Schiff&Hafen | Issue 06/2017
Turbocharger solutions for next medium-speed engine generations
KBB | Latest developments in medium-speed engine technology are being driven by performance targets, lifetime costs and emission regulations. This is leading to a new generation of engines incorporating several new technologies. On the one hand, a trend in gas engine development sees the installation of two-stage turbocharging systems to use inter cooling for better performance. On the other hand, diesel engines must incorporate technologies such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) or exhaust gas after-treatment systems to manage the trade-off between emissions and specific fuel oil consumption. Dual-fuel engines are characterised by much higher compression ratios when running on diesel as compared with gas operation. This implies new challenges for single-stage turbocharg ing. In many cases, the efficiency of these new technologies depends on optimised or even customised turbocharger solutions.