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massive ..

Thats amazing, I am just wondering about the lathe that cut the shaft...
Its hard to believe that something like that would actually work. It's not like you can test it as you go. WOW
 
We had a 5-Cylinder Sultzer(sic) on the tanker I was on while a merchant marine. Talk about beautiful. I recall it being direct drive and going in reverse meant turning the engine in reverse. It was great when the ship first started moving. The prop thrust would lift the whole back end of the ship up and down. It had a beat to it that I could never reconcile with the number of cylinders as it was like pop-pop-pop-whoosh.

It was also my job as the lowest guy on the boat to clean out around the exhaust port. They would open up the doors, I would climb in and scrape away (At the dock, of course) I also loved the ladder that was built into the wall of the crankshaft area leading down to the sump...no, I didn't go down there.

Definitely one of my favorite shipping memories.

Joe
 
Talking about Sulzer engines and big lathes, I used to have a picture of my dad right after the end of WW2 in europe, standing on the ways of a lathe in the Sulzer bros plant, in Switzerland if I'm not mistaken. He was 6' tall, and his head was about two feet below the center of the spindle.
 
I have worked on ships with motors like this. One thing interesting is that they continually rebuild them. When the ship is in port a crew will work overnight swapping out one piston. Next month they take one the next one. etc etc. Its a great deal for the machine shop that services them as it is very steady work for the life of the ship.

The clutches on them are impressive as well. As it would be impossible to start if it were directly connected to the propeller.
 
Notice the effiency is about twice that of a auto engine.
Think orginally, it turned about 102rpm, they decided to wind'er up for more power.
 
What kind of starter motor is used to crank such a beast over?

The picture showing the crankshaft shows what looks to be a ~50 HP or so AC motor mounted near the flywheel, but that doesn't seem big enough to get things moving. Maybe that's the oil pump drive or something?
 
No doubt they can unload any or all cylinders for cranking. The static compression forces have got to be unreal. I would guess that the starter is electric. Ships of that size have small city sized generating plants. Does on engine of this size use some form or glow plug or is it strictly compression heat?
 
it would be impossible to start if it were directly connected to the propeller.
 
I beg to differ with you. These engines are indeed direct coupled to the propeller shaft without a clutch or reduction gear. They are direct reversing as has been stated earlier meaning the engine is stopped, injection and valve timing changed by shifting cams and the engine restarted.

What kind of starter motor is used to crank such a beast over?
The picture showing the crankshaft shows what looks to be a ~50 HP or so AC motor mounted near the flywheel, but that doesn't seem big enough to get things moving. Maybe that's the oil pump drive or something?
They don't use a starter motor on something like this. Each cylinder has an air starting valve with a line coming from a distribution manifold. High pressure air is valved into one or more cylinders to get the engine rolling.
The motor shown in the picture is probably the jacking gear used to turn the engine for repairs.
Does on engine of this size use some form or glow plug or is it strictly compression heat?
These are direct injected two-cycle engines so they don't have any sort of precombustion chamber that would require a glow plug. It's all compression ignition.
 
As to starting the engine, I recall firing it up with a light diesel and then switching over to some seriously thick, molassas-like oil. Sorry to be so technically inept here, but I had very little opportunity to get into the thing while on board...just a couple months as a relief.

This was the Gus W. Darnell and we were running JP-5 out of the Persian Gulf during the "Tanker Wars" which were an extension of the Iran-Iraq war as I recall. This was the time when Iran was regularly blowing ships up in the Straights of Hormuz with silkworm missiles. The US was putting a captain and chief mate on some Kuwaiti ships and escorting them through. It was an interesting time to be sailing there. We were an American ship, American crew and carrying JP-5 for US to US bases in Diego Garcia and Japan. We had to literally BEG for escorts and the only escort we ever actually got on my stint was when we joined up with a convoy for some Kuwaiti tankers. What a show of force! Beautiful to be in the middle of it all. Too bad the rest of the time we were on our own. Well, that was a long time ago. Yep, that picture sure brought back some memories. Glad I don't have to clean that thing any more!
 
.......Interesting some of the main propulsion plants aboard ships. A buddy was on the USS San Bernardino LST-1189. They had Diesel main engines and I probably knew what make and size at one time but forgot. They were big, but not as big as that monster! Electricity was provided by a couple of V-12 Caterpillers.

The first ship I was on was a turbo elctric. USS Marsh DE-699. Two Babcox & Wilcox boilers making steam for turbo generators to power electric motors to turn the shaft.

Next ship was the USS Noa DD-841 which was conventional WW2 Destroyer type. Four boilers supplying steam for 2 sets of high pressure and low pressure turbines and GE reduction gear. One per shaft.

We did our turnover in Mombasa, Kenya and were tied up astern of the SS University Star. This was a floating university. They had arranged tours and I went on one. Most guys went just to try and scope out the girls (guilty). However, going into the engineroom the first impression was a very large bare expanse of diamond plate with 3 large upside down pie pans. It was explained that these were the cylinderhead (valve?) covers poking up from below. The guide said a couple could do a slow dance on top of the piston.

Big machines.

Best,
Rick
 
A Diesel engine is called a "Sulzer" when it has special features like a set of one way valves in the scavenging air manifold that allow air to continue filling the cylinder after the exhaust port has been closed by the rising piston.

Switzerland's Sulzer works owned the patent and licenced it to other manufacturers.

Busch (yes, Anheuser-Busch) and American Locomotive Works made Sulzer Diesel engies.

A ship with a couple of Busch's in it's belly know the meaning of Bon Voyage.

If a ship took two Alco-Sulzers, it was better in the morning.

The thermal efficiency of big bore Diesel engines is very high because there is a whole lot of fire inside those huge cylinders that doesn't touch metal. In other words the engine tends to reject less heat to it's cooling system.

If you run the calculations you will find that the mean piston speed of those slow turning engines is just as high as any other internal combustion engine with the exception of racing engines.

The piston passes the metal in the cylinder wall just as fast as the pistons of the good-buddy 18 wheeler's engine when the truck is going 65 MPH.

Diesel engine designers design for mean piston speed, not RPM.

The heavy oil mentioned in earlier posts is called residual oil. California is a leading poducer and exporter of residual oil. The USA could be in OPEC! That stuff powers many if not most Oriental ships. The USA doesn't allow it as a land based Diesel fuel at home any more.

If you check history, The Anheuser Busch Company bought the first licence to manufacture the Diesel Engine in the USA. They made they first engine in service here. The plant was in St Louis. The Diesel was installed in their brewery.

Busch Diesel engines were made until the late 1940's when the division was finally sold to Nordberg Mfg. Co. in Milwaukee. Go figure, another Beer Town.

When you threw the air valve for starting, the engines went "Prroosssssittt!" and lit off with a smile on thir face.
 
Iran/Iraq. Maybe you delievered fuel for the USS America(CV66) during that time period. I was a Boiler Tech on the America at that time. What began as a 6 month Med Cruise turned into a 9 month Indian Ocean Cruise. And when Iran threatened shipping, we steamed right up the Persian Gulf. We were there. There was a battle group and a half steaming around the Persian Gulf during that time period. If it makes you feel any better..
That's the crusie the Kalamazoo lost steering and hit the America during re-fueling. Put a hole big enough to walk thru in the side. 10ft off the waterline.
The USS America is retired these days, as a convention aircraft carrier, it certainly was a pig. 8 Foster Wheeler D-type boilers. Running 1200 psi, 1050 degree superheated steam. MAking 200,000 shaft Hp. You talk about burning #2. She would do in excess of 37 knots empty. Which is hauling for a "boat" 1050 feet long.
 








 
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