European Projects

INTERMODESHIP

Extended applications
Inland waterways plays an important role in the European transport. The Ecoship network is being involved in recent research and development study for an economically and environmentally friendly ship design for inland waterways and short-sea operations, called the INTERMODESHIP project.

For Project information we refere to the Intemodeship home page: www.kockumseng.se/intermodeship or www.dst-org.de , European projects

INBISHIP

The Inbiship project was our first European R&D project for development of new innovative ship design for Inland waterways based on diesel-electric power plant with POD propulsion system. This project being initiated by Sheepswerf DE KAAP in Holland is partly founded by the European Commission under the DG Xll BRITE EURAM Programme.

Inland shipping plays an important role in European transport by providing cost efficient and environmental friendly links for about 50 % of all transport volume between sea ports and hinterland. Recent studies indicate a steady grow in inland waterborne transport volumes, in particular dry bulk and containers. Additional opportunities arise with the opening of the Main-Danube link and the intensifying trade between West and East Europe.

The problem
However, due to low freight rates over the last years the market has turned to minimisation of investments in tonnage replacement. The inland ship building industry in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany having failed to meet existing demands for low cost ships experienced a significant loss of market share. A competitive edge can only be regained through offering innovative ship concepts with improved earning capability at market prices.

The Challenge
Preliminary studies have indicated that by integrating the supply of power to the various ship systems within a central electrical power supply plant improvements on all the above targets might be obtained. The outstanding features of this concept are electric propulsion, fully azimuthing podded propulsion drive with lowering/hoisting capability for adjusting propeller submergence and an advanced power management system to match ship power demands with on board power supply.

The response: Inbiship is formed
A consortium was formed around a core group of inland shipyards from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The aim is developing, building and validating, by full scale monitoring, an innovative inland ship concept. The consortium applied for EU funding from the CRAFT programme.

Consortium of five international groups
Research institutes: MARIN and VBD for development of body lines, computer simulation and model testing in deep and shallow waters, NEA for development of exploitation model for calculating ship operation.

Maritime suppliers: Volvo Penta for ship diesel motors, NEWAGE Int. for electric generators, El Marine for switchboards, FISHCON for power plant systems, DEIF for power management systems, ABB Industry Oy for frequency converters and electric motors and ABB Azipod Oy for propulsion systems and components.

Shipyards: Grave, Van Grevensteins' Scheepswerf, Joh. V. Duijvendijk Scheepswerf, Scheepswerf de Kaap, Gebr. Kooiman, Nieuwe Schelde Werven and Neue Ruhrorter Schiffwerft.

Shipping company: Chemgas.

Classification societies: Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd and Lloyd's Register.

Inbiship objectives
The specific industrial objectives of Inbiship are:

1. Development of a ship concept on the basis of:

• diesel-electric power plant with 15 % lower fuel consumption, emission levels and maintenance costs

• an electric propulsion system incorporating retractable podded-type thrusters

• corresponding optimum hull lines in terms of resistance and location of retractable thrusters.

2. Validation of the concept by means of the following :

• computer simulations;

• model tests in towing tank (hull lines, position of thrusters, manoeuvring);

• bench tests of prototype innovative components and systems configuration.

3. Obtain approval of compliance of innovative features with respect to relevant statutory requirements. As research object a class G gas-tanker was chosen. This type of ship incorporates very complex terms of reference with regard to on board power requirements and statutory. All these industrial objectives will be achieved within two years.

Inland ships : Current Concept
The inland ships of today have a mechanical power transmission where the main engines are coupled to the propellers by means of reduction gears. This arrangement places the engine room in the aft part of the ship.

The engine room requires large casings that penetrate the deckhouse or the cargo area, hereby severely limiting an optimal cargo hold arrangement and volume.

Inbiship™ : the New Approach
The Inbiship™ project follows a new approach which benefits from experience obtained from new trends and developments in short sea shipping, i.e. the introducing of diesel electric propulsion. This technology creates entirely new possibilities in ship design because the location of the engine room no longer dictates the arrangement of holds and compartments beneath the main deck; the power generating plant can be located anywhere in the ship.

Cargo Friendly Design
The diesel-electric propulsion and the flexibility obtained in the location of the engine room excludes the need for either side or central casings within the cargo area. This is a great benefit which allows for maximising the cargo hold capacity and having all cargo area completely free from obstructing structures.

New Hull Lines
The flexibility obtained through the application of diesel electric powering and electric propulsion is used to improve the under water body shape. New body lines were developed by Versuchanstalt für Binnenschiffbau ( VBD ) and MARIN to accommodate the projected twin podded propulsion arrangement, hereby increasing cargo volume and pay load capacity up to 30 % with respect to conventional designs. Following computer simulations extended resistance and propulsion model tests, including manoeuvring and emergency stop, were carried out in deep and shallow over and various draught conditions. The results indicate equal or better characteristics in comparison with current modern inland ship body lines.

Inbiship features one man bridge system including databased ship monitoring system, a new hull design, increased volume and payload capacity by up to 30%, light ship structure design and Azipod azimuthing electric propulsion drive.

Diesel – Electric Power Plant
Diesel – electric power plants and propulsion solutions have clear merits which may vary from one ship type to another. The safety aspects of diesel – electric propulsion are commonly regarded as being related to redundancy in different ways. The number of power-generating units is large enough to ensure propulsion capability and steerage way irrespective of any component failure. In addition the units can be located in different compartments to safeguard against loss of power in case one compartment has been destroyed by fire or flooding.

A summary of advantages:

• Flexibility, the installed power generating capacity can be used for various ship functions and different situations;

• Propeller torque capability, full torque at any propeller speeds;

• Permits running diesel engines at a stable load with smoother transients;

• Permits running diesel engines at a constant speed;

• Permits running diesels engines at a more efficient load at optimum specific fuel consumption, hereby reducing emissions and impact on the environment;

• Uniform machinery; simple spare parts logistics, maintenance, crew training, etc;

• Flexibility in location of main engines allows to optimise cargo space volume and arrangement;

• Redundancy, both in the sense of safety and freedom in maintenance routines.

Exploitation Model
The evaluation and choice for particular technical solutions must rely on relevant economical criteria. To support such decisions a computer aided Exploitation Model was developed by NEA to simulate inland shipping operations. The model uses amongst others detailed digitalized databases of the Western European infrastructure. Operational costs, fuel consumption and emissions can be calculated in detail for specific journey profiles (origin-destination pairs, particular ships, various cargo-sizes).

Summary Inbiship
The initial validation made gives improved performance for Inbiship gas tanker compared to conventional gas tanker by:

• About 10% increased operational ability

• About 10% less fuel consumption on loaded vessel upstream

• About 40% less fuel consumption on unloaded vessel downstream

• About 15% reduction in cost per transported cargo