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Wärtsilä has launched a two-stroke engine optimisation technology for selected Wärtsilä RT-flex and earlier deliveries of X-type twostroke engines after successfully trialling the technology. The Fuel Efficiency Boost improves 26 Japanese ammonia consortium
A Japanese consortium including Mitsui, Imabari Shipbuilding, Itochu and ClassNK is collaborating in a project to develop ships designed to use ammonia as fuel, using a MAN ES ammoniafuelled engine as the prime mover. 30 First ABB Turbo deliveries
The first delivery of ABB Turbo’s new A255-L was scheduled to take place in early May 31 First THS2 reference
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding’s (MES) has achieved a first reference for its updated turbo hydraulic system (THS2). The order was received in February for installation on a Mitsui-MAN B&W 7S65ME-C8.5 engine for a 208,000dwt bulk carrier.
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Leader Briefing Carlo Cecchi of Yaskawa/
The Switch offers a personal perspective on the transformation in Asian shipowners’ attitudes towards hybrid technology. 38
Design for Performance
Amid constraints on further expansion for ropax dimensions, ship designers are looking at other approaches to improving efficiency to meet looming targets, Kari Reinikainen hears. 40 Ship Description
Two advanced new ethylene-capable liquefied gas carriers from Jiangnan Shipyard will feature bilobe cargo tanks, affording considerable scope as to liquefied gas cargoes, writes David Tinsley. Social Media
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Sign up for FREE at: www.motorship.com/enews REGULARS The Motorship’s Propulsion & Future Fuels Conference will 17-19 November 2020 in Hamburg, Germany.
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FEATURES
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10 The MIDAS touch
Modular approaches offer advantages but definitions of modularity vary upon whether you are addressing engine designers, system integrators or class society engineers, Stevie Knight discovers.
14 Step change
Hans Jensen Lubricators’ new lubrication system for two-stroke engines eliminates the need for cylinder lubrication pumps and offers a significant reduction in CLOC rates.
17 Fuel flexible injection
WinGD is refining a fuel flexible injection system to explore various liquid alternative fuels.
18 FuelSave’s commercial bow
As FuelSave’s air port injection technology receives its first orders, the company eyes the 2-stroke market.
20 Hydrogen vector R&D
Wärtsilä’s Kaj Portin discusses the progress of Wärtsilä’s ammonia and hydrogen research, and identifies some of the technical challenges as the company targets initial tests by 2022.
100 YEARS
2020
The Motorship’s Propulsion & Future Fuels Conference will take place on 17-19 November 2020 in Hamburg, Germany. Stay in touch at propulsionconference.com The Motorship’s Propulsion & Future Fuels Conference will take place on 17-19 November 2020 in Hamburg, Germany. Stay in touch at propulsionconference.com
VIEWPOINT
NICK EDSTROM | Editor nedstrom@motorship.com
I became personally interested in how heuristics, or mental short cuts, could have real-life impacts on businesses while covering the iron ore trade in China. Well-established traders marketing ore from India to China were affected when an export ban was introduced in India.
Why did some well-established traders fail to heed the warning signs? Specific answers might relate to misjudgements about FMG’s likelihood of ramping up production, or shifts in the domestic Indian steelmaking raw materials supply/demand balance, or northeastern Chinese mills’ appetite for low grade ore. But the wider point is the innate difficulties we experience accurately assessing the likelihood and effect of high probability/low impact and low probability/high impact risks.
The concept has entered popular culture, where tail risks, Black Swans and the like have entered common parlance. Author Michael Lewis has returned to our tendency to ‘misprice’ risks and opportunities, touching on the theme repeatedly in books from Moneyball to The Big Short.
While shipowners and operators need no introduction to risk management, the impact of uncertainties about the types of fuel that the industry will use in the future is a concern. Potential regulatory changes, such as the Green Deal in the EU, could also alter the basis of calculations.
One of the potential solutions to the challenge of preparing vessels for the emergence of new fuel types after 2030 would be for the industry to embrace greater modularity. Stevie Knight examines moves towards including greater flexibility in fuel types in engine design, alongside DNV GL’s MIDAS project.
Advances in engine design are leading to demands for more tightly controlled fuel injection systems, as well as driving evolution in cylinder lubrication systems.
Hans Jensen Lubricators’ shared the details of its newly launched cylinder lubrication system. Although the system offers operational benefits for existing two-stroke customers, its precise control over cylinder oil distribution is designed to meet the challenges of potential low lubricity alternative fuels.
We also discuss the progress of an alternative emissions reduction technology, FuelSave, which injects an accelerant under pressure into the air intake. The company plans to extend the solution from four-stroke engines to two-strokes bv the end of 2021, and notes that the solution could be applicable to alternative fuels.
Two of these fuels are the focus of an interview with Wartsila’s Kaj Portin, in which he discusses Wartsila’s progress in testing ammonia engines and outlines the continuing progress in developing hydrogen-fuelled engines.
WinGD’s Andreas Schmid provides an interview in which he describes the engine designer’s development of a fuel-flexible injection system, which could be used to develop more tightly controlled fuel injection options in the future.
While ammonia is attracting the majority of attention in alternative fuels, research into hydrogen is continuing. We feature an interview with TU Delft’s Klaas Visser about the progress of a project to operate a PEM fuel cell on hydrogen from a metal hydride (sodium borohydride).
We hope you find something to interest you in this issue.
Modularity and tail risks
WÄRTSILÄ SUPPLIES TWOSTROKE ENGINE OPTIMISATION SOLUTION FOR KOTC VLCCs
Wärtsilä has been contracted to retrofit an engine optimisation solution, Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost, to the main engines of four vessels owned by Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC), a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC). The order with Wärtsilä was placed in the first quarter of 2020.
The Wärtsilä solution is based on two-stroke engine optimisation technology for selected Wärtsilä RT-flex and earlier deliveries of X-type two-stroke engines. The four KOTC very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to be retrofitted operate with 7-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex82T two-stroke main engines. The retrofitting of the vessels with the Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost will take place over the coming six months.
The Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost is a well-balanced combination of an increased compression ratio and modified injector nozzles. By installing a higher compression shim, the solution allows higher compression ratios and firing pressures. The modified injection nozzle features a bigger bore to shorten the injection duration.
Together with optimised engine tuning parameters, it allows fuel savings of up to 4%. The solution is available for vessels with Wärtsilä X82, RT-flex82T or RT-flex58T-D/E engines with Tier II.
The pilot installation showed around 10~12 tons per day lower fuel consumption than a sister vessel operating the same route,
8 The M/T Al Funtas is one of four KOTC VLCCs to be retrofitted with the Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost
and resulted in 1195 tons of fuel savings over the 9 months pilot period. The pilot installation was undertaken in April 2018, and the piston running condition of the upgraded engine has also been monitored since the retrofit. To date many of the pistons have run without issues beyond the recommended time between overhauls.
“Our smart marine approach is dedicated towards raising efficiencies and improving the environmental sustainability of marine operations. The Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost is completely aligned with this philosophy, while at the same time lowering operating costs,” says Mr Riad Belaid, Area Sales GM, Middle East & Asia, 2-stroke & Specialised Services, Wärtsilä Marine Business.
“By modifying the main engines of these carriers, we are assured of operating with the latest technology and having the best operational efficiency. We know and trust Wärtsilä’s high quality products and systems, and we appreciate the excellent support they offer,” says KOTC’s Acting CEO, Mr. Ali Shehab.
In 2019, Wärtsilä successfully installed the company’s Intelligent Combustion Control and Fuel Activated Sacless Technology (FAST) upgrades on these same four vessels.
Technical competence
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We at MAN PrimeServ understand that performance and reliability are paramount to your business. You need technical competence that drives your success. MAN PrimeServ’s many decades of hands-on experience and its diverse portfolio provide this. With MAN PrimeServ as your partner you benefi t from state-of-the-art technical and digital solutions that fi t your individual situation. What’s more, these benefi ts are brought directly to your business through a global network of local experts. Whatever the time and wherever you are in the world, you can count on MAN PrimeServ as a strong service solution provider for your needs.
A Japanese consortium is collaborating in a project to develop ships designed to use ammonia as fuel, using a MAN ES ammonia-fuelled engine as the prime mover.
The Japanese consortium brings together ClassNK, a leading shipyard (Imabari Shipbuilding) and an original equipment supplier (Mitsui E&S Machinery Co. Ltd), as well as MAN ES. Itochu, a Japanese trading house (shosha sogo), and its fuel trading subsidiary, Itochu Enex, will help to develop ammonia bunkering infrastructure and an ammonia fuel supply chain.
Mitsui will work with MAN to develop an ammonia-fuelled engine, and will also represent the equipment supplier’s perspective, verifying the safety and reliability of the entire life cycle of the propulsion system, including manufacturing and commissioning at the factory.
Imabari will develop a vessel that equips a ship with an ammonia storage tank as a marine fuel, a fuel supply system, and a series of main engine systems. The shipyard has extensive experience of designing and building gasfuelled as well as alternative liquid-fuelled ships, such as LPG.
ClassNK will carry out a third-party hazard identification (HAZID) assessment to understand the risks involved with using ammonia as a marine fuel. The class society expects to develop guidelines around the use of ammonia as a marine fuel.
BRIEFS
QP opts for CSSC Qatar Petroleum signed a US$2.86bn agreement with CSSC subsidiary HudongZhonghua Shipbuilding for the construction of LNG carriers in April, beating off strong competition from Korean shipbuilders. The agreement reserves newbuilding capacity at the shipyard until 2027. QP’s LNG carrier fleet program, the largest in the history of the LNG industry, may eventually exceed 60 vessels, with a value of US$10bn.
8 Imabari Shipbuilding is
participating in a new Japanese consortium to develop ammonia-fuelled vessels
The Motorship notes the existing regulatory framework, such as the IMO’s IGF Code (International Code of Safety for Ship Using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint Fuels) needs to be revised to cover the use of ammonia as a fuel.
Itochu Corporation expects to own and operate ammoniafuelled ships but also plans to play a wider role in developing
Vaisala, the climatic, NOx, and industrial sensor manufacturer, is launching an upgraded industrial transmitter solution in June 2020. The new Indigo 520 Transmitter will be able to accommodate up to two probes simultaneously, the company has announced.
Vaisala, the industrial and emissions measurement specialist, is launching a new durable, metal transmitter, the Indigo 250. The transmitter can be used with Indigo compatible smart probes for humidity, temperature, dew point, carbon dioxide, vaporized hydrogen peroxide, and moisture in oil measurements. It can accommodate up to two detachable measurement probes simultaneously, measuring the
VAISALA LAUNCHES HIGH-END TRANSMITTER SOLUTION
partnerships with ammonia producers and other supply chain participants.
Itochu Corporation will also jointly develop a facility for supplying ammonia fuel for ships with Itochu Enex. Itochu Enex is a bunker supplier with operations inside major Japanese ports, as well as overseas, which will supply ammonia for the project.
MAN ES is already involved in several other projects connected with its new ME-LGIP ammonia-fuelled engine.
8 The Indigo 520 Transmitter
transmits live Vaisala sensor measurements to automation systems via analogue relays, or digitally over an ethernet connection
The Indigo 520 Transmitter displays live measurements and transmits them to automation systems through analogue signals and relays, or digitally using Modbus TCP/IP protocol over the Ethernet. The transmitter’s Ethernet connection also provides a web interface and cybersecurity that meets modern standards.
same, or different, parameters at the same time. The probes can be swapped quickly and easily whenever needed. The transmitter has an IP66- and NEMA 4 -rated robust metal enclosure, and a touchscreen display made of hardened glass.
Stadt VariAC
Norwegian power specialist Stadt has added a variable generator, or VariAC, option to its existing Lean Propulsion solution. The option enables the system to accommodate varying engine speeds for diesel or LNG gensets fitted with variable speed-control. The power load is regulated by regulating the RPM and the pitch of the CPP. The new solution was developed with PON Caterpillar to meet the operational requirements of variable-speed MaK and Caterpillar gensets.
“The Indigo compatible products are the premium choice for providing high-quality data from a multitude of industrial processes. The new transmitter has what it takes to perform even in the harshest and most extreme industrial environments,” said Product Manager Jarkko Ruonala from Vaisala.
Burckhardt expands Burckhardt Compression has completed the acquisition of Japan Steel Works’ global compressor business. Burckhardt Compression’s technology is widely used on board LPG and LNG carriers and LNG-fuelled vessels. JSW’s compressor business including after service support is being transferred to Burckhardt Compression and its global affiliates. JSW had a strong relationship with shipyards in Japan.
Voith eVSP reference
Norwegian ship operator Østensjø Rederi has ordered a pair of commissioning service operation vessels (CSOV) from Spanish shipyard Astilleros Gondan. The CSOVs feature twin Voith Schneider eVSP 1,900 kW propulsors, in the first reference for Voith’s new eVSP propulsor, according to the shipyard. The propulsor features an integrated permanent magnet electric motor, lowering the weight of the unit, and improving fuel consumption significantly.
www.navalia.es
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MEETING THE POWER CHALLENGE IN ASIA
As we move deeper into the green shift globally, around 80% of vessels in the future will be either fully electric or powered by hybrid systems
Many will have multiple power sources in addition to main engines and gensets running on diesel, LNG or a combination of both.
Renewable power from hydrogen and potentially fuel cells, solar and even wind may increasingly be part of the mix as shipping adapts to the changing energy landscape to combat emissions. Other onboard power sources will include stored power from batteries, power from shore, and shaft generators converting mechanical power into electricity.
If we are serious about meeting the IMO’s emissions reductions objectives, these solutions need to be adopted by ship owners and operators where the largest number of ships are owned and operate. The good news is that this shift is already occurring in Asia, as we speak. We expect that over 60% of the world’s hybrid vessels will be operating in Asia by 2024.
From my perspective in East Asia, I have seen a major increase in the sophistication of discussions about power management issues from shipowners and the wider market in recent years. I don’t just mean larger more sophisticated shipowners from the main hubs, but also smaller private owners from Southeast Asia.
The starting point for commercial discussions has shifted from discussions about discussions about peak shaving to the specific advantages of different solutions for individual vessels’ operating profiles.
To pick just one example, we are seeing a lot of interest in the energy efficiency possibilities offered by variable speed frequency conversions. There are of course people out there offering solutions for variable speed frequency conversion more cheaply. But it is hard for lower cost suppliers to guarantee performance. But in Asia, just like elsewhere in the world, shipowners still prefer to deal with suppliers who can demonstrate a track record of successful projects.
Managing and distributing all that energy effectively is an intricate business amid a proliferation of load demands ranging from main propulsion and thruster drives to all sorts of electric auxiliaries, such as winches, cranes, pumps, chargers and other. Not to mention onboard data systems and hotel demand.
Of course, one of the reasons people approach us because of our well-known DC grid offering. Switching from an AC to a DC grid delivers better fuel consumption and other cost savings, along with unbeatable reliability.
A future-proof system requires components that can produce, transmit and consume energy as efficiently as possible. Our DC-Hub uses standardized independent power drives (inverter and rectifier modules) fully integrated into one coherent solution. The DC-Hub works with any power source giving new meaning to the word flexible. This is cutting-edge, multi-megawatt technology that’s unique in the industry and helping owners achieve new levels of energy efficiency.
Frequency converters ensure a constant supply of power that is 100% reliable, which is absolutely essential for specialized tonnage such as offshore vessels and wind
turbine service vessels using dynamic positioning for precise steady-state operations. Our innovative modular design offers unparalleled malleability in that module cabinets can be added in series to match changing requirements. Before, that would have required a complete electrical redesign, now it’s as easy as arranging Lego bricks and scalable to any number of auxiliaries.
The rectifiers in a DC system convert the AC generator voltage to the DC main bus voltage resulting with a very fast power-generation response. DC-Hubs are also especially efficient for DC energy sources like batteries and fuel cells, minimizing the number of conversions required. Managing stored electric power effectively is particularly important when vessels need to sail pollution-free, that is in electric mode. This could be, for example, a superyacht sailing into a protected bay, ferries carrying passengers in emission-free zones or a cruise ship navigating an urban port.
But beside the economic aspects, our solutions are also helping to lower the carbon footprint. Any solution developed by our industry will need to reach the region where most vessels operate if we are going to meet emissions reductions targets overall. Helping to make that happen motivates all of us every day at Yaskawa Environmental Energy/The Switch.
8 Carlo Cecchi
A FUTURE-PROOF FLEET: MODULAR ADAPTABLE DESIGN
Owners may have a dilemma when picking an energy technology capable of lasting a vessel’s 20 or 30-year lifetime, writes Stevie Knight
Eco-legislation ensures shipping has to move on, but “being locked to a single option could make it tough to adapt” says Kjetil Martinsen of DNV GL: he points out that the fuels of today may not be those of tomorrow and choosing a lowemission alternative that turns out to be extortionately priced or unavailable “could result in stranded assets”.
But there is already a dizzying array of potential solutions “and everybody is considering everything... so all the cards are in play” he adds. Therefore, some believe the answer may lie in judicious spread betting.
MODULAR DESIGN
Modular design may provide an answer: it certainly stands to relieve owners of a lot of drudge work as maintenance could be performed by the OEMs themselves, the result assured by the class societies. But it also holds the potential for shaking the industry to its foundations.
As Martinsen’s colleague, Knut Erik Knutsen of DNV GL remarks, “there’s been a gradual move by the big manufacturers toward ‘power-by-the-hour’... a service agreement rather simply selling an engine”.
Modularity could be seen as a logical extension of this approach, especially as it paves the way for greater standardization. That in turn broadens the appeal of remote, condition-based monitoring, “something that’s been held
Image: ABB
back by the number of unique, custom-built ships” he adds.
The potential is already being explored. The MIDAS project, that experiments with modules installed on Subsea7’s PSV Seaway Moxie and the Norwegian Coastal Administration ship OV Ryvingen, have navigation, communication and propulsion modules operating onboard to yield “continuous monitoring and specific health indicators”, says Knutsen.
But what’s so different about it, really? “At the moment the mechanical drives, the electrical lines and the control systems are not just in different packages but also different disciplines,” he remarks. “Instead, we suggest tying it all together into one module with one, single concern, how to maintain the function.”
This approach has a number of advantages. Firstly, “embedding a propulsion system inside a standardised unit gives you a much better idea of its performance and reliability”, he explains. “If something goes wrong, it’s far easier find out who’s responsible for putting it right.”
Follow the implications through and logically, this puts as much emphasis on defining the boundaries as system integration, inherently tightening up the scope for each OEM. In itself that will yield efficiency benefits for manufacturers.
But further, standardised interfaces “allow freedom to design alternatives” to meet the specified demand, says Martinsen.
This, in turn, ushers in a still more radical concept - what
8 ABB/Hydrogène
