(With videos) Damen Shipyards Group has launched the first LNG-powered Damen EcoLiner inland shipping tanker at its Romanian yard. The EcoLiner design features the world’s first installations of the Aces Air-Lubricated Hull, a gas-electrical shaft propulsion system and one of the first Van der Velden Flex Tunnel installations.
The EcoLiner has been developed to deliver fuel economy and cut emissions for inland shipping. The pioneering vessel reduces fuel costs by up to 25 per cent. The European Union, following its ambitious goal towards greening the transport sector, co-finances this project from the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Programme with more than € 1.1 million as part of the project “LNG Masterplan for Rhine-Main-Danube”.
Damen recently completed comprehensive tank testing of the new design at research institute Marin, which confirmed the EcoLiner’s efficiency. The vessel will now be completed in the Netherlands. So far, a customer for the vessel is yet to be found.
The Innovations on Board the EcoLiner
- Aces air lubrication.
- First to combine gas-electric propulsion with low-maintenance shaft propulsion configuration.
- Clean LNG fuel dramatically reduces CO2, SOX, NOX and particulate emissions.
- Power management system for 4 x LNG fueled generator sets ensures optimum engine loads and reduced fuel consumption upstream and downstream.
- Retractable Van der Velden Flex tunnels reduce resistance, and make it possible to install larger, high efficiency ducted propellers.
- Optional waste heat recovery system to heat or cool cargo and accommodation.
Aces Air-Lubricated Hull
The EcoLiner is the first vessel to feature the Aces (Air Chamber Energy Saving) air-lubricated hull, originally developed at former Damen shipyard Bodewes. In tank testing and full-scale trials, the Aces concept has demonstrated fuel savings of up to fifteen per cent depending on speed and load.
The air is held in chambers under the hull and a small amount of air is pushed into the chamber to compensate for any air that might escape while underway. Below a video of Aces.
Electric Shaft Propulsion and Van der Velden Flex Tunnel
LNG-powered electric propulsion is not new to inland shipping, but the EcoLiner is the first to combine LNG-fuelling with electrical shaft driven propulsion and steering gear instead of electric driven rudder propellers. The EcoLiner is also the first Damen vessel delivered with the Van der Velden Flex tunnel.
Inland shipping vessels typically use shaft tunnels to ensure optimal water flow to larger, more efficient propellers at shallow draughts. The downside of conventional tunnels is an increase in hull resistance. Moreover, inland ships are loaded and therefore sail in deeper water conditions for about 85 per cent of the time. During these conditions, the Flex tunnel is retracted to avoid added resistance. When sailing at shallow draughts, the tunnel deploys to ensure sufficient water flow to the propellers and maintain their efficiency. Below a video of the Flex tunnel.
Modular Design
The EcoLiner project is managed by Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld. The ship is 110 metres long and scheduled for delivery in the summer of 2015. The first EcoLiner will be delivered as a tanker, but the modular design can be built to transport any commodity, including containers and dry bulk.
The complete LNG installation, including tanks with bunker capacity of approximately 45 m3 LNG, is located aft of the accommodation, ensuring that the configuration forward of the cofferdam can be entirely tailored to specific requirements.
The Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ADN-UNECE) have approved the gas-powered design, meaning the vessel can travel on all international inland waterways.
