British Polar Engines
Encyclopedia
British Polar Engines is a manufacturer of diesel engine
s based in Glasgow
, Scotland
. The company has over seventy years' experience in the manufacture and supply of spare parts for diesel engines. The engine and company take their name from the engine supplied to Amundsen
's Fram
, from which he conquered the South Pole
.
s and industrial generating sets
. Their engines are in a variety of vessels, including ferries, warships, fishing boats and small tugs. They supply suitable replacement parts for a variety of engines, including all E, I, M, N and T ranges of Polar engines and former NOHAB
and Wärtsilä
engines. They also supply a full range of parts for the Admiralty Standard Range ASR1 engines found in Oberon class submarine
s and Leopard class frigate
s.
The works have been organised to provide a continuous flow of engine components through the machines to the assembly bays. Extended inspection, test bed and storage facilities contribute to increased output of finished engines. The company are specialists in the servicing and maintenance of diesel engines for all applications. It inspects, machines and overhauls all engine components, including crankshaft
s, cylinder head
s, connecting rod
s, fuel equipment and engine pumps. There are in-house testing facilities for engines from 20HP to 2,500HP and generating sets up to 2 Megawatt.
in the Fram
was conquering the South Pole
, and it is from that successful expedition that the engine derives its name.
Other ships that have made history with Polar engines include the Girl Pat, the rescue tugs , and Canadian sealer, , chosen for the 1956 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
.
British Polar engines were of the two-cycle type, built under license from Nydqvist & Holm, Trollhättan
, Sweden
. Their development has continued over the years. The basic design with airless injection was introduced in 1928. It was an immediate success: reliable, economic, easy to manoeuvre and remarkably simple in design and construction. This early design has been developed and extended to a wide range of engine sizes covering powers from 300 bhp without supercharging.
In 2000, the company purchased Kelvin Diesels
, concentrating engine production at Helen Street in Glasgow.
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s based in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The company has over seventy years' experience in the manufacture and supply of spare parts for diesel engines. The engine and company take their name from the engine supplied to Amundsen
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage....
's Fram
Fram
Fram is a ship that was used in expeditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912...
, from which he conquered the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
.
Company
British Polar Engines manufactures, supplies and installs medium speed marine diesel engineDiesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s and industrial generating sets
Diesel generator
A diesel generator is the combination of a diesel engine with an electrical generator to generate electrical energy....
. Their engines are in a variety of vessels, including ferries, warships, fishing boats and small tugs. They supply suitable replacement parts for a variety of engines, including all E, I, M, N and T ranges of Polar engines and former NOHAB
NOHAB
NOHAB was a manufacturing company in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden.The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad as a manufacturer of turbines for hydraulic power plants...
and Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...
engines. They also supply a full range of parts for the Admiralty Standard Range ASR1 engines found in Oberon class submarine
Oberon class submarine
The Oberon class was a 27-boat class of British-built diesel-electric submarines based on the successful British Porpoise-class submarine....
s and Leopard class frigate
Leopard class frigate
The Type 41 or Leopard class were a class of anti-aircraft defence frigates built for the Royal Navy and Indian Navy in the 1950s. These ships were designed to provide anti-aircraft escorts to convoys, as a result they were not built for fleet speeds and made only...
s.
The works have been organised to provide a continuous flow of engine components through the machines to the assembly bays. Extended inspection, test bed and storage facilities contribute to increased output of finished engines. The company are specialists in the servicing and maintenance of diesel engines for all applications. It inspects, machines and overhauls all engine components, including crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
s, cylinder head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...
s, connecting rod
Connecting rod
In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. Together with the crank, they form a simple mechanism that converts linear motion into rotating motion....
s, fuel equipment and engine pumps. There are in-house testing facilities for engines from 20HP to 2,500HP and generating sets up to 2 Megawatt.
Polar diesel engines
The first Polar two-cycle engine was installed in a sea-going vessel in 1907. In 1911, the first motor vessel to cross the Atlantic, the Swan Hunter built ore carrier Toiler, was powered by a Polar engine. At about the same time Roald AmundsenRoald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage....
in the Fram
Fram
Fram is a ship that was used in expeditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912...
was conquering the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
, and it is from that successful expedition that the engine derives its name.
Other ships that have made history with Polar engines include the Girl Pat, the rescue tugs , and Canadian sealer, , chosen for the 1956 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The 1955–58 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole...
.
British Polar engines were of the two-cycle type, built under license from Nydqvist & Holm, Trollhättan
Trollhättan
Trollhättan is a city and the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 44,498 inhabitants in 2005. It is located 75 km north of Sweden's second-largest city, Gothenburg....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Their development has continued over the years. The basic design with airless injection was introduced in 1928. It was an immediate success: reliable, economic, easy to manoeuvre and remarkably simple in design and construction. This early design has been developed and extended to a wide range of engine sizes covering powers from 300 bhp without supercharging.
In 2000, the company purchased Kelvin Diesels
Kelvin Diesels
Kelvin Diesels is a manufacturer of marine diesel engines based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company's engines are used in a variety of vessels such as fishing boats and small tugs.- History :...
, concentrating engine production at Helen Street in Glasgow.