It’s not every day international press shows up on the doorstep of our laboratories in Trondheim. But when Hurtigruten asks if they want to come with them to SINTEF's Ocean Basin to have a look, they say yes. Because emission-free and sustainable ships are the future no matter where you come from.
Antje Blinda from Der Spiegel shows great interest in the project:
“I think it’s a good idea to look to the future. That’s why I’m interested in all these technologies that will be combined in this project.”
Do you think the average German is interested in sustainable cruises, or are you trying to make them more aware?
"I think it’s the latter," says Blinda and smiles.
The goal of the “Sea Zero” project is to develop zero-emission ships with sustainable and circular solutions for Hurtigruten by 2030. Given the size of these ships and the demanding timeline, there is a need for R&D and innovation within everything from design, propulsion, energy and fuel, to hotel operations and digital solutions.
Caroline Britz writes for Mer et Marine, and says the French often look to Norway due to the country’s long and strong maritime history.
“Our readers are mainly maritime people, and they are into innovation. We look to Norway because you always have impressive projects,” says Britz.
While Vard has designed the vessel, Brunvoll has developed the propulsion and maneuvering systems and SINTEF contributes with analysis, research and development.
Lowest possible energy use
SINTEF’s scientists and engineers examine all the systems and equipment in the new ship design to make sure each uses the lowest possible energy. Hydrodynamics, propulsion, machinery, heat exchange and ventilation are just a few of the things being looked at in the process.
“The Coastal Express has sailed the Norwegian coast for 130 years. For us to sail for 130 years more, we need to change the way we sail,” says Hedda Felin, CEO of Hurtigruten.
Only 0.1% of ships worldwide currently use zero-emission technology, and the primary reason is that the energy use is too high for zero-emission energy sources to be a viable alternative. That is also why the partners in the Sea Zero project are pushing the boundaries of energy efficiency through combining technologies such as air lubrication, sails, a novel contrarotating propeller system and advanced coatings to name a few.
“To fully understand and analyse how these technologies work together, we are using advanced numerical simulations and have developed new laboratory techniques and instrumentation for ship model testing,” says Research Manager in SINTEF Ocean Anders Alterskjær.
He further explains that examples of the latter are special-purpose instrumentation for the contrarotating propellers and test techniques for ships with sails.
“The model tests and analyses performed so far, show encouraging results towards reducing the energy demand to the degree needed to enable zero emission operation,” says Alterskjær.
SINTEF has already done several tests in the Towing tank, and are now testing in the Ocean basin laboratory.
Enabling zero-emission
Minimising energy use is an important step to enable the overall goal of the Sea Zero project – zero emission operations. The idea is to replace fossil fuels with batteries charged with green electricity in the major ports along the coastal express route.
"With the reduction in energy use we’re aiming for, it’s realistic to fit a battery system with enough energy to allow the ship to sail between charging ports under normal weather conditions," says Trond Johnsen, project manager for Sea Zero.
The results from the model tests combined with final route simulations provides Hurtigruten with potensial solutions for the future.
