Wärtsilä launches dual-fuel ship engine with near-term ammonia potential

The dual-fuelled four-stroke engine can operate on diesel, LNG, biogas and biofuel, and can be upgraded to use future carbon neutral fuels such as ammonia.

PHOTO: Wärtsilä's medium-speed four-stroke engine. Wärtsilä

Finnish marine technology company Wärtsilä has launched a new dual-fuelled engine which has different valve timing options that enables it to run on carbon neutral fuels with little modification, Wärtsilä says.

Wärtsilä is expected to reveal its first ammonia engine prototype by next year, followed by a commercial roll-out "soon thereafter".

“It is a small but powerful engine, and it provides an effortless transition to future fuels,” Wärtsilä Marine Power president and Wärtsilä Corporation executive vice president Roger Holm said.

Meanwhile, German engine maker MAN Energy Solutions is currently developing a two-stroke ammonia engine for large container ships and aims to make it commercially available in two years. The company is also poised to develop retrofit ammonia engine options for ships by 2025.

Similarly, Swiss marine engine maker WinGD has partnered with South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries to develop a dual-fuelled ammonia engine by 2025.

Shipping classification society DNV forecast that both two- and four-stroke ammonia engines will become more technologically mature by 2026. But expects that ammonia regulations and safety standards will only come into force by 2028.

By Nithin Chandran

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