WinGD outlines investments in future fuel toolbox in white paper
WinGD has has outlined the extensive investments it has made in recent years to ensure readiness for next-generation shipping fuels in a new white paper, according to the company's release.
The paper details the engine research toolbox it has amassed, including sophisticated testing facilities for engines and fuel systems, cutting-edge simulation techniques and a proprietary process for validating new ship fuels.
WinGD has developed fuel systems test rigs designed specifically to assess the compatibility of any alternative liquid fuel with existing fuel systems. These test rigs simulate the actual operation of injection systems in service at relevant conditions. The rigs typically include all key elements of the systems, including a variety of fuel pumps, common rail and injection actuation elements as well as the injection valves.
An additional investment is a single-cylinder engine that allows for optimisation of both dual-fuel Otto and Diesel engine concepts. This set-up is more flexible and cost-effective than the company’s existing multi-cylinder test engines and better suited to early-stage fuel testing. Meanwhile WinGD is also increasing the number of multi-cylinder testbeds with new Diesel-cycle and Otto-cycle engines to improve capabilities in later-stage fuel testing.
Based on the experience accumulated in recent years, WinGD has introduced a robust and transparent fuel validation process. The target of validation is the approval of the fuel for application on WinGD engines.
WinGD’s investments in fuel research complement extensive field experience gained through the X-DF dual-fuel two-stroke engine range, which now features an installed base of more than 415 engines. The range provides a platform for the use of reduced-emission LNG today, giving valuable insight into operation on gas fuels, as well as enabling the use of carbon-neutral fuels tomorrow. For example, customers with X-DF engines will be able to use synthetic and bio methane with no engine modifications when these fuels become available, thus contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in shipping in line with IMO’s vision.
