Upfront disclaimer, anything I learn about maritime ship propulsion from this post will probably be more than I know now about the subject. Hence, the level of knowledge and "common sense" of my questions.
First of all, this engine is so massive, probably the largest petroleum driven engine I have ever seen. I notice that the upper intake? manifold area has 6 intake ports?, one for each cylinder?? Directly below, in the area I would equate to the exhaust area of the engine, I see 11 ports along the side, why 11 and not 12 exhaust ports?? At the extreme right end of the photo, there appears to be some sort of radiator system which also appears to be independently driven by its own motor. If I am close to what that unit actually is, would that be an oil cooler?? And I have no clue what the large vertical unit to the rear of the engine may be??
I would assume that this huge engine would be installed in a ship prior to the decking being installed, but, what would be required if some part of that engine needed major repair or replacement?? You can't simply open an access door to the engine bay and yank out the offending part and replace it ..... or can that be done without dismantling the entire ship from the deck up??
How much diesel fuel would an engine that size require to make any kind of meaningful trip on the high seas, say across the Atlantic either direction? And how many hundred gallons of oil would an engine sump the size of that engine require to keep all the moving parts lubricated? And finally, how the heck did they get that gynormous engine out to the building?? There appears to be a large door at the very left edge of the photo, by normal standards of "large doors", but it appears to be no less than 10' or 12' shorter than the tops of the cylinder heads!!
OK, I am ready and waiting for a crash course in HME 101 ....... You could tell me almost anything, within reason, that I wouldn't believe so lay it on me guys!!

LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote

Bookmarks