MAN Diesel & Turbo, HHI-EMD Invest in New Test Facility
As the global maritime industry steams toward ever-stricter fuel and emission rules, industry leaders such as MAN Diesel & Turbo and Hyundai continue to invest in facilities and technologies. In the most recent case, MAN D&T said today it will build a new test-engine facility in collaboration with its two-stroke licensee, HHI-EMD, the engine and machinery division of Hyundai Heavy Industries. The new venture -- located in Ulsan, Korea at HHI-EMD’s works and scheduled to open in 2019 -- will expand MAN Diesel & Turbo’s R&D test capacity and strengthen its development of dual-fuel gas engines.
Engine of the Future is Already Available
First commercial ME-GI engine revealed at major event in Korea. At a large customer event in Korea on 9 November 2012, Hyundai revealed the first, commercial MAN B&W ME-GI engine. The ME-GI is a gas-injection, dual-fuel, low-speed diesel engine that, when acting as main propulsion in LNG carriers or any other type of merchant marine vessel, can burn gas or fuel-oil at any ratio, depending on the energy source available on board and dictated by relative cost of combustibles and owner preference. The ME-GI type was successfully demonstrated at the ceremony in Korea, culminating in it achieving 100% load when powered by gas with a minimal amount of pilot oil for ignition. The engine subsequently successfully passed its Type Approval Test at the end of November.
