It may shock you that a lot of the stuff we buy is made in China. In order to keep up with the mammoth demand for Snuggies, Shake Weights and other trappings of modern society, the Emma Mærsk makes the trip in four fewer days than the average container ship on a China-to-California run.


Oh, did I mention that the Emma Mærsk is the most vast container ship in the world? At over 1300 feet long, it weighs 170,974 tons and carries 11,000 twenty-foot shipping containers. To move this mammoth vessel at its cruising speed of 31 knots (vs. the standard 18-20), you'll need more than some puny nuclear reactor—you need the 109,000Hp Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C, a 44-foot tall, 90-foot long diesel engine.


The 14-cylinder, 2-stroke TRA96 aboard the Emma Mærsk weighs over 2300 tons and operates at a relatively pokey 102 rpm. Unlike traditional diesel engines, the RTA96-C forgoes the camshaft, chain gear, fuel pumps and hydraulic actuators in favor of common rail technology. Common rail technology uses a high-pressure fuel rail to supply individual solenoid valves rather than a fuel pump feeding injectors. This allows the engine to perform better at low revs and consume less fuel. Still, even with these efficiencies, it still injects 6.5 ounces of diesel in every piston for every cycle.

With 25 engines already in service and another 86 on order, these engines will drive globalization—right into your local Wal-Mart.

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[Wartsila - RTA96-C Wiki - Common Rail Wiki - Sodahead]

Monster Machines is all about the most exceptional machines in the world, from massive gadgets of destruction to tiny machines of precision, and everything in between.


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