World’s Largest and Most Powerful Engine
Deep within the bowels of cargo ships and tankers around the world, a monster lurks. It is a machine of such immense size and power that it boggles the mind: the Wärtsilä RT-flex96C, currently considered as the world’s largest and most powerful engine.
The RT-flex96C is a true giant among engines, with its fourteen cylinders that can generate 107,389HP with more than 7,000,000Nm of torque
— enough to power an entire suburban town.
The engine weighs 2,300 tons and stands 44 feet tall and 90 feet long – more than a four-story building. Redline is at 102 RPM, but the torque is enough to tear a tank to shreds.
Each of the 14 built-in cylinders devours 6.5 ounces of diesel in one cycle that produces 5700 kW of energy.
That might sound like a lot, but the engine is actually highly efficient and one of the least polluting of its kind, using common rail fuel injection and other technologies to reduce emissions and increase fuel economy.
You might wonder what kind of behemoth would need so much power. In 2006, the Wärtsilä RT-flex96C engine was installed and finally set sail on the Emma Mærsk, a cargo ship
that can carry 11,000 20-foot shipping containers at a breakneck speed of 31 knots, whereas most other ships in its class typically cruise with 20 knots.
