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Ever since Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI)
developed-without foreign technological assistancea
family of medium-speed diesel engines under the
“HiMSEN” product name in 2001, orders have been steadily
pouring in, reaching an impressive 400 units at last count.
Customers for HiMSEN engines are as diverse as those for
HHI's VLCCs, containerships and LNG carriers.
Recently, officials from Korea’s Ministry of Maritime
Affairs and Fisheries, satisfied with sea trials of fishery patrol
boats equipped with HiMSEN engines, placed an additional order for four HiMSEN engines, to be delivered in August
2004. The Engine & Machinery Division of the HHI has
also secured an order from Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy
Industries of Japan for two sets of the engines used for
power generators. Thanks to widespread acknowledgement
of their outstanding performance, HHI is confident
that sales of HiMSEN engines will remain above 300 units
annually.
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HHI is the world’s top marine engine maker and
largest shipbuilder, supplying about one-third of global
demand for two-stroke low-propulsion diesel
engines. Given this towering stature in the industry,
the development of its HiMSEN line may appear a
somewhat routine achievement at first blush. Not so,
according to HHI. “It is an epoch-making event for a
Korean company to enter the marine engine market,
which has so far been dominated by such big names as
MAN B&W,” opines Chang Jeum-shik, senior manager
of the company’s Engine & Machinery Division.
What is HiMSEN?
In Korean, “HiM” means power and “SEN” means
strong. HiMSEN engines are designed to produce high
power despite their compact size. HHI has invested 40 billion
won to build Korea’s first home-designed mediumspeed
marine engine line, which consists of two base models
with a 210mm bore (H21/32) and a 250mm bore
(H25/33). They comprise five- to nine-cylinder versions
with a speed range of 720 to 1,000
rpm. The H21/32 model has an output
of 160kW per cylinder at 720-750
rpm and 200kW at 900-1000 rpm.
The power rating of the HiMSEN
H25/33 ranges from 1,160kW for the
five-cylinder version to 2,610kW for
the nine-cylinder version. HiMSEN
engines were designed based on HHI’s wide range of
experience in modern marine diesel engine production
and services.
A guiding principle of the design process was to maximize
customer-friendliness by simplifying the engine and
ensuring its reliable performance. Straightforward and
robust mainframe structures guarantee high reliability,
while modularization minimizes the number of components.
Direct accessibility to every component for repair and
maintenance has thus been realized. The HiMSEN engine
was type-approved by major classification societies in 2002, and about 400
commercial
engines have
been ordered
thus far. Some
of the earlier engines are in service after recording more
than 7,000 hours, demonstrating their high reliability.
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The environmentally-friendly HiMSEN engine generates
exhaust emission well below the International
Maritime Organization’s permissible limit of 12.1g/kWh
and consumes about 10 to 30% less fuel than other comparable
models developed by foreign peers. Engineers at
HHI were able to reduce the weight of the engine by up to
30% over comparable models by reducing the number of
components and parts, thus securing price competitiveness.
The localization of medium-speed marine engines
saves HHI more than 100 billion won annually that would
otherwise be spent on imported engines. The performance
of the HiMSEN engine has been praised by the world’s
major shipping lines, including NVA of Germany, OSG of
the United States, and Sovcomflot of Russia.
Outcome of Decades of Experience
The HiMSEN engine is targeted at various applications
such as ship- or land-based generators, ship propulsion
and other industrial prime movers. Given the engine’s
high power, the optimization of its dynamic behavior was
among the most critical factors to maintain reliability for
multiple applications. HHI has accumulated decades-long
experience in vibration technology through the design,
production and research activities for a range of ships and
industrial machinery. HHI’s technology in vibration optimization
and high-pulse turbo-charging systems helps
improve engine reliability and performance. The optimized
vibration responses were achieved by means of
numerous repeated experiments and calculations for the
entire family of HiMSEN engines.
Environmental considerations were a key objective in
developing the new engines. For example, the common
rail fuel injection system, the fuel water emulsion system,
and the Charge Air Moisturizer (CAM) system have
been under research with promising results. Besides
these measures aimed at the engine itself, HHI has been
actively pursuing new-material development for soot
reduction and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems.
A reliable and economic material for SCR system
has been developed recently, which can reduce NOx
emissions from HiMSEN engines by more than 90%.
“Earlier engines already in service are demonstrating
the excellent performance and reliability of
the HiMSEN brand,” Chang says.
Engine & Machinery Division
HHI’s accumulative production of lowspeed
propulsion (two-stroke diesel) engines
reached 1,770 units, topping the 42-million-bhp
mark, at the end of April 2004. Hyundai Heavy,
which commands about 35% of the global lowspeed
engine market, is expected to add about
five million bhp of new engines this year, with
annual sales zooming to about seven million
bhp in 2006. 
HHI launched its ship engine shop in 1976
to support its shipbuilding unit, which relied on imports from Japan and Europe for the supply of
marine engines. The shipyard wanted to cut costs by localizing
the production of its engines, which took up about
15% of the average ship price. HHI acquired technology
from the Swiss firm Sulzer Brothers (now WCH) in a
licensing agreement. It also signed similar agreements with
B&W of Denmark and then MAN of Germany (the two
companies have since been merged into MAN B&W) by
the end of 1976. The first marine engine manufactured by
HHI came out in May 1979 and was installed on a 25,000-
dwt bulk carrier delivered to the domestic shipping firm,
Shinhan Shipping Co.
HHI’s aggregate marine engine production surpassed
one million bhp in 1983 and five million bhp in 1988, a
level no other company had ever reached in less than nine
years. A Japanese peer needed 42 years to do the same.
The company raised the localization ratio for engines to
51% in 1982 from a mere 31% at the time of its establishment,
and further to over 95% currently. Hyundai completed
a crankshaft shop for marine engines in 1984 and a
propeller shop in 1985.
HHI took the lead in the world’s super engine market
in 1996, when it received orders to build seven 74,520-bhp
engines (12K90MC-C) for 5,500-TEU containerships,
which were delivered to Hyundai Merchant Marine. The
company has been breaking its own records as the builder
of the world’s largest marine engine. The biggest and most
powerful 12K98MC engine with 93,360 bhp was built in
June 2001. But this record will soon be beaten, as HHI is
preparing to produce another engine with 100,000 bhp
that can drive a 10,000-TEU or bigger containership. The
12K98MC engine, which weighs 2,146 tons and measures
15m high and 25m long, was installed in a 7,200-TEU containership
owned by Hapag Lloyd.
As a relative newcomer to the marine engine field,
HHI was able to compete effectively against its rivals in
Japan and Europe thanks to the latest manufacturing technology
and ultra-modern facilities,
buttressed by inexhaustible
demand from captive customers
including its sister shipbuilding
division. When HHI built its
engine shop in 1978, the new plant
was already the world’s single
largest manufacturing facility, with
an annual capacity of 900,000 bhp.
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