Type 071 Yuzhao LPD - Propulsion

The Type 071 amphibious transport dock, or landing platform dock (LPD) was built by Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard for the PLA Navy (PLAN). The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reports that in 2005 France signed an agreement to export to China 10 PC-2.5 diesel engines. A total of 6 PC-2.6 version engines had been delivered in the 2007-2008 period, for use on 2 Type-071 Yuzhao-class AALS and 1 Danyao-class Fishery Law Enforcement Command supply ship, all produced in China. The 16-cylinder Colt-Pielstick PC2.5 STC engine is intended for use on ships requiring high propulsion power combined with a lightweight installation.

On 06 October 2006. MAN Diesel SE, Augsburg has taken over from MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH the remaining 33.4% share of the French Diesel engine manufacturer S.E.M.T. Pielstick S.A., headquartered in Villepinte near Paris. The acquisition and the transfer of the shares became effective as of 1st January 2006 retrospectively. The histories of MAN and S.E.M.T. Pielstick are closely linked. The latter’s German founder, Gustav E. Pielstick, began working at the former M.A.N. in 1911 and stayed with the company for nearly 35 years. At the end of World War II he joined Société d’ Etudes des Machines Thermiques as technical manager.

For MAN Diesel & Turbo, China is a very important market. Virtually the whole of the company’s product portfolio is of interest to Chinese customers. Alongside Brazil, China is one of MAN Diesel & Turbo’s most sales and growth-intensive markets: the company earned 12 per cent of its revenue here in 2010. Around 20 Chinese licensees build large-bore diesel engines based on drawings from MAN Diesel & Turbo. In 2007 MAN TURBO AG of Oberhausen began building a production and service shop in the Wujin High-Tech Industrial Zone in the Chinese city of Changzhou, approximately 200 km west of Shanghai. The investment earmarked for the company’s first manufacturing plant outside Europe was 15 million euros. At a ceremony held on 18 May 2011, MAN Diesel & Turbo, manufacturer of large-bore diesel engines and turbomachinery, opened the second section of the construction work at its plant in Changzhou, China. At this plant turbomachinery and turbochargers for large-bore diesel engines will in future be produced under a single roof for the Chinese market. Until now, China’s production of the turbochargers had been based in Shanghai.

The MAN Diesel & Turbo Sequential Turbo Charging (STC) system operates with high efficiency turbochargers. Depending on the amount of charge air required, a second turbo charger can be switched on or off. In this way the engine is operated at its optimum operating point over the whole applicable load range. The result is an extended envelope at low engine speeds, which gives a power reserve for ship acceleration, ship turning, sprints or towing. Furthermore, a low thermal signature, decreased smoke emission, low vibrations and reduced fuel consumption in part load operation characterise the STC-system and make it the ideal solution for propulsion in naval and offshore patrol vessels.

The PC-2.5 engine was selected by the U.S. Navy to power the LPD-17 San Antonio Class vessels. In 1996 the US ordered a total of 36 PC-2.5 Diesel engines for 9 San Antonio ships, with delivery in 2006-2009. The American LPD-17 San Antonio class ships are powered by four Colt Pielstick sequentially turbocharged PC 2.5 diesel engines, producing 41,600 horsepower combined. Four engines are installed per ship, two per reduction gear, with each shaft driving controllable pitch propellers. Each engine is rated at 7755 kW at 520 rpm.