Acquisition has been just one of the major landmarks for MHI-MME over the last year
The recent past for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and its wholly owned subsidiary Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Equipment (MHI-MME) has been dominated by its acquisition by long-time engine licensee Kobe Diesel as of April 1 this year.
The three companies are looking to vertically integrate their respective businesses as licensors (development, design, after-sales servicing) and licensee (manufacture, marketing, after sales-servicing) to form a dedicated manufacturer of marine diesel engines with a wholly integrated business administration process, covering the value chain from upstream to downstream.
In this way integration of the three companies’ marine diesel operations will establish a highly resilient and flexible business operating system which all three believe will be indispensable for the sustained growth of the UE engine business. This shared outlook led to the signing of the basic agreement.
The forthcoming business integration will bring together MHI’s long-standing advanced technical support, the high value-added business model of MHI-MME as a licensor, and the low-cost business model of Kobe Diesel. The three signatories, with the support of their respective customers, said they would be carrying out detailed discussions. They will work towards achieving business integration, expanding relationships with all UE licensee companies, and becoming a global licensor and marine diesel engine provider capable of performing all aspects of development and design, including manufacture, marketing and servicing.
However, this has been a momentous year for other reasons, as the 30,000th delivery of an MET turbocharger was achieved in February this year.
The MET turbocharger was initially developed in 1965 and has continuously been evolved to respond to the needs of engine technology providers. Currently, the MET turbocharger line-up consists of MET-MA/-MB (axial type) for two-stroke marine propulsion engines and MET-SRC series (radial type) for four-stroke main and generator engines. These two line-ups have been delivered up to around 2,000 units per year recently.
Axial MET turbochargers are licensed to three major engine manufacturers in Korea, while the MET turbocharger is mounted on two-stroke engines not only by Mitsubishi designs but also by MAN Diesel &Turbo SE and Winterthur Gas & Diesel. MHI-MME claims market share among two-stroke marine propulsion engines is around 40 per cent.
Delivery of radial type turbochargers has been increased over recent years, and it has become a major part of our turbocharger business same as the axial type.
Taking advantage of achieving the delivery of 30,000 units, MHI-MME will continue the provision of turbochargers that satisfy customer needs in both products and services.
In addition to this, Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) recently approved the MET turbocharger for mounting on its dual-fuel X-DF engines.
MET66MB turbohargers are to be mounted on two W5X72DF engines manufactured by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) that will be delivered to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) for installation in an 180,000m3 LNG carrier commissioned by a shipping company backed by Itochu Corporation and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.
Verification tests were carried out using an X72DF test engine at Japan's Diesel United, Ltd. The W6X72DF engine was provided with two sets of MET66MB turbochargers, and was was successfully tested in both diesel and gas mode in the presence of WinGD's engineers.
The MET Turbocharger has the world's largest market share, at around 40%, of the two-stroke marine engine turbocharger market.
Win-GD's X-DF engines are next generation of dual-fuel marine engines, and are capable of operating using diesel fuel and low-pressure gas fuel. The engine conforms to the new IMO Tier III regulations, and has reduced NOx and SOx emissions in gas mode.
In addition, MHI-MME offers hybrid turbochargers developed with Calnetix Technologies LLC, of the USA, which provided expertise for the generators and power electronics. Calnetix Technologies has extensive experience with high-speed permanent magnet motors and generators, with installed units now having recorded over 100 million field running hours. In the MET installation, the Magnaforce motor-generator is installed within the turbocharger silencer unit, providing a compact installation only 313mm longer than the equivalent standard turbocharger.
For hybrid turbocharger installation, the motor-generator was optimally designed to match the turbocharger shaft speed and also to be fully compatible with Calnetix high-frequency electronic drives. To operate in oil-free conditions, the unit runs on magnetic bearings integrated into a special housing arrangement, resulting in a maintenance-free system. In the operation of the hybrid turbocharger, a small proportion of the energy recovered from the exhaust gas during normal cruising is diverted for the generation of electrical power.
Turbochargers incorporating the MET VTI system offer significant benefits for applications where low load operation is a regular requirement, such as slow-steaming applications. Control of the turbine inlet area allows boost pressures to be maintained improving scavenging during the combustion cycle. The system features a butterfly valve operating in a simple two-step control arrangement, ensuring high reliability. The gas inlet casings are fully interchangeable with standard products making retrofit an attractive and simple activity for many applications.
Binary cycle power generation system for ships completes sea trials
Kobe Steel, Asahi Shipping and Miura began joint development of a binary cycle power generation system for ships in April 2014. Land-based testing of the system was successfully completed in September 2015. In December 2016, the system passed sea trials on a ship, and recently it received approval from Japan’s ship classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (also known as ClassNK). Having passed these tests, the new system will be marketed from April 2017, with sales starting in April 2019. Kobe Steel is in charge of marketing and sales.
In the past, the exhaust heat from the turbocharger attached to the ship engine was not used, but simply disposed. Kobe Steel’s new system is the first in the world to generate electricity from the exhaust heat emitted by the ship’s turbocharger.
The electricity produced by the new system serves as auxiliary power for the ship and contributes to the efficient utilization of energy. In the sea trials, Kobe Steel confirmed that an engine output of 7,500 kW per hour generated 125 kW of electricity. This is equivalent to about 20 to 25 percent of the fuel used in marine generators, depending on the conditions, and is the largest scale of power generation from exhaust heat on a ship.
Through the new system, the three companies are promoting the effective utilisation of unused energy. This project to develop the binary cycle power generation system was adopted as a joint research theme by the next-generation marine environment-related technology development support program of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and ClassNK and was undertaken with their cooperation.
As the binary cycle power generation system is applicable for engines in the 5,000-kW class and higher, which are used by most vessels, the system can be used in a wide variety of ships.
As engines undergo large load fluctuations. Kobe Steel’s screw-type binary cycle power generation system can generate electricity under a wide range of conditions, from high loads to low loads.
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