IMO Tier III Compliant W?rtsil? X72 Passes Test

Under IMO’s MARPOL Annex VI, Regulation 13 on oxides of nitrogen, Tier III limits apply in Emission Control Areas (ECAs) for engines in ships with keels laid on or after 1 January 2016. Within less than three months of IMO Tier III coming into force, Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) and its two-stroke engine manufacturer Hyundai Heavy Industries - Engine & Machinery Division (HHI-EMD), have announced the successful testing and delivery of their first IMO Tier III compliant Wärtsilä X72 diesel engine.

Built at HHI-EMD’s works in Ulsan, Korea, the six-cylinder Wärtsilä X72 engine employs a compact, pre-turbocharger selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. The system is supplied by HHI-EMD and at a shop test on 23 March 2016, it demonstrated its ability to reduce the engine’s NOx emissions below the limitations of IMO Tier III for vessels operating in ECAs. It also demonstrated its compliance with the NOx limits of IMO Tier II without exhaust aftertreatment. 

Commenting on its pre-turbocharger SCR system, HHI-EMD notes that locating the SCR catalyst in the hotter exhaust gases before the turbocharger turbine is designed to reliably achieve the temperature level required for the NOx-reducing reaction of the exhaust gases with the urea reducing agent. 

In addition to WinGD Korea and HHI-EMD staff, the test was witnessed by representatives of Classification Society ABS Korea, KR,the shipyard Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and SeaQuest Marine Project Management. Following the test, the 15,080 kW rated, 75 rpm engine was delivered to Hyundai Samho Heavy Industry in Samho-Eup, Yeongam-Gun, South Korea, where it will be installed in a 159,000 dwt tanker.

With IMO Tier III compliance assured, the ship will be permitted to enter North American and Caribbean waters, following implementation of IMO Tier III on January 1, 2016. “This demonstration of the ability of our two-stroke engines to comply with IMO Tier III is a clear statement of intent from WinGD and its engine manufacturers to provide ship owners with the engines they need to operate in ECAs”, notes Thomas Werner, Tier III Programme Manager, R&D. “Hence, the ship powered by the Wärtsilä X72 engine will be one of the first capable of complying with IMO Tier III when trading with the USA and Canada.”