New engine family affair at SMM
GE Transportation introduced the new L250 inline medium-speed diesel engine family at the SMM Exhibition in Hamburg last month. The L250 is custom designed for a variety of marine applications and will be available in six and eight cylinder configurations.
The new inline design expands GE’s diesel engine product offerings, while promising customers a variety of design and operational benefits. Specifically, the L250 provides a fuel consumption savings upwards of 9% when compared to GEs V228 medium-speed diesels.
In terms of emissions, the L250 can be upgraded to meet future United States Environmental Protection Agency Tier III emissions requirements while adhering to present Tier II standards. In fact, the L250 has already received Tier II emissions certification. Other marine class certifications such as American Bureau of Shipping will be forthcoming as necessary.
The L250’s turbocharger, which can be flexibly mounted at either end of the engine, coupled with a narrower frame, makes for easy installation and maintainability, especially if customers are using the engine for repowering applications.
In its six cylinder configuration, the L250 offers continuous outputs of 1,498 kW at 900 rpm, 1,664 kW at 1,000 rpm, and 1,748 kW at 1,050 rpm. In its eight cylinder configuration, the continuous outputs are: 1,998 kW at 900 rpm; 2,219 kW at 1,000 rpm and 2,330 kW at 1,050 rpm.
Many design attributes of the L250 can be traced back to GE’s V250 diesel family, which currently boasts 3,000 engines in service worldwide. For example, the L250 features the V250 engine’s proven camshafts, fuel system, exhaust manifold, power assemblies, bearings and turbocharger.
Using Six Sigma processes, GE designed several new components for the L250 engine. The mainframe has optimized ribs and an integrated air manifold, and the crankshaft has wide webs and tangent fillets. Other components new to the L250 include the engines air and oil filters, fuel pump, low and high temperature thermostatic valves, and sea water pump. Furthermore, the L250 is inherently designed with accessories engine mounted for ease of maintenance and installation, and comes with a power take-off system already included so a separate auxiliary engine is not required to drive equipment.
By the time the L250 is available to customers in 2009, GE will have invested $4m at its Pennsylvania USA plant to build a new L250 assembly line and to enhance the engine’s test cell capabilities.
Similar to the V228 and V250 families, the L250 engine series will be available through GEs global distribution partners. Authorized engine service and support capabilities are also offered through this worldwide network.
