mtu 16V 4000 Engine for Brush

• First ever repowering of an English high-speed train with mtu engines
• Economical and powerful 1680kW engines deliver high reliability and low emissions
• mtu engineering for optimum integration in the power car

On 15th December 2004, the Leicestershire-based English locomotive manufacturer Brush Traction introduced a 16V 4000 diesel engine, produced by the German drive systems manufacturer mtu, to the trade press. mtu will be supplying two of the 1680kW engines which the rail leasing company Angel Trains has commissioned Brush Traction to install in the express power cars of a 125mph "Class 43" high-speed train. The train will be leased to the rail operator First Great Western (FGW). The mtu engines will each replace a Paxman (MAN) engine thus giving the 30-year-old power cars a new lease of life and providing an alternative to purchasing expensive new rail vehicles. The decisive factors in FGW's decision in favour of mtu engines were the low exhaust and noise emissions and the high degree of reliability as well as low consumption and the favourable life cyle costs which that entails. The new drive units are therefore able to match FGW's stringent economic criteria as well as meeting the international rail industry's current environmental standards. Integrating a modern diesel engine in an existing drive plant is a highly specialized task as the new engine has to be adapted to suit the technical characteristics and interfaces in the power cars. Series 4000 engines are ideally suited for this type of application and the flexible ECS-5 engine electronics system (= 5th generation Engine Control System) for rail applications enhances this advantage as it can be exactly tailored to match the existing drive control configuration.

mtu Engineering for optimum integration in the power car

mtu's vast experience in systems engineering is an added major bonus in ensuring successful engine integration. mtu's engineers have been working in close cooperation with their partners at Brush Traction during all the key stages of the project. Electronics specialists from Friedrichshafen are adapting the engine electronics to match the characteristics specific to this locomotive and have developed an entire electronic cabinet. The control and monitoring data needed are transmitted to the existing locomotive control system interfaces via the ECS-5 electronics. That also means that the train drivers can continue to operate the locomotive just as they have always done.

Extensive work on torsional and flexural vibration characteristics was necessary in order to achieve mechanical integration of the new drive plant and the whole resilient mount system has been re-designed and supplied. mtu engineers also re-designed the auxiliary power take-off coupling for the cooling plant.
Integration of a diesel engine preheater provides definite additional improvement in exhaust emissions during the engine-start phase as well as contributing significantly to the engine's longevity. The engines were also tuned specifically for this application at 1500rpm on mtu test stands in order to ensure optimum compatibility with the existing Brush traction generator.

Series 4000 engines: High on power, low on emissions

Series 4000 engines have demonstrated their advantages as modern drive technology for repowering projects but they have also gained an excellent reputation in new locomotives. Fitted with common rail injection technology and and an electronic engine management system, the 4000 Series combines high performance with economy and low emission levels. The engines are available in 8, 12, 16 and 20 cylinder versions with a finely graduated performance range from 850 to 3,000 kW. Up to the present, 1150 engines in this series have been ordered for rail vehicle applications and Series 4000 units are in service with over 25 rail operators in Europe and Asia.

SNCF, the French National Railway Company, is also implementing a repowering project with 69 multi-purpose BB66000 locomotives for each of which mtu is supplying a 1040kW 12V 4000 engine. Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) is likewise re-fitting 400 multi-purpose locomotives, Type V290/V294 with mtu Model 8V 4000 (1,000kW) engines for the operator Railion.

The new MaK 2000 diesel locomotive produced by the German manufacturer Vossloh Locomotives GmbH is just one example where Series 4000 has been selected for applications in new locomotives. Fitted with an mtu 20V 4000 engine developing 2,700kW, the MaK 2000 is currently the world's most powerful 4-axle diesel locomotive in its class.

In its role as a systems supplier, mtu also produces the PowerModule, a complete diesel-electric drive plant with a 16V 4000 engine delivering 2000kW. The PowerModule is installed, for example, in Siemens Transportation Systems' diesel-electric ER20 mainline locomotive. Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB have also ordered a hundred units which they operate under the designation Rh 2016 or "Hercules". Other ER 20 locomotives are in service elsewhere in Germany and in Hong Kong. One of the most recent large-scale orders has been placed by the French National Railway Company, SNCF: mtu is to supply a PowerModule for each of 400 diesel-electric locomotives in the BB475000 Series.