Objectives


The first objective of HERCULES-C is to achieve further substantial reductions in fuel consumption, while optimizing power production and usage. This will be achieved through advanced engine developments in combustion and fuel injection, as well as through the optimization of ship energy management, and engine technologies supporting transport mission management.

A second specific objective of HERCULES-C is to achieve near-zero emissions by integrating the various technologies developed from the previous collaborative research efforts.

Furthermore, green product lifecycle technologies will be introduced and the third objective is to maintain the technical performance of engines throughout their operational lifetime. This includes advanced materials and tribology developments to improve safety and reliability, as well as sensors, monitoring and measurement technologies to improve the controllability and availability of marine power plants.

The Objectives of HERCULES-C are shown in Table below.The Project comprises 5 Work Package Groups (WPG) in respective RTD Areas.
 

# No.

OBJECTIVE

VALUE

TIME

HOW

# 1

Substantial reduction in fuel consumption (and CO2 production)
5% improvement
Over BAT-in-service 2010
e.g. 2-stroke engine MAN B&W, S80 ME-C9, 9cyl, electronic, super long stroke, 800 mm bore, sfoc 168g/kWh, MEP 20 bar
e.g. 4-stroke engine Wärtsilä, 12V46, 12cyl. 460mm bore sfoc 173 g/kWh, MEP 24 bar

2020
  • Optimization of Power Production
    –      Combustion (WPG1)
    –      Fuel injection (WPG2)
    –      Intelligent engine (WPG4)
  • Optimization of Power consumption
    –      Advanced plant control (WPG4)
3% within the H-C project (2015)

# 2

Substantial reduction of emissions to near - zero
95% reduction
over
IMO Tier I
[IMO NOx limits, Tier I, (g/kWh), n=rated engine speed n<130 (17.0), 130 ≤ n ≤ 2000 (45. n-0.2)]

2020
  • Developments in:
    -     Combustion (WPG1)
  • Integration of Best Technologies produced in I.P. HERCULES (A) and HERCULES-B in:
    –      Charging (WPG3)
    –      Aftertreatment (WPG3)
    –      Materials & Lubrication (WPG5)
80% within the H-C project (2015)

# 3

Retain high performance over plant lifetime
max 5% divergence from
“As–New”,
all performance parameters

lifetime

(20 yrs)
  • Developments in:
    –      Sensors, Monitoring (WPG4)
    –      Adaptive Control (WPG4)
    –      Tribology improvements (WPG5)
    –      Materials (WPG5)

The Project comprises 5 Work Package Groups (WPG) in respective RTD Areas.

Specific measurable/verifiable achievement targets have been set, related to Work Package Groups, to serve as Indicators of
accomplishment as shown in Table below:

No

AREA

Work Package Group Title

Achievements within the Project H-C

1

COMBUSTION

WPG1: New Combustion Concepts
  • Low temperature combustion
  • Extreme valve timing and Exhaust gas recirculation
  • Multifuel switching and direct gas injection
  • General multi-variable optimization of engine processes towards improved overall energy efficiency

2

FUEL INJECTION

WPG2: Fuel Injection Models and Experiments
  • Cavitating flow visualization inside nozzles
  • Laser optic spray visualization in full scale working marine engine

3

EMISSIONS

WPG3: Near - Zero emission engine technologies
  • Sequential aftertreatment NOx, SOx > 90% reduction wrt IMO Tier I
  • Scrubber plus electrostatic precipitator for reduction in PM > 70% wrt untreated exhaust 1g/kWh
  • Combination EGR and WIF for near zero NOx emission

4

CONTROL & RELIABILITY

WPG4: Adaptive engine control and lifetime reliability
  • Hybrid plant with engine thermal process adaptation
  • Vessel machinery health and asset management techniques
  • Combination individual cylinder and overall engine adaptive control
  • Model based engine diagnostics

5

MATERIALS

WPG5: New Materials and Tribology
  • Reduced friction loss (bearing 15%, skirt 20%, ring 10%) [Reference baseline friction loss % BMEP, (bearings: 0.6, skirt: 0.3, rings: 1.5)]
  • Materials & designs for crown cooling reduction (SFC – 1.5%)
  • Cylinder lube oil recirculation and emission optimisation