The technology group Wärtsilä, the Netherlands based Maritime Research Institute MARIN and Italian ship owner Grimaldi, have together successfully designed an Energy Saving Device (ESD), suitable for use by ships with Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPPs). Following model tests, and subsequent sea trials with Grimaldi’s ‘Grande Portogallo’, a 165 metres long Pure Car & Truck Carrier, fuel efficiency gains of 3.5 percent were confirmed. This translates into a pay-back period of only 1.3 years. According to Grimaldi; "The initial noon reports suggest a 5 percent decrease in the fuel consumption, but in order to get a more realistic value we need to record a wider range of data"
The work was carried out as part of the LeanShips project, under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 framework project for research and innovation. LeanShips aims at demonstrating the effectiveness and reliability of technologies that offer energy savings and emission reductions on a large scale. The result of the development work is a pre-swirl Stator, an energy saving solution, that for the first time ever was demonstrated to be suitable for use with CPPs. LeanShips was a four-year project and was completed in April 2019.
“This represents a major breakthrough in making ships with controllable pitch propellers more efficient, and therefore less polluting. We have earlier established some energy savings for ships with controllable pitch propellers, and now this new technology has been extended in line with the objectives of the LeanShips project,” says Dario Bocchetti, Corporate Energy Saving Manager, Grimaldi Group.
“Wärtsilä continues to collaborate with strategic partners to create greater efficiencies that enable both cost savings and better environmental performance. The Energy Saving Device developed through the Leanships project is one more example of successful collaboration that results in substantial customer benefits,” says Lars Anderson, Director, Propulsion, Wärtsilä Marine.
Wärtsilä and MARIN were earlier involved in the GRIP project, funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework programme, which successfully designed and optimised ESDs for ships fitted with Fixed Pitch Propellers (FPPs). This resulted in full-scale demonstrations that achieved a nearly 7 percent reduction in the required power of a bulk carrier vessel. LeanShips was the natural next step in the path towards meaningful reductions in energy consumption and exhaust emissions by shipping.
The completed programme showcases a successfully demonstrated case regarding design, installation, strength and load resistance, which fulfils the purpose of achieving efficiency improvement.
Link to video: Leanships - Low Energy And Near to zero emissions Ships
Image caption: The Energy Saving Device developed by the LeanShips project produces valuable fuel savings for ships with CPPs.
Vessel image caption: The Energy Saving Device was successfully tested on the ‘Grande Portogallo’, a Grimaldi Lines vessel. Copyright: Grimaldi.
Media contacts:
Mr Michel Ebben
Product Manager Propulsion
Wärtsilä Marine
Tel: +31 613 715 665
michel.ebben@wartsila.com
Ms Marit Holmlund-Sund
General Manager, Positioning, Marine Business Marketing
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: +358 10 709 1439
marit.holmlund-sund@wartsila.com
Mr Maarten Flikkema
Senior Project Manager
MARIN
Tel: +31 6 49 33 36
M.Flikkema@marin.nl
Mr Paul Kyprianou
External Relations Manager
Grimaldi Group
Tel: + 39 081 496 246
kyprianou.paul@grimaldi.napoli.it
All Wärtsilä releases are available at https://www.wartsila.com/media/news-releases and at http://news.cision.com/wartsila-corporation where also the images can be downloaded.
Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2018, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 5.2 billion with approximately 19,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
www.wartsila.com
The Grimaldi Group in brief:
The Grimaldi Group, headquartered in Naples, operates a fleet of over 120 vessels and employs approximately 15,000 people. Wholly owned by the Grimaldi family, it is a multinational logistics Group specialised in the operation of roll-on/roll-off vessels, car carriers and ferries. It comprises six shipping companies, namely: Grimaldi Deep Sea, operating in the transport of rolling cargo and container on the Atlantic routes and between the Mediterranean and West Africa; Grimaldi Euromed, specialized in the transport of rolling freight in Europe, in the Motorways of the Sea and in the transport of passengers in the Mediterranean with the Grimaldi Lines brand; Atlantic Container Line, which offers transport services for containers and rolling cargo between North America and North Europe; Malta Motorways of the Sea, shipowning company; Minoan Lines, operating in Greek cabotage for the transport of freight and passengers; Finnlines, operating in freight and passengers transport in the North and Baltic Sea.
The maritime connections are the core of an advanced logistics chain, which includes port terminals and road transport companies. The 21 port terminals owned/operated by the Grimaldi Group are located in 12 countries around the world: Italy (Salerno, Monfalcone, Civitavecchia, Catania, Gioia Tauro, Savona Palermo & Livorno), Spain (Barcelona, Valencia and Sagunto), Germany (Hamburg), Sweden (Wallhamn), Finland (Turku & Helsinki), Denmark (Esbjerg), Ireland (Cork), Belgium (Antwerp), Cameroon (Douala), Nigeria (Lagos), Benin (Cotonou). Most of these terminals are fitted with Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) facilities, warehouses and workshops.
www.grimaldi.napoli.it
MARIN in brief:
The Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) has been dedicated to furthering maritime understanding and knowledge since 1932. Today, MARIN is an internationally recognised authority on ship and offshore hydrodynamics, involved in frontier breaking research programmes for governments, the maritime and offshore industry, and navies. MARIN provides testing services and simulation and training consultancy.
MARIN has a cluster of the largest dedicated maritime research facilities in the world, comprising an enviable array of basins, simulation tools, measurement equipment and production tools. But most importantly, MARIN has motivated people that bring it all together. This highly trained team is dedicated to advance hydrodynamic know-how and applying it for the benefit of the maritime industry as a whole. A complete information technology infrastructure is in place for the support of research, production, business processes and knowledge management.
www.marin.nl
