ETI project aims to reduce emissions from global shipping industry

Cramlington-based AVID Technology will lead the £3.6m Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) project with support from RED Engineering Limited, Hexham, Newcastle-based Royston Power and France’s Enogia.

On completion of the development stage, the 26-month project could see a waste heat recovery system installed on an offshore support vessel by the end of 2018 ahead of a further six months of testing.

“Unlike other forms of transport, the marine industry has yet to establish a credible alternative to fossil fuels so the immediate priority is to achieve substantial carbon dioxide reductions by reducing fuel consumption,” said

“The technology solution we’re targeting with our partners is based on improving fuel efficiency by recovering heat energy from the exhaust stream therefore reducing the electrical load provided by the ship’s generators and by lowering the temperature of the exhaust gas by converting heat to electricity,” Ryan Maughan, managing director of AVID Technology, a designer and manufacturer of electrically powered systems for low emission vehicles.

ETI hopes the technology being developed will be capable of deployment on marine vessels including chemical tankers, general cargo vessels, container feeders, offshore support vessels and roll on roll off passenger ships.

Paul Trinick, the ETI’s HDV Marine Waste Heat Recovery System Project Manager said: “We’ve established that a 30 per cent fleet fuel consumption reduction can be achieved by using a combination of innovative technologies, including waste heat recovery systems, with an approximate payback period of just two years.

“It is important that we now develop and demonstrate this technology to provide confidence to shipping owners and operators that it can deliver tangible efficiencies and savings under real world conditions.”