FINNISH INTENS PROJECT RESULTS IN SHIP BUILDING AND OPERATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Integrated Energy Solutions to Smart and Green Shipping (INTENS) project started shortly after the IMO had set its goals to reduce shipping’s total emissions by 50 percent by 2050 compared to 2008. The project was a Business Finland-funded research-industry collaborative project with the special focus on energy efficiency and emissions of ship energy systems. Since its inception, the project has developed over 60 novel software and hardware products leading to 26 new business projects. A further 15 projects are expected.
The INTENS consortium consists of 14 Finnish marine companies (Wärtsilä Finland, NAPA, Meyer Turku, Dinex Ecocat, Deltamarin, Vahterus, Protacon Technologies, Parker Hannifin, JTK Power, 3D Studio Blomberg, Jeppo Biogas, Visorc, Tallink Silja and NLC Ferry) and five renowned research organizations (Aalto University, Lappeenranta University of Technology, University of Vaasa, Åbo Akademi University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd). Additionally, the participants networked with participants from another 20 national and international projects.
Ship design company Deltamarin tackled the inherently complex ship design process where various experts work together with a broad range of regulatory and client requirements to develop a vessel design that meets design targets. The complexity is especially apparent in the early phases of the project when most of the trade-off decisions are made to set constraints and produce a set of possible solutions. The company’s research as part of the INTENS project demonstrated that by shifting the design effort to the early stages of projects, more design knowledge is available at the time when decisions are locked, leading to a more efficient design process with fewer changes in the latter design phases and fewer associated costs.
“We managed to take a huge leap in treating large amounts of ship operation data, and we have been building as earlier deliverable of the project the digital design platform for showcasing the importance to consider from the start of ship design relevant operational patterns which are combined to weather and various operational strategies,” says Mia Elg, R&D Manager at Deltamarin. “The latest results involved adding optimization as another ‘dimension’ to ship design in a way that it is integrated in the regular design process. In practice we get for the same amount of work hours (and price for customer) than any normal ship concept design, much more value to the project, since instead of single (5-15) simulated ship system scenarios we can analyse thousands of alternatives, and we focus our brain work to the selected few optimum. All of this is really useful in ship design projects, where all ships in the future must not only pass EEDI or EEXI, but also reach a certain intensity. The design speed or single dimension point might have very little to do with realistic or future alternative operational scenarios.”
A study by researchers from shipyard Meyer Turku and Åbo Akademi University developed a methodology for predicting onboard energy use on a cruise ship 24 hours in advance. The predictions are based on route plans and weather forecasts and include models of the engine cooling and waste-heat recovery systems in a case study involving four 4-stroke medium-speed diesel gensets with a total shaft power of 48MW.
Both engine and hotel energy use were considered, and machine learning was used to help predict energy consumption and demand. The researchers achieved an accuracy of around 97%, and the idea behind the work is to enable crews to understand how their actions affect energy distribution. Focused on cruise ships, the research demonstrates that optimising the scheduling of energy consuming tasks can boost energy efficiency onboard.
Aalto University researchers focused on optimising ship design techniques that involve novel ship energy systems such as batteries and fuel cells. Having multiple power sources require significantly more advanced decision-making systems, say the researchers. For example, energy storage systems alter existing models by decoupling the time of energy production from that of energy demand. To account for this, the researchers focused on developing online control methodologies that did not depend on a known future power demand profile and additionally introduced a new model for the optimisation of a ship’s speed profile under a fixed schedule.
They demonstrated methods to assess the impact of multiple new power systems through mathematical models that used measured operation profiles from case vessels. The models, along with machine learning techniques, enable a move away from heuristics and estimations, say the researchers, towards a more systematic approach that enables optimisation of the design, rather than just development of a workable design. The project resulted in several scientific publications and two doctoral theses: Optimization models for assessing novel low emission ship energy systems authored by Antti Ritatari and Optimisation Tools for Ship Speed Profile and Unit Commitment Problems authored by Janne Huotari.
Researchers from LUT University worked on the development of a digital twin for an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) heat recovery system as a way of increasing cycle efficiency by continuously assessing its performance using a physics-based dynamic model built from a physical-to-virtual twinning process. Using a lab-based ORC system, the researchers modelled the high-speed turbogenerator, pre-feed pump and heat exchanger components such as the condenser, evaporator and recuperator. The digital twin was developed based on thermodynamic models of the ORC system and was successfully used to estimate performance under different operating conditions. The researchers are now working on two-way communication between the physical and the virtual twin with the aim of making it available for marine waste heat recovery systems in the future.
Maritime software, services and data analysis provider NAPA worked on a new generation of its routing algorithm, which now considers navigational restrictions, wind, sea and tidal currents, waves and swell, and water depth. The company’s product, NAPA Voyage Optimization, further iterated throughout the project, provides users with a highly detailed, real-time picture of the factors that will affect a voyage and how to manage them.
Pekka Pakkanen, Executive Vice President, NAPA Shipping Solutions described NAPA’s innovative approach to collaborative and holistic voyage planning and monitoring, specifically for large merchant fleets. The approach aims to increase transparency and reduce conflicts of interest by connecting ship operators, charterers and crew so they work on a single voyage plan. “INTENS helped us make this a reality. As part of the usability and user experience research, NAPA utilized external experts to speed up the process and accumulate know-how in-house, resulting in a significant impact on our product development approach. Almost all the lessons learned during the project are taken into use in our product development activities today.”
INTENS was also a success and expectation-exceeding story for Wärtsilä, says Technical Manager, Pasi Juppo, from Wärtsilä Marine Solutions. “Over 80% of NOx emissions reduction, 50% total hydrocarbon content (THC) reduction and around 2%-unit efficiency improvement have been achieved with novel advanced technologies. This would have not been possible without a good collaboration with the universities and partners.”
Researchers from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Dinex Finland and Wärtsilä studied the performance of a methane oxidation catalyst as a way of reducing methane slip. Their research evaluated emissions from a medium speed low-pressure, dual-fuel engine as a starting point to understanding its performance.
While CO2 emissions are lower than diesel when burning natural gas, methane emissions are higher, as natural gas is mainly methane, a strong greenhouse gas. Oxidation catalysts are a promising option for reducing this, however, the challenge is catalyst deactivation with as little as 1 ppm SO2 present in the exhaust gas has been shown to inhibit its performance.
The researchers tested the catalyst on a Wärtsilä Vasa 4R32, a four-cylinder medium-speed 4-stroke marine engine retrofitted for dual-fuel operation and the subsequently on a passenger car gasoline engine that was modified to run with natural gas. In the later experiments, the catalyst achieved methane oxidation rates of 70-80% at first, but then declined in performance. When a SOx trap was placed upstream of the catalyst, it effectively protected the catalyst against sulphur poisoning and methane oxidation rates were 10-15% higher.
The researchers concluded that the catalyst can be an effective way of managing methane slip. “As it is an after-treatment system, it has potential for both new vessels and retrofits of existing vessels.” However, they stated that further studies are needed to optimise the catalyst’s performance at different engine loadings and in transient loading relevant in vessel operation.
INTENS Project Coordinator, Zou Guangrong, from VTT, said: “Although the project itself has come to an end, the fruitful collaboration and co-innovation among the INTENS partners is continuing in many ways. The direct and indirect research and business impacts will be surely visible, not only generating scientific and technological innovations but also creating sustainable and globally competitive businesses, and hence strengthen Finland’s green and innovative global image in the years to come.”
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