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Give a Toot, Don't Pollute |
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Thursday, 22 October 2009 21:30 |
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by Clark Williams-Derry
10/22/2009 11:20 AM
Hybrid tug holds promise for off-the-shelf fuel savings.
Tugboats are in a strange position in the marketplace: there are enough of them out there to suck down a fair amount of fuel in port cities, and to cause some medium-sized problems for local air quality. But there aren’t quite enough of them for manufacturers to build engines specially designed for tugs’ needs.
So tugboat manufacturers typically outfit their ships with maritime versions of locomotive engines: hulking machines with enough power to pull big loads. A good-sized harbor tug has two of these massive engines running, along with an auxiliary motor or two to provide power for on-board equipment, even when it’s just tooling around the harbor at the pace of a brisk walk. Unfortunately, locomotive engines are pretty darn inefficient at slow speeds and light loads—which is precisely how harbor tugs run most of the time. Tugboats wind up wasting a lot of fuel as a result, which boosts their climate-warming emissions while hurting the tugboat operators’ bottom lines.
Enter Foss Maritime. The storied, Seattle-based marine transportation company has figured out a way to adapt off-the-shelf engine and battery technology to create a cleaner, fuel-saving hybrid tug. The company’s still waiting for data from its lone hybrid--which was constructed in their Rainier, OR shipyard, and is now stationed in L.A./Long Beach--but expects that the hybrid technology will save the company a bundle on fuel.
I met with Susan Hayman, the Foss VP who spearheaded the hybrid tug project, a few weeks back to discuss some of the hybrid’s technical features. Like a regular tug, she explained, the hybrid has four engines: two big ones for heavy loads, and two smaller ones for auxiliary power. But unlike a typical tug—whose two main engines must run simultaneously to provide balanced power to the two propellers—Foss’s hybrid can use a single small engine to power the entire boat at low speeds. In fact, it can use any combination of its 4 engines to meet its power needs—or no engines at all, drawing power only from its battery pack.
This flexibility lets the tug tune its power output to the task at hand. Puttering around port, where speeds are typically limited to 6 knots (about 7 mph for you landlubbers out there), the hybrid tug can get by with a single engine, rather than the pair of behemoths that the typical tug requires. Pulling a big load, though, the tug can power up all 4 engines, and even store a bit of excess power in the batteries at the same time. The ability to match the engine to the power need lets the hybrid’s engines run much closer close to peak efficiency than in a typical tug—simultaneously saving fuel and reducing harmful air emissions. Foss is still waiting for data to confirm the tug’s performance, but they expect fuel savings in the range of 20 to 30 percent.
At first, Foss thought that their tug would resemble the “Green Goat,” a hybrid locomotive that’s used in railroad switching yards. But the Green Goat uses a weighty battery array: a fine idea for locomotives, since more weight means more traction, but a no-no if you want a sailing vessel to stay afloat. So instead, to cut weight, Foss chose a smaller battery array for its tug. Hayman stressed that the hybrid tug’s efficiencies stem less from its battery storage than from the flexibility of its power management system. In fact, the software behind that system was the only truly novel bit of engineering that the tug required. (Balancing the power inputs and outputs is a tricky business, since—with 4 engines, plus a battery back that can be charging or discharging at any moment—the tug’s power system is quite a bit more complicated than that of a Prius.)
All in all, the hybrid tug is a nifty piece of work, and perhaps more importantly, a great demonstration that we don’t need major advances in technology to achieve significant energy savings. Sometimes using what we’ve already got—but in a smarter way—is all it takes.
I don’t mean to toot Foss’s horn too much here, but they’ve also received a grant to fit one of their plain-vanilla tugs as a test platform for new emissions control technologies—which holds the potential not only for emissions reductions from harbor tugs, but also leading the way for other sectors of the marine industry. Nifty!
Republished with permission from http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2009/10/22/give-a-toot-dont-pollute |
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Last Updated on Sunday, 01 November 2009 17:07 |
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Titan opens Salvage Response Facility in Singapore |
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Thursday, 22 October 2009 13:22 |
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(POMPANO BEACH, Fla.; October 21, 2009) TITAN Salvage introduced more than 200 guests to its newest salvage response facility in western Singapore Friday. The reception celebrated the opening of the 45,000 square-foot, self-contained facility, which will serve as Titan's corporate office in the region.
The complex features a fully equipped workshop to service and repair Titan's extensive inventory of salvage equipment, a dedicated diving equipment workshop and specialized storage and equipment handling space. The new facility allows for expedited emergency response in the region in support of Titan's continued international operations.
Attendees included members of the local maritime community along with Titan Salvage associates, partners and well wishers from the Netherlands, UK, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Korea, South Africa and the U.S. Several members of Titan's worldwide team were present including Dan Schwall, managing director; Phil Reed, director of salvage & engineering; Mark Hoddinott, managing director, Europe and newly elected International Salvage Union President Todd Busch who is also senior vice president and general manager of Titan's parent company, Crowley.
During the event, Dan Schwall, managing director, reaffirmed Titan's commitment to the region and to exceeding customer expectations. He also took the opportunity to welcome Chandran Mathavan to the team. Chandran will be joining the Titan Singapore team as General Manager, Asia today and will assume responsibility for Titan's Singapore operations from Mark Hoddinott who will continue as managing director of Titan's European operations. Assisting Chandran in Singapore will be Commercial Manager Amit Wahi, Warehouse Manager Clifford Koh and many others.
This new facility is located at 8 Tuas Avenue 12, Singapore 639029 and can be reached by telephone at: +65-63187828 (24 hours) or fax: +65-63187829.
TITAN, a wholly owned Crowley subsidiary, is a worldwide salvage company based in Pompano Beach, Fla. The company also has offices and equipment depots in Newhaven, UK and Singapore. Over the past 28 years, TITAN has performed more than 300 salvage and wreck removal projects worldwide. Titan responds to vessel emergencies around the world and is accessible 24 hours a day through the company's main dispatch telephone number, +1-954-545-4143. Additional information about TITAN may be found at www.titansalvage.com.
Jacksonville-based Crowley Holdings Inc., a holding company of the 117-year-old Crowley Maritime Corporation, is a privately held family and employee-owned company. The company provides diversified transportation and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of six operating lines of business: Puerto Rico/Caribbean Liner Services, Latin America Liner Services, Logistics Services, Petroleum Services, Marine Services and Technical Services. Offered within these operating lines of business are the following services: liner container shipping, logistics, contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response through its TITAN Salvage subsidiary; vessel management; vessel construction and naval architecture through its Jensen Maritime subsidiary; government services, and petroleum and chemical transportation, distribution and sales. Additional information about Crowley, its subsidiaries and business units may be found on the Internet at www.crowley.com.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 01 November 2009 17:28 |
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