CIMAC at Marintec
Driving system integration is key to efficiency
Integration as a crucial feature on improving the efficiency of marine propulsion systems was the key theme of a seminar organised by CIMAC at the Marintec event in Shanghai in early December.
seminar in Shanghai, Stefan Müller, director of the marine application centre at MTU Friedrichshafen, clarified the event’s title: ‘Integrated marine systems for the future’. It referred to propulsion systems but, in his introduction, he made it clear that its impact was wider than that. “Global trade will continue to grow significantly with a need for competitive and efficient transport solutions that increase energy efficiency and reduce harmful emissions,” he said. “For engine manufacturers, this means reducing emissions and increasing efficiency of engines. In-engine solutions include addressing combustion systems, injection systems, electronics, exhaust gas recirculation and so on. Taking a broader approach involves addressing fuels, after treatment, heat recovery, combined and hybrid systems.” He said that managing technology also includes reliability and availability. Holistic approaches must also consider that system scope and complexity will increase to fulfil efficiency and environmental requirements. The industry will need qualified personnel, and automation will gain relevance. Giving a class society perspective Zhongmin
C
Yang, director of China Classification Society’s Shanghai Rules and Research Institute, said that suppliers have to respond to IMO emissions
regulations on SOx, NOx and CO2. “This has an impact on the technical development of marine diesel engines, including development of EGR, SCR and alternative fuels, as well as increased efficiency.” Prof Yang commented that the role of class is responding to this challenge by developing rules and technical standards, energy efficiency management systems incorporating technical research, application of results and the integration of information. “This should lead to optimised design, verification of product performance and assist shipowners,” he said.
58 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014
hairing the International Council on
Combustion Engines (CIMAC)
Considering future challenges in more technical detail, Karl Wojik, vice-president at engine supplier AVL List in Austria asserted: “System efficiency is the next big challenge for propulsion system technology.” He described current challenges as meeting low NOx and low sulphur requirements, for which solutions are being developed. “Tomorrow’s challenge is high energy efficiency for which there is a need to look beyond the engine. Key elements of integration include waste heat recovery (WHR), optimum plant layout, fuel and lube cooling systems, and the development of different configurations of hybrid systems.” WHR involves combined steam and power turbine driven generators adapted for utilisation of exhaust gas. Mr Wojik said that there is a need for
the right tools to optimise systems, including model-based development using simulators for engines, transmissions, batteries, electric motors, inverters and control strategies. He cited his company’s Cruise-M – a control system development for the main engine – and EPOS – a condition monitoring model-based development. “This leads to optimum route planning, reduced fuel consumption, lower emissions, and lower operating costs. System optimisation is a great opportunity for the future.” Mr Wojik later expanded on his remarks exclusively for Marine Propulsion; see Powertalk, in the last issue. Willie Wagen, director of ship power at
Wärtsilä Propulsion in Norway, talked about innovation. “Shipping will have a range of more sustainable fuels in the future – wind, fuel cells, solar, carbon capture, and others. Flexibility is needed.” He said: “Total efficiency is the key. Optimised vessel design, operations efficiency, hybrid machinery and distribution and energy storage will be increasingly important. There is a need to design ships [that are] optimised for their intended operation. The tool box to achieve this includes flexibility in fuels, energy saving, propulsion train design and smarter equipment and ships. Older ships will become obsolete or inefficient. It is a matter of adapting technology for marine applications, not re-inventing the wheel.”
Maximising a vessel’s total efficiency will reduce its consumption of fuel and other resources, as well as emissions. Its design and operation should be aimed at minimising the energy required to accomplish its desired
Stefan Müller of MTU Friedrichshafen chaired the CIMAC seminar in Shanghai
mission and the energy on board the vessel should be generated in an efficient manner and optimised for the prevailing conditions and the vessel’s task. Energy losses will be effectively avoided or recovered, using optimised vessel design, operation support, hybrid machinery and distribution, and energy storage. Mr Wagen said: “By applying available technologies to shipping, the industry’s environmental impact can be considerably lowered. In the vessels of the future all emission streams will be minimised. This clearly reduces the environmental
impact of shipping even
when shipping volumes become considerably higher than they are today.”
He commented that such fleet optimisation rewards the total value chain. “Fleet optimisation guides the vessel design and the effective use of the operator’s fleet. This ensures competitiveness, efficient operations and excellent environmental performance, with an optimal combination of fleet size, vessel size and speed.”
The main opportunities from this trend include more advanced newbuildings and huge retrofit opportunities. Against
this are the
challenges posed by the availability of fuels, available infrastructure and development of the necessary technology.
JuSeong Han, of Hyundai Engine and
www.mpropulsion.com
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