WinGD books milestone order for 100th X-DF engine

Powered by WinGD's X-DF technology, GasLog's LNG carrier, Houston

JULY 5, 2018 — Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) has booked an order for its 100th X-DF engine. It comes just five years after the launch of the engine.

GasLog Ltd, an early supporter of the X-DF technology, has eight LNG carriers, each with two 5X72DF main engines in its fleet with three newbuilds recently entering commercial operations. The same machinery has been selected for its latest order of additional tonnage at shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea.

“When we select an engine for GasLog, the most important considerations are the engines’ contributions to the safety, competitiveness, sustainability and reliability of the vessel for our customers,” said, Richard Sadler, Chief Operations Officer, Gaslog Ltd. “When we selected the X-DF it was crucial for us to find a dual fuel engine which could offer all those features for today’s and the future environment. WinGD’s X-DF engines were the choice for our new vessels and we continue to be confident in their low pressure dual fuel technology.”

PROVEN BENEFITS

“If ever there was confirmation that the shipping industry is embracing LNG as the first choice for IMO compliant engines, the 100th ordered WinGD X-DF, dual-fuel engine is proof. With over 12,000 running hours logged on the first WinGD DF engine in operation (Terntank’s Ternsund) and over 100,000 running hours accumulated for the full X-DF engine fleet with 13 vessels at sea, the performance, benefits and reliability of WinGD’s low-pressure technology is proven.” says Rolf Stiefel, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at WinGD.

“Achieving the 100th X-DF engine milestone in July 2018, after only five years, validates that customers such as shipyards, vessel owners and operators have recognised its unique benefits. Beside its leading position in the LNG carrier market today, X-DF is gaining ground for future tankers and containers to ensure that newbuilds are built to meet 2020 regulations in the most economical way.”

“The 2017 decision by CMA CGM, to power their nine “mega” containerships to be built by CSSC shipyards in China with delivery in early 2020 with our 12-cylinder X92DF engines, is a strong statement that greener shipping can be achieved best by applying X-DF main propulsion engines.” added Stiefel.

TECHNOLOGY

WinGD’s low pressure X-DF engines work on the lean-burn Otto cycle when operated in gas mode – i.e. ignition of a compressed lean air/gas mixture by injection of a very small amount of liquid pilot fuel.

The WinGD X-DF engines undercut the IMO Tier III NOx limit in gas mode in Emission Control Areas without any additional exhaust gas abatement measures such as EGR or SCR. With liquid fuel consumption for pilot ignition below 1% of total heat release and with practically no sulfur content in LNG, WinGD says its X-DF technology offers a reliable solution for meeting the 0.5% global cap on sulfur in marine fuels set to enter force January 1, 2020.