the ship that it goes into... Kinda weird, huh? ;)

[Templar]

I KNEW it!