Record

breaker
ABB to provide power, propulsion
and automation for the world’s most
advanced port icebreaker

ANTHONY BYATT – To make sure the maximum amount of power possible can be
derived from marine engines such as those used in icebreakers, they are fitted
with turbochargers. ABB has a wide range of turbocharger solutions for marine
craft and are now to supply the new Power 2 800-M turbocharger for the most
advanced port icebreaker ever built, which is currently in planning for construc-
tion by the Vyborg Shipyard in Russia.

Title picture
ABB’s Power2 turbocharging solution provides the
power icebreakers need.

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W
hen John Franklin searched
for the North-West Pas-
sage in the mid-1800s,
he could scarcely have
imagined by just how much polar sea ice
would retreat in the following 150 years.
Now, large ocean-going ships regularly
ply sea routes along the north of Canada
and Russia. These shipping lanes almost
halve the time it takes to voyage between
the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans and
the routes are remaining ice free for ever-
longer periods, thus lengthening the
shipping season.
With this increased shipping presence
comes the increased need for icebreak-
ers. Due to the nature of the job they do,
icebreakers have to be of solid construc-
tion: Thick ice is not often broken by
ramming it, but by lifting the ship above
the ice and breaking it from above. Lift-
ing an icebreaker is no easy matter as
icebreakers have very heavy and robust
strengthening cross-members to protect
the vessel against the pressure of pack
ice ➔ 1. Further, an icebreaker’s hull dif-
fers from a normal hull in thickness,
shape and material: The bow, stern and
waterline are reinforced with thick steel
specially chosen for its low-temperature
performance and the hull’s shape is de-
signed to assist the ship to rise above the
ice before falling and breaking through it.
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All these additional features mean that an
icebreaker is much heavier than a normal
ocean-going ship of similar size.
Moreover, due to the immense strength
and often unpredictable nature of ice,
icebreakers are equipped to deal with
a plethora of potential dangers. For
e xample, pressurized air and heated
­
water jets may be forced out of the ship
under the ice to help break it or ballast
­w ater may be pumped rapidly around
the vessel to rock it a further assisting
ice breaking.
Clearly, icebreakers have to have power-
ful engines.
To make sure the maximum amount of
power possible can be derived from
the marine engines such as those used
in icebreakers, they are fitted with tur-
bochargers. ABB has a wide range of
turbocharger solutions for marine craft
and are now to supply turbochargers
for the most advanced port icebreaker
ever built, which is currently in planning
for construction by the Vyborg Ship-
yard in Russia. ABB will also provide
the power and automation capabilities
for the vessel.
The main engine will be fitted with
Power2 800-M, the most advanced
two-stage turbocharging system in the
industry, enabling highest efficiency tur-
bocharging performance.
Power2 800-M
Power2 is ABB’s dedicated two-stage
turbocharging system. Power2 800-M,
the second generation of Power2, is the
The main engine
will be fitted with
Power2 800-M, the
most advanced
two-stage turbo-
charging system in
the industry.
most compact turbocharger solution of
its kind. Space is at a premium in a ship’s
engine room and with this in mind, ABB
designed the turbocharging system to
1 Icebreakers have to have powerful engines and be of a robust construction
take up minimal space: This two-stage
turbocharging system is 20 percent more
compact than conventional two-stage
turbocharging solutions. Space saving
is especially critical in an icebreaker as
the extremely strong hull construction
of the vessel leaves less internal space
than would be available on an equivalent,
regular ship.
The Power2 800-M’s extractable cartridge
enables service to be completed in just
two steps instead of the previous six,
making maintenance easy and reducing
downtime and service costs.
On the icebreaker’s engine, the Power2
800-M will enhance fuel efficiency and flex-
ibility of operations. With up to 60 percent
less NOx emissions, the Power2 800-M
also substantially cuts discharges to the
atmosphere – an important aspect for
operation in the pure Arctic environment.
With a low-pressure and high-pressure
stage, the Power2 800-M provides
higher air pressure ratios – up to 12 from
eight in the previous generation. A sin-
gle-stage turbocharger can operate at
around 65 to 70 percent efficiency;
Power2 800-M exceeds 75 percent effi-
ciency and is the only system currently
available across the large-engine indus-
try with this capability.
The Power2 800-M responds to the need
for new marine engine technology to offer Power2 800-M is
consistency of performance across con-
ventional and newer marine fuel options. the most compact
This application will demonstrate the ad-
vances in efficiency and power density
turbocharger of its
now available for four-stroke engines kind.
that operate over a wide range of load
profiles and that face added demands
from various bodies who regulate emis-
sions. Once the icebreaker is constructed,
commissioned and operating in iced-up
port waters, the capabilities of the Power2
800-M will prove to be invaluable in pro-
viding the power to keep waters ice-free
for shipping.
Anthony Byatt
External author
ABB contact for further details:
Magdalena Okopska
magdalena.okopska@ch.abb.com
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