Som engine eh...? I have Jerry Burley to thank for sending me these shots. As he says: "One 6x4 Benz prime mover? What's Dennis up to then?" Actually it's probably not THAT heavy..although clearly it would hurt if you dropped it on your big toe. Anyroadup what you see here is the Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96C turbochargd two-stroke diesel engine emerging (I assume) from the company that made some of the first versions---the Aioi works of Japan's Diesel United Ltd---where these pictures apparently come from.
It's available in six-14-cylinder versions and offers a max power of 108,920hp at a frighteningly-fast 102rpm and a max torque of 5,608,312lbft at the same revs----and just imagine it under a Scania Topline cab. However, you're more likely to find it driving a very large container ship! Actually forget what I said about it being a lightweight....According to JB the 14-cylinder version weighs 2,300 tons (the crankshaft alone--picture above---weighs ionj at 300 tones). It's 89ft long, 44ft high and fuel consumption...well let's not worry about that shall we? Except to say that at its most efficient power setting you're looking at 1,660gals of heavy fuel oil per hour.....
Meanwhile, here's a shot of them installing the 'thin-shell' bearings.. The crank rod journals are 38in in diameter and 16in wide...Now click through here for one more...
Here's a shot of the cylinder deck (10-cylinder version). Cylinder liners are die-cast ductile cast iron. Look at the size of those head studs! You wouldn't want to tighten the head by hand would you..? Thanks JB.
Great photos Jerry. Are all big diesels still two strokes?
Hi Pete, it depends on your definition of "big", I suppose. I believe that 14 cylinder 2-stroke Sulzer is the biggest diesel engine in the world, but many large ships do have 4-stroke diesels, particularly if they are actually diesel-electrics where the diesel engine drives a generator and the ship itself is driven by electric motors.
what is this motor used for ?