Ships are different in shape and size, which works on diesel engines. In the last few years, marine diesel engines have gained great popularity due to significant improvements and developments. However, the basic principle of operating a vessel through an engine remains the same.
These engines provide higher mileage as compared to that gasoline. This makes it an obvious choice for heavy-duty transportation and equipment. Due to higher efficiency and cost-effectiveness, diesel engines are attracting attention.
In diesel engines, the fuel is ignited inside a chamber, and the released thermal energy is used to complete the task on the propeller system, which makes the ship move forward. Marine diesel engines like Wartsila l20 are solid and notably long-lasting machines.
They’re larger in size and available at a high price. If any fault occurs, skilled and proficient professionals can handle the repair and maintenance of such machines. So, the engine can provide a long-lasting work life for the ship.
In this guide, we determine the different features and types of marine diesel engines. Let’s have a look to find out!
Table of Content
- How Does Marine Diesel Engine Work?
- The Features of Marine Diesel Engine
- Types of Marine Diesel Engine
- Wrapping Up!
How Does Marine Diesel Engine Work?
Indeed, a diesel motor like Mitsubishi RMC is internal combustion that ignites the fuel when hot and high-pressure air is infused into it. It works on either a two-stroke or four-stroke cycle that gives a fixed sequence of events. A diesel engine just compresses the air, which holds a high proportion of 14:1 up to 25:1.
Both two-stroke and four-stroke diesel engine cycles can be found among engines with exhausts under 600 mm. Engines with bores of more noteworthy than 600 mm are only two-stroke cycle frameworks.
The Features of Marine Diesel Engine
The diesel engine like Mitsubishi RMC is much more effective and superior than the gasoline engine due to the following reasons:
- Modern diesel engines overcome the drawback of higher noise and maintenance costs. Nowadays, marine diesel engines hold the property of less maintenance and don’t produce high noise.
- Marine diesel engines are sturdy and strong.
- As fuel automatically ignites, it doesn’t produce any sparking. The nonexistence of spark plugs or spark wires lessens maintenance costs.
- A high degree of utilization of the heat of combustion of fuel. The effective efficiency of diesel engines is the highest among all the variety of other types of power plants and ranges from 40 to 50%.
- Explosion and fire safety with diesel engines.
- The relatively low-temperature level generated in the engine room.
- The simplicity of remote automatic control.
- It provides highly efficient installations for ships of various classes.
- Diesel units use less than gas units and have a significantly longer life than gas units.
Types of Marine Diesel Engine
Marine diesel engines can be classified into two types – Two-stroke marine diesel engines and Four-stroke marine diesel engines.
Two-stroke engines are the most well-known diesel motors utilized for driving the ships’ propulsion system. This is because this type of marine diesel engine is fantastic in creating favoured power output and expanded efficiency as opposed to its counterpart. The functioning rule of two-stroke marine diesel engines contains one perfect pivot of the crankshaft and a single up and down movement of the cylinder piston.
The Operation Cycle
The supply of a mixture of air with fuel in a two-stroke engine is combined with the process of its compression, and the removal of exhaust gases occurs simultaneously with their expansion. When the piston rises in the direction from the lower point to the upper one, it supplies the combustible mixture to the cylinder.
The gases formed after the combustion of the fuel ignited by the spark, forcing it to go down. The crankshaft starts rotating, doing useful work.
Four-stroke marine diesel engines are compact in size than two-cycle motors. The motor gives higher RPM, which isn’t generally utilized as the primary engines in ships. A four-stroke engine cycle is composed of two revolutions of the crankshaft and the cylinder piston has to move up and down twice to transform thermal energy into work.
The Operation Cycle
In a standard four-stroke engine, the mixture is ignited at every second revolution of the crankshaft. The rotation of the shaft drives a complex set of mechanisms that ensure the synchronous execution of a sequence of clock cycles.
The intake or exhaust valves are opened by a camshaft that alternately presses the rocker arms. The valve is returned to the closed position by a spring. To avoid loss of compression, the valves must fit snugly against the cylinder head.
Wrapping Up!
Now, you’re aware of the features and types of marine diesel engines. Before buying one, it’s advisable to get recommendations from professionals, so you aren’t harming the performance of your vessel. With the availability of numerous manufacturers in the market, it becomes quite easy to choose one that suits your needs.