Research for the win at WinGD

With methanol-fuelled main engines storming up the orderbook rankings, the first retrofit contracts signed and ammonia research advancing rapidly, carbon-neutral fuels are emerging as the next battleground for two-stroke engine designers. So when Swiss marine power company, WinGD, announced the departure of chief executive Klaus Heim in July, who better to replace him than the man who has led those developments since the company spun into existence in 2015?

Dominik Schneiter, formerly the company’s vice president of research and development, has overseen plenty of big technology shifts in his time. Under his watch, the first low-pressure dual-fuel engines were introduced seven years ago; a development so successful that it forced the company’s main competitor, MAN Energy Solutions, to launch a rival range alongside its high-pressure engines to regain market share in the gas carrier segment.

“The developments we made with the X-DF series back then put us in a good position to advance for today’s requirements,” says Mr Schneiter. “The engine structure is designed to accommodate the high temperatures and pressures that may be needed for alternative fuels, so we have a solid base to work on. We took the decision then to make all new engines, including the diesel-fuelled X-series from the same base, so all existing engines can be retrofitted for new fuels. And we already have industry-leading efficiency in high-pressure combustion, which we will use in the methanol and ammonia engines, with the X92-B diesel engine.”

“We already have industry-leading efficiency in high-pressure combustion”

If research was critical for the X-DF breakthrough, it is even more important today. Backed by its owner, the world’s biggest shipbuilder, China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), the Swiss company has been quietly building a network of research centres, test engines and partnerships that are proving pivotal as it develops not only methanol and ammonia-fuelled engines, but hybrid power capabilities, digital optimisation tools and continued evolutions in core engine design.

Core advances

“We should not forget that the need for incremental improvements in efficiency and reliability remain fundamental to engines, whichever fuel they use,” Mr Schneiter notes. “Some of our most important advances in recent years have been in this area – variable compression ratio is one standout example – along with building out a portfolio of solutions beyond the engine that will make ship operations more efficient.”

But for operators of large deep-sea going vessels, it is clean fuels that will provide the decisive reduction in emissions that will enable them to reach the more advanced stages of decarbonisation. Here, MAN ES has a head start in methanol – a fact borne out by the orderbook – from its years of supplying engines to methanol tankers. WinGD’s first engines will be on the water in Q1 2025, and Mr Schneiter is determined that the catch-up will be rapid.

One example of the company’s accelerated investment in developing methanol engines is its contract with Chinese container operator COSCO. Four 16,000-TEU vessels, due for delivery from 2025, will feature the first X-DF-M methanol-fuelled engines to be built in China. Unconventionally, the third vessel will be the first to receive a newbuild X-DF-M engine; the previous two builds will initially house X92-B engines which will be retrofitted at the shipyard once the first X-DF-M passes its factory tests. WinGD will thus be using an early newbuild order to advance its retrofit capabilities, which traditionally take between six months to a year after a newbuild delivery.

“By working closely with our partners at an early stage – far more closely than we have ever before – we are aiming to speed up the time it takes to get the engines from design to operation, and to deliver a product that will be safe and reliable in service,” says Mr Schneiter. “Our projects with engine builders, shipyards, shipowners and equipment suppliers are a fundamental component of our development plans.”