Computer Controlled Electronic

Engines
Cam Less Engines
Computer Controlled Electronic Engine
• With the integration of industrial electronics into marine
engineering systems coupled with the giant strides made in the
development of computer technology, it has now become possible
to time the injection of fuel without mechanical aids.
• In addition to this, it has become possible to dispense with the
timed camshaft altogether by using similar systems to control
operation of valves and the air start system.
• The two major manufacturers of two stroke crosshead engines
have both introduced a camshaft-less engine. Sulzer call theirs the
RT Flex engine, and MAN B&W call theirs the ME intelligent
engine.
• Both engines use electrical and engine driven axial piston pumps
to pressurize servo oil rails to 200 bar which are then used for fuel
injection and exhaust valve operation. In addition MAN B&W use
the servo oil to drive the cylinder lubricator units (Alpha system)
• Although they both work without a camshaft and use computers to
control, fuel injection, exhaust valve operation and air starting, the
method of fuel injection is different.
Components removed in ME engine
• Chain drive
• Chain wheel frame
• Chain box on frame box
• Camshaft with cams
• Roller guides for fuel pump and exhaust valve
• Fuel pumps
• Exhaust actuator
• Starting air distributor
• Governor
• Regulating shaft
• Mechanical Lubricator
• Local control stand
Components added in ME engine
• Hydraulic Power Supply (HPS)
• Hydraulic Cylinder Unit (HCU)
• Engine Control System (ECS)
▫ Starting air valves
▫ Start and Reversing sequences
▫ Governor function
▫ Auxiliary blowers
▫ Electronically Profiled Injection (EPIC)
▫ Exhaust valve actuation
• Exhaust valve
• Crankshaft position sensing system
• Electronically controlled Alpha Lubricator
• Local Operation Panel (LOP)
Electronically controlled functions
• Starting air valves
• Start and reversing sequences
• Governor function
• Auxiliary blowers
• Electronically profiled injection control
• Exhaust valve actuation
• Cylinder oil feed rate
The ME Concept
• The ME engine concept consists of a servo-hydraulic system
for activation of the fuel oil injection and the exhaust valves.
• The actuators are electronically controlled by a number of
control units forming the ‘Engine Control System’.
• Fuel injection is accomplished by pressure boosters, which
are mechanically simpler than the fuel pumps on
conventional MC engines.
• The fuel plunger on the ME engine is driven by a piston
actuated with pressurized control oil from an electronically
controlled proportional valve as the power source.
• The exhaust valve is opened hydraulically, and closed by an
air spring as on the MC engine. Similar to the fuel injection
pressure booster, the electronically controlled exhaust valve
actuator is driven by the pressurized control oil which, for
the exhaust valve, is fed through an on/off type control
valve or a proportional type control valve.
The Servo Oil System
• In the hydraulic loop, system lubricating oil is used as the
medium. It is filtered through a fine filter (6 microns) and
pressurized by a hydraulic power supply (HPS) unit mounted on
the engine.
• Furthermore, separate electrically driven pumps supply oil when
the engine is at standstill & at low RPM.
• From the hydraulic power supply unit, the generated servo oil is
fed through shielded pipes to the hydraulic cylinder units (HCU).
There is one such unit per cylinder. Each unit consists of a fuel
oil pressure booster and an exhaust valve actuator.
• A Fuel Injection and Valve Actuation (FIVA) control valve is
mounted on the HCU.
• On early ME engines, ELectronic valve Fuel Injection (ELFI) and
ELectronic Valve Actuation (ELVA) control valves are mounted
on the HCU.
• The Alpha Lubricator is also mounted on the HCU.
Hydraulic Power Supply Details
Hydraulic Cylinder Units
Hydraulic Cylinder Unit

ME-B Engine with ELFI

& ELVA
ME-C Engine with FIVA
Fuel Injection System
 Fuel Oil Booster
• A solenoid operated proportioning valve (the FIVA valve - Fuel
Injection Valve Activation) allows the pressurised servo oil under a
hydraulic piston. This then moves the fuel pump piston upwards,
raising the fuel pressure and opening the injection valves.
• A nitrogen filled accumulator maintains the hydraulic servo oil pressure
during the operation of the pump.
• To be able to time the fuel injection the Control Systems must know the
crank angle of the individual units. To do this two crank angle sensors
are fitted at the free end of the engine. These sensors are accurate to
0.1°.
• Cylinder pressures and powers are continually monitored by using
strain gauges built into the cylinder head, and the computer
automatically compensates for twist in the crankshaft when relating
crankshaft position to cylinder pressure.
• The systems give complete flexibility over start and end of injection
and take into account fuel quality, dead time (the time between
injection start command being given and actual injection), and Variable
Injection Timing (VIT).
Fuel Injection Profiles
Exhaust Valve System
Exhaust Valve Timing
Exhaust Valve Actuator
• The exhaust valve actuator replaces the cam
operated exhaust valve hydraulic pump on the
camshaft-less engine.
• Servo oil at 200 bar is used to operate a piston
which operates the exhaust valve "hydraulic push
rod" .
• The oil for operating the "hydraulic push rod"
comes from the main engine LO supply via a non
return valve.
FIVA Valve (Fuel Injection & Valve
Actuation)
FIVA shut - no Servo Oil Pressure for FO Booster or Exh V/V actuator
Servo Oil Pressure to activate FO Booster
Exh V/V actuator is not activated (when FO is being injected)
Servo Oil Pressure to activate Exh V/V actuator
FO Booster is not activated (exhaust valve is open)
FIVA Valves
• In the early ME Engines, exhaust valve actuator
was provided with ELVA control valve and the fuel
oil pressure booster with ELFI control valve.
• After delivery of the first 20 ME engines, the ELVA
and ELFI valves were substituted by one common
FIVA valve controlling both the exhaust valve
actuation and the fuel oil injection.
Starting air system
• The air start system is similar to that on a conventional engine
except there is no need for a mechanically driven distributor to
open the air start valves at the correct time.
• Instead of a camshaft driven, reversing air start distributor, each
air start valve is opened at the correct time by the engine
computers sending a signal to a solenoid controlled NC
(normally closed) valve.
• The timing of the air start valves will vary depending on the
number of cylinders, but they will be open for a long enough
period to allow overlap, so that a valve opens before the previous
valve closes, allowing starting from any position of rest. The
nominal opening can be considered as 0° (ie TDC) and closing at
110° ATDC.
• The computer knows when to send the signal because it is
receiving information as to the crankshaft position from the
angle encoders which measure crankshaft position and RPM.
• When the engine has reached firing speed the computers shut off
the air and introduce the fuel.
Tacho System
• Angle encoder :
• Measuring the actual
engine speed and sensing
the crankshaft position.
• At the free-end of the
engine.

• Tacho pick-up sensor :

• Sensing the rotating
direction of crankshaft
(Ahead or Astern)
• At the flywheel
• The computer knows when to send the signal (for fuel pump, exhaust valve,
starting air distributer actuation) because it is receiving information as to the
crankshaft position from the angle encoders which measure crankshaft position
and RPM.
• Two crank angle sensors are fitted at the free end of the engine. These sensors
are accurate to 0.1°.
 Abbreviations Used in ME Engines
• ACU – Auxiliary Control Unit
• ALCU – Alpha Lubricator Control
Unit
• BCU – Back-up Control Unit
• CCU – Cylinder Control Unit
• CNR – Control Net Repeater
• ECU – Engine Control Unit
• EICU – Engine Interface Control
Unit
• EPIC – Electronically Profiled
Injection
• HCU – Hydraulic Cylinder Unit
• HPS – Hydraulic Power Supply
• LOP – Local Operating Panel
• MCU – Master Control Unit
• MM – Marker Master
• MOP – Main Operation Panel
• MS – Marker Slave
• MPC – Multi Purpose Controller
• PDB – Power Distribution Box
• SBU – Switch Board Unit
• TSA – Tacho Signal Amplifier
Main Operating Panel (MOP)
• Cylinder load : done by adjustment of the MIP (Mean
Indicated Pressure) by setting the Fuel index.
• Fuel oil properties (Offset High – Low) : adjusting for
changed fuel oil properties by setting fuel index commonly
for all cylinders.
• Cylinder load balance : adjusting cylinder load balance
by applying offset to the fuel index individually.
• Cylinder cut-out : completely cut-out the operation of
one or more cylinder unit by fuel cut-out as well as exh’
valve movement.
• Cylinder pressure : adjustment of Pmax (+/- 20 bar),
Pcomp ratio (+/- 2), Exhaust valve timing (+/- 20 ˚ ATDC)
• Hydraulic Pump System : Adjusting Hydraulic pressure
• Blowers : Auto and manual operating mode
• Cylinder lubricators : Adjusting the feed-rate
 Alpha Lubricator
• Engines fitted with either the MAN Alpha lubrication system or
the Sulzer pulse lubrication system which both use computers
and crank angle sensors to deliver the oil between the ring pack
are better at providing adequate lubrication for low load
running.
• The Alpha ACC (Adaptive Cylinder Oil Control) is based on an
algorithm controlling the cylinder oil dosage proportional to the
sulfur content in the fuel.
• The lubricator injects a specific volume of oil into each cylinder
for each (or for every second, third, etc.) revolution. The oil fed
to the injectors is pressurized by means of Alpha lubricator on
each cylinder, equipped with small multi-piston pumps.
• The amount of oil fed to the injectors can be finely tuned with
an adjusting screw, which limits the length of the piston stroke.
The cylinder lube oil consumption in ME type engines, with
electronic lubricators, has come down to 0.7 gm / BHP hr.
Alpha Lubricator - MC Engine
Alpha Lubricator - MC Engine
Alpha Lubricator – ME Engine
Alpha Lubricator
• Piston ring is considered a kind of wiper for cylinder oil.
• The oil fed to the portion above the piston ring is wiped up by
the piston ring to reach the upper portion of the cylinder, and
is left at the top dead center, then is vaporized and degraded
in a high temperature atmosphere.
• On the other hand, the oil fed to the portion beneath the
piston ring is wiped down by the piston ring, and a part of the
fed oil may be dropped to drain.
• Therefore, the oil which was fed above or beneath the piston
ring may not significantly contribute to the lubrication.
• On the other hand, the oil fed to the portion between the
piston rings should be held between the rings to keep the
function for a long period.
Alpha Lubricator
• The lubricator supplies more oil between the piston
rings than conventional lubricator by the lubrication
system given below.
▫ Volume of cylinder oil for every injection is increased -
large volume of oil is charged to the oiling pipe per
stroke.
▫ The oil is supplied at a correct timing, within a
short time, and overriding the internal pressure of
cylinder.
Alpha Lubricator
• A single lubricator unit has five or six plungers, which
plungers are driven by a single hydraulic piston. If every
cylinder has seven or more lubrication openings, two of the
lubricator units are installed.
• The hydraulic pressure is controlled by solenoid valves. A
portion of the return oil is fed to the plunger barrel via a slit
for succeeding oiling cycle. Accordingly, the working oil is the
cylinder oil (servo oil in ME Engines).
• The movement of hydraulic piston is monitored by a
feedback sensor, a proximity sensor, to confirm the oiling
functioning and to watch the oiling timing to automatically
adjust the timing.
• The control is performed by a controller provided with a
computer (CCU in case of ME Engine). Both the rotational
angle and the pump rack signal are entered in the controller.
With the entered information, the oiling volume and the
oiling timing are adjusted.
Alpha Lubricator
• The timing for initiate the oiling action is
immediately before the first ring passes through the
oil quill. Within a short period until the fourth ring
passes, the oil is fed to the cylinder as large
volume as possible.
• As a result the volume of oil fed in one cycle
increases, thus the oil is not fed at every
revolution, and intermittent lubrication is given to
adjust the oiling volume.
• The number of oiling cycles is controlled by the
computer to give the designed volume as the total.
Alpha Lubricator
• The basic feed rate control should be adjusted in relation to the
actual fuel quality and amount being burnt at any given time.
• The sulphur percentage is a good indicator in relation to wear, and
an oil dosage proportional to the sulphur level will give the best
overall cylinder condition.
• The following two criteria determine the control:
▫ The cylinder oil dosage shall be proportional to the sulphur percentage
in the fuel
▫ The cylinder oil dosage shall be proportional to the engine load (i.e. the
amount of fuel entering the cylinders).
• The implementation of the above two criteria will lead to an
optimal cylinder oil dosage, proportional to the amount of sulphur
entering the cylinders.
• Safe and very lube-economical control is obtained with a basic
setting according to the formula:
• Basic lube oil setting = 0.34 g/kWh x S%
Alpha Lubricator
• The principle is founded on the observation that the
main part of the cylinder liner wear is of a corrosive
nature, and the amount of neutralizing alkaline
components needed in the cylinder should therefore be
proportional to the amount of sulphur (generating
sulphurous acids) entering the cylinders.
• A minimum cylinder oil dosage (around 0.5 g / bhph ) is
set in order to account for other duties of the cylinder oil
(securing sufficient oil film, detergency, etc.).
• The control according to Figure is based on a standard
TBN 70-80 cylinder oil. For operation in long periods
with fuels with sulphur content below 1%, it is
recommended to change to a cylinder oil with a lower
TBN (i.e. TBN 40-50 cylinder oils).
Common Rail Fuel Injection System
• A fuel supply system in which two or more high-pressure pumps
supply a common manifold or rail. Timing valves determine the
timing and extent of fuel delivery to the cylinder injectors.
• With mechanical injection systems, the fuel injection pressure is a
function of engine speed and engine load. When the injection
pressure drops at lower loads, the fuel droplets grow bigger and
there is not enough time to complete combustion of these droplets.
The result is the cloud of smoke.
• Common-rail injection technology offers the possibility to
maintain high injection pressure all the way down to idling and to
achieve “ no smoke at any load”.
• The benefits of common rail technology are smokeless operation,
lower, stable running speeds (down to about 10 rpm for 2-stroke
engines) and reduced fuel consumption at part load.
• Fuel is delivered from the common rail through a separate
injection control unit for each engine cylinder to the standard fuel
injection valves.
Key features of Sulzer RT-flex system
• Precise volumetric control of fuel injection
• Variable injection rate and variable injection pressure
• Possibility for independent action and shutting off of
individual fuel injection valves
• Ideally suited for heavy fuel oil
• 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.
• Reduced part-load fuel consumption
• Very low, stable running speeds at about ten per cent
nominal speed
Electronic Control Unit
Various RT-flex equipment on the half-platform of a 12RT-fl ex96C engine. From left to
right, these include (A) the local engine control panel, (B) the automatic fine filter for
servo and control oil, (C) the two electrically-driven control oil pumps and (D) the
supply unit.
Supply unit for a Sulzer 12RT-fl ex96C engine with the fuel pumps in a Vee-form
arrangement on the left and servo oil pumps on the right-hand face of the central
gear drive. The fuel pumps all deliver into the collector seen above the fuel pumps.
Sulzer Supply Unit
• Fuel and servo oil are supplied to the common-rail system
from the supply unit which is driven through gearing from
the engine crankshaft.
• The supply unit has a rigid housing of nodular cast iron.
• The fuel supply pumps are arranged on one side of the drive
gear and the hydraulic servo-oil pumps are on the other side.
This pump arrangement allows a very short, compact supply
unit with reasonable service access.
• The fuel supply pumps are driven through a camshaft with
three-lobe cams. This camshaft is very short and of much
smaller diameter, and there is no sudden, jerk action as in
fuel injection pumps, but rather the pump plungers have a
steady reciprocating motion.
• With tri-lobe cams and the speed-increasing gear drive, each
fuel supply pump makes several strokes during each
crankshaft revolution.
Rail unit for an RT-flex96C engine, showing the fuel rail (A), the control oil rail (B)
and the servo oil rail (C) with the control units for injection (D) and exhaust
valve actuation (E) on top of their respective rails. Other manifold pipes are provided
for oil return, fuel leakage return, and the system oil supply for the exhaust valve
drives.
Sulzer Rail Unit
• The rail unit is located at the engine’s top platform level,
just below cylinder cover level. It extends over the length
of the engine. It is fully enclosed but has good
maintenance access from above and from the front.
• The rail unit contains the rail pipes and associated
equipment for the fuel, servo oil and control oil systems.
The starting air system is not included in the rail unit.
• For engines with up to eight cylinders, the rail unit is
assembled as a single unit. With greater numbers of
cylinders, the engines have a mid gear drive and the rail
unit is in two sections according to the position of the
mid gear drive in the engine.
Sulzer Fuel Supply Pump
• The fuel supply pumps are driven through a camshaft with three-
lobe cams.
• This camshaft cannot be compared with the traditional engine
camshaft. It is very short and of much smaller diameter, and is
quite differently loaded.
• There is no sudden, jerk action as in fuel injection pumps but
rather the pump plungers have a steady reciprocating motion.
• With tri-lobe cams and the speed-increasing gear drive, each fuel
supply pump makes several strokes during each crankshaft
revolution. The result is a compact supply unit.
• For every individual fuel pump element of the supply unit, the
roller can be lifted off the cam, blocked and manually taken out of
service in case of difficulties.
• The fuel pumps deliver the pressurized fuel to an adjacent collector
from which two independent, double-walled delivery pipes lead
upwards to the fuel rail.
• Each delivery pipe is dimensioned for full fuel flow. The collector is
equipped with a safety relief valve set to 1250 bar.
Sulzer Common Rail
• Sulzer uses a pressurized fuel rail using a set of jerk type
pumps driven by a three lobe cam geared to the crankshaft.
• The pumps are variable delivery, based on the ZA40 fuel
pump, controlled by an electrically driven fuel pump shaft
linked to the engine computer.
• The engine computer system known as the Wartsila Engine
Control System (WECS) controls the delivery from the
common rail to the individual cylinders via the volumetric
injection control system which uses finely filtered engine LO
pressurized by electric pumps to 200 bar.
• The fuel common rail provides storage volume for the fuel oil,
and has provision for damping pressure waves.
• There is no need for energy storage under gas pressure. The
volume of the common-rail system and the supply rate from
the fuel supply pumps are such that the rail pressure is very
stable with negligible pressure drop after each injection.
Injection control unit (ICU) for the three fuel injection valves of one cylinder. The
dashed line marks the separation between the control oil and the fuel oil sides.
The exhaust valve actuator (A) is mounted on the servo oil rail and the injection
control unit (B) is on the fuel rail. Next to the fuel rail is the smaller control oil
rail (C) and the return pipe for servo and control oil (D).
Injection Control Unit
• Fuel is delivered from the common rail to the injection valves
through a separate ICU for each engine cylinder.
• The ICU regulates precisely the timing of fuel injection, accurately
controls the volume of fuel injected, and sets the shape of the
injection pattern.
• The ICU has an injection control valve and a Sulzer electro-
hydraulic rail valve for each fuel injection valve.
• The rail valves receive control signals for the beginning and end of
injection from the respective electronic unit of the WECS (Wärtsilä
Engine Control System).
• In the ICU, the heated heavy fuel oil is isolated from the precision
rail valves.
• The Sulzer rail valves are bi-stable solenoid valves with an
extremely fast actuation time. To achieve the longest possible
lifetime, the rail valves are not energized for more than 4 ms.
• This time is sampled, monitored and limited by the WECS. The
valves’ bi-stability allows their position and status to be reliably
controlled.
Sulzer Fuel Injection
• When the Rail Valves are energized for injection by the
Valve Driver Module, oil from the Control Rail opens the
Injection Control Valves.
• The fuel injectors are pressurized and fuel oil pressure
behind the Fuel Quantity Piston maintains this pressure
at the injectors.
• As the Piston moves to the left a feedback signal is
sent to the Cylinder Control Module.
• When the desired amount of fuel has been injected the
Valve Driver Module energizes the solenoids which
move the Rail valves back to the return position.
• The Injection Control Valves interrupt the supply to the
injectors (based on feedback from FQP), and the
increase in pressure on the LH of the Fuel Quantity
Piston moves it back to its starting position.
Sulzer Fuel Injection
• At low engine load the control system cuts out one of the
three injection valves per cylinder. At very low load two of the
three injection valves are cut out.
• This is used to avoid visible smoke emission and to reduce
fuel consumption. It is possible to reduce engine load to 10%
with engine revolutions as low as 7 RPM.
• To avoid thermal stress to cylinder liners, the active nozzles
are cycled every 20 minutes.
• Cycling from one nozzle to another is done with a 10 seconds
time delay between each cylinder to prevent smoke emission
due to “cold” fuel injected through the new active hot nozzle.
• Every injection nozzle is independently monitored and
controlled by the WECS. In case of difficulties, such as a
broken high pressure line or a malfunctioning injector, the
affected injection valve can be cut out individually without
losing the entire cylinder.
 Sulzer Fuel Injection
• The injection control unit ICU hydraulically prevents the
injection of an uncontrolled amount of fuel. During the entire
working cycle of the metering cylinder, there is never a direct
hydraulic connection between fuel rail and the injectors.
• The maximum injection quantity is limited to the content of
the metering cylinder as the travel of the metering piston is
monitored. If the travel of the metering piston should be
measured as out of range, the subsequent injections of that
ICU will be suppressed and an engine slow-down activated.
• The ICU also serves as a flow fuse: if the metering piston
should travel to its physical limit, it cannot return
hydraulically and no further injection would be possible
until it is reset.
• If the stroke measuring sensor fails, the WECS system
switches the ICU to a pure time control and triggers the signal
based on the timing of the neighboring cylinders.
 Fuel Pressure at Startup
• At standstill the fuel pressure actuators respond to the
existing pressure in the fuel rails and set their output
accordingly.
• With depressurized common rail, the actuator lever
setting is 95-100% depending on WECS-9520
parameters.
• Fuel Pump Unloading Function: Keep the fuel pump
actuator at zero during start for the first 180° crank
angle in case the fuel rail pressure is above e.g. 200bar.
• WECS-9520 monitors the fuel rail pressure and releases
engine firing as soon as a minimum required fuel rail
pressure is reached.
• Starting air is cut-off at a certain speed limit set in the
RCS system.
• Typical injection
pattern of Sulzer RT-
flex engines with all
injection nozzles acting
in unison showing
needle lift, fuel rail
pressure, injection
pressure and cylinder
pressure when all
injection nozzles are
operating
simultaneously.
• Note the sharp
beginning and ending
of injection, the lack of
a significant pressure
drop in the common
rail during injection,
and the small rail
pressure fluctuations.
Sulzer Servo Oil
• Servo oil is used for exhaust valve actuation and control. It is
supplied by a number of swash-plate type axial piston
hydraulic pumps mounted on the supply unit.
• The pumps are of standard proprietary design and are driven at a
suitable speed through a step-up gear. The working pressure is
controllable to allow the pump power consumption to be reduced.
• The nominal operating pressure is up to 200 bar. The number and
size of servo oil pumps on the supply unit depend on the engine
output or number of engine cylinders. There are between three and
six servo oil pumps.
• The oil used in both the servo and control oil systems is standard
engine system lubricating oil, and is simply taken from the delivery
to the engine lubrication system.
• The oil is drawn through a six-micron automatic self-cleaning fine
filter to minimize wear in the servo oil pumps and to prolong
component life.
• After the fine filter, the oil flow is divided, one branch to the servo
oil pumps and the other to the control oil pumps.
Sulzer Control Oil
• Control oil is supplied at a constant 200 bar pressure at
all engine speeds by two electrically-driven oil pumps,
one active and the other on standby.
• Each pump has its own pressure-regulating valve and
safety valve attached.
• The control oil system involves only a small flow
quantity of the fine filtered oil.
• The control oil serves as the working medium for all rail
valves of the injection control units (ICU). The working
pressure of the control oil is maintained constant to
ensure precise timing in the ICU.
• It is also used to prime the servo oil rail at standstill
thereby enabling a rapid starting of the engine.
The exhaust valve actuator with the large-diameter actuator piston on the left and
the hydraulic control slide on the right.
The exhaust valve drive on top of the exhaust valve spindle with the hydraulic
cylinder and the air spring. Two position sensors (not visible in this view) measure
the radial distance to the cone to determine the spindle’s vertical position.
Sulzer Exhaust Valve Control
• The exhaust valves are operated by a hydraulic ‘push rod’, being
opened by hydraulic oil pressure and closed by an air spring, as in
the Sulzer RTA engines with mechanical camshafts. But for RT-
flex engines the actuating energy now comes from the servo oil rail.
• There is one exhaust valve actuator (also known as the partition
device) for each cylinder. In the exhaust valve actuator, fine-
filtered servo oil acts on the underside of a free-moving actuator
piston, with normal system oil above the actuator piston for valve
actuation.
• The adjacent hydraulic control slide is precisely activated by a
Sulzer rail valve and controls the flow of servo oil to the
actuator piston so that the exhaust valve opens and closes at
precisely the correct time with appropriate damping.
• The exhaust valve actuator employs the same Sulzer rail valves as
are used for the ICU.
• The exhaust valve drive on top of the valve spindle is equipped with
two analogue position sensors to provide a feedback on valve
operation to the WECS.
Sulzer Exhaust Valve Control
• The valve opening angle is calculated in each FCM-20 according to
measured crank angle, nominal opening angle and VEO: “Variable
Exhaust-Valve Opening”.
• The exhaust rail valves are triggered to the “Open” position.
• Servo oil pressure operates the exhaust control valve which
supplies the servo oil to the space below the partition device.
• The partition device piston compresses the oil in the actuator pipe,
which finally opens the exhaust valve spindle.
• The time between the “Open” command and the initial movement
of the spindle is measured. It is called opening deadtime.
• This deadtime will be considered by switching the rail valve a little
earlier for compensation of hydraulic and mechanic delays.
• Analogue to the above mentioned, the valve closing angle is
determined and controlled by the FCM-20 including the VEC:
“Variable Exhaust-Valve Closing” and a closing deadtime.
Sulzer Pulse Lubricating System
• PULSE JET: Cylinder oil injection to the liner wall side.
• The lubricators deliver the lubricating oil as pulse jet feeding into
the liner wall. From there, the lubricating oil is distributed around
the circumference of the cylinder liner.
• The vertical oil distribution is determined by the injection timing.
It is adjusted by means of the control system.

• PULSE FEED: Cylinder oil injection to the piston ring

package and skirt
• The lubricators deliver the lubricating oil as compact pulse feed
exactly into the piston ring package 80% and the piston skirt 20%.
• From there, the lubricating oil is distributed around the
circumference of the cylinder liner.

• The feed rate is adjusted by skipping more or less un-lubricated

strokes. The injection is initiated on up-strokes only.
1. Pulse lubricating module,
consisting of a dosage
pump with electronically-controlled
timing
2. Lubricators, up to eight in a
single row around the
cylinder liner
3. Filter and measuring system
4. Servo oil supply unit (on RTA
engines) or pressure
reducing unit (on RT-flex engines)
5. Control system
6. Crank angle sensors, two, of
which one is redundant
Distribution of CLO
• Once the dosage pump has delivered the cylinder lubricating oil via
the quills in the cylinder line to the piston ring pack, the key to
success is to facilitate and ensure a proper distribution of the oil on
the cylinder liner running surface.
• The challenge is not only to ensure that the oil film on the cylinder
liner wall is well maintained, but also continuously refreshed in
order to provide sufficient additives for the acid neutralization and
cleaning processes.
• How is this possible when the cylinder oil must be distributed both
vertically and horizontally?
• The vertical distribution of the cylinder oil is mainly performed by
the piston rings during their reciprocating movement. The cylinder
oil is injected into the piston ring pack during the piston’s upward
stroke, and factors such as oil viscosity and feed rate, as well as the
amount of oil per injection are important here.
• In attempting to achieve the best possible horizontal or
circumferential distribution of the cylinder oil, the PULSE jet
system was introduced.
 Pulse Jet vs Pulse Feed
• The first execution of the quill for the Pulse Lubricating System was the
Pulse Jet system.
• The Pulse Jet quill could deliver the cylinder oil either into the piston ring
pack or directly to the cylinder liner running surface, and was expected to
provide safe and reliable operation. Service experience, however, revealed
a number of piston running problems and scuffing incidents, particularly
on the 96C engines.
• The Pulse Jet principle was then replaced by the Pulse Feed principle,
which had shown good performance on older engines which had been
retro-fitted with the PLS.
• Initially the cylinder liner just had outlets from the quills, but soon it
became obvious that some additional aid was needed to achieve a proper
horizontal distribution of the cylinder oil, and consequently the so-called
“zig-zag” groove between the quills was introduced.
• As the piston passes the “zig-zag” groove, the groove makes a short circuit
and the pressure difference transports the oil concentrated at the quill
outlet towards the groove.
• Pulse feed system is now standard in all Wärtsilä two-stroke cylinder
liners.
Sulzer Pulse Lubricating System
• There are normally eight quills attached to the cylinder liner in a
single row, which gets the oil supply from the electronically
controlled dosage pump
• The oil is supplied to the dosage pump from daily tank via fine
filter of 40 microns.
• The quills consist of a duct passage to store metered quantity of oil.
The area of this duct passage and the quantity of oil can be altered
by changing the position of the central piston.
• There are crank angle sensors attached to the engine which give
signals to the control unit in order to inject oil at the correct
position of piston movement.
• 200 bar high pressure servo oil reduced to 50 bars are supplied to
the lubricator unit, which pressurises the centre piston in the
quills. This injects oil inside the liner at adequate pressure for even
distribution.
• WECS (Wartsila Engine Control System) which is the master
controller of the Pulse lubrication system controls the solenoid
valve opening and the oil injection.
Sulzer Pulse Lubricating System
• Each unit is provided with 8 lubricating quills, 2 piping
systems of Cylinder oil and servo oil, and A 4/2 solenoid
valve to servo oil flow.
• After receiving signal from the crank angle sensor, at the
correct position i.e. between the pack of piston rings,
WECS allows the solenoid valve to open and pass the
servo oil.
• This in turn presses the central piston and delivers the
oil stored in the duct passage of the quills.
• As soon as the injection is over, there is a small orifice
which refills the duct passage with the cylinder oil as the
central piston moves backward.
• This ensures that the oil is always present in the
chamber in metered quantity as decided by the WECS
after calculating load and sulphur content of the fuel.
Sulzer Engine Control System
• The RT-flex engine control consists of
• internal engine control WECS-9520 and the
• external Propulsion Control System (PCS) (not
Wartsila supply) with
▫ Remote Control (ECR, Bridge)
▫ Safety System (SS)
▫ Electric Governor (EG)
▫ Alarm Monitoring System (AMS)
OPI  OPerator Interface
fV  flexView
WECS System Design
• The WECS-9520 system is built with a single multifunctional
electronic module FCM-20 = Flex Control Module 20.
• One FCM-20 is mounted per cylinder in a cabinet (E95)
below the rail unit.
• An additional online spare module FCM-20 is located in the
SIB Shipyard Interface Box (E90).
• The modules communicate between each other on a fast
internal CANopen system bus.
• Additionally each module has got two module busses (1x
CANopen, 1x MODbus) that are used for communication to
external systems (PropCS, ALM), backup control panels,
actuators (size IV).
• The internal module layout and the cable trays in the rail unit
entirely separate circuits with high EMC noise, like power
cables or pulsed current lines (PWM, rail valves) from
sensitive low power lines like databus cables and sensors.
WECS Engine Control System
• The WECS-9520 is the core engine control, it processes all
actuation, regulation and control directly linked to the
engine:
▫ Common rail monitoring and pressure regulation
▫ Injection and exhaust- and start valve control and monitoring
▫ Interfacing external systems via CANopen or MOD Bus
▫ Engine performance tuning, IMO setting and -monitoring
• WECS-9520 has no central computer but each cylinder has
its own FCM-20 module for the cylinder related- and
common functions.
• These FCM-20 modules are mounted directly on the engine
and communicate via internal System CAN Bus.
• An operator access to the WECS-9520 is integrated in the
user interface for the propulsion control system and flexView.
• WECS-9520 is neither an engine remote control
system nor a safety system.
RT-flex
Engine
Remote Lyngsø
Control
System

Kongsberg
Maritime Nabtesco
Remote Control System
• Remote Control System
▫ Kongsberg Maritime, Nabtesco, Lyngsø
• The remote control is the operator interface to the engine.
Selectable control panels deliver following manoeuvring
commands to the WECS-9520 via CANbus or MODbus
connection:
▫ Start, Brake air
▫ Stop
▫ Ahead
▫ Astern
▫ Air Run
▫ Slow Turning
▫ Slow Turning failure reset.
• The remote control processes the engine telegraph command
with internal settings (scaling, load program etc.) to a speed
reference signal for the governing system.
Electronic Governor System
• Electronic Governor System
▫ Kongsberg Maritime, Nabtesco, Lyngsø
• The electronic governor system supplies the fuel
command for the WECS-9520 and regulates the engine
speed.
• The fuel command is calculated from the speed
reference signal of the RC-system in relation to the
engine load.
• Fuel limiter in the governor system limit the fuel
command depending on actual speed and charge air
pressure to avoid engine operation beyond the propeller
law curve (smoke & torque limiter).
• Safety System
▫ Kongsberg Maritime, Nabtesco, Lyngso
Safety System
• Safety System
▫ Kongsberg Maritime, Nabtesco, Lyngsø
• The safety system activates slowdowns and shutdowns in case of
overspeed or other abnormal conditions of the engin or its
auxiliary equipment.
• The function with the RT-flex engine is similar to the conventional
RTA engines, with some different / additional functions:
▫ WECS-9520 uses redundant BUS communication with safety system
▫ The safety system (not WECS-9520 !) directly activates the hardwired
emergency-stop solenoid to depressurize the fuel common rail
• Additionally the safety system delivers some digital outputs to
WECS-9520 via CAN Module bus or MODbus:
• Inverted main bearing oil shutdown signals for starting and dry-
running protection of the control-oil pumps.
• Shutdown signal to WECS-9520, to activate WECS-internal
shutdown responses.
• WECS-9520 failures requesting speed reduction are activated
through AMS to the safety system.
Alarm Monitoring System
• Alarm Monitoring System
▫ Any possible system with Class Approval
• The monitoring system receives alarm messages, divided in two groups:
• Some general failures alarm signals are hardwired via E130 and E90 for
following general failures:
▫ Leakage Alarms: Rail Unit, Supply Unit, Injection Components
▫ Fuel Pressure Actuator Failure
▫ Fuel Pump Outlet Temp Deviation Monitoring
▫ Servo Oil Flow Monitoring (Dynex pumps only)
▫ WECS-9520 Power Supply Monitoring
• Other WECS-9520 failure signals are transmitted via redundant (module-
) bus connection:
• The standard WECS-9520 execution uses a Modbus interface to send
failure messages to the AMS via WECS-9520 modules FCM-20 #3 and
FCM-20 #4.
• If both propulsion control and alarm monitoring systems are from
Kongsberg Maritime (Autochief C20 and Datachief C20), then the
monitoring system can access WECS-9520 directly via CANopen interface
to FCM-20 #1 and FCM-20 #2 and no Modbus connection is required.
WECS-9520 failures on the AMS
• Total 6 different groups of WECS-9520 failures are
transmitted via CAN/Modbus to the alarm monitoring
system:
▫ Passive Failures: Failures of redundant sensors, busses or
components
▫ Common Failures: Cylinder unit failures without redundancy
or common system failures that do not cause any speed
reduction
▫ Cylinder Failures: Any cylinder unit failures that cause a
slowdown via AMS
▫ Rail Pressure Failures: Common rail pressure failures that
cause a slowdown via AMS
▫ Cylinder Lubrication Malfunction (Pulse Lubrication only):
Any cylinder lubrication malfunction that causes a slow down
via AMS
▫ WECS-9520 Critical Failures: System critical failures that
cause immediate stopping of main engine and can not be
overridden by safety system
Emergency Shutdown
• A shutdown from the Safety System is performed as
follows:
• The safety system releases the pressurized
intermediate fuel accumulator to the fuel return line
by opening the hydraulic fuel shutdown valve 3.07
via emergency stop solenoid 3.08 (ZV7061S).
• WECS-9520 triggers the fuel actuator outputs to
zero for terminating fuel feed to the rail unit, while
the engine is not yet stopped.
• Injection commands are blocked by the WECS-9520
Emergency Operation
• Emergency operation with damaged Flex Control
Module FCM-20:
• If a FCM-20 fails, the corresponding cylinder is cut
out, all other cylinders remain operative.
• Any FCM-20 module can be exchanged with the
online spare. The respective software and
parameters are already stored within the online
spare module and no software download or
reprogramming is necessary.
• When installing a new FCM-20 module from stock it
must first be installed in the E90 box (Cylinder “0”)
as online spare.