Russian Marine Diesel Engines

After the introduction of European sanctions against Russia, the issue of equipping the new Navy ships with domestic engines arose especially sharply. The task of import substitution of marine diesel engines could be achieved through the modernization of marine engines produced in Russia and the conversion of widespread use diesel engines (automobile, tractor, diesel, military), which have the best technical and economic indicators, to marine ones.

Russian diesel engine manufacturers include: JSC UK Bryansk Engineering Plant, Kolomensky Zavod OJSC, Pen-Zadizelmash OJSC, members of Transmashholding CJSC; LLC Ural Diesel Engine Plant, which is part of the Sinara-Transport Machines group of companies (STM); JSC "Volzhsky diesel named after Mamins"; Zvezda OJSC; PJSC Avtodizel (Yaroslavl Motor Plant (YaMZ)), which is part of the Power Units Division of the GAZ Group; OJSC Tutaevsky Motor Plant; OJSC "Dagdiesel Plant"; CJSC PFC Tverdizelagregat; Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant OJSC. These enterprises produce medium- and high-speed engines in various power ranges. There is currently no production of low-speed engines in the Russian Federation.

In the Russian Federation there are about ten diesel engine building enterprises, whose products almost completely cover the required power range of the main and auxiliary marine engines. The exception is engines of particularly high power (more than 7500 kW). The Russian Federation does not produce low-speed engines. In a wide range of capacities, medium and high-speed engines are used. As the main and auxiliary marine engines, the use of converted diesel engines, which were originally designed as tractor or stationary, is expanding. This indicates the need for the development and production of general-purpose diesel engines with ship modifications.

Diesels have an advantage over steam engines on small vessels due to their compactness; in addition, they are lighter with the same power. Diesels consume less fuel per unit of power; True, diesel is more expensive than fuel. Diesel fuel consumption can be reduced by burning off exhaust gases. The type of ship also affects the choice of power plant. Diesel engines start much faster: they do not need to be preheated. This is a very important advantage for port vessels and auxiliary or reserve power plants. However, steam turbine plants also have advantages, which are more reliable in operation, are able to work for a long time without routine maintenance, and are characterized by a lower level of vibration due to the absence of reciprocating motion.

The diesel engine is already 120 years old, but today it is the most efficient heat engine. Coefficient of performance (COP) of a diesel engine even without a system for utilizing the heat removed is 45% and higher. In the presence of a comprehensive disposal system, its value can reach 60%. For this reason, diesel engines are the most sought after TD in the world.

The world's first ships with a diesel engine appeared in Russia thanks to the Nobel Brothers Petroleum Production Partnership. Their relationship with the more famous namesake is not clear. Nobels early became interested in the invention of engineer Rudolph Diesel. Already in 1898, Nobel acquired the drawings of a marine diesel engine with a capacity of 20 hp. After several years of technical research, Nobel engineers managed to create a working diesel marine engine. Three such diesel marine engines were installed in 1903 on the Vandal oil-loading river barge - the first diesel ship in the world.

Until 1991, the USSR was a member of a club of countries (USA, Germany, England, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, and Japan) with developed diesel engineering. Domestic ship, diesel and industrial diesel engineering has always been one of the most science-intensive sectors of heavy industry. Therefore, its development was consistent with the scientific and production structure in the form of Soyuzdizelmash of the USSR Ministry of Heavy and Transport Engineering, which brought together 14 large factories, 3 institutes, and independent design bureaus of turbochargers and diesel engines. Today, the country has lost the position of one of the leaders in world diesel engineering. However, with proper support at the state and regional levels, domestic diesel engineering can take its rightful place in the world market.

The main manufacturers of marine, industrial and diesel diesel engines in Russia are: Zvezda PJSC (St. Petersburg), Kolomensky Zavod OJSC, Bryansk Engineering Plant OJSC, Penzdieselmash OJSC (Transmashholding Management Company), Barnaultransmash OJSC, Volzhsky diesel engine named after Maminykh ”(Balakovo, Saratov Region), OJSC“ RUMO ”(Nizhny Novgorod), OJSC“ Dagdiesel ”(Kaspiysk), LLC“ Ural Diesel Engine Plant ”(Yekaterinburg). The creation in 2007 of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, a year later - the United Engine Corporation, as well as the industry trend towards the unification of enterprises into holdings and financial and industrial groups (Transmashholding, GAZ Group, Eurotrade, etc.) made it possible to talk about the formation of a single approach to ship engine building.

Internal combustion engines are currently the main type of engine for commercial ships. Diesel engines are divided by design and organization of the work cycle into two-stroke and four-stroke. In addition, according to the number of revolutions, they are divided into low-speed (up to 300 rpm), medium-speed (300-900 rpm) and high-speed (more than 900 rpm). Diesel engines have been known for a long time and developed in the direction of creating engines of greater power, necessary for a high speed of the ship. The main engines are located in the engine room (MO) of the vessel, usually closer to the stern, to reduce the length of the shafts that transmit revolutions through the gearbox to the propeller.

The first marine internal combustion engines (ICE) appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. The Danish ship Zealand, built in 1912, had a diesel engine with 2 diesel engines with a capacity of 147.2 kW. Currently, the main part of the main power plants installed on ships is ICE. According to the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine, they are divided into: low-speed diesel engines with a rotational speed of 100-150 rpm, which directly drive the ship propulsion; medium-speed - 300-600 rpm, which set in motion the ship propulsion through the gearbox.

Until the end of the 60s, reversible main engines were installed on ships, allowing the ship to reverse. Only at low capacities did special engines (reverse gears) be used to reverse the ICE, allowing maneuvering. In the 60s, simultaneously with the advent of adjustable pitch propellers, they began to use non-reversible ICEs as the main engine, first on small vessels, trawlers and tugboats, and then on large merchant ships. Due to this, the design of engines has been simplified. Four-stroke diesel engines are used on ships either as part of diesel generator sets, or as the main engine in multi-shaft power plants (one diesel engine per engine) and, accordingly, in multi-engine installations for one engine.

In Russia, a free niche has formed in the market of powerful medium-speed diesel engines for the Navy. Only RUMO OJSC and Kolomensky Zavod OJSC produce such products. But the priority area of the Kolomensky Zavod is the production of diesel diesel engines of the D49 type. The Navy primarily requires SOD as the main engines with an aggregate power of 4,500 to 12,000 kW. The main feature of the medium-speed diesel market today is the lack of large series, a wide range of engines for various purposes, the integrated supply of diesel and peripheral units for its operation. Ensuring stable production and sale of engines in such conditions is possible only if there are standard-sized series of engines created on the basis of a modular design that ensures the unification of units by at least 80-85%.

In connection with the departure of manufacturers to the CIS countries (for example, Yuzhdizelmash Ukraine, OJSC, Riga Diesel, OJSC, Latvia, etc.), a similar situation has developed in the market of low-power (up to 100 kW) high-speed marine diesel engines and diesel generators. Today in the Russian Federation only Dagdiesel OJSC produces engines up to 44 kW, but their parameters have not changed for many decades.

In terms of efficiency, reliability, required aggregate power, environmental safety indicators, not one of the currently produced marine engines of Russian production fully meets the modern requirements of the Navy. At the same time, the development of the power range of marine diesel engines for Russian shipbuilding and shipbuilding is extremely necessary. It is impossible to correct the situation in the Russian diesel industry without government intervention.

Today, the domestic marine engine and diesel engine industry is going through hard times. Of course, there are companies on the market that offer medium-speed machines, high-speed ones. Zvezda designs and manufactures something, the Kolomna Plant ships the Navy’s engines, and Russkiy Diesel has handed over the documentation to KMZ. It seems that there are some movements, but there have been no global positive changes for several years.

Now the Russian diesel-building enterprises, despite the fact that their number has decreased by three times, remain able to provide the entire line of engines of the Navy and the civilian fleet. Moreover, each plant has its own niche, each has offers for every taste. Another question is that these enterprises, in particular, the Kolomensky Zavod, are not physically able to produce as many diesels as the Navy and civilian shipbuilding need. However, all domestic engine manufacturers are able to close all product lines. For example, basically, our engines can be used for the auxiliary fleet and close the line up to 1000 kW, Kolomna engines are used mainly for warships, can also be used for the auxiliary fleet, closing the line up to 12 thousand horsepower.

Even the Ural diesel engine plant, which produces 1,500-rev engine, it already provides all the warships and submarines of the Navy. Zvezda has worked with state defense orders all its life. The military has its own specific requirements that must be implemented in products. The price just matches what the customer requires. Serial production plays an important role in pricing. Previously, enterprises shipped their engines in hundreds. Today - single orders.

Between 2010 and 2014, our design bureaus and shipyards began to move away from Russian engines. They began to use German MTU cars instead of Zvezda engines, Kolomensky Zavod, UDMZ. After the imposition of sanctions, MTU immediately left Russia without shipping the engines. And this despite the paid contracts. Our shipbuilders again returned to domestic diesels. And this many years of failure with orders that engine manufacturers were not provided with, played a significant role. Especially for the Zvezda factory. While the Kolomensky Zavod and UDMZ were able to maintain their pace by shipping for Russian Railways, constantly expanding their sales market, Zvezda’s business went down, on the contrary, production and the number of employees decreased.

Problems in the domestic diesel industry are typical for most enterprises. Firstly, the need for serious modernization. The average age of the main equipment at the enterprises of the machine-building complex exceeds 20 years, and their capacities are loaded at no more than 30%. Secondly, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a domestic manufacturer to compete with foreign manufacturers who make large investments in the development of the industry and offer consumers better products. The most important problem that impedes the development of the industry is the lack of qualified workers.

In almost all diesel plants, the volume of research and design work on the development and improvement of marine engines has been significantly reduced or even absent. For many years, the parameters of the produced diesel engines remain unchanged, there are no new technical solutions to improve reliability, power, improve efficiency, automation and control of engine parameters, etc.

Outdated technologies and the lack of adequate R&D funding do not allow domestic manufacturers to offer modern high-quality diesel engines to the Navy and civil shipbuilding. For example, Russian diesel engines have an average effective pressure of 0.5 to 1 MPa, while modern foreign engines have reached 3 MPa or more. This level of acceleration of foreign samples was provided due to high boost, as well as an increase in fuel injection pressure.

Another negative feature of the domestic diesel industry is a short model range of manufactured diesel engines. Russian diesel plants produce marine engines in unacceptably narrow power ranges and are aimed at a limited circle of consumers.