Descrizione del progetto
Un «tecnico di pit-stop» per le navi attraccate
L’accumulo di microrganismi, piante, alghe e animali sulle strutture marine sommerse può alterare l’idrodinamica della nave, aumentandone l’attrito, il consumo di carburante e le emissioni. Al momento non esiste un modo efficace per valutare lo scafo quando la nave è in acqua e tirarla fuori comporta tempi di fermo costosi per gli operatori navali. Inoltre, se una nave non viene tirata fuori con regolarità a scopo di ispezione, aumenta la probabilità dello sviluppo di bioincrostazioni, con conseguente necessità di metodi di pulizia più aggressivi che possono danneggiare la verniciatura o il rivestimento dello scafo. Il progetto SleekShip, finanziato dall’UE, sta sviluppando un veicolo sottomarino semi-autonomo che rileverà la presenza di melma allo stadio iniziale utilizzando una fotocamera multispettrale, per poi rimuoverla delicatamente con getti di cavitazione. L’operazione può essere eseguita mentre la nave è attraccata in porto per altre operazioni o ormeggiata in mare. La commercializzazione migliorerà la competitività degli armatori riducendo al contempo il consumo di carburante e le emissioni.
Obiettivo
Marine biofouling has a tremendous economic and environmental impact; it can lead to >€1m in lost revenue per ship per year in fuel overconsumption alone. The International Maritime Organization estimates that gas emissions may increase between 38% and 72% by 2020, unless corrective measures are taken.
The only way to mitigate biofouling is to detect it at an early stage (Level of Fouling – LoF 1), while it can still be cleaned with soft methods that do not damage hull paint or coating. With current approaches this is impossible, particularly within port waters as they are heavily turbid and inhibit visibility. Inspections outside port waters induce charter-off time that costs >€20k per day and are thus avoided by ship operators.
SleekShip comprises a Semi-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (SAUV) carrying a hyperspectral camera that captures light wavelength bands where light backscattering is less and the slime is easier to distinguish despite contamination. The inspection can take place in port waters while the ship is docked for other operations thus no additional charter-off time is incurred. An integrated cavitation-based cleaning tool allows for 100% paint-safe cleaning.
By detecting biofouling early, ship owners will be able to achieve >€1.3m savings per vessel annually by reducing fuel overconsumption and paint/coating damage caused by hard-brush cleaning.
Our consortium comprises SubseaTech, a dynamic manufacturer of underwater robots, QCELL, a high-tech SME specialising in hyperspectral imaging, M.Danchor a leading cleaning and inspection services company, TWI, the global leader in image-based underwater inspection technologies and Danaos, a NYSE-listed containership owner.
Through SleekShip we aim to achieve sales of €41m, generating €17.9m profits and >110 jobs while helping the shipping industry save €3.4bn per year and reduce CO2 emissions by 115m tonnes over the 5 years after market launch. The Net Present Value ROI is 4:1 on EC funds with a grant.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensors
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcoating and films
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringnaval engineering
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
IA - Innovation actionCoordinatore
13016 Marseille
Francia
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