The more than 1,000 HP that rattle under the bonnets of some supercars are incredibly supporting characters in a world where displays of power they are many others. Of course, it is necessary to go beyond the automotive sector, but there are engines with exaggerated “cavalry”, and many of them.
The most powerful
And the Wartsilia-Sulzer RTA96C, which boasts science-fiction powers, weights and measurements: 2-stroke turbocharged diesel, 14 cylinders in line, more than 26 meters long and 13 and a half high; weighs 2,300 tons and develops 107,390 Hp with a total displacement of 25,480 cc and unitary capacity of 1,820 cc per cylinder. Maximum rotation speed 102 rpm and minimum 22! Consumption is adequate for the large power, 250 tons of diesel per day, and it seems to have been purchased for a value of more than 27 million euros. Built in Trieste by the Italian branch of the Finnish Wartsilia Group, this record-breaking engine is installed in a freighter of the Emma Mærsk Company.
Military ships
Italy has its flagship in the aircraft carrier STOVL (Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing, designed for vertical take-off and landing aircraft), considered “light”, the Cavour. 244 meters long overall, she carries her 30,000 tons up to 29 knots (at a cruising speed of 16 knots she has a range of 18 days) and is powered by 4 TG/GE LM2500s capable of 88,000 kilowatts, i.e. about 120,000 horsepower. It seems like a lot, but the “music” changes in the US Navy Nimitz-class superaircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, the largest in active service in the world. 337 meters long overall (at the flight deck) it is 48 wide and 76 high. Its two nuclear reactors can push it to over 30 knots (almost 60 kmh), despite its significant mass of more than 100,000 tons, and with an autonomy operational 90 days. The two reactors develop 600 megawatts which correspond to almost 816,000 horsepower. The news reminds us that, in these days, the Gerald Ford is completing the crossing from the Atlantic Ocean, from Norfolk (Virginia) to the Oslo fjord (Norway).
Cargo
The 109,000 HP Wartsilia was installed on a Maersk freighter, but even ships such as supertankers are no joke: the Seawise Giant, the largest in the world, now scrapped, had a deadweight tonnage of 564,763 tons and full load displacement of 647,955 tons, with a cargo of approximately 650,000 cubic meters (4.1 million barrels) of crude oil. Fully loaded, the ship had a draft of about 24.6 metres, excessive both in the English Channel and in the Suez Canal. To push it up to 16 knots (29.63 kmh), however, a 50,000 HP engine is sufficient, apparently a few for “half a kilometre” of ship, but the supertankers, due to their immense length and relatively low speed, have a coefficient very low drag (about 0.0005) compared to their weight, so it was possible to save on horsepower, especially to balance the accounts, given that the cost of the engine accounts for about 25% of the total ship.
Cruise ships
Typically less horsepower is needed for cruising, such as the Celebrity Reflection, one of the largest cruise ships in service, it is 319 meters long and 37 and a half wide, carrying passengers and crew up to 24 knots thanks to two MAN engines capable of developing “only” 22,500 HP, very few compared to the actual powers of the military.
Planes
The largest aircraft in operation today in the military and cargo fields is the Russian Antonov 225. It has six engines, a wingspan of 88.4 meters, reaches a speed of 800 kilometers per hour, is 84 meters long and 18.2 meters high (like a six-story building). It is propelled by six jet engines capable of 229 kN (kilograms/Newton) which are approximately equivalent, at take-off, i.e. at the moment of maximum power demand, to approximately 95,000 HP per engine, i.e. 570,000 total HP. For the sake of precision, however, it should be highlighted that kN cannot simply be converted into horsepower because the calculation should also be performed considering the speed factor, which changes as the altitude increases. When it was in service (1976-2003), for example, Concorde – the fastest airliner in the world – cruised at Mach 1.8 (2,179 km/h) but, once it reached a cruising altitude of 60,000 feet , you could move the throttles back and reduce thrust by up to 50%, while maintaining altitude and speed.
But even among the fighters there is no skimping on powers: the Russian Sukhoi Su-75 “Checkmate”, for example, is a fifth-generation stealth light multi-role fighter, still under development, and is the first single-engine fighter aircraft built in Russia and the first in the former Soviet Union since the MiG-21. It will have a speed (entry into service is expected within the year) of Mach 1.8 (2,179 kmh) – like the “older” Concorde – and will be powered by an AL-41F1 turbine engine capable of a thrust equal to 176 kN, that is almost 75,000 horsepower.
Trains
One for all, all-Italian glory, the Frecciarossa 1000 it is the most modern train in the Trenitalia fleet. Convenient and environmentally friendly, it is designed to travel on all AV networks in Europe. It can reach a maximum speed of 400 km/h thanks to the 16 powerful motors distributed on all the carriages which make the Frecciarossa 1000 a train capable of always making the most of adherence to the tracks. The power used is 9.9 megawatts/hour, i.e. 13,460 horsepower spent every hour.
Operating machines
Returning to the mainland, the primacy of powers belongs to excavators and bulldozers: in first place among the excavators we find the Liebherr R9800, the largest excavator in the world. It is manufactured in Germany and is intended for large-scale mining work. It measures almost 24 meters long by 10 and a half wide, and is almost 12 meters high. Its bucket has a capacity of 42 cubic meters (between 4 and 6 road trucks) and is powered by two diesel engines for a total of 8,116 total horsepower.
The largest bulldozer in the world is, however, one Acco Superdozer and dates back more than 30 years, but even today this great construction machine has not been surpassed. It weighs 183 tons, is more than 40 meters long and is powered by two 675 HP Caterpillar engines.
Like a T-Rex among dinosaurs, here is the gigantic dump truck Caterpillar 797F, payload of 400 tons, about 350 cubic meters of material. The 797F is almost 16 meters tall and is powered by a 4,000 HP (2,983 kW) Cat C175-20 engine, power that “makes headlines”, but depending on the fully loaded weight: 623,690 kilos.
So…
The list of this trip to the planet’s super cavalries, from ships to cargo via cranes and planes, could go on, ultra-powerful engines are installed in industrial applications, but it is useless to deny that the fascination of supercars remains unchangedeven if the power is much less than planes, ships and operating machines.
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