---

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has announced that it will install testing equipment for two-stroke, low-speed, fuel-efficient marine diesel engines at the company's Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works in Hyogo, Japan. Installation is slated for completion in the spring of 2012.

The testing system will be used for verification of various elemental technologies to satisfy the Tier III nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Those standards require operators of marine diesel engines installed on ships constructed on or after January 1, 2016 and operating in emissions-controlled areas to reduce NOx emissions by about 80 percent from the current Tier I regulated level.

The 4UE-X3 testing system will be manufactured based on MHI's Mitsubishi-UE Diesel Engine UEC60LSE-Eco model, an electronically controlled 600 millimeter cylinder-bore four-cylinder engine. In preparing to satisfy Tier III regulations, MHI says it has already begun verification of the company's de-NOx system that adopts selective catalytic reduction (SCR).

According to MHI, selective catalytic reduction is regarded to be a cost-efficient method that has minimal negative impact on fuel efficiency and eliminates the need for platinum, a precious metal, in a de-NOx catalyst. Used in combination with other methods, SCR is said to achieve high de-NOx capability.

MHI said it will also verify elemental technologies such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and stratified water injection by the new testing system as part of its strategy to satisfy Tier III regulations.

In operating the testing equipment, MHI also plans to test technology for MEET - the Mitsubishi Marine Energy & Environmental Technical Solution System, a scheme whereby the company is aiming to propose various MHI marine-use machinery products as a package.

MHI has been operating a single-cylinder testing machine at its Nagasaki Research & Development Center, but opted to introduce multi-cylinder large-size testing equipment in order to accommodate the need for the company's engines to satisfy increasingly stringent environmental regulations in the coming years.

"Through introduction of the new testing system MHI will also accelerate further development of energy-saving related technologies as a global leader in the low-speed marine diesel industry, toward commercialization of even more reliable and efficient products," the company said in a statement.

MHI said it will set up a training facility where disassembly maintenance work of major components of both electronically and mechanically controlled diesel engines can be practiced.

"By locating the training center near to the testing system, trainings of engine operation and maintenance using the test machine will be possible. With these two facilities, MHI will be able to respond to customers' needs and provide enhanced high-quality services globally, at the same time upgrading after-sale service capability of UE engine licensees in Japan and other countries," MHI said.