MAN Energy Solutions has revealed that its first ME-GA engine has completed gas trials on board an LNG carrier built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI) for Knutsen OAS Shipping, a Norwegian shipping company.
The Knutsen ME-GA engine – built by HHI-EMD – features exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to reduce methane-slip emissions compared with the first-generation Otto-cycle engines without EGR. Furthermore, the MAN B&W ME-GA engine is based on MAN’s dual-fuel design, which requires minimal installation changes.
“This successful gas trial is a very important milestone in the development of the ME-GA engine,” explained Bjarne Foldager, head of the two-stroke business at MAN Energy Solutions. “We developed this engine for easy application to most contemporary LNG carrier designs and, indeed, all ME-GA orders to date have been exclusively for this segment.”
“It’s been very pleasing to follow the steady progress of the ME-GA engine ever since we began its development back in 2018,” said Brian Østergaard Sørensen, vice president and head of R&D, two-stroke business at MAN Energy Solutions. “Following its factory acceptance test, type approval test and first shipyard delivery, this completion of sea and gas trials marks another significant step in its timeline as it approaches its commercial debut.”
Thomas Hansen, head of promotion and customer support at MAN Energy Solutions, added, “We have had more than 260 orders for the ME-GA since its launch in May 2021 and our order book contains ME-GA engine orders for ship deliveries stretching all the way into 2027. EGR as standard enables the ME-GA to significantly reduce emissions while simultaneously improving fuel efficiency and operation in both gas and fuel-oil operation.”
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