Tag: fuel consumption

The UK P&I Club has issued a bulletin on technical problems and solutions of low-sulphur fuels. Typical technical problems experienced by shipowners when they are required to use low-sulphur fuels include issues with the supply and storage of low sulphur fuel, problems with machinery operation when using low-sulphur fuel, incompatibility between fuel types, and difficulties and delays when changing over from one fuel type to another. To avoid such problems, shipowners should consult their engine and boiler manufacturers for advice on operating with low-sulphur fuel and the need for any equipment and system modifications. Shipowners should also ensure that: all equipment including engines, purifiers, filters, fuel systems and sealing arrangements are correctly maintained fuel oil viscosity and temperature control equipment is accurate and fully operational system temperature and pressure alarms, fuel filter differential pressure transmitters and so on are accurate and operational. On each ship the fuel change-over procedure should be clearly defined and understood. Engineers need to be fully familiar with fuel systems and main engine starting systems and establish ‘failure to start' procedures. Starting air pressure should be monitored during manoeuvring operations and the deck department needs to appreciate the limitations of starting air availability. During standby, two ...

NAPA, global maritime software house, and ClassNK classification society announced that their comprehensive eco efficiency and operational optimization solution ClassNK-NAPA GREEN, has generated fuel savings of 3.9% on a "K" Line container vessel. The software solution was tested in full scale sea trials in January 2014 aboard an 8,000+ TEU container ship operating on a standard Mediterranean/Europe route. The full ClassNK-NAPA GREEN suite of systems were utilized on the voyage, including speed, trim, and voyage optimization based on the ClassNK-NAPA GREEN Dynamic Performance Model, and analyzed against the captain's voyage plan. Despite encountering heavy weather on multiple occasions over the course of the voyage, speed profile and voyage optimization reduced the fuel consumption by 2.7%, while a further 1.2% savings was attributed to optimum trim, taking the total reduction in fuel consumption from the trial to 3.8%. While trim optimization was restricted on this voyage due to loading conditions, results from a full-scale trim optimization study, conducted during two Indian Ocean crossings aboard the vessel, indicated that trim optimization has the possibility to further save fuel up to 4%. In addition it was found that the accuracy of Dynamic Performance Model - the self-learning component of ClassNK-NAPA GREEN - was ...

DNV GL has launched a new service named Build2Design to help shipyards and shipowners improve the fuel economy of their ships by reducing variations in their building process. Significant improvements have been achieved in the design of more fuel-efficient ships in recent years. The performance of these Eco-Ship designs has been documented by both Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and tank testing and some designs have also proven their performance in operation. However, questions have been raised about variations in performance and research has now shown a wide variation in different ships of the same design. "We have compiled data that shows there is a large variation in fuel consumption between ships of the same design. This has led us to develop a new service, Build2Design, which aims at ensuring that the actual ship delivered is as good as its design," says Michael Aasland, Business Director for Bulk Carriers at DNV GL. Dr Olav Rognebakke, Head of Hydrodynamics at DNV GL, adds: "Build2Design is based on a solid theoretical foundation combined with the latest technology and uses advanced CFD calculations to identify the parameters that affect fuel consumption and the effect of each individual parameter." In developing the new service, DNV ...