“By participating at Hamburg’s SMM we are underscoring our capabilities as an international manufacturer of large-bore pistons. Every other year, representatives of the shipbuilding and marine component community as well as trade visitors from all over the world congregate here and so this gives us an opportunity to cultivate existing contacts. We also take the opportunity to forge new ones, particularly with engine builders,” explains Wolfgang Hartmann, head of Large-Bore Pistons at KS Kolbenschmidt.
Included among the exhibits are pistons for all types of ships; these can be installed in the main propulsion system or in auxiliary units for onboard power generation as well as in stationary power plants. Also on view are pistons for locomotive drivelines. Among the versions on show are monobloc pistons made from steel, aluminum or nodular cast iron as well as pistons assembled from steel top sections and lower sections in aluminum, nodular cast iron or steel.
The large-bore pistons operate in the main propulsion systems and in auxiliary engines of such important cruise liners as Mein Schiff 5, container vessels and freighters; included in the product range are also pistons for power plants. At present, KS Kolbenschmidt supplies efficient piston systems in compliance with IMO II emission regulations as well as further regulations adopted by numerous nations. IMO II requires a significant reduction in nitrogen oxides on marine engines; even now, KS Kolbenschmidt is working on solutions to comply with IMO Tier 3 and Tier 4.
KS Gleitlager is showing bearing shells with a diameter of up to 360 mm for medium-duty engines as well as large-bore bearings of up to 360 mm diameter for the aftermarket. Besides electroplated bearings, composite steel bushes are also on show. Since many marine engine manufacturers also produce engines for farming machinery, special high-duty sputter bearings for biogas plants are there to be seen.
KS Kolbenschmidt and KS Gleitlager belong to the KSPG Group. The KS Kolbenschmidt Large-Bore Pistons unit is headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, and since October 2013 has also had a plant in Kunshan, China. With Germany-based plants in St. Leon-Rot, Baden-Württemberg, and Papenburg, Lower Saxony, KS Gleitlager specializes in high-precision sliding elements.
KSPG belongs to the Rheinmetall Group and, with sales of around €2.6 billion, ranks among the 100 biggest automotive-component suppliers worldwide. KSPG employs just under 11,000 people at 40 production plants in Europe, the Americas, Japan, India, and China