This photo is not fake in any way. It's a 300-ton crankshaft from a Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine, the largest engine of its kind in the world.

http://people.bath.ac.uk/ccsshb/12cyl/ 

Cool picture!

Heh-heh you said "two stroke"

This is what I picture when I heard the "Thunder Gerbil" story.

"Each cylinder of the engine displaces 1820 liters to produce a total engine horsepower of 108,920 hp at 102 rpm."

Actually, no. The engine you are looking at produces about 78,000BHP - it's only a 10-cylinder. The 14-cylinder model is the one that produces 109KBHP

And what is this monster engine's application??

Steam ship??

Steam ship...what an idiot!

Ocean liner seems better.

Originally designed for marine use by merchant marine vessels ("ocean liner" implies only passenger vessels), but now also used by power generation plants.

I think they also se these in the Dodge, Chevy and Ford turbo deisel trucks. Hence the reason I can't hear myself placing an order when ones behind me in the drive thru.

102 RPM ?

There's no better way to produce thrust than that thing??

RE #9

Jet,

Yup.

That's about redline RPM for the 14.

It's a bit higher for the engines with fewer cylinders, IIRC the 6's and 7 cylinders redline at about 147RPM.

It's a direct drive propusion system. If you look at the near end of the photo, you'll notice a ring of bolt holes in the jacking gear, that's where the tailshaft bolts on. From there you have about 100' of tailshaft and support bearings and then out the stuffing box to the propeller.

That's right, no gearing. Whatever speed the engine turns, the prop turns.

When you want to go astern, you stop the engine, then re-start it rotating in the other direction.

RE #10-

For the application, no not really.

You're looking at an engine that was designed to be able to shove about a million pounds through the water at a speed of 25 kts, and do it efficiently.

The Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine is the most powerful and most efficient prime-mover in the world today. The Aioi Works of Japan's Diesel United, Ltd built the first engines and is where some of these pictures were taken.

It is available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all are inline engines. These engines were designed primarily for very large container ships. Ship owners like a single engine/single propeller design and the new generation of larger container ships needed a bigger engine to propel them.

The cylinder bore is just under 38" and the stroke is just over 98". Each cylinder displaces 111,143 cubic inches (1820 liters) and produces 7780 horsepower. Total displacement comes out to 1,556,002 cubic inches (25,480 liters) for the fourteen cylinder version.

Some facts on the 14 cylinder version:

Total engine weight: 2300 tons (The crankshaft alone weighs 300 tons.)

Length: 89 feet

Height: 44 feet

Maximum power: 108,920 hp at 102 rpm

Maximum torque: 5,608,312 lb/ft at 102rpm

Fuel consumption at maximum power is 0.278 lbs per hp per hour (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption). Fuel consumption at maximum economy is 0.260 lbs/hp/hour. At maximum economy the engine exceeds 50% thermal efficiency. That is, more than 50% of the energy in the fuel in converted to motion.

For comparison, most automotive and small aircraft engines have BSFC figures in the 0.40-0.60 lbs/hp/hr range and 25-30% thermal efficiency range.

Even at its most efficient power setting, the big 14 consumes 1,660 gallons of heavy fuel oil per hour.

QUOTE:

"Each cylinder displaces 111,143 cubic inches (1820 liters) and produces 7780 horsepower."

That's a lot of horsepower; good thing there aren't any real horses there.

Engineers are somethin' else.

Steam ship...what an idiot!

LMAO !!!!

Thanks for posting this. It would be nice to hear it run.

About twenty years we had a project that involved a 20,000 HP Delaval standby diesel generator for a nuclear plant. I USED to think it was big. (:-)

Gene,

I haven't heard the RTA-C's run, but I have worked with the earlier design RTA's and much earlier RND-M's.

No where near as noisy as most people would imagine. When they are at the higher RPMs the turbo intakes make more noise than the engine itself and it all just becomes a low droning. At the lower RPMs, the turbos aren't fully spun up and you can hear the individual cylinders firing. The noisyiest point of operation is actually the moments when you're firing the air injectors to start it up.

They said it will be ready for my new truck in a month.

Geez, I love big blocks!