Page 42: of Marine News Magazine (June 2016)

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PROPULSION

Hybrid Technology for

Military and Commercial Vessels

The Hour of Power Comes of Age.

By John Haynes he marine industry is now recognizing the potential Emissions and the Balance of Power of utilizing hybrid power and innovative propulsion On 1 January 2015, Emission Control Areas (ECA)

Tsystems. Certain maritime sectors are potentially well came into effect for the USA, Canada, the North Sea and suited to hybrid systems. These include ferries, pilot boats the Baltic. Separately, China has voluntarily imposed ECAs and workboats that have relatively consistent duty cycles. in effort to reduce pollution. Options to reduce emissions

For military applications, hybrid systems are relevant for include exhaust cleaning ‘scrubbers.’ Operators that infre- patrol, intercept and autonomous vessel duties. quently visit ECAs may make a commercial decision that it

Submarines have utilized batteries and stored energy for is cheaper to be ? ned than to comply, but this is not a viable many years. Diesel/electric systems have long been in use, option for ferries and cruise ships on a regular port rotation. but these are not hybrid systems. The diesel/electric vessel The traditional operating model for shipping is to mov- uses its engines to connect directly to an electrical genera- ing goods from point-to-point quickly. Slow steaming is in- tor; the power in the system is then transferred electrically troduced in order to lower costs by reducing fuel consump- to the propeller shaft via a motor controller and electric tion. The requirement for ‘power’ is also changing for many motor. The system may have multiple generators and mul- professional small craft operations. As new technologies tiple motors, but until recently there was no storage of evolve, objectives more important than pure speed include electric energy. power trains that do not fail, redundancy, extended operat-

June 2016 42 MN

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