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Fig. 1 – The Wärtsilä 50DF tri-fuel engine can switch smoothly from gas, via LFO
to HFO and back during operation.
The ultimate in fuel flexibility
AUTHOR: Thomas Hägglund, Product Manager, Gas Power Plants, Wärtsilä in Finland
The latest development of the
Wärtsilä 50DF engine, is a tri-fuel
engine that is able to run on natural
gas, light fuel oil (LFO) or heavy fuel
oil (HFO), offering optimum fuel
flexibility. With initial installations
in the marine sector, the engine is
now finding its way into the power
industry.
Fuel economy is always a major concern,
especially in these days of high gas
prices. The ability for marine and power
industry sector users to switch to the
most economical fuel is, therefore,
a capability that is of great value.
The latest Wärtsilä 50DF version
16 in detail
is based on the reliable and well-tried
Wärtsilä 46 HFO engine, now with ‘tri-
fuel’ capability. It is the first large engine
to offer such fuel flexibility. The Wärtsilä
50DF is intended to provide high output
with fuel flexibility, low emission rates,
high efficiency and excellent reliability.
The Wärtsilä 50DF is designed to
meet customer demands for a safe and
fuel-flexible engine, running on gas,
LFO or HFO. While the earlier design
of the Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engine
had the capability of switching over to
HFO operation, it involved stopping
the engine and changing fuel injection
valves. Now, however, the fuel can be
switched whilst the engine is operating.
Design overview
The Wärtsilä 50DF is manufactured in
configurations from 6L up to 18V, giving
950 kW per cylinder and a total maximum
mechanical output of 17,100 kW. It is
designed to give the same output whether
it is running on natural gas or on LFO/
HFO. The engine speed is 500 or 514 rpm
for use with 50 or 60 Hz applications.
It also has a maximum thermal
efficiency of 47% (± 0% tolerance),
higher than for any other gas engine.
The engine functions are controlled
by an advanced automation system
that allows optimum running
conditions to be set independent of
the ambient conditions or fuel.
Both the gas admission and pilot fuel
injection are electronically controlled.
This ensures that the correct air-fuel ratio
can be set for each cylinder individually,
and that the minimum amount of pilot
fuel can be injected while ensuring safe
and stable combustion. All parameters are
controlled automatically during operation.
The individually and electronically
controlled valves ensure that all
cylinders stay within the operating
window, avoiding knocking and
misfiring. This eliminates unnecessary
load reductions and shutdowns.
Operation
The Wärtsilä 50DF can run on most
qualities of natural gas. The nominal
design point is a methane number of
80. It is also designed for continuous
operation on LFO and HFO, without
reduction in the rated output.
The Wärtsilä 50DF operates on the
lean burn principle: the mixture of air
and gas in the cylinder has more air than
is needed for complete combustion. Lean
combustion reduces peak temperatures
and, therefore, NOX emissions. Efficiency
is increased and higher output is
reached while avoiding knocking.
Combustion of the lean air-fuel mixture
is initiated by injecting a small amount
of LFO (pilot fuel) into the cylinder. The
pilot fuel is ignited in a conventional diesel
process, providing a high-energy ignition
source for the main charge. To obtain
the best efficiency and lowest emissions,
every cylinder is individually controlled
to ensure operation at the correct air-
fuel ratio and with the correct amount
and timing of pilot fuel injection.

Wärtsilä has developed a special
electronic control system to cope with
the demanding task of controlling the
combustion in each cylinder, and to
ensure optimal performance in terms
of efficiency and emissions under all
conditions by keeping each cylinder
within the operating window. Stable
and well-controlled combustion also
contributes to less mechanical and
thermal load on the engine components.
Tri-fuel ability
The main development in the Wärtsilä
50DF is in the fuel system. The fuel
system has been divided into three: one
for gas, one for back-up fuel, and one
for the pilot fuel system. The separate
connection for the pilot fuel means that
pilot fuel is always present whether the
engine is running on gas, LFO or HFO.
The Wärtsilä 50DF is normally started
in diesel mode, using both main diesel and
pilot fuel. Gas admission is activated when
combustion is stable in all cylinders. When
running the engine in gas mode the pilot
fuel, which is always LFO, amounts to less
than 1% of full-load fuel consumption.
The amount of pilot fuel is controlled by
the engine control system. When running
the engine in back-up fuel mode, the pilot
fuel is also in use to ensure nozzle cooling
and to keep pilot fuel nozzles clean.
The engine can also be delivered
without the back-up fuel system. In this
case, the engine is started on pilot fuel
with gas admission activated when the
engine is up to speed. The synchronization
and loading is done on gas. The pilot fuel
consumption here is the same, i.e. less
than 1% of full load fuel consumption.
Gas supply: The natural gas is supplied
to the engine through a gas regulating
unit (GRU). The gas is first filtered to
ensure a clean supply, and the gas pressure,
which is dependent on engine load, is
controlled by a valve located in the GRU.
At full load, the pressure before the engine
is 3.9 bar (g) running on gas with LHV
36 MJ/m3. For lower LHV, the pressure
has to be increased. The GRU includes
the necessary shut-off and venting valves
to ensure safe and reliable gas supply.
On the engine, the gas is supplied
through large common-rail pipes
running along the engine. Each cylinder
has an individual feed pipe to the
gas admission valve on the cylinder
WÄRTSILÄ TECHNICAL JOURNAL 02.2007
head. Gas pipes on the engine can, if
requested, be of double wall design.
Diesel oil supply: The fuel oil supply
to the engine is divided into two
separate systems, one for the pilot
fuel and the other for back-up fuel.
The pilot fuel is elevated to the required
pressure by a pump unit. This includes
duplex filters, a pressure regulator, and an
engine-driven radial piston-type pump.
The high-pressure pilot fuel is then
distributed through a common rail pipe
to the injection valves at each cylinder.
Pilot fuel is injected at approximately
900 bar pressure, and the timing and
duration are electronically controlled.
The pilot fuel system is separated from
the back-up fuel system with separate
connections on the engine. The back-
up fuel is fed to a normal camshaft-
driven injection pump. From the
injection pump, the high-pressure fuel
goes to a spring-loaded injection valve
of standard design for a diesel engine.
Fuel injection valve: The Wärtsilä
50DF has a twin-needle injection valve.
The larger needle is used in diesel mode
for LFO or HFO operation, and the
smaller for pilot fuel oil. Pilot injection
Fig. 2 – Wärtsilä 50DF tri-fuel system.
Fuel injection pumps
for back-up fuel operation
Return fuel
Pressure
Pressure
Booster Booster
pump pump
unit unit
Main fuel tank Pilot fuel tank
LFO or HFO LFO
is electronically controlled and the main
diesel injection is hydraulically controlled.
The individually controlled solenoid valve
allows optimum timing and duration of
pilot fuel injection into every cylinder.
Since NOX formation depends greatly
on the pilot fuel amount, this design
ensures very low NOX formation while
still employing a stable and reliable
ignition source for the lean air-gas
mixture in the combustion chamber.
Gas admission valve: Gas is admitted to
the cylinders just before the air inlet valve.
The gas admission valves are electronically
actuated and controlled by the engine
control system to give exactly the correct
amount of gas to each cylinder. In this
way, the combustion in each cylinder can
be fully and individually controlled. Since
the valve can be timed independently
of the inlet valves, the cylinder can be
scavenged without risk of gas being
fed directly to the exhaust system.
Independent gas admission ensures
the correct air-fuel ratio, and an optimal
operating point with respect to efficiency
and emissions. It also enables reliable
performance without shutdowns,
knocking or misfiring. The gas admission
valves have a short stroke and utilize p
Injection valves
Common rail for high
Control
pressure pilot fuel
Return fuel
system
Pressure
M
Pilot fuel pump unit
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specially selected materials, thus providing

low wear and long maintenance intervals.

Injection pump: The Wärtsilä 50DF

utilizes the well-proven monoblock
injection pump developed by Wärtsilä.
This pump withstands the high
pressures involved in fuel injection gas to liquid fuel liquid fuel to gas
and has a constant-pressure relief valve 100% *
to avoid cavitation. The fuel pump is load ~80%
ready for operation at all times and ~0,5h
will switch over from gas to fuel oil Instant ~0,5h ~0,1h

if necessary. The plunger is equipped

with a wear-resistant coating.

Pilot fuel pump: The pilot fuel pump

is engine-driven. It receives the signal for
Gas LFO HFO Gas LFO HFO
correct outgoing fuel pressure from the
engine control unit and independently
sets and maintains the pressure at the In the tri-fuel solution the twin injection nozzles are used also for HFO operation.
required level. It transmits the prevailing The LFO pilot is in use also during the HFO operation.
*The time needed to reach full load on gas depends on the duration of HFO operation.
fuel pressure to the engine control system.
High-pressure fuel is delivered to each
injection valve through a common rail
pipe, which acts as a pressure accumulator
and damper against pressure pulses in the
system. The fuel system has a double wall
design with an alarm in case of leakage.

Seamless fuel switching

The engine can be switched automatically
from fuel oil to gas operation at loads
below 80% of the full load. Transfer takes
place automatically after the operator’s
command without load changes. During
switchover, which lasts about one minute,
the fuel oil is gradually substituted by gas.
In the event of, for example, a gas supply
interruption, the engine automatically and
instantaneously transfers from gas to fuel
oil operation at any load. Furthermore,
the separate back-up fuel system makes
it possible to switch over from LFO
to HFO without load reduction. The
pilot fuel is in operation during HFO
operation to ensure nozzle cooling and
to keep fuel nozzles clean. The pilot fuel
consumption is less than 1% of full load
fuel consumption. Switching over to LFO
from HFO operation can also be done
without load reduction. From LFO to
gas operation, the switch can be made as
described above. This operation flexibility
is the real advantage of the tri-fuel system.
Air-fuel ratio control: Correct air-fuel
ratio under any operating conditions
is essential to optimum performance
and emissions. For this function,
Fig. 3 – Instant change over from gas to HFO mode with the Wärtsilä 50DF
tri-fuel solution.
the Wärtsilä 50DF is equipped with
an exhaust gas waste-gate valve.
Some portion of the exhaust gases
bypasses the turbocharger through
the waste-gate valve. The valve adjusts
the air-fuel ratio to the correct value
independent of the varying site
conditions under high engine loads.
Extensive validation tests on HFO have
been carried out. One important issue
was whether the deposits that build up in
the engine after running for a long time
on HFO would cause problems during
gas operation. It was found, however,
that quite soon after switching over from
HFO to gas operation, the load could
be increased rapidly and deposits were
burned out quickly without problem.
Other developments
In addition to the tri-fuel system, there
are a few other notable developments in
the latest version of the Wärtsilä 50DF.
Lube oil system: One issue that arose
during development work was lube oil
quality. Normally gas engines are run
using lube oils with lower base numbers
(BN) compared to engines running on
HFO. There was a question of whether the
lube oil would have to be changed when
switching from HFO to gas, but tests
showed that the same lube oil could be
used, even when switching fuel. The lube
oil BN has, however, to be selected based
on the sulphur content in the back-up fuel.
The Wärtsilä 50DF has an engine-
driven oil pump and can be provided with
either a wet or dry sump oil system, where
the oil is mainly treated outside the engine.
Marine engines have a dry sump and
power plant engines a wet sump. On the
way to the engine, the oil passes through a
full-flow automatic filter unit and a safety
filter for final protection. Lubricating
oil is filtered through a full-flow paper
cartridge filter. A separate centrifugal
filter acts as an indicator of excessive dirt

18 in detail

Fig. 4 – The 300 MWe power plant in Sangachal will utilize the first tri-fuel Wärtsilä 50DF engines.
in the lubricating oil. A separate pre-
lubricating system is used before the
engine is started to avoid engine part wear.
Engine cooling: The Wärtsilä 50DF
also now has more efficient coolers.
The engine has a flexible cooling system
design optimized for different cooling
applications. The cooling system has
two separate circuits – high-temperature
(HT) and low-temperature (LT). The HT
circuit controls the cylinder liner and the
cylinder head temperatures, while the LT
circuit serves the lubricating oil cooler. The
circuits are also connected to the respective
parts of the two-stage charge air cooler.
The V-type engines are also available
with an open interface system where
the cooling circuits can be connected
separately. This makes optimized heat
recovery and an optimized cooling system
possible. The LT pump is always in serial
connection with the second stage of CA
cooler, while the HT pump is always
WÄRTSILÄ TECHNICAL JOURNAL 02.2007
in serial connection with the jacket
cooling circuit. Both HT and LT water
pumps are engine-driven as standard.
Turbocharger: The efficiency of the
turbocharger has also been improved.
The Wärtsilä 50DF is equipped with the
modular-built Monospex (single pipe
exhaust) turbo charging system, which
combines the advantages of both pulse
and constant pressure charging. The
interface between engine and turbocharger
is streamlined with a minimum of flow
resistance on both exhaust and air sides.
High-efficiency turbochargers with in-
board plain bearings are used, and the
engine lubricating oil system is used
for the turbocharger. The waste-gate
is actuated electro-pneumatically.
Moving into energy
The tri-fuel Wärtsilä 50DF was
introduced for marine use towards the
end of 2007. The tri-fuel capability is
useful in the marine industry since ships
have a demand for instant changeover.
For example, in LNG transportation,
typically LNG carriers are run on LNG
on their outward journey, but can select
to use the cheapest liquid fuel (HFO) on
the return journey, when all LNG has
been delivered to the receiving terminal.
In the past there had not been a great
demand for instant changeover in the
power generation business, but there could
be benefits. In some areas of the world
there may be a need for independence of
gas supply, as has been the case in parts of
Eastern Europe. This offers an economical,
feasible alternative if there is a lack of gas,
or where the gas supply is not secure.
Building a large power plant is a major
investment, and it is crucial to have
a guaranteed fuel supply. Having the
fuel flexibility that would be provided
by Wärtsilä’s 50DF would therefore
be of huge benefit. It would also be
useful in small power plants where p
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Fig. 5 – The Manisa power plant in Turkey with the first Wärtsilä 50DF engine for a power plant installation.

the gas pressure is low, or where the amount of pilot LFO for ignition). has already been shown in marine
gas supply is interruptible. Having However, it will also be able to run on applications, and now it is rapidly
to run on LFO as a back-up in such HFO if there is a problem with gas being applied to the power sector. This
situations is uneconomical, and for supply. It can also run on LFO and can first tri-fuel installation may be an
countries like Pakistan, the tri-fuel deliver the same power on all three fuels. indication of a trend in the region.
engine offers interesting opportunities. The success of this innovation
Certainly the demand for dual-fuel
capability has become more important
in the last few years. At the end of 2004,
Wärtsilä was awarded a contract for an
84.8 MW replacement and extension Wärtsilä 50DF main technical data
of an existing diesel plant at Manisa in Cylinder bore (mm) 500
western Turkey. The contract was the first Piston stroke (mm) 580
installation of a Wärtsilä 50DF for a power Cylinder output (kW/cyl) 950
Engine speed (rpm) 500, 514
plant. The installation allowed a change
Mean effective pressure (bar) 20.0, 19.5
of fuel from heavy fuel oil to natural gas.
Piston speed (m/s) 9.7, 9.9
Meanwhile, the first two Wärtsilä
Fuel specification:
50DF dual-fuel engines for Pakistan
Fuel oil Marine diesel oil
were supplied to two captive power ISO 8217, category ISO-F-DMX, DMA and DMB
plants at the start of 2006. Fuel Fuel oil Marine residual HFO
flexibility is an important factor in ISO 8217, category ISO-F-RMA 30 – RMK 700
Pakistan as the year-round supply of Natural gas methane number: 80
natural gas cannot be guaranteed.
Now the first tri-fuel Wärtsilä 50DF
engines for the power industry will
be used in Azerbaijan. In December 50 Hz/500 rpm 60 Hz/514 rpm
2006, Wärtsilä was awarded a contract 18V50DF 18V50DF* 18V50DF 18V50DF*
by AzerEnerji, the Azerbaijan state Electrical power (kW) 16621 16621 16621 16621
electricity company, to deliver a multi- Heat rate (kJ/kWh) 7616 8184 7616 8184
fuelled generating plant for a 300 MWe Electrical efficiency (%) 47.3 44.0 47.3 44.0
power plant to be located at Sangachal,
50 km south of the capital Baku. Heat rate and electrical efficiency at generator terminals, including engine-driven pumps, ISO 3046 conditions
and LHV.
The plant will consist of 18 generating Tolerance 5%. Power factor 0.8. Gas methane number > 80.
sets each powered by an 18-cylinder * Back-up fuel LFO or HFO. LFO pilot <1% in use when running on HFO.
Wärtsilä 50DF, delivering 17 MW. The
plant is scheduled to be fully operational
by October 2008. The engines will run
primarily on natural gas (with a small Table 1. – Wärtsilä 50DF main technical data.

20 in detail