NEW DESIGN PLATFORM TARGETS INTEGRATION OF MULTIPLE LOW-EMISSION TECHNOLOGIES

The three-year deCarbonising sHipping by Enabling Key technology symbiosis on real vessel concept designs (CHEK) project will get underway in June 2021. It is being undertaken by a consortium consisting of the University of Vaasa, Wärtsilä, BAR Technologies, Cargill Ocean Transportation, Climeon, Deltamarin, Hasytec Electronics, Lloyds Register, MSC Cruises, Silverstream Technologies and the World Maritime University.

The project will design a Kamsarmax bulk carrier that will use wind energy and a Meraviglia-class cruise ship that will operate with a Wärtsilä engine running on hydrogen fuel. It is estimated that by combining these and other technologies, including batteries, heat recovery, air lubrication and new anti-fouling technology, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by 99%, energy savings of up to 50% can be achieved and black carbon emissions can be cut by more than 95%. Several key enabling technologies will be demonstrated in practice on actual operational ships.

“Shipping of the future must combine emerging technologies into a systemically symbiotic entity,” says CHEK project coordinator, Dr. Suvi Karirinne, who heads VEBIC, University of Vaasa’s energy and sustainability research platform. To support this, the project will develop the Future-Proof Vessel Design Platform to provide a way of combining new technologies as favourably as possible. It is expected to then also be applied to other vessel types, such as tankers, container ships, general cargo vessels and ferries.

MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMISATION

A central challenge will be identifying how each solution contributes to overall CO2 emissions reductions. Mia Elg, R&D Manager at Deltamarin, says the company will use its digital design tools including energy simulations as a starting point to resolving what she considers will be very complex, multi-objective optimization problems.

“Many of the ships we design today will still be in operation in 2050, so it’s exciting to be an engineer today!” However, she says that it is also important to remember that the best fuel savings are actually the result of having a smart operational strategy as well as an optimized design and new technologies. There’s still much to be saved by simple operational optimisation such as slow steaming, minimising port times and weather routing. For some ships, this can lead to savings of around 20%, although in others, shipowners believe that they’ve done all they can, says Elg.

Another important component is the vessel design optimisation including hullform, maximising cargo capacity and the combination of technologies such as waste heat recovery, batteries and wind power. A third path to decarbonisation is zero or low-carbon fuels.

Elg emphasises the growing importance of teamwork, not just designer, shipowner and yard but also, increasingly, technology and data providers. Deltamarin has been building capability to facilitate this. A previous research project resulted in the company being capable of analysing larger amounts of data, faster, for its energy models and simulations. They can now also be run in a cloud environment.

“It’s really important to establish the savings claimed by technology providers,” says Elg. “But how do we actually, technically, do that? How do we actually get enough data to simulate the energy savings, because, for sure, we are not going to be sharing all the relevant, detailed models protected by IP. We have to establish good ways of sharing the data so that we can all have our own IP protected while being able to simulate, together, what the combined result is of all the technology and operational design choices we’re making.” She notes that many of the partners have already worked together extensively and is positive about the project’s success.

WIND-ASSISSTED BULKER

Consortium partner BAR Technologies aims to achieve annualised savings of up to 30% via its solid wing sail array, WindWings, for the Cargill Kamsarmax bulk carrier. The vessel will also feature energy storage, waste heat recovery, air lubrication and an automated, optimised vessel routing system to take advantage of prevailing and forecast wind conditions.

Wärtsilä’s contributions to the bulk carrier concept will include system integration, including hybridisation, energy storage and shore power connections. The company will also be developing a compact and modular fuel-flexible 4-stroke powertrain for reduced fuel consumption and optimum efficiency.

An increasing amount of wind assist means the engine load decreases for the same service speed, so more output flexibility is needed from the powertrain. Wärtsilä will focus on medium speed engine designs to provide this flexibility, as the classic two-stroke and controllable pitch propeller layout may no longer be the optimum solution.

Sebastiaan Bleuanus, General Manager for research coordination and funding at Wärtsilä, notes that traditionally these bulk carriers would sail at 12.5 knots, but it is now typically 10 knots. With around 30% of propulsive power provided by the WindWings, the engine load will be even lower. “We need a lot more operational flexibility,” he says. “We’re sure the conventional layout is not optimum, so one of our major development items here is to determine what the best power train would actually be. Would it be one single engine, driving a single propeller through a gearbox? Would it be diesel-electric? Would it be two engines, one twin-in, single-out gearbox driving a single propeller? And on top of that, we will be working on route optimization to take maximum advantage of anticipated wind conditions.”

A gate rudder system, consisting of a rudder either side of the propeller rather than behind it, offers enhanced manoeuvrability and better efficiency and is expected to reduce fuel consumption by around 10%. With the rudders situated beside the propeller, the total propulsion train is reduced in length, freeing up more space for cargo or passengers. The actual savings will be modelled using CFD techniques rather than at full-scale. “Quite simply, if you want to test all of these technologies at full-scale, you will run out of money,” says Bleuanus. “The gate rudder can be done quite well using CFD, and by doing it virtually, we free up funds for other things, like the sails, which we were very keen on to demonstrate in practice.”

HYDROGEN FUELLED CRUISE SHIP

The cruise ship will operate with a gate rudder system and a Wärtsilä designed engine running on hydrogen fuel. Wärtsilä is doing the engine development including injection technology, with the University of Vaasa responsible for the fuel system, piping, pressure controls and bunkering stage. Wärtsilä has already demonstrated its current internal combustion engines can operate on LNG mixed with 20% hydrogen. The goal now is pure hydrogen which could take two years of development, leaving the third year of the project for lab-based demonstration.

Senior Project Manager, Kenneth Widdel, who will lead Wärtsilä’s participation in CHEK, emphasises that the project will look at the vessel designs from a total cost of ownership perspective. “We’re not just stacking on different technologies. Rather, we are seeing how they work and interact together and how to get the best out of that interaction.” He says that optimising system integration, energy flows and waste heat recovery will be key components, particularly for the cruise ship design effort.

The CHEK project dovetails with Wärtsilä’s extensive investments in developing an ecosystem of co-creation including the company’s Smart Technology Hub in Vaasa. “There is no silver bullet to meeting the challenge of combating climate change,” says Jonas Åkerman, Director of Research and Technology Development at Wärtsilä. “You need to exploit a number of parallel paths, and that’s exactly what we are doing together with our partners here. What makes the project so exciting is that we are stretching what is economically viable to be done.”

RULE DEVELOPMENT

In February, Lloyd’s Register (LR) released its Guidance Notes for Fuel System Risk Assessments, Hazard Identification – Hydrogen, and the project will contribute towards LR’s work to build on the guidance to develop Rules to ensure that the risks of using hydrogen as a fuel are mitigated. “The work being undertaking on this project on design, risk assessment and testing of the hydrogen engines will be a useful in strengthening the Rules and our understanding of the safety aspects of hydrogen as a fuel,” says Chris Hughes, LR’s Global Lead, Shipping Markets.

“For several of the technologies included in the project, we are starting from a relatively strong point in terms of existing rules and experience. For some of the newer technologies, there are safety challenges that need to be considered, and the project includes work packages that investigate these and assess the risk of the solutions developed.”

WHAT THE INDUSTRY WANTS

LR’s scope also includes work on modelling the efficiency gains, assessing infrastructure requirements beyond the ships and development of new commercial models that will facilitate the uptake of the solutions developed. Hughes says having end-users such as Cargill and MSC Cruises involved ensures that the technology solutions developed are practical, viable and what the industry ultimately wants.