Marine South East wins funding for a 'Managing Energy on Marine Vessels' project aimed at small commercial vessels
Marine South East has been successful in attracting funding for an Innovate UK/DSTL project under the Managing Energy on Marine Vessels competition.
Marine South East will be partners in two of the nine projects that have been granted funding; quite an achievement against the stiff national competition which included several world-class companies including Rolls-Royce, Babcock, BAE and GE.
The first of the Marine South East projects to commence is the MOVE project (Monitoring for Operational Vessel Efficiency) which aims to stimulate increased take-up of energy-efficient propulsion/ancillary systems and operational practice in the small commercial vessel market.
The MOVE project will develop new technology for monitoring and optimising the fuel efficiency of marine vessels, and create a strategy for bringing this technology to market.
Accurate measurement of the power output from marine engines is crucial to optimising the running of both the engine and the propeller, particularly on vessels fitted with variable pitch propellers. It can also determine when maintenance such as hull cleaning is best carried out to optimise savings.
The MOVE technology will directly meet this need in a significantly more cost-effective manner than is currently possible. The MOVE project will develop and validate an easily-fitted monitoring system for capturing real-time torque/speed/thrust data on propulsion and genset power trains. To avoid any impact on vessel operations, this system can be quickly retro-fitted and removed, and without electrical dependence on the vessel’s existing systems.
With further advances in hybrid marine propulsion systems, there is a growing requirement to determine the cost savings potentially offered by such systems, in comparison with conventional engines. The MOVE system will enable such comparisons, by simulating how a hybrid vessel would perform under a real vessel's operating regime, and quantifying their relative fuel consumptions. This data supports the case for investment in hybrid propulsion, where it can offer tangible benefits.
Partners in the MOVE project include:
* Marine South East
* Lloyds Register
* Gardline Geosurvey
* Datum Electronics
* Triskel Marine
* University of Strathclyde
The project is being funded by Innovate UK and DSTL as part of the Managing Energy on Marine Vessels competition.
An interest group will be set up for those companies interested in being kept up to date with the findings of this project. More details to follow on the Marine South East website and in future newsletters.
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