The maritime industry is one of the most fuel intense industries and a great source of greenhouse gases, among which CO2 is the primary source of concern. Shipping is responsible for approximately 3% of global CO2 emissions , and future scenarios indicate that CO2 emissions from ships will more than double by 2050 . The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee has already developed a package of measures for reducing shipping’s CO2 emissions putting direct pressure on the maritime industry. On the other hand, as the cost of marine fuel oil has increased by more than 33% since 2011 the need to improve and lower the fuel consumption of marine diesel engines has never been more urgent in the history of marine industry. 90% of global trade is transported by ship and almost 90% of the EU’s external trade is carried by sea. In addition 40% of the internal trade is done by ship connecting two of the 1,200 merchant ports along the EU coastline.
In the past years, we have focused our research efforts on applying our patented electric pulsed power technology to other industrial sectors to replicate the success we achieved for lime removal. Fuel is a fluid that contains long-chain hydrocarbon molecules that result in incomplete burning during the combustion process, leading to greater levels of harmful emissions and higher fuel consumption. Based on our patented electric pulsed power technology we have developed a prototype which improves the combustibility of the used fuel. The tests carried out have shown that the application of electric pulsed power technology on fuel before its entrance to the motor engine led to a direct reduction of fuel consumption by 10% as well as reducing related polluting CO2 emissions.
On the commercial side, we have planned to sell AQUASONIC-diesel to the maritime sector (potentially 14,000 ships in Europe) by the beginning of 2018. This sector has been primarily identified by us due to its high demand of fuel (a containership of around 8,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units consumes about 225 tons of bunker fuel per day at 24 knots). The selling price of the technology is estimated between 2.000 – 20.000 €, depending of the fuel flow in each case, for each AQUASONIC-diesel module installed in a ship and will significantly optimize the combustion and therefore reduce the fuel consumption by up to 20%, leading to an increase of the power output of between 10% and 15% and consequently reduce the emission of CO2 pollutants by approximately 60%. By demonstrating the system benefits to ship owners, we set ourselves the target of reaching sales of 15M€ until 2021.
The overall system advantages and the actual fuel price situation, and environmental pressure on the transport sector to reduce emissions of combustion gases, presents a great business opportunity to introduce this technology in the market.
Overall AQUASONIC-Diesel Objectives:
In order to provide the maritime sector with our technology, we need to scale up starting from our initial prototype, install the system in different types of big ships and boats as freight ship goods, container ships, freighters, cargo vessels, tugboats to assess its durability, and check its performance in the operating environment. In addition, a key aspect for this novel technology to be introduced successfully in the maritime transport sector is the certification by specialized bodies that AQUASONIC-diesel fully complies with the standards specified for the sector. The main characteristics that AQUASONIC-diesel will provide to the end users are:
1. Lowering fuel consumption by 20%, dropping emissions by up to 60% leading to cost savings.
2. Foreseen for new builds and retrofit without causing any modifications to the marine diesel engines.
3. Maintenance free, robust, natural and ecological physical treatment of fuel that does not affect the fuel properties, without the application of chemicals (unlike the state of the art). Non-polluting (no leaching of toxic substances to sea waters) complying with AFS regulation, safe for marine life.
