Sea Trials Show Air Lubrication Delivers Energy Savings
Silverstream Technologies and Shell announced the sea trial of Silverstream Technologies’ new air lubrication technology for ships, the Silverstream System. The sea trials, independently verified by Lloyds Register Ship Performance Team, show net energy efficiency savings in all analyzed cases, the companies reported.
Shell funded, and with Silverstream, oversaw the installation of the Silverstream System on the 40,000DWT products tanker MT Amalienborg, owned by the Danish Shipping company Dannebrog Rederi.
The trials verified by the Lloyds Register Ship Performance Team showed net average energy efficiency savings of 4.3% and 3.8% for the vessel in ballast and laden conditions respectively. The figures represent an average from all raw data captured during each trial, which included optimal and non-optimal air flows. Based on the trials both Silverstream and Shell believe that a fully optimized system has potential to deliver more than 5% efficiency savings on an ongoing basis when deployed on a full-bodied vessel with a large flat bottom.
The Silverstream System produces a thin layer of micro bubbles that creates a single ‘air carpet’ for the full flat of bottom of the ship. This reduces the frictional resistance between the water and hull and improves the vessel’s operational efficiency, reducing fuel consumption and associated emissions. The technology can be added to a new build design, or quickly retrofitted to an existing ship within just 14 days as was the case for the MT Amalienborg.
Dr. Adri Postema, GM Shell Shipping & Maritime Technology, stated: “We constantly look for ways to improve our shipping efficiency, both operationally and with innovative technology. Our maritime technical experts worked closely with Silverstream Technologies, Lloyd’s Register and a number of other parties to achieve a successful trial of this promising technology.”
Nick Brown, Lloyd’s Register’s Chief Operating Officer, Marine, said, “Ship owners and operators need to trust the savings and return on investment calculations that manufacturers claim. This trust can only be built by ensuring rigor and transparency within the trial process, to ensure the highest level of accuracy in the projected figures that are communicated to the market. The sea trials for the Silverstream System have been conducted in such a way, with independence ensured throughout.”
“Following this successful trial, we are confident that we can enhance the already significant savings that we have seen. We believe these results show that the Silverstream System can play a crucial role in supporting the shipping industry to increase operational and environmental efficiencies and reduce fuel costs,” said Noah Silberschmidt, CEO, Silverstream Technologies.
Johnny Schmoelker, CEO, DannebrogRederi AS, commented: “Given impending stringent environmental regulations that will further increase operational costs, energy efficiency technologies that can reduce fuel consumption and associated emissions are critical in limiting the bottom line impact for ship owners and operators.”
A BMT SMARTACCESS and SMARTVESSEL performance monitoring system was fitted to the vessel to record data from the trials. This will continue to monitor the system’s performance over the next 12 months during normal shipping operations.
