port to operational arena is usually undertaken at relatively high speeds with no specific acoustic signature requirements. Acoustic signature optimisation of the combustion process, however, does have a detrimental effect on the specific fuel consumption of the engine. To avoid increasing the size of a submarine
or limiting the range and endurance, MTU explains, it is thus essential to improve fuel economy in general. When the tactical situation allows, acoustic signature management to lower fuel consumption even further yields additional operational flexibility. Flexibility in engine combustion settings is also valuable in satisfying emissions legislation that varies worldwide. Crewing challenges call for a higher degree of automation and reduced need for machinery maintenance, and dictate fewer interfaces to the ship’s systems as well as to the human operators. Extended periods between overhauls require system elements to operate for longer periods without undermining their availability rates. A related challenge cited by MTU is to decrease overall life cycle costs, a function of fuel consumption and maintenance (including labour and spares). Requests from submarine-building yards led MTU in 2009 to pursue the development of a new generation of engines based on its successful Series 4000 but maintaining the benchmark characteristics of the Series 396 SE design while meeting the latest operational requirements. A large number of components proven in the Series 4000 model are incorporated in an advanced new offering for submarine power.
A large number of proven components from Series 4000 M70 and M73 engines are incorporated in the new power unit to complement submarine-specific elements
Well established in diverse applications – naval, commercial and leisure vessels, locomotives, mining
trucks and power
generation – since 1996, the 170mm-bore Series 4000 engine was the first off-highway design to feature a common rail fuel injection system. By last year, some 21,300 examples had been
MTU selected for Colombian frigates
delivered, more than 3,100 of them for marine installations; and the engines in service had accumulated over 35 million operating hours. In creating a replacement for the 16V 396 SE engine, now serving in numerous submarine charging unit installations, MTU designers sought to match the dimensions, weights and air and exhaust gas volume flows of the existing gensets as closely as possible. The new set could then be installed in current submarine designs with minimal changes to the blueprints. A submarine charging unit based on the V12-cylinder Series 4000 engine has smaller dimensions than its predecessor but the power is higher (1,300kW at 1,800 rpm) and the volume flows are slightly higher (almost the same as those for the 396 SE84 L model). Another major design objective was
to
reduce specific fuel consumption in combination with greater flexibility for different operating scenarios. These goals were satisfied by the common rail system, an enhanced combustion process and advanced engine electronics. A completely new feature of the Series 4000 submarine engine is thus the ability to operate in various modes.
Four Columbian Navy frigates propelled by MTU Series
1163 high speed
propulsion engines for 30 years are benefiting from repowering projects with new engines of the same type at the country’s Cotecmar naval shipyard. A comprehensive modernisation for
programme
www.mpropulsion.com Almirante Padilla,
Caldas, Antioquia and Independiente specified the new propulsion engines and electrical systems as well as a Callosum monitoring and control system tailored by MTU to their future missions. The replacement V16-cylinder Series 1163 TB 73L engines fit compactly in the existing machinery rooms.
In the standard operating mode – the acoustically-optimised mode – the engine has the lowest air- and structure-borne noise emissions with a specific fuel consumption improvement of at least 5 g/kWh. For long operational periods in transit to the arena of deployment, the engine can be switched to a fuel-optimised mode with slightly increased acoustic signatures: this enables fuel
Marine Propulsion I February/March 2012 I 113
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