MAN Energy Solutions announced in late April that its MAN 175D engine is formally approved for operation on biofuels, effective immediately.

This applies to all standard biofuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), also referred to as renewable diesel, and fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), also known as biodiesel, up to a content of 100 percent.

MAN stated, “Crucially, the engine itself does not require any technical adjustments, following the announcement.”

Florian Keiler, head of high-speed sales for MAN Energy Solutions, said, “MAN Energy Solutions prepares its engines for operation on future and sustainable fuels and the MAN 175D is no exception. Several such units have been running on up to B30 biofuel in commercial, as well as governmental, applications for several years already where our experience has been very good and shown that the 175D does not suffer any loss in performance even when using these fuels. Due to its state-of-the-art design, just a few engine components are subject to slightly higher wear, depending on the amount of biofuel and the duration of operation. For uninterrupted engine operation, only minor adaptations of the fuel-treatment system are necessary.”

Due to the lower energy content of FAME fuels, the engine’s maximum-continuous rating (MCR) would drop if no correction measures were applied.

Therefore, MAN Energy Solutions has developed a solution that allows the correction of the load by means of a fuel-adaption control ensuring full MCR power, also when operating with 100 percent FAME fuels.

MAN Energy Solutions developed the MAN 175D engine range to supplement and complete its product portfolio in the maritime sector.

In three variants of 12, 16 and 20 cylinders, the engine is available with an output ranging from 1,500 to 4,400 kilowatts and is optimized for propelling ferries, offshore supply vessels, tugboats and other working vessels.

Other market areas, such as super-yachts and naval-marine applications, are also served by additional, specialist model versions.

It is also an extremely ecofriendly engine, according to MAN, being designed from the outset with compliance to the latest, as well as future, exhaust-gas emission requirements and utilizes a very compact and flexible selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system, which enables vessel designers to optimize space aboard to the maximum.