Volvo Penta produces most of its engine types in Gothenburg. Here the company designs, manufactures, documents and tests marine gensets and classified propulsion engines. The majority of the products goes to European and Middle East customers.
The Swedish company Volvo Penta, manufacturer of marine gensets, engines, drivelines and auxiliary engines, has subsidiaries in about 130 countries[ds_preview] all over the world. The company’s portfolio includes engines and gensets especially for smaller ships. These are coast guard vessels, patrol vessels, SAR boats and pilot vessels.
Other important businesses for the company are supply vessels, crew boats and windfarm service vessels. But also shortsea and river transport vessels are fitted out with engines and gensets of the Swedish company. These include inland barges and small but seagoing dry cargo vessels and tankers. Work boats, tugs and dredgers also use Volvo Penta’s technology. The same applies to fast ferries and passenger ferries.
Nearly 95 % of Volvo Penta’s products for the marine industry come from Sweden and almost 50 % of the turnover is generated by European customers. The Swedish production sites are located in Skövde, Vara and Gothenburg. The facilities in Vara and Skövde concentrate on marine diesel engines, whereas Gothenburg focuses on complete marine gensets. These gensets of the series D5/D7, D9, D13 and D16 have a power range from 62–477 kWe (kilowatt-electric). The plant also manufactures engines, especially heavy-duty propulsion and auxiliary engines. These products mainly go to the different European countries by truck.
Volvo Penta has other production sites all over the world. In Lexington, USA, the focus is on marine gasoline engines and in Lingang, China, the company manufactures marine engines that are mainly destined for the Asian market. Of course some of the gensets from Gothenburg are going to Asia, too. They are transported by seagoing vessels to the customers.
Marine gensets
In former times Volvo Penta used to produce its marine gensets in Norway and in the Netherlands. For more than ten years, however, the company has been manufacturing all of them in Gothenburg. About 1,000 gensets were delivered in 2007. Nowadays the figures are a bit smaller due to the shipping crisis, says Håkan Johansson, Business Development Manager Marine Gensets at Volvo Penta. According to him the company is able to deliver about 1,200 to 1,400 gensets as a maximum per year with today’s production capacity.
The generator is the main component that defines the complete genset. The requested power, frequency and voltage are the main factors here. The standard generator from Volvo is the so-called Stamford type. It is built according to IP23 standard. It is also possible to order IP44 protection.
Single and doublebearing as well as water-cooled generators are available. Concerning the engine it is important to know the requested frequency, cooling system, classification, IMO, flagstate and of course the delivery date. Volvo Penta delivers according to all major classification societies.
MCC genset system
Electrical commonality is the safe way to communicate with the engine. Volvo Penta offers the so-called Marine Commercial Control (MCC). The question is why to use the MCC when having the EVC (Electronic Vessel Control), a complete electrical control system with levels and displays?
According to Johan Alkner, Application Engineer at Volvo Penta, MCC would be the best choice for propulsion boats because it has many advantages in comparison with the EVC. If the customer needs classified engines he would have to go for MCC, Alkner says. In contrast to that, the EVC system is not classified. Another advantage of the MCC is that it is possible to customize and re-configure functions via a PC tool. Furthermore, yard-supplied sensors, valves, alarms etc. can be added. On the other hand, the EVC offers more plug-and-play features. Because of that it is proper for motor yachts.
The MCC genset system comprises a MCU (Marine Control Unit) control panel and a Shutdown Unit (SDU) Engine Mounted box. It is possible to mount the MCC genset system on the bulkhead. With the SDU users can shut down engine overspeed, coolant temperature and engine oil pressure. The MCU (Marine Control Unit) includes a 2,5 monochrome display, start/stop-function, alarm acknowledge, monitor MCU menu, basic settings, eight analogue inputs, 14 binary inputs, 14 binary outputs, PLC function and CAN and one modbus RS232 interface. The MCC system can be connected to the engine room, for example. The communication interface is mounted directly on the back of the MCU.
Testing of gensets and engines
All gensets and engines are fully tested by Volvo Penta before they are finally delivered to the customers. In Gothenburg the company has seperate test areas for gensets and engines. In the test area for gensets the company is able to test three gensets at the same time. This is quite useful, because often one customer orders more than one genset, says Johansson.
A test of a genset takes about three hours. At first the genset can be connected to external devices. The test starts with a warm-up phase. This is followed by a 60-minutes phase at 100% power. For the next 30 minutes the machine will be even tested at 110% power. After that the test runs for 15-minute periods at 75%, 50%, 25% and 0% engine power and under full load. The temperature of the engine can be regulated as well. The normal temperature is 25 °C, but it is possible to go up to 40 °C, explains Alkner.
The MCU as a component of the marine genset includes an individual software, which depends on the engine type. Another MCU with exactly the same software – it is a kind of a copy of the MCU at the genset – is integrated in the switchboard of the control room where every genset test is monitored. So if anything has to be changed at the machine during the test this can be done in the control room and there is no need to go outside to the genset. The computer in the control room receives all data from the genset and documents them in a test report.
Aftermarket solutions
The data of all gensets and engines sold by Volvo Penta go back to the company and are stored at a central server. If a customer has a problem with a product this ensures that the Volvo Penta engineers can check the data and consequently decide on what to do. For example they can organise the necessary components to be supplied. The earlier it is known what is wrong with the engine, the shorter is the time frame in which the vessel cannot be operated.
In addition to the large dealer network, Volvo Penta offers different kinds of service contracts, enabling the owner to have a clear picture of his future maintenance need and therewith to know the total costs of ownership. On top Volvo Penta offers with Volvo Action Service a hotline support, open 24 hours/day, 365 days/year. Moreover, Volvo Penta offers a customer-oriented warranty period of up to five years.
Thomas Wägener
