The E3 Tug Project is a joint R&D project between Smit International, Damen Shipyards

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The municipality of Gorinchem al ...

and Alewijnse Marine Technology. The goal of the project is to create an energy efficient

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

to be integrated into future tugboat designs. The purpose of which is to alleviate unnecessary ship pollution by studying the operational patterns of

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

tug use. The

Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the wor ...

is spearheading the project with a goal that by the 2020 it will have reduced its

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

by ten percent.

Concept

The E3 project represents three main design criteria: Efficient in operations, Environmental friendly and Economically viable. Smit International is one of the main tugboat users in the Port of Rotterdam and is supplied by Damen Shipyards

Project

The project itself is divided into three key stages. The first stage consists studying the highly advanced tug already operating in the port, the Smit Elbe (Damen ASD Tug 2810). The research from the existing tug will provide the necessary data to start of the second stage of the project. The second stage being the design of a new

propulsion system Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...

for a separate Damen ASD Tug 2810 model tug. This propulsion system must incorporate the latest technology to complete the aforementioned efficiency increases as well as satisfy the three Es. The third stage will be the design of a Damen ASD Tug 2810 of the future using technologies that should be available in about ten years time.

First Stage (Testing)

The first stage of testing was conducted over a four-week period and in that time 27 tows were performed. The Parameters which were directly affected and measured in this test are: *

Fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy bu ...

Consumption: * Engine Power: max output when pulling only represents 1-2% of the total operating time. * Vessel

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quantity ...

* Emissions Also studied were the five operational modes of normal tugboat operation besides the engines shutoff. Below is the operation data summarized. *

Transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

(sailing from and towards a job): 30% * Assist (connected to a ship on a job): 29% *Standby coupled (

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts ...

engaged, propeller turning at minimal rev/min): 24% *Standby uncoupled (clutch disengaged,

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

free to turn): 14% *Cool down (main engines running in cool down mode): 3%

Second Stage (Design)

Working in conjunction with students at the Technological University of

Delft Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan ...

multiple design options were simulated and tested. The main goals remained the same, to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency. The University created a dynamic model on which the user can choose the components of the vessel to best increase efficiency.

Third Stage (Future Design)

This design is focused on building a tug using technology which may be available today, but for certain factors such as cost, safety, and

miniaturization Miniaturization ( Br.Eng.: ''Miniaturisation'') is the trend to manufacture ever smaller mechanical, optical and electronic products and devices. Examples include miniaturization of mobile phones, computers and vehicle engine downsizing. In e ...

it would not be feasible today. For instance the use of

LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the vol ...

as a power source has been considered, but is still far too costly to be implemented. Solbus Solcity 12 LNG - engine

References

{{Reflist

External links

Smit InternationalDamen ShipyardsAlewijnse Marine Technology