British Napier 'Deltic' diesel

[BSMcCauley]

Some of you might find this interesting:



While at York, UK for some training on my way to work this trip, I made a pass through the National Train Museum there and found a British Napier 'Deltic' diesel engine cut-away among the displays. This is a 2-cycle diesel engine operating similar to Detroit Diesel except instead of cylinder heads, it has 3 crankshafts arranged around 18-cylinders carrying 32 opposing pistons in total. Picture, if you will, three 12V92's bolted to one another at the blocks' decks with the three crankshafts geared to a common flywheel at one end.



3300 hp in a package of similar size as a 3412 CAT engine (950 HP in TA configuration). Used in British train locomotives and navy ships & apparently great for minesweeper ships due to very low vibration in operation. Link below has the operation animated.



Napier Deltic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Now to shoe-horn one of those into a sled puller...

 

[Wingate]

wow... thats a wicked design. . There are some smart people in the world. .

BTW. . forget that low HP 3412. . there are some out there in the 1500hp-2000 hp range.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Yep it's about as far out as the opposed-piston diesel engines the Germans used in some of their airplanes beginning in 1932.

Junkers diesel Junkers Jumo 205 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[BSMcCauley]

... there are some out there in the 1500hp-2000 hp range.

You’re correct in that it depends on the application what HP rating CAT will tag an engine with. Continuous, Intermittent, or Emergency duty will make a BIG difference as well rated RPM. Our 3412C TTA backup generator engines (intermittent duty) were rated at 950 HP @ 1800 RPM. This link shows CAT’s current rating chart for the 3412. Caterpillar Marine Power Systems > Legacy Cat and MaK Diesel Propulsion Engines CAT doesn’t seem to go much past 1000 HP rating on industrial engines intended for respectable runtime between overhaul before getting into the 3500 series engines. Our 3516 TTA backup generators (intermittent duty) were rated at 3300 HP @ 1500 RPM (50 HZ) and about 3x the physical size of this Deltic engine.



As with our beloved 6BTA, one can always “become your own warranty station” and get huge power density out of a CAT as well!

 

[BSMcCauley]

A position or two back with this company, I was working in an area that had a 10-cylinder Fairbanks Moris similar to this one Fairbanks-Morse 38D8 Diesel Engine except it was turbocharged and fueling on natural gas. I'm not sure of the rated horsepower, but it was driving a MW66 (6-cylinder) gas compressor which had to have required more than 4500-5000 hp. It was a very smooth dependable engine and running long before I got there. I don't remember a minute's trouble with it and I'm sure it's still online today. This one was also fitted with a heat exchanger in the exhaust to pre-heat part of the plant process.



I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard that they were popular with mechanics on ships because nearly all the components could be packed in/out of the engine room on your shoulder.