World’s largest dual-fuel engines type-approved

Class society Bureau Veritas (BV) awarded the approval for WinGD’s dual-fuelled 12X92DF engines on 26 May, following a series of full-load tests in diesel and gas operation.

The first series of engines will be built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation and will power nine 23,000-TEU ultra-large container ships owned by the CMA CGM Group. The vessels will be the largest LNG-powered container ships.

Commenting on the approval, BV technical vice-president Olivier Cartier said “The certification process of WinGD’s 12X92DF engine was a long process due to the size and complexity of the engine. We mobilised our worldwide teams of engine specialists, especially in China, France and Germany, at each of the critical phases of the certification process.

"Progressive type-approval tests were necessary where, at each test, significant progress and refinement were noted, so that we remained confident that final certification at 100% of the power using gas as fuel was an achievable objective – and this has now been achieved,” he added.

The X92DF engine was developed in part based on the existing X-DF dual-fuel engine model which has more than 500,000 operating hours. The X92DF is the world’s largest Otto-cycle engine, and is a 12-cylinder version of the 92-cm bore X-DF dual-fuel engine.

The technology also powers the first LNG-fuelled Aframax shuttle tankers with VOC recovery and very large crude oil carriers, a statement from WinGD noted.

The company said the X92DF engines have outperformed expectations for NOx, SOx and PM emissions reduction and that CO₂ levels have measured 20% lower than some other diesel engines. The company’s vice-president for R&D Dominik Schneiter said “these engines can adapt for any of the potential sustainable fuels of the future making them a secure asset for a long time to come”.

WinGD chief executive Klaus Heim said “With the type approval of our biggest engines to date, we are opening up the possibilities of LNG-fuelled ship propulsion to yet another vessel segment, a testament to its cost-efficiency, reliability and sustainability.”

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