A Marine Turbocharger Retrofitting Platform

Abstract

A turbocharger retrofitting platform utilizing 1D models for calculating turbomachinery components maps and a fully coupled process for integration with the turbomachinery components and the diesel engine, is presented. The platform has been developed with two modes of operation, allowing the retrofitting process to become fully automatic. In the first mode, available turbo-components are examined, in order to select the one that best matches the entire engine system, aiming to retain or improve the diesel engine efficiency. In the second mode, an optimization procedure is employed, in order to redesign the compressor to match the entire system in an optimum way. Dimensionless parameters are used as optimization variables, for a given compressor mass flow and power. A retrofitting case study is presented, where three retrofitting options are analyzed (compressor retrofit, turbocharger retrofit and compressor redesign). In the first and second option, turbocharger retrofitting is carried out, using available turbo-components. It is shown that initial performance cannot be reconstituted using off-the-self solutions. In the third option, compressor designing is performed, using the optimization mode, in order to provide an improved retrofitting solution, aiming to at least reconstituting the original diesel engine performance. Finally, a CFD analysis is carried out, in order to validate the compressor optimization tool capability to capture the performance trends, based on geometry variation.

The future of ship engines: Renewable fuels and enabling technologies for decarbonization

“…Turbocharger degradation occurs in the harsh marine operating environment, requiring frequent component replacement or retrofitting by replacing specific components (compressor or turbine) or the entire turbocharger. Ntonas et al 99 have developed a marine turbocharger retrofitting platform that uses 1D models for calculating the turbomachinery components and integrates them and a diesel engine in a fully automatic process. In the modeled process, the entire diesel engine system efficiency shows a 0.27% improvement in specific fuel consumption.…”