MAN Energy Solutions Developing Low-Pressure Gas Engine

MAN Energy Solutions’ Two-Stroke Business Unit announced that it will develop a low-pressure gas engine as a supplement to its existing dual-fuel ME-GI engine. The company cited market demand as the rationale behind the move.

“We already offer the most sophisticated and technologically-advanced gas engine on the two-stroke market with our ME-GI type, and we are hungry for more,” said Bjarne Foldager, senior vice president, head of Two-Stroke Business at MAN Energy Solutions. “With this announcement, we expect to cater for the segment in the market that prioritizes low-pressure dual-fuel, and this will complement our comprehensive portfolio of solutions.”

MAN Energy Solutions aims to complete the development of the new engine during the first half of 2022. It sees the introduction of the low-pressure engine in terms of filling a gap within its portfolio, much akin to how its ME-LGIP engine – introduced in 2018 – added LPG to its roster, further broadening the list of liquid fuels its ME-LGI (-Liquid Gas Injection) engine can exploit.

MAN’s two-stroke engine offerings range from the 300 to 950-mm bore sizes have a total power range from 1560 kW to 82 440 kW, with units that vary in height from 5912 to 16 156 mm. This covers the ME (400 to 950 bore), ME-GI (400 to 950 bore), ME-B (300 to 500 bore) and MC (350 to 700 bore) series.

“The low-pressure engine will fill a gap within our portfolio,” Foldager said. “It will act as a companion to our high-pressure ME-GI engine, which will continue to be the most attractive solution within many market segments. Our mature two-stroke, dual-fuel technology has become the de-facto industry standard and accumulated over 280 confirmed sales along with 500 000 operational hours. Going forward, we want to further expand our reach within the general market for gas engines.”

MAN’s two-stroke engines are manufactured by licensees primarily based in Asia and serve a multitude of marine applications and segments, the company said.