-
Changing regulations require complex engine designs and the test engine provides a platform for ExxonMobil to meet future industry needs.
-
ExxonMobil partners with ORNL to introduce the Enterprise, one-of-a-kind marine test engine.
-
The crosshead slow speed diesel engine, named “Enterprise” and commissioned by ExxonMobil, celebrated its first firing with an official ribbon cutting ceremony on October 24, 2016. The international oil and gas company chose ORNL as the site to develop and operate the test engine, which will enable research and development of next-generation cylinder and system oils for the marine industry.
-
Changing regulations require complex engine designs and the test engine provides a platform for ExxonMobil to meet future industry needs.
-
ExxonMobil partners with ORNL to introduce the Enterprise, one-of-a-kind marine test engine.
-
The crosshead slow speed diesel engine, named “Enterprise” and commissioned by ExxonMobil, celebrated its first firing with an official ribbon cutting ceremony on October 24, 2016. The international oil and gas company chose ORNL as the site to develop and operate the test engine, which will enable research and development of next-generation cylinder and system oils for the marine industry.
A new marine test engine unlike any other in the world is speeding up the development of next-generation lubricant technologies.
The crosshead slow speed engine, commissioned by ExxonMobil and housed at ORNL’s National Transportation Research Center, celebrated its first firing with an official ribbon cutting ceremony on October 24, 2016. The international oil and gas company chose ORNL as the site to develop and operate the test engine, which will enable research and development of next-generation cylinder and system oils for the marine industry. ORNL collaborated with MAHLE Powertrain and Seacoast who led the design and build of the engine. The test engine is a scaled down version of a cargo ship’s mammoth engine, which is typically three stories high.
“ExxonMobil could have gone anywhere in the world to do this project,” said Claus Daniel, director of ORNL’s sustainable transportation program. “But they selected ORNL because our researchers can apply the science capabilities needed in lubricants, tribology, fuels, engines, materials science, analytical chemistry and more to assist ExxonMobil in delivering new lubricant technologies to the marketplace.”
Marine engines are operating under more varied and demanding conditions, placing new challenges on lubrication. Changing regulations require complex engine designs and the test engine provides a platform for ExxonMobil to meet future industry needs.
“This (engine) is a dream come true that started in 2010 when we first floated this idea,” said John Fogarty, research team lead for ExxonMobil. “We wanted to put our engine here to have the expertise Oak Ridge provided.”
Next steps for the engine include running it at full speed to test and gauge the effects of new lubricants, allowing researchers to replicate a range of challenging operating conditions and to generate results that can translate to real-world application. The one-cylinder engine, dubbed the Enterprise, is expected to run 50 hours straight at one time.
ExxonMobil expects ORNL research will allow the Enterprise to live up to its name, ‘boldly going where no man has gone before.’
