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ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won two orders in the third quarter to provide the waste heat recovery systems, each powered by a power turbine generator (PTG), for fourteen new 8,800 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container vessels.

The first seven post-panamax vessels will be built at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. Ltd., (DSIC) and the other seven vessels at New Times Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., for China International Marine Containers Group Co. and Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC). When delivered, in 2015 and 2016, the ships will serve under a long-term charter agreement to MSC, one of the world’s largest container ship owners.

The employment of a waste heat recovery system (WHRS) to increase energy output onboard ships is becoming an increasingly viable means of reducing fuel costs. In marine propulsion plants, around 50 percent or more of the energy from fuel is lost to heat when converted to mechanical work by the main engine. By supplementing a ship’s main propulsion plant with a waste heat recovery solution, up to 4 percent of the lost fuel energy can be recovered and converted into electricity. More efficient energy use also reduces CO2 emissions in relation to the engine’s mechanical power output.

ABB’s scope of supply in the waste heat recovery system with a PTG consists of a PTL 3200 exhaust power turbine with control valves, alternator, reduction gear and dynamic compensator consisting of an ACS800 drive with a (step down) feed transformer and a breaking resistor bank. The package also includes two A185-L turbochargers. The electrical output of the system is 1.65 megawatt (MW).

"The high efficiency of ABB’s turbochargers gives customers not only the option of a waste heat recovery system in the first place, but also the possibility of using this system at lower loads," said Oliver Riemenschneider, who heads up ABB’s turbocharging business.

"We are delighted to see that our customers have chosen ABB’s innovative solution for their container fleet,” said Heikki Soljama, head of ABB business unit Marine and Cranes. “This demonstrates a commitment by both ABB and its customers to help vessels run more efficiently and economically, and at the same time improve their environmental performance."