This Is the World's Largest Crankshaft — It Belongs to a 107,390-Horsepower Diesel Engine

This Is the World’s Largest Crankshaft — It Belongs to a 107,390-Horsepower Diesel Engine

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 15/03/2025 at 15:52

Updated on 15/03/2025 at 15:54

Foto: Reprodução

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Giant Engines Are Essential For Industries And Maritime Transport, Requiring Robust And High-Strength Components. The Largest Crankshaft Ever Built Belongs To A 107,390 Horsepower Diesel Engine, Impressing By Its Size And Capacity To Withstand Colossal Forces.

On social media, an image of an enormous crankshaft is often shared. Therefore, we decided to seek more information to better understand this engineering marvel. It is the crankshaft of the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C engine.

With 13.5 meters in height, 26.59 meters in length, and a weight exceeding 2,300 tons, the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C is one of the greatest achievements of modern engineering. It produces an impressive 80.1 megawatts (107,390 horsepower) and powers some of the largest container ships ever built.

The Wärtsilä-Sulzer manufactures several models of this series, all in-line, ranging from six to 14 cylinders. However, the most famous image of this engine circulating on the internet is actually from the smaller version with six cylinders, and not from the complete version with 14 cylinders.

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Impressive Technical Specifications

The dimensions and capacity of this engine challenge any comparison with conventional engines. Here are the key numbers:

Configuration: Two-Stroke Turbocharged Straight Diesel Engine, 14 Cylinders
Cylinder Diameter: 960 mm (38 in.)
Piston Stroke: 2500 mm (8.2 ft)
Displacement: 25,592 liters (1,556,002 in³)
Speed: 15–102 RPM
Power Per Cylinder: 5,720 kW
Total Power: 80,080 kW (107,390 hp)
Torque: 7,603,850 Nm at 102 RPM
Fuel Consumption: 250 tons per day
Crankshaft Weight: 300 tons
Weight of Each Piston: 5.5 tons
Height of Each Piston: 6 meters
Fuel Type: Heavy Fuel Oil

With a torque of nearly 8 million newton meters, this engine is equivalent to more than 11,000 Toyota LandCruiser Series 300 operating simultaneously.

Structural And Functional Differences

Although it follows similar principles to common diesel engines, the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C has notable differences:

The piston is not directly connected to the connecting rod, but rather to a sliding crosshead, which reduces lateral wear and improves cylinder durability.
Conventional diesel engines often experience ovalization of the cylinders over time due to the lateral movement of the connecting rod. The crosshead solution avoids this problem.
This is a two-stroke diesel engine, with uniflow exhaust, similar to Detroit Diesel engines.
The intake system is done through ports in the cylinders, while the exhaust gases exit through valves at the top of the cylinder head, hydraulically activated.

Efficiency And Economy

One of the most impressive characteristics of this engine is its thermal efficiency above 50%. This means that more than half of the energy contained in the fuel is directly converted into motion.

For comparison, common automotive engines have a maximum efficiency of approximately 25%.

Its fuel consumption is a crucial factor for its operation. A cargo ship can spend millions of dollars on fuel per trip, making the engine’s high efficiency essential.

*Here is the crankshaft for a ten-cylinder engine.*

The Engine Behind The Emma Maersk

The Emma Maersk, which was once the largest container ship in the world, is one of the sea giants powered by the Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C.

With a length of 397 meters and a gross tonnage of over 170,000 tons, this ship can transport up to 15,000 containers in a single trip.

At full speed, the engine can propel the ship to 25.5 knots (approximately 50 km/h), an impressive number for a vessel of this size.

The engineering of this engine has revolutionized maritime propulsion, ensuring that modern ships can operate more efficiently and with a lower environmental impact.

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This Is the World’s Largest Crankshaft — It Belongs to a 107,390-Horsepower Diesel Engine

Giant Engines Are Essential For Industries And Maritime Transport, Requiring Robust And High-Strength Components. The Largest Crankshaft Ever Built Belongs To A 107,390 Horsepower Diesel Engine, Impressing By Its Size And Capacity To Withstand Colossal Forces.

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This Is the World’s Largest Crankshaft — It Belongs to a 107,390-Horsepower Diesel Engine

Giant Engines Are Essential For Industries And Maritime Transport, Requiring Robust And High-Strength Components. The Largest Crankshaft Ever Built Belongs To A 107,390 Horsepower Diesel Engine, Impressing By Its Size And Capacity To Withstand Colossal Forces.

Major Oil, Gas, and Energy Event Will Take Place in Brazil: Macaé Energy Will Gather Petrobras, Equinor, Prio, Among Other Suppliers and Energy Executives for Business, Networking, and Employment Opportunities

Impressive Technical Specifications

Structural And Functional Differences

Efficiency And Economy

The Engine Behind The Emma Maersk

At just 14 years old, a boy creates a system without energy, using steel pipes buried in the ground, that irrigates seedlings with moisture from the air, to combat the water scarcity threatening reforestation in northern China.

Where there was only sand and wind at 40 degrees, China built a megacity of 500,000 inhabitants with farms, wineries, and universities in the middle of the desert using melted glacier water from hundreds of kilometers away.

At over 8,800 meters above sea level, the summit of Mount Everest is made up of rocks that originated at the bottom of an ocean about 500 million years ago and were pushed to the highest point on Earth by the collision of tectonic plates.

Japan finds an alternative to oil amid rising prices by transforming ocean balance into electricity with a new technology that maintains efficiency even when the sea changes.

Unimed is hiring candidates with and without experience! More than 10 job openings for Assistants, Analysts, Kitchen Assistants, and much more!

A 2,400-year-old iron foundry has been discovered in Senegal with 100 tons of slag, 35 furnace bases, and signs of nearly eight centuries of continuous metallurgical activity.

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