TECHNICAL

BULLETIN

2-Stroke Engine Services RT-235

Issue 2, 12 August 2020

Continuous low load operation

At your convenience *
(slow steaming)
Information to all Owners and Operators of Affected engines
Wärtsilä / WinGD RT-flex, X-type and DF engines All Wärtsilä / WinGD RT-flex, X-type and
DF (Dual Fuel) engines.

Current situation
Many 2-stroke diesel engines are operated
at continuous low load (below 60% CMCR).

Solutions
To limit the adverse effects of continuous
low load operation as much as possible, a
series of recommendations are described
in this Technical Bulletin.

Reference
This document is only for electronically
controlled engines. For RTA engines, refer
to the latest issue of Technical Bulletin
RT-174, named “Continuous low load
operation (slow steaming) for RTA.

Note
This Technical Bulletin is published on
behalf of our partner WinGD.

This document (Issue 2) supersedes the

previous version (Technical Bulletin RT-
235 Issue1 dated 17 January 2020) due to
some content changes of the WinGD
SL-0009-1:
- Additional point in the recommendations
- Modified table for cylinder cooling water
outlet temperature

* At your convenience: Action is necessary or recommended, but can be taken at your convenience, for example
during maintenance.

Wärtsilä Services Switzerland Ltd Tel: +41 52 262 80 10 www.wartsila.com

P.O. Box 414
CH-8401 Winterthur
 TECHNICAL BULLETIN

RT-235, Issue 2, Page 2 / 2

Contents
Page
1 Introduction 2
2 Enclosures 2
3 Contacts 2

1 Introduction
This Technical Bulletin (Issue 2) supersedes the previous version (Technical Bulletin RT-
235 Issue1 dated 17 January 2020) due to some content changes of the WinGD Service
Letter SL-0009-1.
This Technical Bulletin is published on behalf of our partner WinGD.
It gives additional recommendations on what needs to be observed when operating the
engine continuously at loads lower than 60% CMCR engine load.

See the next pages for more details about continuous low load operation.

2 Enclosures
WinGD Service Letter SL-0009-1, entitled “Continuous low load operation (slow
steaming)”.

3 Contacts
3.1 How to contact Wärtsilä
For questions about the content of this Technical Bulletin, or if you need Wärtsilä
assistance, services, spare parts and/or tools, please contact your nearest Wärtsilä
representative.
If you do not have the contact details at hand, please follow the link:
www.wartsila.com/contact

3.2 Contact details for emergency issues

For emergency issues, please use the following phone number:
24hrs phone number: +41 52 262 80 10.

© 2020 Wärtsilä Services Switzerland Ltd – All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, graphic, photocopying, recording,
taping or other information retrieval systems) without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Wärtsilä Services Switzerland Ltd
makes no representation, warranty (express or implied) in this publication and assumes no responsibility for the correctness, errors or
omissions for information contained herein. Information in this publication is subject to change without notice. Wärtsilä does not assume any
liability for the consequences of the owner’s/operator’s actions, inactions, and/or decisions made or based upon the information provided
herein.
Unless otherwise expressly set forth, no recommendation contained in this document or any of its appendices is to be construed as provided
due to a defect of the product, but merely as an improvement of the product and/or the maintenance procedures relating thereto. Any actions
by the owner/operator as a result of the recommendations are not covered under any warranty provided by Wärtsilä and such actions will
thus be at the owners/operators own cost and expense.
NO2020
© LIABILITY WHETHER
Wärtsilä DIRECT,
Services INDIRECT,
Switzerland Ltd SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL
– All rights reserved –ORPlease
CONSEQUENTIAL, IS ASSUMED
read the complete WITH at
disclaimer RESPECT
the endTO of THE
this
INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. THIS PUBLICATION IS CONFIDENTIAL AND INTENDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES
document.
 Service
Letter SL-0009-1
Date: 08 July 2020
Continuous low load operation
(slow steaming) Implementation:
At your
convenience

All WinGD/Wärtsilä RT-flex, X-type and DF Engines Information for:

All Owners and Operators of RT-flex,
X-type and DF Engines

Summary:
This Service Letter highlights some
settings and values for fuel and
cylinder cooling water temperature
and gives maintenance guidelines for
a safe continuous low load operation.
This Service Letter gives recommendation what needs to
be observed when operating the engine continuously in a This SL-0009-01 will supersede the
power range less than 60% CMCR power. previous version SL-0009.

Update:
The cylinder cooling system for the
Yours faithfully X82DF-1.0 has been modified before
first engine production like the X72DF
engine and therefore the Table 3-1
has been adapted accordingly.

The RT-flex50DF is included in the DF

engines as well.

Gordon McCutcheon Wolfgang Dunker

GM Product Management GM License Management

Winterthur Gas & Diesel Ltd. Schützenstrasse 3 Tel. +41 (0)52 264 8844
Winterthur Gas & Diesel AG. PO Box 414, CH-8401 Fax +41 (0)52 264 8866
Winterthur Gas & Diesel S.A. Winterthur, Switzerland
 Service
Letter SL-0009-1
Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 2
2 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................... 2
3 Cylinder cooling water outlet temperature ................................................................................................................ 3
4 Contacts ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1 Introduction
This Service Letter gives recommendation on what needs to be observed when operating the engine
continuously at powers less than 60% CMCR power.

2 Recommendations
The following recommendations must be observed, in order to limit the adverse effects of continuous low-
load operation as much as possible.

1. The basic prerequisites as follows must be fulfilled:

• Trace heating is a must because fuel consumption / flow is reduced at lower loads compared to
high load. The risk of increasing fuel viscosity therefore higher if trace heating is not working
properly.
When operating on HFO, the fuel viscosity at the fuel pump inlet of RT-flex and WinGD X-engines
must be in the range 10 to 20 cSt. However, WinGD recommends to maintain the viscosity at the
lower end of the range 13 to 17 cSt, without exceeding 150 °C at the engine inlet. For further
information refer to the latest Fuel Bulletin https://www.wingd.com/en/documents/w-2s/fuel-
lubricants-water/diesel-fuels-for-wingd-engines.pdf/.
• For DF engines keep the LT cooling water set point at 25 °C to maintain a low (optimized)
scavenge air temperature. For Cylinder cooling water outlet temperature settings, see chapter 3.
• For Diesel engines the LT cooling water set point to be kept near the upper limit of the nominal
range of 36 °C to minimize effects of possible cold corrosion.

2. It is recommended to adjust the cylinder lubricating oil feed rate according to WinGD’s latest
guideline as provided by the Lubrication Bulletin https://www.wingd.com/en/documents/fuel-
lubricants-water/lubricants.pdf/ and the relevant OM.
Regular piston underside inspections are recommended to monitor piston running condition.

3. The exhaust gas temperature at cylinders’ outlets should be kept above 250 °C in order to avoid cold
corrosion, fouling of exhaust gas receiver and turbocharger nozzle ring. If the exhaust gas
temperature drops below this value, the engine power should be increased if feasible.

4. If the exhaust gas temperature gets too high (>450 °C at cylinders’ outlets) the auxiliary blower may
be switched to “continuous running”. However, it must be noted that not all auxiliary blowers and
circuit breakers may be suitable for continuous operation at electrical loads above nominal current.
This shall be checked with the respective maker.

5. The repeated switching on/off of auxiliary blowers must be avoided. If necessary, the auxiliary
blowers’ control must be switched to “manual operation” or operation in this load range must be
avoided.

Page 2 of 4
 Service
Letter SL-0009-1
6. Inspect and lubricate the bearings of the auxiliary blowers more frequently if considered necessary
due to more frequent operation of the blower. The flaps in the scavenging air receiver shall be
inspected more frequently.

7. A concern during continuous low load operation is the accumulation of unburned fuel and lubricating
oil in the exhaust manifold, as such deposits can ignite when the engine load is increased again. This
may result in severe damage to the turbocharger due to over-speeding. Therefore, it should be
considered to periodically (twice a week) increase the engine load as high as possible. However, at
least 70% CMCR power for minimum 1 hour to burn-off accumulated carbon deposits. The load up
must be done according to load up programme to avoid adverse piston running conditions due to
carbon deposits that have built up on the top land of the piston head and to avoid possible exhaust
manifold fire.
On Dual-Fuel (DF) engines operating in gas mode, the described regular loading up to high loads is
not required.

8. Exhaust manifold and other related components (scavenge air receiver, exhaust gas valves,
turbocharger grid, etc.) need more frequent inspections and possible cleaning. Depending on results
of inspections, the regular engine load-up intervals might be adapted if no excessive deposit
accumulations is detected.

9. An economiser may also require more frequent soot blowing.

3 Cylinder cooling water outlet temperature

In order to improve the piston running performance and to reduce the risk of cold corrosion in cylinder
liners, while the engine is continuously running at low loads, the temperature range of the cylinder cooling
water outlet is to be kept within the normal design range as mentioned in Table 3-1.
Table 3-1 Sample table caption
Engine type Outlet temperature Alarm Slowdown
RT-flex engines Setpoint: 90 °C 97 °C
X-engines Acceptable deviation: 60 seconds delay in
95 °C
steady state: ±2 °C Engine Safety System
DF bore size ≤ 82 transient: ±4 °C (ESS)

Setpoint: 80 °C*) 87 °C
DF bore size ≥ 92 Acceptable deviation: 60 seconds delay in
85 °C
steady state: ±2 °C Engine Safety System
transient ±4 °C (ESS)
*) The engine outlet temperature is lower than for other engines. The cylinder liner cooling water temperature is controlled engine
internally using a circulation pump.

For DF engines cylinder cooling water temperature settings please refer further to separate SL0004-1
(section 3) which gives advice on troubleshooting with cooling water circuit issues.

Page 3 of 4
 Service
Letter SL-0009-1
4 Contacts

How to contact WinGD

For questions about the content of this Service Letter, or if you need WinGD’s assistance, please contact your
nearest WinGD representative office.
If you don’t have the contact details at hand, please follow the link “Contact us” on the WinGD webpage:

https://www.wingd.com/en/about-wingd/contact-us/

Contact details of WinGD Service Partners:

For engine maintenance-, operation- support, service and other questions about operation and Service, please
contact the following link “Service Partners” on the WinGD webpage to find further information about our Service
Partners CMS and Wärtsilä Services Switzerland which can provide worldwide support.

https://www.wingd.com/en/service-support/service-partners/

© 2020 Winterthur Gas & Diesel Ltd. — All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, graphic,
photocopying, recording, taping or other information retrieval systems) without the prior written permission of the copyright
holder. Winterthur Gas & Diesel Ltd. makes no representation, warranty (express or implied) in this publication and assumes no
responsibility for the correctness, errors or omissions of information contained herein. Information in this publication is subject
to change without notice.

Unless otherwise expressly set forth, no recommendation contained in this document is to be constructed as provided due to a
defect in the engine, but merely as an improvement of the engine and/or the maintenance procedures relating thereto. Any
actions by owner/operator as a result of the recommendations are not covered under any warranty provided by Winterthur Gas
& Diesel Ltd. and such actions will thus be at the owner/operators own cost and expense.

NO LIABILITY, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, IS ASSUMED WITH RESPECT TO THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. THIS PUBLICATION IS INTENDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY.

Page 4 of 4