Page 47: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2013)

www.marinelink.com 47torque enables the vessel to start pushing when the rpm reaches 1,100. The result is good momentum from the start at a lower rpm and better fuel economy.? In addition, Huibers noted a pair of recent commer- cial marine projects as examples of Volvo Penta?s range of technologies and capabilities. The Þ rst is the propul- sion systems for six new custom 13.9m (46-ft.) power catamarans, which were built last year for use as course markers and VIP viewing platforms for the America?s Cup racing events. The vessels were designed by Aus- tralian naval architects One2three and built by East Asia Composites. The boats? twin Volvo D6-330 en- gines and IPS450 pod drives are linked to the GPS for automatic precise position keeping when serving as a course marker, even in strong currents and wind conditions. ?The captains were very pleased with the Volvo Penta propulsion and dynamic positioning sys- tems, which enabled them to keep the boats precisely on station without anchor lines,? said Helmut Ahol- linger, president of Helmut?s Marine Service, the Volvo Penta Power Center in the San Francisco area. ?This is a tremendous improvement over the smaller outboard boats used in the past, which needed constant manual maneuvering to hold a steady position. And, unlike Þ xed buoys, the marker vessels can easily and quickly be repositioned as needed to alter the race course for changing weather conditions.?The second project is a Volvo Penta diesel-electric hy- brid plant for the inland waterway tanker MTS Duan-dra, which was commissioned last year in Benelux. The ship?s two standard Volvo Penta D16 MG gensets generate power for on-board electricity, thruster, cargo pumps and two electric engines which are part of the propulsion system. The propulsion system consists of a 750 hp Volvo Penta engine connected to a MMW1700 gearbox. On the gearbox a 475 hp electric motor is also connected, and together they can drive the 1,225 hp designed propeller to full speed on request. The pro- peller can be diesel-electric, diesel-direct or combined driven, so the skipper can always Þ nd the most ef Þ cient way of propulsion and has a lot of redundancy which guarantees an almost 100% uptime of the ship. This setup, according to the manufacturer, reduces the total installed diesel power on-board by approximately 30% compared to a conventionally built ship. The savings made were used to invest in the extra electric equip-ment, catalytic converters and particulate Þ lters on all the D16 engines. By using this technique the NOx emissions are reduced by 70-90% and particulates are reduced by about 40%.Building and maintaining a technically advanced line takes considerable R&D investment, and while Huibers would not share speciÞ c dollar amounts, he indicated the company has a long and strong history of investing in future tech.Our core values are quality, safety and environmental care,? Huibers said. ?When the truck buiness collapsed 66%, our company didn?t pull back, it doubled down on its R&D investment and we came out ahead. To- day Volvo Penta is investing heavily in R&D to reduce emissions and fuel consumption and minimize down-time in its commercial marine engines. ?With our SCR and DPM Þ ltration technologies we are in conformance with EPA Tier 3 standards in our marine diesel engines,? he said. ?We are already sup- plying Tier 4 engines for industrial applications. In fact, we have Volvo Penta Tier 4 industrial engines powering heavy machinery in underground mines, which have some of the world?s most stringent clean-air require- ments, so we understand what it takes to meet emission standards with our marine diesels.?LNG in its Future? While the marine operators are starting to move to-wards the use of LNG as fuel onboard ships of varying sizes, Huibers is not ready yet to coronate LNG tech-nology, citing a number of obstacles and challenges in-herent with the fuel and ancillary systems on the vessel and shoreside.?As part of the larger Volvo Group, we have access to the tremendous R&D facilities of the larger organiza- tion, which is actively launching LNG, DME, hybrid and other alternative fuels for trucks, buses and con-struction machines. While LNG is less expensive and has considerable potential to reduce emissions, we do not believe it will replace diesel as the fuel-of-choice in the near future,? Huibers said. ?There are enormous barriers to the widespread use of LNG as a marine fuel, in terms of the infrastructure required to produce and distribute to the market. The handling costs of LNG are high. We will keep a close eye on developments and will bring new alternative-fuel products to market as warranted by demand, timing and technology.? MR #5 (42-49).indd 47MR #5 (42-49).indd 475/3/2013 3:20:42 PM5/3/2013 3:20:42 PM