Approval testing on MAN B&W Diesel’s diesel engines

It will take 19 computers to operate the latest generation of diesel engines from MAN B&W Diesel.

Approval testing takes three weeks, but then the operating system will also meet the requirements of many authorities in the marine sector.

Advanced marine diesel engine with 19 computers

Do you think the diesel engine in your neighbour's new car is advanced? If so, try taking a look at the new generation of ship diesel engines from MAN B&W Diesel. Here, the engine control system consists of up to 19 computers, which are connected in an ultra-reliable real time network.

The result is that the engine can be adjusted and set according to so many parameters that it can make any engineer impressed. The driving force behind the development has largely been the tightening of requirements relating to the engines' NOx emissions.

Extensive testing for approval

Gaining the necessary approvals of the operating system for such an engine is a comparatively extensive task.

 "We work with DELTA on approval testing of the electronic components. Our engines need to live up to the requirements from 11 classification companies, so the alternative to DELTA would be to pay 11 inspectors to attend while we did the testing ourselves. DELTA's reports are impartial, and are therefore acknowledged by the classification companies," says Jørn Skovgaard Andersen, Departmental Manager for the Development of Foundation Electronics and Software at MAN B&W Diesel, which has 75 per cent of the world's market of two-stroke slow-running ship diesel engines.

Marking and European requirements

In addition to this, the engine operating system must meet the requirements of the European directive on marine equipment. MAN B&W has also opted to have the operating system CE marked, even though this is not a formal requirement for maritime use. Every so often, the company receives an order for an engine for a European power station, where there is no doubt that the operating system needs to have the CE mark in accordance with the EMC directive.

The classification companies are more or less in agreement about a common testing specification - but not completely. All in all, therefore, the operating system needs to meet the requirements of close on twenty standards.

The harsh environment of the engine room

The environment in an engine room is a harsh one for electronics, and reliability requirements are high.

The course of testing covers both EMC testing and environmental testing such as vibration, high and low temperatures and cyclic moist air testing.

The construction of the operating system has taken into account that no single fault should be able to cause the engine to stall. The system has therefore been set up with two main computers working in parallel to calculate the injection and exhaust process. This data is sent, among other places, to a computer for each of the engine's cylinders and three other computers which operate the hydraulics. In addition to this there are two computers which take care of the engine's remote manoeuvring system.

MAN B&W is a member of DELTA's EMC Club

Therefore, the company has access to "do-it-yourself" testing facilities, which are frequently used in the development period.