MAN's 175D High-speed Engine is Now Biofuel-ready

MAN Energy Solutions announced its MAN 175D high-speed engine is now formally approved for operation on 100% biofuels, offering a more environmentally friendly option for ferries, offshore supply vessels, tugs and other working vessels.

Biofuels and biofuel blends are gaining increased interest and uptake among owners and operators seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their vessels.

The the MAN 175D engine range, which includes 12-, 16- and 20-cylinder variants with outputs ranging from 1,500 to 4,400 kilowatts, can now be run totally on standard biofuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) without any technical adjustments.

The engine is already compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s Tier III emissions regulations with the use of selective catalytic reduction (SCR).

Florian Keiler, Head of High-Speed Sales, MAN Energy Solutions, said, “MAN Energy Solutions prepares its engines for operation on future and sustainable fuels and the MAN 175D is no exception. Several such units have been running on up to B30 biofuel in commercial, as well as governmental, applications for several years already where our experience has been very good and shown that the 175D does not suffer any loss in performance even when using these fuels. Due to its state-of-the-art design, just a few engine components are subject to slightly higher wear, depending on the amount of biofuel and the duration of operation. For uninterrupted engine operation, only minor adaptations of the fuel-treatment system are necessary.”

Due to the lower energy content of FAME fuels, the engine’s maximum continuous rating (MCR) would drop if no correction measures were applied, MAN said. Therefore, MAN Energy Solutions has developed a solution that allows the correction of the load by means of a fuel adaption control ensuring full MCR power, also when operating with 100% FAME fuels.