Common Rail At Sea: The Sulzer RT-flex Engine*

Kaspar Aeberli
Director, Marketing & Business Development, Marine
Wärtsilä Switzerland Ltd, Winterthur
John McMillan
Technical Director
Beltship Management Ltd, Bermuda
SUMMARY
The paper gives a brief report on the experience with the first Sulzer RT-flex engine in the bulk carrier Gypsum Centennial. This
is the world’s first large low-speed diesel engine in service with electronically-controlled common-rail fuel injection. The Sulzer
RT-flex engine brings useful benefits in terms of reducing running costs, extendable times between overhauls, reduced exhaust
emissions and ‘super dead-slow’ running. Particularly impressive during the sea trials were the completely smokeless operation
at all ship speeds and steady running of the engine at speeds down to 12 rev/min. In service the engine has run well, up to our
expectations, although with a few teething problems which are all covered in this paper.

INTRODUCTION This Sulzer RT-flex engine is basically a standard Sulzer

RTA58T-B low-speed two-stroke marine diesel engine,
A major seamark was passed on 18 September 2001 when
except that, instead of the usual camshaft and its gear
the sea trials of the new 47,950 tdw bulk carrier Gypsum
drive, fuel injection pumps, exhaust valve actuator pumps
Centennial were successfully completed. She is notable for
and reversing servomotors, it is equipped with a common-
being propelled by the world’s first low-speed diesel engine
rail system for fuel injection and exhaust valve actuation,
having electronically-controlled common-rail fuel
and full electronic control of these engine functions.
injection.
The Sulzer RT-flex engine is the result of a long project
The ship was built for her owners Gypsum
in Winterthur to develop low-speed marine engines
Transportation Ltd (GTL) of Bermuda by Hyundai Mipo
without the constraints imposed by mechanical drive of
Dockyard in Ulsan, Korea. She is equipped with a Sulzer
fuel injection pumps and valve actuation pumps but with
6RT-flex58T-B main engine, having a maximum
far greater flexibility in engine setting to reach future
continuous output of 11,275 kW at 93 rev/min.
requirements. The objective is to bring shipowners
benefits in terms of engine running costs, maintenance
* Paper presented at The Motor Ship Marine Propulsion requirements and compliance with emissions control
Conference, Copenhagen, 10–11 April 2002. legislation.

Fig. 1: The bulk carrier

Gypsum Centennial powered
by a Sulzer RT-flex engine

—1— © Wärtsilä Corporation, April 2002

 Exhaust valve
actuator
Fuel
injectors
Volumetric
fuel injection
control unit
1000bar fuel HFO / MDO
200bar servo oil
30bar starting air
Fig. 2: Schematic of the common-rail systems for fuel injection and exhaust valve actuation in the Sulzer
RT-flex engine
Electronic control of hydraulically operated fuel
injection was first applied to a research engine in
Winterthur in December 1981. This was subsequently
developed into the second-generation system employed on
a four-cylinder 540 mm-bore research engine which ran
for some 2500 hours between March 1990 and April
1995. This was truly a camshaftless engine, with full
electronic control of fuel injection, exhaust valve
actuation, starting air and cylinder lubrication.
The engine was very successful and clearly
demonstrated the flexibility in engine setting given by full
electronic control. However, as the fuel injection system
was still a jerk pump system, with an individual
hydraulically-operated pump for each cylinder, it was
recognised that it had limited development potential.
Thus the decision was made to look for a more promising
solution which was found to be common-rail fuel
injection.
For this reason, the decision was taken to develop a
third-generation system based on common-rail
technology. This resulted in the first application of the
Sulzer RT-flex system on a full-sized research engine in
Winterthur in June 1998. Two years previously, a
representative full-size RT-flex system was set up on a
component test rig so that the actual hardware could be
endurance tested ahead of engine operation. This was
subsequently subjected to millions of cycles of operation,
confirming the necessary level of reliability of the
hardware for normal shipboard use.
The RT-flex research engine provided the platform for
comprehensive development testing of all aspects of the
RT-flex system. It has run for more than 2000 hours, and
—2—
WECS9500
control
system
Crank
angle
sensor
50µ
6µ
Exhaust valve
actuating unit
furnished considerable input for further improvement of
the Sulzer common-rail system. Today, it is regularly
employed in the normal way as a research engine for the
usual range of R&D testing in all aspects of engine
operation.
COMMON-RAIL FUEL INJECTION
The common rail is a manifold running the length of the
engine at just below the cylinder cover level. It provides a
certain storage volume for the fuel oil, and has provision
for damping pressure waves. The common rail and other
related pipework are neatly arranged beneath the top
engine platform and readily accessible from above.
The common rail is fed with heated fuel oil at the usual
high pressure (nominally 1000 bar) ready for injection.
The supply unit has a number of high-pressure pumps
running on multi-lobe cams. The pump design is based on
the proven injection pumps used in Sulzer four-stroke
engines.
Fuel is delivered from this common rail through a
separate injection control unit for each engine cylinder to
the standard fuel injection valves which are hydraulically
operated in the usual way by the high-pressure fuel oil.
The control units, using quick-acting Sulzer rail valves,
regulate the timing of fuel injection, control the volume of
fuel injected, and set the shape of the injection pattern.
The three fuel injection valves in each cylinder cover are
separately controlled so that they may be programmed to
operate separately or in unison as necessary.
The common-rail system is purpose-built for operation
on just the same grades of heavy fuel oil as are already
© Wärtsilä Corporation, April 2002

Fig. 3: Top platform of the Sulzer 6RT-flex58T-B
engine
standard for Sulzer RTA-series engines. For this reason, the
RT-flex system incorporates certain design features not
seen in other common-rail engines using middle-distillate
diesel oils. The key point is that, in the RT-flex system, the
heated heavy fuel oil is kept away from the precision
quick-acting rail valves.
The key features of the Sulzer common-rail system are
thus:
• Precise volumetric control of fuel injection, with
integrated flow-out security
• Variable injection rate shaping and variable injection
pressure
• Possibility for independent action and shutting off of
individual fuel injection valves
• Ideally suited for heavy fuel oil
• Well-proven standard fuel injection valves
• Proven, high-efficiency common-rail pumps
• Lower levels of vibration and internal forces and
moments
• Steady operation at very low running speeds with
precise speed regulation
• Smokeless operation at all speeds.
The RT-flex system encompasses more than the fuel
injection process. It includes exhaust valve actuation and
starting air control. The exhaust valves are operated in
much the same way as in existing Sulzer RTA engines by a
hydraulic pushrod but with the actuating energy now
coming from a servo oil rail at 200 bar pressure. The servo
oil is supplied by high-pressure hydraulic pumps
incorporated in the supply unit with the fuel supply
pumps. The electronically-controlled actuating unit for
each cylinder gives full flexibility for valve opening and
closing patterns. This unit utilises exactly the same Sulzer
rail valves as are used for controlling fuel injection.
All functions in the RT-flex system are controlled and
monitored through the integrated Wärtsilä WECS-9500
electronic control system. This is a modular system with
separate microprocessor control units for each cylinder,
and overall control and supervision by duplicated
microprocessor control units. The latter provide the usual
—3—
interface for the electronic governor and the shipboard
remote control and alarm systems.
Sulzer RT-flex engines are designed to be user friendly,
without requiring ships’ engineers to have any special
additional skills. Indeed, the knowledge for operation and
maintenance of RT-flex engines can be included in
Wärtsilä’s usual one-week courses for Sulzer RTA-series
engines given to ships’ engineers. Training time usually
given to the camshaft system, fuel pumps, valve actuating
pumps, and reversing servomotors is simply given instead
to the RT-flex system.
BENEFITS FROM THE SULZER RT-FLEX SYSTEM
At its heart, the Sulzer RT-flex engine is the same reliable,
basic engine as the existing RTA engine series. The power
ranges, speeds, layout fields and full-power fuel
consumptions are the same for both engine versions.
The Sulzer RT-flex engine offers a number of
interesting benefits to shipowners and operators:
• Reduced running costs through lower part-load fuel
consumption and eventually longer times between
overhauls
• Reduced maintenance requirements, with simpler
setting of the engine, for example adjustment of
mechanical injection pumps is no longer necessary, and
‘as-new’ running settings are automatically maintained
• More balanced engine operation. The common-rail
system with volumetric control gives excellent balance
in engine power developed between cylinders and
between cycles, with precise injection timing and
equalised thermal loads
• More predictable maintenance costs owing to better
balanced engine operation and better retaining of
engine settings over many running hours
• Extendable times between overhauls through better
engine running conditions, and better prediction of
maintenance timing
• Better fuel economy in actual in-service load range
• Flexibility to optimise fuel consumption at selected
service loads within compliance with the NOX emission
limit in Annex VI of the MARPOL 73/78 convention
• Smokeless operation at all operating speeds.
• The RT-flex system is based on well-proven hardware
• Full electronic common-rail control with integrated
monitoring functions
• Lower steady running speeds, in range of 10–12 rev/
min obtained smokelessly through sequential shut-off
of injectors in all cylinders. Selective shut off of
injectors gives more balanced engine operation than
cutting out cylinders
• Built-in overload protection
• Built-in redundancy, as 100 per cent power can be
developed using three of the four fuel pumps, and with
one servo oil pump out of action.
Shipowners are becoming very interested in RT-flex
engines, and already orders have so far been booked for six
engines, including the one in the Gypsum Centennial.
These include two Sulzer 7RT-flex60C engines for two
© Wärtsilä Corporation, April 2002

13,200 tdw reefers, another 6RT-flex58T-B for an
Aframax tanker building in Japan for Italian owners, and
two further 7RT-flex60C engines for two 30,000 tdw
multi-purpose carriers in China.
At present, the RT-flex technology is being applied to
the Sulzer RT-flex58T-B and RT-flex60C engine types. It
will be applied right across the Sulzer low-speed engine
programme, currently ten engine types covering the whole
power range of 5100–80,080 kW (6925–108,920 bhp).
This will be achieved by employing RT-flex hardware in
four ‘frame’ sizes: for engines of less than 550 mm bore, of
550–650 mm bore, 650–800mm bore, and greater than
800mm bore. These will be introduced into production as
experience is gained with the technology and its reliability
becomes fully proven.
FIRST RT-FLEX ENGINE AND ITS INSTALLATION
The first production engine, the Sulzer 6RT-flex58T-B in
the Gypsum Centennial, was ordered from the Korean
licensee Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd early in 2000.
It was first started on 5 January 2001, and passed its
official shop test on 16 January.
The Gypsum Centennial is a 47,950 tdw bulk carrier
equipped with gravity type self-unloading gear, including
the innovative ‘Moving Hole Feeder’ system for
transferring the cargo from the holds and on to the
conveyor belts. She was built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard
for her owners Gypsum Transportation Ltd, based in
Bermuda. She is primarily employed in the carriage of
gypsum between Nova Scotia and US East Coast ports on
behalf of her owner’s parent company United States
Gypsum. However, she carries a wide range of other bulk
cargoes for third-party cargo owners.
The first of two main criteria in the ship design was to
—4—
Fig. 4: The first Sulzer RT-flex
engine during its official shop
test in January 2001
create a safe and ‘environmentally-friendly’ ship in line
with company policy. Thus the ship has double-hull
construction (including the bunker tanks), bow thruster,
high-lift Becker rudder, a water-lubricated propeller shaft
bearing, sludge-minimising fuel purifiers, and dust
suppression arrangements for cargo handling. The second
main criterion was to outfit the vessel with machinery
which would be supported for the 25- to 30-year expected
life span of the vessel. Thus, the RT-flex engine, with its
favourable exhaust emission characteristics and Sulzer
pedigree was recognised by GTL as an ideal choice.
The RT-flex engine drives a controllable-pitch propeller
to facilitate manoeuvring in the various ports envisaged.
Otherwise, the engine installation is completely
conventional. The RT-flex engine does not have any
special requirements in that respect. However, the engine
is equipped with a Sulzer MAPEX-CR system to monitor
the engine’s piston-running behaviour. This is based on
sensing the temperatures of the running surfaces of the
cylinder liners.
SEA TRIALS
Sea trials of the Gypsum Centennial were run during 12 to
18 September 2001, and involved some 150 running
hours. This was longer than expected owing to heavy seas.
Nevertheless, the extended trial period allowed ample time
for final adjustment and thorough testing of the RT-flex
system, particularly of its electronic control system. In
fact, no mechanical adjustments were necessary. All
adjustments of the engine were made purely by adjusting
software parameters.
During the trials, the engine performed as expected.
With full electronic control of engine functions, the
engine manoeuvred very easily when varying speed from
© Wärtsilä Corporation, April 2002
 0.50
0.45
0.40
Filter Smoke Number [FSN]
0.35
0.30
ON
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
0 10 20 30
Fig. 5: Smoke measurements from the sea trials of the Gypsum Centennial demonstrate the smokeless
operation of the RT-flex engine compared with the conventional low-speed engine
full ahead to dead slow, and vice versa. It was especially
noticed that the engine ran very steadily at very low
speeds, and demonstrated its ability to run continuously at
speeds down to 12 rev/min. The control system also
proved its accuracy during the very demanding crash
manoeuvring tests and the UMS manoeuvring tests, as
well as in heavy seas. Additionally, the complete RT-flex
equipment was checked and approved according to
classification requirements.
As is normal practice, during the sea trials, the engine
ran for the first part on marine diesel oil before switching
over to heavy fuel oil for three days. The fuel was of 380
cSt viscosity with three per cent sulphur. The engine ran
equally well on both fuel types.
The engine’s exhaust was smokeless throughout the sea
trials, even when running at lowest loads and
manoeuvring conditions.
The smokeless operation is achieved by the superior
combustion performance with the common-rail system.
This is because the common-rail fuel injection system
maintains the fuel injection pressure at the optimum level
right across the engine speed range for optimum
combustion under all operating conditions. In addition, a
selective shut-off of single injectors at very low speeds and
an optimised exhaust valve timing help to keep smoke
emissions below the visible limit. In contrast, engines with
the traditional jerk-type injection pumps have increasing
smoke emissions as engine speed is reduced because the
fuel injection pressure decreases with speed, and they have
no means of cutting off individual injection valves and
setting special exhaust valve timing.
The shipowner’s representatives on board were very
satisfied with the performance of the engine and the
teamwork between Wärtsilä’s commissioning crew for this
project, the licensee who built the engine Hyundai Heavy
HFO
380 cSt
3% sulphur
0.1% ash
OFF Aux. Blower
Smoke visibility limit
Conventional low-speed engine
6RT-flex58T-B with Common Rail
40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Engine Load [%]
Industries Co Ltd and the shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo
Dockyard.
FIRST SERVICE EXPERIENCE
The engine will have accumulated well over 2000 running
hours by the end of March 2002.
Basically the engine has operated very successfully.
Although there have been quite a number of teething
problems with the RT-flex system, there have only been
two major engine halts, both outlined below and both
concerned mechanical problems.
The great majority of the problems did not interfere
with normal ship operation. Some could be rectified
during normal engine halts while others, concerning
common-rail and electronic components, could be
rectified by briefly slowing the engine and replacing
components.
Software
As one can expect, despite the many hours of operation
with the RT-flex system, first on the research engine and
now on a production engine, shortcomings in operation
still arise. They are caused by the need to adapt control
loop parameters under real sailing conditions. However,
these shortcomings are declining in number. In any case,
none have led to unsafe situations.
Sensors
Problems have been experienced with sensors but these
have mainly concerned having the right specification and
securing the sensor against local environment. For
example, some wire connections were not at first optimal
and corroded. In addition, some crank angle pick-ups gave
output signals with too much noise.
—5— © Wärtsilä Corporation, April 2002

Fig. 6: The supply unit mounted on the side of the
engine with the three servo-oil pumps on the near
side and four fuel pumps on the upper and
outboard sides
Servo-oil pipe connections
One major halt was caused by cracking of servo-oil pipes
(200 bar) close to the supply unit. This was found to be
caused by poorly fitting pipes. Thus, flexible hoses were
employed to allow adequate freedom of movement. Since
this modification, the problem has not recurred.
Missing oil feed hole
The other major stoppage was caused by a missing
lubricating oil feed hole in one of the fuel supply pumps
which had been left out during manufacture. It became
evident by the pump sticking after some 1200 running
hours without lubrication! Although the supply unit could
fortunately be repaired within 36 hours, the ship just
missed a charter by two hours and was two days off-hire.
It required the replacement of the damaged pump and
components in the pump drive.
Lubricating oil consumption
Excessive lubricating oil consumption was experienced at
the beginning. It was caused by excessive lubrication of the
fuel supply pumps’ regulating racks. After the oil feed to
the fuel pumps was reduced to a reasonable level, the
losses came down significantly and can now be considered
acceptable.
The whole common-rail system uses engine lubricating
oil for purposes of servo control and actuation, which does
not involve any consumption of lubricating oil. However,
it is also employed for lubrication of the fuel supply
pumps and there is a small consumption of oil past the
pump plungers to the fuel side.
Rail valves
Problems were experienced with broken wires in some rail
valves of the common-rail system. Fortunately these valves
can be replaced within about 12 minutes while the engine
is running.
—6—
This was a design problem and subsequent batches of
rail valves made with better damped wires run without
trouble.
Other service experience
The traditional parts of the engine have operated well. As
is now standard for Sulzer RTA-series engines, the engine
incorporates the TriboPack design measures for improved
piston-running behaviour.
Thus, all the problems experienced can be regarded as
‘teething’ problems, and they have been remedied. The
fact that the whole design of the common-rail has been
made ‘in-house’ helps when troubleshooting problems
arises. In-house knowledge allows quick diagnosis of
problems and prompt identification of suitable remedies.
In its turn, this adds to the in-house knowledge for future
use. Lessons from this first RT-flex engine are already
being applied to the designs of the following engines.
CONCLUSION
Although one should be cautious about being too
optimistic after comparatively few running hours (after all
a ship’s main engine has a total life of some 150,000
running hours or even more), the first Sulzer RT-flex
engine is performing very well and shortcomings are being
resolved one by one.
Sulzer RT-flex engines have started to be accepted by
the market. Apart from the orders from four shipowners,
this is evident from the discussions with other owners
showing keen interest and growing in confidence.
RT-flex technology is, in fact, a quantum step forward
which has even more significance than the change from
air-blast injection to airless injection some 70 years ago. It
holds clear promise for further development.
Electronically-controlled common-rail injection is
certainly the future direction of diesel engine
development. Improvements in engine performance, such
as reduced fuel consumption and less exhaust emissions,
will in the future be gained by continuing software
upgrades.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Kaspar Aeberli is grateful to John McMillan, Technical
Director of Beltship Management Ltd, the managers of
Gypsum Centennial, for his assistance in writing this paper,
and to his company, colleagues and himself for their
confidence in the new engine concept, and their patience
through the ‘teething’ problems.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Stefan Fankhauser, “Jump into the new Millennium:
Sulzer RT-flex with the world’s biggest common rail”,
The Motor Ship International Marine Propulsion
Conference, Athens, March 1999
2. Stefan Fankhauser and Klaus Heim, “The Sulzer
RT-flex: Launching the Era of Common Rail on Low
Speed Engines”, CIMAC 2001, Hamburg
© Wärtsilä Corporation, April 2002