The 109,000 Horsepower Producing Diesel Engine You’ve Never Heard Of…
This diesel gulping creation is a MONSTER!
The Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C is currently the largest and most powerful diesel engine found in the world today. It’s sole mission is to provide power for the likes of massive cargo container ships like the COSCO Long Beach. This vessel and others in its class are among the largest sea going vessels in the world. When giants need power to push them through the seas they turn to this beast.
The Finnish RTA96-C stands at 89 feet long and 44 feet tall and weighs in at a staggering 5 million pounds. The enormous engine runs on a heavy weighted mixture of diesel fuel to produce over 109,000 horsepower. Each cylinder is sized to produce 1,820 liters of displacement each. This behemoth can be sized from four to 14 cylinders in increments of 2. The two stroke 14 cylinder turbocharged diesel creation is capable of producing over 5.6 million pounds of torque at full speed. That’s enough to move just about anything across the ocean. The worlds largest container ship, the Maersk Emma is powered by one of these 109,000 horsepower monsters.
The internals of the RTA96-C are even more mind blowing. The crankshaft weighs in at close to 300 tons. This enormous metal piece keeps each of the 20 foot tall 5 ton pistons inline with their respective cylinders. Massive turbochargers help the Wärsilä work more effectively at any speed.
There have been over 300 of the RTA96-C and it sister engine, the RT-300flex96C, put into service since 2006. Each hour the Finnish sea going diesel devours over 39 barrels of oil to keep it running. It takes a crew of 25 installers over 6 3 months to assemble a 14 cylinder sized engine.
Everything about the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C is huge! Even the price tag is enormous as the turbocharged 14 cylinder variant breaks the bank at well over 25 million dollars. The video below is from a History Channel special on The RTA96-C. Some of the information is outdate but you will be able to see the massive engine in action.