A newly designed Energy Saving Device (ESD) for ships with controllable pitch propellers can save some 3.5 per cent in fuel. This was confirmed after sea trials with Grimaldi’s Grande Portogallo, a 165 metres long Pure Car & Truck Carrier.
The ESD has been designed by Finnish technology group Wärtsilä, the Netherlands based Maritime Research Institute (MARIN) and Italian ship owner Grimaldi. The work was carried out as part of the LeanShips project, under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 framework project for research and innovation.
Pre-swirl Stator with CPPs
The result of the development work is a pre-swirl stator. For the first time, this energy saving solution has been demonstrated to be suitable for use with controllable pitch propellers (CPPs).
'This represents a major breakthrough in making ships with CPPs more efficient, and, therefore, less polluting. We have previously established some energy savings for ships with CPPs, 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.
Fuel Savings May End up Higher
So far, the sea trials and model tests confirm fuel savings in the amount of 3.5 per cent, which would translate into a pay-back period of only 1.3 years. Yet, this percentage could end up higher.
According to Grimaldi: 'The initial noon reports suggest a five per cent decrease in the fuel consumption, but in order to get a more realistic value we need to record a wider range of data.'
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The Energy Saving Device was successfully tested on the Grande Portogallo, a Grimaldi Lines vessel (courtesy of Grimaldi).
LeanShips
LeanShips, which stands for Low Energy And Near to zero emissions Ships, aims at demonstrating the effectiveness and reliability of technologies that offer energy savings and emission reductions on a large scale. LeanShips was a four-year project and was completed in April 2019.
Watch a video about LeanShips by MARIN below.
GRIP Project
Before LeanShips, Wärtsilä and MARIN were involved in the GRIP project, funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework programme. This project successfully designed and optimised ESDs for ships fitted with fixed pitch propellers (FPPs). This resulted in full-scale demonstrations that achieved a nearly seven per cent 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.
Picture: The Energy Saving Device developed by the LeanShips project produces valuable fuel savings for ships with CPPs.
