(continued from page 13)
last five years and, consequently,
on fuels refined by the latest sec-
ondary processes, which means
cracking of different kinds. Such
fuels have combustion properties
which substantially differ from
the heavy fuels available 10 years
ago.
The evaluations are based on
experiences of the purpose de-
signed heavy fuel engines Vasa 32
and Vasa 22HF in a lot of differ-
ent installation types such as main
engines in ro-ro vessels, supply
vessels, tugs, icebreakers, ferries
and small tankers as well as a
number of auxiliary engine ap-
plications.
The Vasa 32 engine was intro-
duced in 1977 and has since then
attracted much attention. At that
time it was one of the first new en-
gine designs developed after the
1973-74 oil crisis. It filled a gap
between the heavy fuel burning
15.75-inch bore engines and small
marine diesel engines. The Vasa
32 covers an output range of 2,010
to 9,180 bhp.
The Vasa 22HF engine, with the
same basic features as the Vasa
32, was introduced in 1980. With
the output range of 720 to 3,480
bhp it extends the range of Vasa
32 downwards. In the upper end of
the output range it is, with its
smaller size and higher speed, an
attractive alternative in small
vessels.
Practically, it can be said that
the Vasa engines are well suited
for all heavy fuels existing on the
market today. They also form a
stable base from which the devel-
opment towards using further de-
teriorating future fuels can be
continued.
A paper describing the Wauke-
sha AT25 Series of diesel and
heavy fuel engines was presented
during the second day of the sym-
posium. The Waukesha AT25 En-
gine Series consists of a family of
four engine models including six
and eight-cylinder in-line, and 12
and 16-cylinder vee configura-
tions. The engines have a common
250-mm bore with a 300-mm stroke
and were designed and developed
by Sulzer Brothers Limited of
Winterthur, Switzerland. The
Waukesha Engine Division of
Dresser Industries Inc., is manu-
facturing and further developing
this new engine family at Wauke-
sha, Wis., under a license agree-
ment with Sulzer for marketing
throughout the world.
The engine series has been de-
signed for both diesel and heavy-
fuel operation and covers a speed
range of 720 to 1,000 rpm. The
diesel (distillate) fuel maximum
continuous power range covers
1,260 to 4,800 bhp, whereas the
heavy-fuel (residual) rated power
range covers 1,140 to 4,320 bhp.
This new AT 25 engine series
combines the four-stroke diesel
cycle with direct injection, turbo-
charging and intercooling. The de-
sign results in a high-density
reciprocating power producing
package including low fuel-oil and
lube-oil consumption, high relia-
bility and durability, and multi-
fuel capability for cost effective op-
eration. The first engine of this
new series produced at Waukesha
was a 12-cylinder model.
Over 3,000 engines of the A25
type have been applied by Sulzer
and its licensees in universal ap-
plications including main marine
propulsions (deep sea and inland
waterways), ship auxiliary power
generation, offshore oil-drilling
platforms, railroad traction and
stationary power generation.
R. Peter Spock, American
Commercial Barge Line Co., de-
scribed "The ACBL Blended Fuel
Program."
ACBL decided to pursue blended
fuels after a lengthy discussion
and study of the current technolo-
gies. Several other conservation
methods were put into effect, but
blended fuel was to be the major
effort because it showed evidence
of providing the greatest amount
of savings potential. At that time,
about 40 percent of ACBL's line
haul towboats were equipped with
Alco engines, which had under-
gone previous blended-fuel test-
ing. Also in 1980, our future new
vessel construction called for sev-
eral vessels to be equipped with
Alco engines. Thus in light of the
pricing structure of diesel and
blended fuels, it was determined
that significant fuel cost savings
could be obtained in these vessels.
Another factor which influenced
the decision was that ACBL had
previously purchased a tank farm
in Memphis as a hedge against
any future oil shortages. This
would prove advantageous since
the quality of blended fuels must
be controlled in order to provide
successful operation in diesel
engines.
Over the long term, it is ex-
pected that diesel fuel prices will
increase much more than residual.
This is the most significant reason
why blended fuel is a rational ap-
proach to controlling operating
costs. This must obviously be tem-
pered by the increased mainte-
nance costs associated with blended
fuel.
The author then described in de-
tail the impact of these changes
and how ACBL arrived at its cur-
rent position. Finally, the paper
takes a look at the most recent
ACBL heavy-fuel project which in-
volves the re-engining of the tri-
FERISISTRUML
MIT
ENGINEERED
KEEL COOLING
COMPLETELY
ASSEMBLED
R. W. FERNSTRUM & COMPANY
MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. 49858
Phone (906) 863-5553 • Telex 26-3493 - Answer Back FERNSTRUM MNOM
R. W. FERNSTRUM S. CO., EXPORT OEPT.
MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. 49858
Phone 906'863 5553 • Telex 26 3493 • Answer Back FERNSTRUM MNOM
ple-screw towboat M/V Bill Elmer
with three MaK engines equipped
to burn 3,500-ssu fuel.
Kenneth Siegman of the Mid-
land-Ross Company reported on
"Midland's Heavy Fuel Oil Expe-
rience." He advised that in late
1981 Midland made the decision to
build two boats capable of burning
heavy fuel oils of varying viscosity
and varying quality. This decision
was based on many factors both
within the Midland organization
and external to the company. The
external factors were many, but
were primarily concerned with the
present and future cost and supply
of fuels.
In November 1982, Midland took
delivery of the M/V Jim Ludwig
from St. Louis Ship. In May 1983,
Midland took delivery of the M/V
Justin T. Rogers. Both of these
boats came out of the yard burn-
ing an IF-80 (600-SRI) fuel and
have continued to burn this blend.
This paper covers Midland's expe-
riences during design and con-
struction, plus much of their oper-
ating experience to date. Much of
the operating data is very recent.
Each day a new or unexpected bit
of information is learned and they
expect the learning experience to
continue.
Along with the decision to go to
heavier blends of up to 2,100 SRI,
there were questions raised on
storage tank configuration. The
original hull design had two large
port/starboard tanks on each side.
This was later changed to divide
each of the large tanks in half to
give four port/starboard tanks, each
side. More but smaller capacity
tanks were required for two rea-
sons. The first and prime reason
was the concern of possible fuel
compatibility problems. The var-
ious bunkers if purchased from
different suppliers could be kept
separate.
An important part of the boat
design once the hull configuration
was chosen, was the choice of the
main engines. After an extensive
search and evaluation, it was de-
cided to go with main engines de-
signed and built by B&W Alpha of
Frederikshaven, Denmark.
Much of the data and experience
contained in this paper is based on
the operating experience of the
two boats. From what is known
now, Midland feels that they can
expect to meet or exceed their ex-
pectations of the move to burn
heavy fuels.
M.H. Brinker, M.A. Cereno
and W.H. Rice, Jr., Heartland
Transportation Company, The In-
land Waterways Division, Pott In-
dustries Inc., described "The In-
land Waterways Division, Pott
Industries Inc. Blended Fuel
Program."
The blended-fuel program of IWD
began back in the mid 1950s when
Federal Barge Line began operat-
ing four towboats on blended/heavy
fuel oil. Federal Barge lines oper-
ated these four boats on heavy oil
from 1956 through 1965 for two
boats and 1972 for the other two
12 Circle 109 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
Digital Wave Publishing