A piston & piston rod assembly. The piston is at the top. The large square plate at the bottom is where the whole assembly attaches to the crosshead:


The engine is a bit different from the automobile engines. Notice that the connecting rod is not directly connected to the piston but to a crosshead which in turn is connected to the piston via a piston rod. This arrangement, I guess, is to avoid the sideway forces from impacting the cylinder. In the automobile, these forces and impact can change the cylinder into oval shape over time. Now multiply those forces manifold and you can appreciate why this arrangement is in place.


And once I was flipping through a Energy publication where it was claimed that Wartsila had got the biggest contract for a power plant to date worth over 230 million Euros. The order was placed by Duke Energy International based in San Jose, Guatemala.

So you can well gauge the scope of the things Wartsila is involved in. In the light of all this, I find his comments deviatory. But then again, you never know; he may after all be telling the truth.