First Sulzer Common-Rail Engine Passes Shop Test

The official shop test of the first modern large diesel engine with common-rail fuel injection, a Sulzer 6RT-flex58T-B, has been successfully completed. This revolutionary engine has no camshaft and runs with electronic control of all key engine functions to give flexibility in operation and reduced exhaust emissions.

The engine has a maximum continuous power of 12,750 kW and was built under licence from Wärtsilä Corporation by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd at their Ulsan works, Korea. It will be installed in a 47,000 tdw bulk carrier building for Gypsum Transportation Ltd at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Korea.

As this is the first production engine built with the Sulzer RT-flex common-rail system, its manufacture has involved very close co-operation between Wärtsilä, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. The engine tests at Ulsan were undertaken with support from Wärtsilä engineers. This RT-flex engine was first started on 5 January 2001, and completed its official shop test on 16 January. Soon after starting, it developed full power. It went through all tests without difficulty.

The success of these tests on the first production engine was largely the result of the comprehensive research and development programme undertaken on a full-sized research engine in the Diesel Technology Center in Switzerland. The Sulzer 6RT-flex58T-B tested is basically a version of the existing classic RTA58T-B low-speed marine diesel engine but with the Sulzer RT-flex system to give a camshaftless engine. Common-rail technology with full electronic control is applied to the fuel injection, the exhaust valve operation, and the starting air system. All these functions are controlled within the Sulzer RT-flex concept using the WECS 9500 engine control system. The RT-flex common-rail fuel system operates on the same grades of heavy fuel, up to 700 cSt viscosity, as is usual for `classic' Sulzer RTA-series engines.