Impact of defective turbocharging system on the safety and reliability of large marine diesel engine

Today huge capacity sea-going vessels are propelled by mega high-powered marine diesel engines, referred to as Main Engine. Turbocharging system is an integral part of large marine diesel engine plant, contributing to their safety, reliability, and efficiency. Defects in the turbocharging system could result in higher fuel consumption, erratic running of the Main Engine, and in the worst scenario may result in the stoppage of the Main Engine at sea. An inefficient turbocharging system may also cause major damage to turbochargers, resulting in undesirable accidents out at sea. To avoid such undesirable accidents and ensure smooth operations of the Main Engine, it is required to address this concern. The aim of this research is to study the turbocharging system for a large Main Engine using a Kongsberg engine simulator. Various malfunction of the Turbocharging system is considered, relevant data is collected and analysed. Moreover, a Fault Tree Analysis, (FTA) is considered to identify the top undesirable event which is the failure of the Main Engine. Based on the results of this study, various steps are suggested to avoid failure of the Main Engine due to the defective turbocharging system.