£7 million support for innovation in the UK marine and maritime industry
Results have been announced from the first Vessel Efficiency Competition and projects developing innovative ways to reduce fuel usage in ships and submarines are to benefit from £7 million of funding.
Entitled "Vessel Efficiency: Piloting UK Marine and Maritime Innovation" the call focused on ways to reduce fuel usage in marine vessels - a priority for both the civil and defence maritime industry. It is co-funded by the UK's innovation agency - the Technology Strategy Board - and the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), and was the first joint collaborative research and development competition aimed specifically at the marine sector.
The call received an extremely positive response and following a rigorous selection process 10 proposals were awarded funding. Examples of funded proposals included a project to design, manufacture and test a prefabricated accommodation module, typical of cabins currently installed on cruise liners that could significantly reduce weight in the vessel and thereby lower fuel usage. Another successful application (being project managed by Marine South East) will look into using glycerol as an alternative to marine diesel. Glycerol, which is non-toxic and non-volatile, is a by-product of biofuel production and its usage could both lower fuel emissions and costs.
A second call, to seek further innovative ideas for future use in the marine industry, entitled "Vessel Efficiency II: Better systems at sea", will be officially opened in January 2014.
The full list of consortium proposals funded from the first Vessel Efficiency call is:
* Magnetically Geared Propulsion Motor: A project to mature the design of a compact and highly efficient electric propulsion motor, led by Magnomatics Limited.
* Composite Cabin Module: A demonstration, led by PE Composites Ltd, of achieving a significant weight saving by building pre-fabricated accommodation modules out of composite materials, as opposed to steel.
* Wave Augmented Foil Technology: Development of a technology, project managed by Rolls-Royce plc, to generate propulsive power from the motion of a vessel, thereby reducing fuel use.
* High Efficiency Work Vessel: A project led by Cox Powertrain Limited to develop the design of an efficient work vessel incorporating a high power diesel outboard motor that would increase fuel efficiency and negate the need to store petrol.
* Vessel Clean: Development of ultrasound technology led by Applied Inspection Ltd to inhibit bio-film build-up on large vessels.
* Holistic Vessel Performance and Routing System: An ICT based approach, managed by Fugro GEOS Ltd, using a combination of specific weather forecasting and vessel performance to optimise vessel fuel efficiency.
* High Efficiency Marine Energy: A project, led by Pendennis Shipyard Ltd, proposing to develop a highly optimised hybrid energy system for vessels up to 50m in length.
* Novel Hull Coating to Reduce Friction and Fouling: Development of Graphene technology, led by Thales Underwater Systems, to inhibit fouling of marine vessels.
* Glycerine fuel for Engines and Marine Sustainability: A project, managed by Marine South East Ltd, proposing to demonstrate the use of Glycerine as a fuel for marine vessels.
* Energy Harvesting Technology From Vessel Motion: A project, led by A&P Falmouth Limited, proposing to scale up technology that turns vessel motion into electrical power.
For more information please visit:
https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/composites-in-ships#
Send this story to a colleague
