Control Algorithm News

Dometic is introducing a new titanium VARCX variable capacity chiller at Seawork International in Southampton, UK. Dometic’s HVAC technology has enabled the development of the new chiller with two significant features - corrosion-resistant titanium and variable capacity technology for energy efficiency.The use of titanium condenser coils is designed to increase chiller longevity, ensuring seawater erosion and corrosion caused by marine organic growth are kept to a minimum.All Dometic VARC chillers adjust capacity output based on the current load demand…

Dutch maritime system integrator RH Marine succeeded in incorporating battery lifetime prediction for vessels into its fuel saving Energy Management System (EMS).The solutions provider of electrical and automation systems in the maritime industry pointed out that this makes expensive batteries last longer and reduces Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of ships, while keeping the reduced fuel consumption intact.For her research paper on ‘New developments in Energy Management’, product manager hybrid portfolio Despoina Mitropoulou of RH Marine together with Louis Elling from the Netherlands Defence Academy won the third prize at the Sir Donald…

Late last year Caterpillar introduced the Multi-Engine Optimizer, or MEO. According to T.E. “Dra” Wiersema, Product Manager, Caterpillar Marine, 85 to 90 percent of the value of MEO is in fuel savings. But the story of MEO is so much more. As the maritime industry increasingly moves toward data analytics to control everything from fuel management to overhaul scheduling to route planning, there has been the requisite avalanche of new products and systems purporting to deliver incredible returns.

GE’s Power Conversion business will provide dynamic positioning (DP) and vessel control systems to equip the next generation platform supply vessels (PSV4500), currently under construction at the Detroit shipyard to the Brazilian shipbuilder Starnav Serviços Marítimos Ltda. These vessels, the first of which will be commissioned and will be put into operation by Starnav in 2015 on behalf of Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, will target fuel efficiencies as one of their primary aims. GE’s control system incorporates an Energy Efficient mode, part of GE’s ecomagination portfolio.

New software from GE’s Power Conversion business that enables its Dynamic Positioning (DP) systems to save significant amounts of fuel and put less wear and tear on vessel propulsion equipment is on the shortlist to win an Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Innovation Award this year. A DP system holds a vessel in position without the aid of anchors, using only propellers, rudders and thrusters. “Energy Efficient Dynamic Positioning For Ships” was developed from a comparison of concepts through to final production code using model-based design. The new mode was entered in the Model-Based Engineering category for the IET Innovation Awards, which attracted more than 400 entries. The awards will be announced in London on November 20.

Students glimpse the U.S. On April 25 2013, my family and I went to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD), Ship Systems Engineering Station (SSES), for national “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.” Most of the people who work there are engineers. Personnel at SSES design and create extremely technological naval ships and submarines, while figuring out new means of power besides oil. Throughout the day, children and parents were put into nine groups, and each group visited nine stations throughout the facility.

GL Garrad Hassan marked the 20th anniversary of the launch of 'Bladed' software at the recent EWEA Conference in Vienna. GL Garrad Hassan pioneered the development of design tools for wind, wave and tidal energy devices and Bladed is now recognised as the industry standard design tool for wind turbines with 450 licences held by 250 clients worldwide. consultants, Bladed has been used to analyse hundreds of turbine designs and thousands of installed turbines. Bladed was introduced in February 1993. Since then the tool has been under continuous development.

MARIN (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands) is involved in several projects examining the effects of passing ships. Here we present the many ways MARIN helps to shed light on this phenomenon. MARIN’s Shallow Water Basin facilitates a wide range of model testing. A recent ship passing study again showed this versatility when two complete harbours were modelled, including more than 4,000 m of their surrounding shoreline. This ship passing study aimed to investigate the feasibility of two possible new barge dock locations at an existing terminal in Beaumont.