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Marine Engines
John B. Woodward Tor Erik Andersen
University of Michigan Det Norske Veritas

I. Introduction
II. Required Marine Engine Characteristics
III. Characteristics of Major Engine Types
IV. Reversing the Marine Engine
V. Combined Engine Powering
VI. Dynamic Interaction between Engine and Hull

GLOSSARY Pitching Rotational motion of a ship about a transverse

axis.
Controllable pitch propeller Propeller in which blades Propeller law Propulsive power proportional to the cube
may be rotated on their axes to change the propeller of shaft rotational speed.
pitch. Quadruple expansion Refers to a reciprocating engine
Cross compound Cross implies that the two elements are in which the working fluid passes in series through four
mounted side by side so that their individual outputs cylinders.
must be combined by a transmission element (usually Rolling Rotational motion of a ship about a longitudinal
mechanical gearing). Compound implies that the work- axis.
ing fluid of the engine in question passes in series from Ship service (SS) Machinery that “serves the ship” (e.g.,
a high-pressure element to a low-pressure element. provides power for lighting).
Efficiency Ratio of energy supplied to the propulsion Stroke length Distance of piston travel in a reciprocating
shaft to that present as heating value of the fuel. engine.
Feed water Water supplied to a steam boiler. Triple expansion Refers to a reciprocating engine in
Heaving Vertical translational motion of a ship. which the working fluid passes in series through three
Inboard profile Longitudinal sectional drawing of a ship. cylinders.
Load profile Map of engine power as a function of time.
Maximum continuous power Maximum power that can
be maintained continuously without unacceptable en- MARINE ENGINE denotes the engine used as the propul-
gine wear. sive prime mover of a ship. The term may be extended to
Mean effective pressure Mean pressure in an engine include the propulsive engines of small watercraft and en-
cylinder. A measure of the power produced per piston gines that are used for shipboard auxiliary services such
cycle. as the generation of electric power.

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122 Marine Engines

I. INTRODUCTION discard of reciprocating steam (ca. 1940), the steam tur-

bine was principally a producer of central station electric
The designers of ships and of their propulsive machinery power, and the internal combustion engines were built in
rarely design the engine. Common practice is to purchase the millions per annum for shore-side transportation and
stock model machinery that has been adapted to marine stationary power. At about this time the gas turbine en-
use from prime movers in other fields. A widespread ex- gine appeared in the form of the aircraft gas turbine, and
ample of this practice is the use of aircraft jet engines, continued to develop under the pressures of the aircraft
modified to produce shaft torque instead of jet thrust, for market. Marine engineers found it feasible and economi-
propulsion of naval combat vessels. In the U.S. Navy, the cal to abandon the design and building of their own unique
General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engine, a modifi- machines in favor of adapting engines from these several
cation of the CF-6 commercial turbo-fan aircraft engine, ready sources, especially since the adapted machinery had
became the most widely used propulsion engine for sur- reached a stage of development where it would not demand
face combat ships, beginning about 1970. In the marine a hull stretched to fit around it.
version, the aircraft fan-drive turbine has been adapted to This article is therefore devoted principally to the appli-
drive the propulsion shafting. cation of varied engines in ship propulsion; their design
In the high speed craft (HSC) market, gas turbines com- and problems not unique to the marine application are
bined with water-jets as thruster units are now dominant, properly reserved to the particular engine types.
at least for large crafts of 90–120 m. General Electric There are indeed some exceptions to the story of adapta-
(http://www.geae.net/) and ABB-Stal, Sweden, have sup- tion from shore technology. One that is significant enough
plied some HSC with their gas turbines. to deserve attention in a short treatise such as this is the de-
The fundamental requirement of a propulsion engine is velopment of the pressurized water nuclear reactor. It was
that it meet the torque requirements of its load. It must do developed in the 1950s as a source of steam for subma-
so within the constraints appropriate to the application— rine propulsion, and subsequently for naval surface vessel
the restrictive weight and space requirements, the dynamic propulsion as well. The central station pressurized water
environment (motion of the ship, vibration, shock), de- nuclear plants built in the United States are largely adap-
mands of the service for endurance, economy, and relia- tations of the naval designs.
bility, and the special problems of a marine environment.
Powered ship propulsion began in the early nineteenth
II. REQUIRED MARINE ENGINE
century with primitive reciprocating steam engines. For
CHARACTERISTICS
about 100 years the weight and bulk of propulsion ma-
chinery meant that it would dominate the design of many
A. Torque or Power versus Speed
classes of ships, and during this interval marine engines
were a unique type of machine, with their development The propulsion engine is a device for producing the torque
driven by the need to relieve ship design of the burden required by the propulsor that converts the torque into
of monstrously heavy and inefficient propulsive machin- thrust. Almost universally, the propulsor is a screw pro-
ery. The inboard profiles of the many great passenger peller. The torque characteristic of the engine must there-
liners built in the first decade of the twentieth century, fore coordinate with that of a propeller. Since the torque is
for example, show the propulsion machinery extending transmitted by a rotating shaft, this last statement implies
through the hull for almost its entire length. In effect, the that the torque–revolutions per minute (rpm) character-
hull was an envelope stretched to enclose this rather mas- istic of the propeller determines the acceptability of the
sive array of machinery. The engines of those ships were torque–rpm characteristic of the engine. In other words,
most often triple-expansion or quadruple-expansion recip- the power–rpm characteristic must be acceptable, and this
rocating engines (steam turbine engines were beginning conveys equivalent information, since power is the product
to appear about this time as well) that had been devel- of torque and rpm. Power–rpm is used in the subsequent
oped by marine engineers for ship propulsion and built by discussion.
shipyards. Figures 1 and 2 show typical power–rpm curves for a
Early steam turbines, diesel engines, and spark ignition propeller and a diesel engine (Fig. 1) or a turbine engine
engines were also applied to ship and boat propulsion in (Fig. 2). (Both propeller and engine curves are somewhat
attempts to remedy some of the deficiences of recipro- idealized, but serve well for discussion.) In both instances,
cating steam (weight and bulk, in particular). However, the engine power equals that of the propeller at what is pre-
a rapidly expanding technical culture ashore provided its sumably rated power and rpm for both the engine and its
incentives for engine development, and eventually a much load. Since the engine power clearly exceeds the required
larger market to engine builders. At the time of the final propeller power at rpm below rated, the engine in both
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Marine Engines 123

(maximum feasible thrust per unit of propeller disk area),

coupled with limits of acceptable angle of attack of blades
with respect to water, dictate a limited range of speeds over
which the propeller will be acceptably efficient. While re-
ciprocating engines can be designed with matching speed,
acceptably efficient turbine designs lie between one and
two orders of magnitude in speed above efficient propeller
speed. Fortunately, mechanical gearing is readily adapted
to match diverse engine and propeller speeds. If the gear-
ing can be thought of as part of the engine, then it is
indeed correct to speak of the two speeds as if they were
one.

B. Load Profile
The load profile to be encountered in marine propulsive
service depends on the type and service of the ship. The
number and variety of such profiles approaches the innu-
merable, but a mere three somewhat simplified ones can
serve as the framework of discussion here.

1. A profile dominated by long periods of continuous

FIGURE 1 Matched characteristics of diesel engine and marine operation at maximum continuous engine rating, with only
propeller. brief and infrequent periods of low power.
2. A profile consisting of frequent short periods of op-
eration at maximum continuous power, separated by in-
instances is able to accelerate the propeller from rest to tervals of low-power operation.
the rated condition.
Both Figs. 1 and 2 show a family of propeller curves
to indicate a range within which the characteristic of a
particular propeller may fall. The change from one curve
to another of the family occurs because of a change in
propeller pitch, or if the pitch is fixed, from any factor that
changes the resistance characteristic of the ship. The point
illustrated is that the engine characteristic must be suitable
for the family, and not just for a single propeller charac-
teristic. The curves demonstrate that a shift of propeller
curve to the left (increase in pitch or increase in resis-
tance) without a compensating shift upward of the engine
curve—which may not be possible without overloading
the engine—must cause the engine power and rpm both
to decrease. The turbine suffers a much smaller decrease
than the diesel. The advantage this conveys to turbine
propulsion is a minor one, however, and both types of en-
gines match the marine propulsive load characteristic quite
well.
The discussion of power versus speed, including the la-
beling of Figs. 1 and 2, has implied that rotational speeds
of propeller and engine are the same. However, this im-
plication is true only for low-speed diesel engines, en-
gines whose piston stroke is long enough that rpm is in
a range suitable for an efficient propeller. Propeller speed FIGURE 2 Matched characteristics of turbine engine and marine
must be accommodated because limits of thrust loading propeller.
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124 Marine Engines

3. A profile dominated by at least a few long periods of D. Consequences of the Shipboard

continuous moderate power (one-quarter maximum con- Environment
tinuous, for example), with occasional short periods of
The shipboard environment has the virtue of having the sea
maximum power.
as a most convenient heat sink, but the sea is also a medium
whose corrosiveness must be accommodated. The sea air
The first of these profiles is typical of a commercial
is also corrosive, since spray from the sea surface produces
ship serving a long trade route such as Australia–Europe.
a mist and fine suspended salt solids in the air that must
The engine might be expected to run reliably without
support combustion and serve as the working fluid for in-
interruption for about 500 h, and for a total of at least
ternal combustion engines. The motions (rolling, pitching,
10,000 h at maximum continuous power without need for
heaving, etc.) of the ship hull, its static inclinations (heel
overhaul.
or list, trim, etc.), its distortions under load, and its high-
The second of these is typical of a ship on a short voy-
frequency dynamic aspects (vibration, shock) can also be
age involving a scheduled service. A ferry linking Great
classed as significant factors in the shipboard environment
Britain with points on the European continent is a possible
that are in some ways unique to the application. For in-
example. The ability to run reliably for long intervals is of
stance, a marine propeller must operate in a flow field that
less importance than in the preceding instance, and fuel
is distorted by the presence of the nearby ship hull. In con-
economy may be of less importance also, because this ship
sequence, the angle of attack on a propeller blade changes
will burn much less fuel per annum. If there is the need
as the propeller rotates, causing hydrodynamic forces and
to meet a strict schedule, a reserve of power to overcome
moments on the blade to change. In turn, the consequence
delays is a likely requirement.
is vibratory excitation of the power transmission system.
The third load profile is typical of a naval combat vessel.
The underwater environment of a submarine, with its
Its long ocean passages are likely to be at a fraction (say,
isolation from the atmosphere, is unquestionably unique
one quarter) of its maximum power because that maxi-
among power production environments.
mum is high enough to make the resulting fuel consump-
tion rate too high for long endurance. Best efficiency is
to be desired at the passage-making power, a requirement
that runs counter to the usual engine characteristic of best III. CHARACTERISTICS OF MAJOR
efficiency at its rated (usually maximum) power. ENGINE TYPES

The following engine types are those used in ship propul-

C. Economic Factors sion:
Acquisition cost, fuel cost, maintenance cost, and other
items usually of lesser magnitude, are as significant for 1. low-speed diesel,
marine engines as for engines in any service. There are, 2. medium-speed diesel,
nonetheless, economic factors unique to the marine appli- 3. high-speed diesel,
cation, mainly based on the relationship of engine to hull 4. steam turbine with oil- or coal-fired boiler,
size, cost, and payload. Weight and volume of machinery 5. steam turbine with pressurized water nuclear heat
compete with weight and volume of payload, and thereby source, and
affect the earning capacity of commercial vessels. Alter- 6. gas turbine.
natively, for a fixed payload these factors affect the size,
and hence the building cost, of the hull. Regarding steam turbine, today oil- and coal-fired boil-
Fuel cost is of obvious significance, but this signifi- ers for steam turbine propulsion plants are seldom in-
cance varies, especially as a function of the load profile. stalled in new vessels due to the higher operational costs
In the first profile described—long passages by commer- compared to the modern slow speed diesel engines. How-
cial ships—fuel cost almost alone dictates the choice of ever, in tankers carrying LNG (liquefied natural gas) gas-
engine toward the one of best fuel economy. For the long- fired or combined gas/oil-fired boilers producing steam for
passage commercial ship operating in the early 1980s, fuel propulsion is feasible when utilizing the “boil off” from
cost was often as high as 60% of total operating costs. the cargo.
The naval vessel, operating on the third profile just de- The major thrust of this section is to discuss how these
scribed, may expend comparatively little money on fuel. alternatives meet the requirements that are sketched in the
Nonetheless, its efficiency of propulsion may be of prime preceding section, coupled with brief descriptions of the
importance because it determines the distance traveled per engines in their marine manifestations. The power-versus-
unit weight of fuel, and thus its operating range. speed characteristic of the two classes of engines (diesel
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Marine Engines 125

and turbine) has already been covered and shown to be

satisfactory; this discussion will not be repeated.

A. Low-Speed Diesel
The performance of any reciprocating engine is dominated
by the formula
power = P L Z B 2 N , (1)
where P is the cylinder mean effective pressure, L is the
piston stroke length, Z is the number of cylinders, B is the
cylinder bore (diameter), and N is the number of power
strokes per unit time. The mean effective pressure is pro-
portional to the amount of energy released in the cylinder
per power stroke per unit volume, and its maximum value
is about the same for all engines of a given type, such as all
two-stroke turbocharged diesels, for example. (“State of FIGURE 3 Engine room profile showing low-speed diesel propul-
sion engine and prominent auxiliary components. [Courtesy
the art” is involved, however; maximum P has increased Sulzer Brothers.]
steadily with improvements in diesel technology.) At this
time, the maximum cylinder effective pressure is about
18–20 bar. The product of stroke length and speed (pro- tion efficiency and the ability to burn fuel of low quality
portional to N ) is proportional to the average linear speed (“heavy oil,” consisting mainly of refinery residuum) are
of the piston, and also has a maximum that is about the enhanced, and in consequence, thermal efficiency of the
same for engines of a given type. The ratio of bore to low-speed diesel is superior to that of any competitor. The
stroke likewise is of necessity about the same for engines specific fuel consumption of some low-speed engines has
of a given type. The product LZB2 is the cylinder dis- now reached 160–170 kg/kWh. Given the heating value of
placement; total engine volume and weight are roughly the fuel used in attaining this figure, the efficiency of the
proportional to displacement. engine is about 50%.
From the formula and the auxiliary principles, it is easy As a consequence of high efficiency, coupled with fuel
to deduce that an engine designed for a desired power prices much higher than traditional, the low-speed diesel
at low speed must have a long piston stroke, and con- engine captured the major part of the commercial ship
sequently have large overall dimension and weight. The propulsion market in the 1970s and 1980s.
rated speeds of the engines spoken of here have typically The characteristics of a typical low-speed diesel are
been in the range 75–150 rpm, making them suitable for di- displayed by Fig. 4. These are the plots of several engine
rect connection (i.e., without intervening speed-reducing parameters as functions of power output as the engine
gears) to the propulsion shafting of a ship. The engines are interacts with a marine propeller load (i.e., changes speed
massive; a specific mass of 35 kg/kW is typical. Figure 3 and power along one of the propeller curves of Fig. 1).
is the profile of the engine room of a commercial ship, Marine engines of this type invariably operate on the
showing a propulsion engine of this type. two-stroke cycle and are turbocharged.
Although size and its consequent weight may be a neg-
ative characteristic of this engine type, it is not disbarring
B. Medium-Speed Diesel
except in applications where height or exceptionally high
powers per unit weight are important. A vehicle-carrying Equation (1) can be rewritten in the form
ship usually requires a continuous deck so that the ve-
power = P(NL)(B 2 L)/L (2)
hicles can be driven throughout the cargo space from a
single access point; the height of a low-speed engine of- to illustrate that if—as asserted in the preceding section—
ten comes in conflict with this requirement, and leads to mean effective pressure (P) and piston speed (NL) are ef-
the choice of a different engine. The need for an armored fectively constants, and that (B 2 L) is a measure of engine
deck over the propulsion machinery may likewise rule out size, then unit power (power per unit of volume or weight)
a low-speed engine in a combat naval vessel, as will the is inversely proportional to stroke length. The rather long
need for high-unit powers in this ship type. stroke length of the low-speed engine, if shortened, al-
On the other hand, the large cylinder size and low speed lows an engine of smaller size and mass for a specified
are of advantage to the combustion process. Combus- power. However, the constancy of the NL product shows
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126 Marine Engines

Two medium-speed engines geared to the same pro-

peller shaft, and provided with disconnecting clutches, is
a common installation. Where a ship must have a signif-
icant reserve power capacity to ensure maintenance of a
schedule, as in the second load profile, one engine of the
pair may normally carry the propulsive load with the other
declutched. Higher power demand is met by running both
engines.
Figures 5a and 5b are the profile and plan, respectively,
of a ship machinery space in which the propulsion en-
gine is a medium-speed diesel. Figure 6 is a set of engine
characteristics plotted at a constant rotational speed.
Medium-speed engines usually operate on the four-
stroke cycle and are turbocharged. Two-stroke engines are
found, however.
When the rated speed of a marine engine is above the
neighborhood of 1000 rpm, the engine is usually spoken
of as a high-speed engine. A typical rated speed range for
such an engine is 1000–1800 rpm, and the engine is likely
FIGURE 4 Typical low-speed marine diesel engine characteris- to be the adaptation of a highway truck engine. Just as the
tics. [Courtesy Sulzer Brothers.] medium-speed engine is smaller than a low-speed engine
of equal power, and has more cylinders, the high-speed
engine is yet smaller, and must supply more cylinders to
that speed increases correspondingly, and the constancy of produce equal power. For total powers above the vicinity
the bore/stroke ratio demands that B decrease, with Z in- of 1000 kW, and for the typical 1800- to 2000-rpm range,
creasing to compensate. The overall result is an engine of the number of cylinders may become extreme, even though
higher rotational speed, of smaller dimension and weight, divided among several (or many) engines, and the use
and of a larger number of cylinders. For example, whereas of this class of engine becomes impractical. High-speed
a low-speed engine rated at a maximum continuous power engines are therefore confined to vessels of small size and
of 14,000 kW at 110 rpm might weigh 450 × 103 kg, be power.
13 m in height, and consist of 8 cylinders (in line), a com- Such arrangements as diesel–electric propulsion using
peting medium-speed propulsion plant might consist of medium-speed diesel engines to produce electric power
two V engines of 16 cylinders each, turning at 500 rpm, and an electric motor driving the propulsor (thrusters,
weighing 60–80 × 103 kg, and be 3.5 m in height. An en- podded propulsor, or conventional propellers) are becom-
gine speed of 500 rpm is usually much too high for a ship ing more utilized due to the flexibility and different use
propeller, and hence a reduction gear is nearly always an of high electric power. Typical applications are cruising
adjunct of a medium-speed engine. The lesser weight, and vessels, shuttle tankers, and other vessels for specialized
especially lesser height, may be important in some appli- operation.
cations, and thereby lead to choice of medium speed over
low speed. The efficiency is likely to be slightly less, espe-
C. Steam Turbine Engines
cially since the higher speed and smaller cylinders make
efficient combustion more difficult, the fuel quality may The steam-turbine-was the engine universally applied to
have to be somewhat higher for the same reason, and the American-built ships from the time it replaced the recipro-
greater number of cylinders may add to the maintenance cating engine in the early twentieth century until the high
burden. The first cost of the medium-speed engine is usu- fuel prices post-1973 gave the efficiency advantage of the
ally less than that of a low-speed engine having the same diesel engine an overwhelming importance. Meanwhile,
power rating. the high specific power of the gas turbine gave it pre-
These comparisons favor the low-speed alternative eminence for a wide range of naval combat vessels. On
when weight or dimensions are important, and where the the other hand, the feasibility of generating steam from
first cost of the engine is of greater importance than its cost almost any source of heat gives steam turbine power an
of fuel. The ship operating on the second of the load pro- apparently unassailable citadel from which it may expand
files described earlier is likely to be powered by a medium- again if the specialized hydrocarbon fuels used by inter-
speed engine, or by multiple medium-speed engines. nal combustion engines become too dear. Major surface
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Marine Engines 127

FIGURE 5 (a) Engine room profile showing medium-speed diesel engines. (b) Engine room plan view showing
medium-speed diesel engines. [From Mar. Engrs. Rev., p. 16, December 1984.]
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128 Marine Engines

The marine steam turbine is typically of the impulse

type, though with reaction blading in the lower pressure
stages.
The steam generation equipment is the essential “other
half” of a steam power plant. Like the turbine itself, the
fired boiler and pressurized water nuclear steam generator
are similar to their land-based counterparts, though more
compact. The nuclear alternative, although surely a com-
plex device from a higher level of technology than a fired
boiler, is simpler overall in that it produces only saturated
steam, and contains no regenerative efficiency-enhancing
features. The fired steam generator always includes a su-
perheater, and usually a desuper-heater to supply cooled
steam for auxiliary purposes. It commonly is fitted with
regenerative heat exchangers to recover heat from the ex-
haust gas, either an economizer to preheat incoming water
or an air heater to preheat incoming combustion air (rarely
both).
FIGURE 6 Typical medium-speed marine diesel engine charac- The commercial marine steam propulsion plant is usu-
teristics. The propeller law is shown by the solid curve and the ally provided with regenerative feedwater heating (i.e.,
constant speed by the dashed curve. [Courtesy Sulzer Brothers.] preheating of boiler feedwater by steam extracted from the
propulsion turbine), a measure to enhance efficiency. Be-
cause of the many choices possible in selecting the number
combatant ships of the U.S. and Russian navies, and sub- of stages of feedwater heating, because of the alternatives
marines of those and of several western European navies, in the choice of regenerative measures in the boiler, be-
are most usually built with steam turbine power, the steam cause of the usual use of some of the steam for varied
being generated by one or more pressurized water nuclear auxiliary purposes, and because of the range of choices
reactors. A few commercial ships built in the 1970s and possible in steam pressure and temperature, steam propul-
1980s are powered by coal-fired steam, a development sion plants tend to be much more varied in major features
that may presage a challenge to diesel preeminence in than diesel or gas and turbine plants, and the efficiency
later years. (Although the coal-fired machinery does not falls within a wider range. Figure 7 is a block diagram
offer efficiency close to that of diesel, the favorable price showing the major components of a possible commercial
of coal tends to offset the diesel advantage.)
The goals of best possible efficiency and compact size
demand that turbines turn at high speed; speeds in the
3000- to 6000-rpm range at rated power are typical in
the steam-ship propulsion application. Use of a mechani-
cal gear set (or electrical transmission in an occasional in
stance) to reduce speed to the neighborhood of 100 rpm
at the propeller shaft is universal practice. Efficiency also
requires that the turbines be built in multiple stages, with
about 20 being typical. Since each of the many stages
may have its unique optimal speed, each stage would—if
efficiency were the only criterion—be connected to the
propeller shaft via its own gear ratio. The usual compro-
mise with mechanical practicality is two groups of stages,
each at the best speed for the group as a whole, each with
its own gear ratio to the propeller. The stages are in series
from the standpoint of steam flow, but in parallel mechan- FIGURE 7 Block diagram showing major components of a steam
propulsion plant. B, boiler; C, condenser; COH, combustion air
ically. The arrangement is known as “cross compound.”
heater; CP, condensate pump; D, distiller; E, economizer; FOH,
The “tanden compound” arrangement, or groups of stages, fuel oil heater; FP, feed pump; HTRI, surface feedwater heater;
on a common shaft, found in power station practice is not HTR2, direct contact feedwater heater; R, recirculation; TF, feed
used in the marine application. pump turbine; TG, turbogenerator; TP, propulsion turbine.
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Marine Engines 129

ship steam plant; features mentioned previously are evi- steam turbine. the gas power turbine extracts energy from
dent. If such a power plant were sized for power in the its working fluid with good efficiency in relatively few
range 15,000–20,000 kW, the fuel consumption of resid- stages. The power turbine therefore does not add greatly
ual oil might be 275 kg/kWh. to the physical dimensions of the parent aircraft engine.
If it were not for the competition of the diesel, steam In the adapted marine power plant, the original jet en-
turbine propulsion would be suitable for all of the three gine remains essentially intact and unchanged (a fan jet
load profiles discussed earlier, though it would be at its engine will have lost its fan), and becomes the “gas gen-
best in the first one (long passage at steady high power), erator” of the marine plant. As in aircraft practice, major
and especially if in a ship of high power, this last because engine maintenance is usually to be accomplished off-
the largest steam plants tend to be those of the highest vehicle in a maintenance shop. The machinery spaces of
efficiency. A turbine tends to lose efficiency at part loads a ship must therefore be arranged to facilitate frequent re-
to a greater degree than does a diesel, so that it suffers moval of the gas generators without major disruptions of
some handicap in the third profile (long passages at re- structure and other machinery. A widely used design tactic
duced power). A remedy sometimes used in traditional is to arrange the engine’s air intake trunk with clearance
naval practice is a separate “cruising turbine” geared to sufficient for the engine to be hoisted through it.
the propeller shaft in parallel with the main turbines. This Although the gas generator may be a virtually un-
unit would be designed for the cruising power, and hence changed aircraft jet engine, external features are likely
would be at its highest efficiency at that power. It would to have qualities and magnitudes unique to the marine
serve as the sole propulsion engine in the cruise mode. application. As has been stated, the marine environment
challenges this engine more severely than the other types.
Great care must be taken to exclude corrosive compounds
D. Gas Turbine Engines
from the sea. These contaminants can enter with either
Gas turbine engines fall into two broad classifications: the the fuel or the combustion air, demanding great care in the
aircraft jet engine and the industrial (or “heavy duty”) en- design of both fuel system and air intake system.
gine. The latter type is designed without great emphasis on Unique features are most evident in the air intake. A
lightness, and consequently has advantages over the air- duct to the exterior must be provided, and the duct de-
craft type, such as the ability to burn fuel of lower quality. signed to exclude airborne sea salts as far as practicable.
It was adapted to commercial ship propulsion in the early Filtration must be provided against particles that do enter.
1970s, but the subsequent escalation of fuel prices gave In addition to enhancing combustion air cleanliness, the
the diesel such an advantage that the industrial gas tur- intake ducting must not cause uneven flow distribution at
bine was shut out. The U.S. Navy, and many other navies, the compressor inlet (to avoid excitation of destructive vi-
gave total favor to the much lighter aircraft type, making bration), nor offer any possibility of any foreign object (a
the industrial type, in sum, a trivial contributor to ship loose rivet, a dropped flashlight) entering the engine.
propulsion. The discussions here will therefore treat only Unacceptable sound levels are a feature of the gas tur-
the aircraft type. bine engine. Although it shares with the diesel a need
The aircraft jet engine produces thrust directly by for sound absorbers (“mufflers”) in its exhaust, the higher
reaction to the rearward acceleration of its exhaust. This pitch of the sound and the larger ducting for a given power
thrust could, of course, propel a ship, but efficient propul- (from higher mass flow rates, lower duct velocities, higher
sion by change in momentum of a fluid requires that fluid exhaust temperatures) exacerbate the gas turbine exhaust
jet speed exceed ship speed by only a small margin. Given noise problem. Within the ship machinery room, sound
that momentum is the product of mass and speed, the ship levels are unacceptably high for human exposure. If the
requirement is for a mass rate of fluid much greater than room is to be manned, the engines must be within sound-
that in an aircraft exhaust, and a jet speed much less than absorbing enclosures. Sond absorption in intake ducting
that of aircraft exhaust. This requirement can be satisfied is also a necessity.
by the combination of a high-speed power turbine extract- Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the General
ing energy from the exhaust and supplying torque to a Electric LM 2500 marine engine, showing its sound en-
much larger turbo element at a much reduced speed to closure and engine base. Figure 9 is a schematic view of
convert that torque back to thrust. The “turbo element” LM 2500 engines in an arrangement typical of U.S. Navy
is the conventional marine propeller, driven through con- twin-screw combat vessels.
ventional marine speed reduction gears. the power turbine Since we speak here only of naval application, it is im-
may be an add-on to the jet engine exhaust, or in the case plied that the aircraft-adapted gas turbine engine is suited
of a turbo-fan engine, it is likely to be the fan drive tur- for the third load profile described earlier. Actually it is not,
bine adapted to a different duty. Unlike the multistage unless special measures are taken, because the part-load
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130 Marine Engines

FIGURE 8 General Electric LM 2500 marine gas turbine engine, showing its enclosure and base. [Courtesy General
Electric.]

performance of the engine is poor, making the requisite per shaft. Cruising at 14 power, which, should give about
good efficiency at cruising power awkward to obtain. The 0.6 of full power speed, is truly awkward because it ne-
simplest special measure is multiple engines so that power cessitates trailing an unpowered propeller.
increments can be had by running differing numbers of en-
gines, each running at its rated power, or not at all. Several
classes of U.S. Navy ships built in the 1970s and 1980s IV. REVERSING THE MARINE ENGINE
are powered by twin propellers, with each propeller shaft
driven by two gas turbine engines, as Fig. 9 indicates. Propeller thrust is reversed either by reversing its direc-
Cruising at 12 power, which should give about 0.8 of full tions of rotation, or by reversing the pitch of its blades.
power speed, can be accomplished by running one engine Reversing the direction of rotation is accomplished either

FIGURE 9 Arrangement (schematic) of gas turbine propulsion engines, typical of U.S. Navy twin-screw combat
vessels. [From E. F. Brady, Naval Engrs. J., April 1981.]
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Marine Engines 131

by reversing engine rotation, or by reversing shaft rotation form a “boost” plant that provides high power, either alone
by means of a shift of torque path through a gear trans- or with a contribution from the diesels, when maximum
mission. Reciprocating engines can be reversed by shifting speed is needed. Alone, the gas turbines would have un-
cylinder valve timing (which requires stopping and restart- acceptably poor efficiency at cruising power, while the
ing the engine). Turbine engines cannot be reversed. diesel engines would be unacceptably large and heavy if
From this assortment of facts one selects the combina- rated to provide maximum speed power.
tion that fits a particular type of propulsion. The picture is Propulsion plants of the combined diesel–gas turbine
made more complex, however, by the possibility of adapt- type are used in several classes of U.S. Coast Guard ves-
ing at least two to any type. The following lists only the sels, and in some naval vessels (none U.S. Navy). They
most usual means of reversing, with minor comment: are designated CODOG (combined diesel or gas) if the
two types of engine are used alternatively, and CODAG
1. Steam turbines drive fixed-pitch propellers, which (combined diesel and gas) if used together at maximum
therefore must be reversed in direction, through unidirec- power.
tional reduction gears. Reversal is obtained by diverting Some British naval vessels built in the 1950s and 1960s
the steam to a reversing turbine, a single stage with blad- applied the same concept through use of steam turbines
ing in the reverse orientation, and mounted within the low- for the cruising power, and gas turbines for the maximum.
pressure half of the cross-compound turbine set. The objective of high efficiency is pursued by thermo-
2. Low-speed diesel engines drive fixed-pitch pro- dynamic cascading of engines, nearly always by using
pellers; reversal is obtained by engine reversal. the high-temperature exhaust gas from one engine as the
3. Medium- and high-speed diesel engines drive either heat source for the other. The most common instance of
fixed-pitch or controllable-pitch propellers. In the latter this is the common practice on commercial ships pow-
instance, propeller thrust reversal is obtained by reversing ered by low-speed diesel engines of producing steam in
propeller pitch while the engine is brought to idling speed. a “waste heat boiler” for use in running a steam turbine
In the former, reversing trains within the reduction gear that drives an electric power plant. Although perhaps 30%
are used to reverse shaft rotation, selected by ahead or of the diesel fuel energy may be found in the engine ex-
reverse-clutch engagement while the engine is brought to haust gas, electric power can be produced only to about
idling speed. 5% of the propulsive power. Nonetheless, in ships of fairly
4. Gas turbine engines drive controllable-pitch pro- high propulsive power, the steam-driven generator can of-
pellers. Propeller thrust reversal is obtained by reversing ten produce all of the electric power required by the ship,
propeller pitch while the engine is brought to idling speed. with consequent saving of the fuel that would otherwise
have gone into running a diesel generator. Diesel genera-
tors must do the job in port, however, and when propulsive
V. COMBINED ENGINE POWERING power is low.
Exhaust gas energy from a gas turbine is usually greater,
Different engine types can be assembled in different com- and has a higher availability because of its higher tem-
binations, for different purposes. Two purposes cover most perature, than from a diesel engine of the same power
instances: rating. Just as with the diesel, the exhaust energy can pro-
duce steam to be used for electric power production, or
1. to improve the matching of the propulsion plant to its for propulsion if the turbine is geared to the propulsion
load profile, and shaft. Analytical work has shown that adding the maximal
2. to improve the efficiency. amount of steam power, which might be as much as 15%
of gas turbine shaft power, to propulsion can produce an
The third load profile, which demands good efficiency efficiency of propulsion that at least equals the best diesel
at a cruising power much lower than maximum power, is figure. The price is added complexity and added weight of
often matched by combinations of engines. Cruising steam machinery that might not be acceptable in the naval vessels
turbines and multiple gas turbines geared to a common where the gas turbine is likely to be found. In consequence,
propulsion shaft have already been described as used in the scheme had not been put into practice as of this writing.
naval propulsion, and may be taken as examples, even
though the combinations are of engines of the same type.
The combination of dissimilar engines most often ap- VI. DYNAMIC INTERACTION BETWEEN
plied is one of medium-speed or high-speed (the latter in ENGINE AND HULL
small vessels) diesel engines combined with gas turbine
engines. The diesel engines form a cruising power propul- We have observed that development of marine engines has
sion plant that provides good efficiency; the gas turbines reached a point where the design of the engine no longer
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132 Marine Engines

dominates the design of the ship; usually a choice can be The phenomena that give rise to these dynamic interac-
made among several engine types, and none will demand tions are largely unavoidable—the pulsing nature of diesel
a large share of hull volume and lifting capacity. Nonethe- engine torque, for example, is an inevitable characteris-
less, a ship designer should not design hull and select ma- tic of a reciprocating engine. The principal remedy is to
chinery independently. There are design linkages, such as design the moving parts of the engine and shafting sys-
the effect of engine weight and volume on payload, that tem so that resonances between its vibratory modes and
have been mentioned earlier. the excitations do not occur. In some instances this may
Possible dynamic interactions are perhaps the most im- include stiffening the engine structure by adding sway
portant of all, since poor design can seriously impair the braces between the hull and the upper level of the engine
operation of a ship in a way that a minor loss in payload, (particularly so for the tall low speed diesels). The conse-
say, never would. The dynamic interactions arise from the quences of unbalanced torques within the engine may be
almost inevitable tendency of a propeller to generate tor- minimized by selecting the number of cylinders for a low
sional, longitudinal, and transverse excitation as its blades moment value, building extra stiffness into the foundation,
rotate through regions of differing water velocity, and from and by mounting the engine near a node of the expected
the several sources of excitation within the engine. hull vibration mode.
If the engine is a diesel, the torque applied to the The smooth torque of turbine engines reduces their dy-
crankshaft by each piston varies periodically as the cylin- namic hazard, but unacceptable torsional and longitudinal
der gas pressure varies, and as the inertia forces from pis- vibrations can be excited by the propeller. There have also
ton acceleration vary. If any of the many harmonics of been instances in steam turbines of severe vibration ex-
these periodic torques resonates with a natural frequency cited by the periodic passage of turbine blades through the
of the engine-shaft-propeller system, severe torsional vi- steam jets. As with the reciprocating engines, the principal
bration may occur. The torsional vibration may be destruc- remedy is knowledge of excitations, and of frequencies of
tive only of the rotating machinery, but by its nature, the vibration, so that resonances can be avoided.
propeller is a converter of torque to thrust, and so it is that
a strong longitudinal vibration may be caused also.
Longitudinal vibratory forces are transmitted to the hull SEE ALSO THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES
by the thrust bearing that transmits the propulsive thrust,
so that one of the natural frequencies of hull vibration may FUELS • INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES • JET AND GAS
be excited. A low-speed diesel, in particular, may vibrate TURBINE ENGINES • NAVAL ARCHITECTURE • NUCLEAR
longitudinally, acting in the manner of a vertical cantilever REACTOR MATERIALS AND FUELS
beam. If one of its natural frequencies resonates with the
frequency of the longitudinal shaft forces, the engine may
vibrate excessively, and in turn excite surrounding ship
structure. BIBLIOGRAPHY
A reciprocating engine transmits to its shaft bearings the
periodic forces that must accompany the periodic acceler- Baseler, R. W. (1984). Mar. Technol. 21, 319–333.
Bassett, N. L., Kline, R. G., and Miller, R. H. (1983). Mar. Technol. 20,
ations of its pistons and associated moving parts. Usually, 150–158.
however, the forces are canceled through the agency of Harrod, A. F. (1989). Development of merchant ship propulsion machin-
counterweights on the crankshaft, but it may not be pos- ery over the past 25 years. Trans. Inst. Mar. Engrs. 101(1), 1–16.
sible to cancel the moments that these forces produce. Hedges, R. B. (1983). Mar. Technol. 20, 26–34.
The degree of moment cancellation depends largely on Easton, R. W. S. (1984). Trans. Inst. Mar. Engrs. 96, paper 53.
Kaida, H. (1980). Bull. Mar. Eng. Soc. Japan 8, 50–56.
the number of cylinders, but most typically some signifi- Kawazumi, R., Suzaki, K., Shimizu, M., Tanaka, K., Horie, Y., and
cant degree of second-order (meaning frequency equal to Hanasaki, J. (1985). Bull. Mar. Eng. Soc. Japan 13, 43–55.
twice the rotational frequency of the engine) moment ex- Nicholas, D. G. (1990). Review of the marine steam turbine over the last
ists. This moment tends to bend the engine vertically about 40 years. Trans. Inst. Mar. Engrs. 102(1), 83–98.
a transverse axis (i.e., bend its ends up and down). Since Ohmori, T., Miyatake, T., Miyashita, K., and Sawamura, T. (1980). Bull.
Mar. Eng. Soc. Japan 8, 10–26.
the engine structure is not infinitely stiff, this bending is Slatter, B. H. (1982). Trans. Inst. Mar. Engrs. 95, paper 33.
transmitted to the engine foundation, and may thereby ex- Stott, C. W., and Casey, J. P. (1980). Mar. Technol. 17, 309–340.
cite hull vibration. Woodward, J. B. (1981). “Low Speed Marine Diesel.” Wiley, New York.