Notes on Air Lubrication
Thoughts and References for Air Lubrication and Maritime Decarbonization
March 31, 2024
AIR LUBRICATION – SETTING THE STAGE
A commercial vessel is constructed to safely transport goods across seas and oceans. While
they present some beautiful places to sail, water is also the most challenging and sometimes
outright dangerous operational environment for any commercial machinery. Commercial
vessels spend most of their existence sailing 24 hours a day for days or weeks on end,
constantly working in this tough environment. For the most part the tens of thousands of
vessels which ply the oceans do so safely, all day every day. The percentage of safely completed sailing days is huge. That does not happen by accident, vessels are constructed to well established rules by experienced workforces, operated and maintained by skilled and dedicated crews, overseen from design and construction to operation and maintenance by the reliable, conservative Classification system.
In the last fifty years, safety has driven development in ship design and operation, continually
improving, both proactively and from lessons learned. Vessel size has also changed
dramatically, average, and maximum vessel sizes have ballooned. There are now almost a
thousand 300,000dwt VLCC’s, a fleet of more than fifty 400,000dwt bulkers, a rapidly increasing
fleet of “QMAX” size LNG vessels and box ships have led the way, from 5,000teu being large 30
years ago to the 24,000teu Mega Max vessels of today.
Safety is always first, after safety the pursuit of economy and logistical efficiency has driven
fleet changes. Now the pursuit of energy efficiency and decarbonization is becoming the driver
for the fleet’s next generation of changes.
In our next post: AIR LUBRICATION – DECARBONIZATION PRESSURE – REGULATORY ACTION
May 27, 2024
AIR LUBRICATION – DECARBONIZATION PRESSURE – REGULATORY ACTION
Ten years ago, the route to operational efficiency was either bigger vessels or company reorgs/mergers, or both. Some of this activity has been successful and continues, however the growth in pressure to decarbonize has rapidly overtaken shipping – owners, managers, hardware, and service suppliers. The percentage headlines in today’s industry newsletters addressing decarbonization is many times that of yesterday’s environmental issue – Ballast Water Management. Decarbonization is a, if not the, primary topic on the minds of ship owners, managers and suppliers.
There is broad public pressure for reduction of GHG emissions from industry, including the shipping industry. Shipping’s most impactful responses to this pressure for decarbonization are regulations enacted by the IMO and the EU. These IMO regulations: Carbon Intensity Index – CII, Energy Efficiency Existing/Design Ship Index – EEXI and EEDI and the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme – ETS (effectively a tax on CO2 emissions) are focused on emissions from individual vessels, forcing owners to look for vessel specific improvements. These can be hardware additions, operational improvements, or alternative fuels, but the vessel must reduce its GHG emissions.
Today there are few ready-made solutions which can easily contribute to satisfying the IMO’s goal of a 20% reduction (“striving for 30%”) in GHG emissions by 2030, and 100% by 2050. Ships have a 15-30 year service life, so to meet these targets solutions need to be quickly integrated on existing vessels as well as newbuilds. Action is being taken, ideas are being developed and research is being funded. Air Lubrication is set to become an established part of the solution.
IMO Regulation Overview and GHG Reduction Efforts Overview
IMO’s work to cut GHG emissions from ships
EU ETS, DNV Overview
EU ETS – Emissions Trading System – DNV
EMSA FAQ for EU MRV Requirements
Fuel EU Maritime:
Decarbonising maritime transport – FuelEU Maritime – European Commission (europa.eu)
In our next post: AIR LUBRICATION – VESSEL DECARBONISATION – PRACTICAL ACTION
August 24, 2024
AIR LUBRICATION – VESSEL DECARBONISATION – PRACTICAL ACTION
Each carbon regulation acts differently, but all basically force, punish or reward vessels to emit less CO2 – which means burn less fuel to do the same amount of work. The industry suffers from unaligned interests between those paying for capital improvements onboard and those paying the daily fuel bills, shipping also has an historically embedded neurosis forcing vessels to arrive early – even if it then waits at anchor for days before a berth is available. Bigger ships and pared down operations were the way forward. Now, the seemingly obvious efficiency of using less fuel is being mandated.
There’s plenty of operational low hanging fruit for owners and managers to start with. Vessels are being digitized and optimized, routes planned around currents and weather and schedules more integrated with ports. Beyond these “soft” measures the next step is to install systems and hardware which physically improves vessel performance. The number of demonstration projects commenced in 2022-23 is several times what has been seen previously – ever. Real commitment and investment in hardware is being made by owners; low drag coatings, mews ducts, boss caps, sails and Air Lubrication.
Measures requiring more substantial vessel and shoreside infrastructure are also being developed. Alternative fuels are primary in this field. Grants and investments are funding development of, suitable engines, fuel production, storage, transport and bunkering. Use of LNG fuel is seen as a transition to greener Methanol, Biodiesel, Green Hydrogen or even Ammonia. Nuclear energy is discussed, and Carbon Capture is the subject of many start-ups with and seeking funding.
In our next post: AIR LUBRICATION – AN OPTION FOR TODAY
October 12, 2024
AIR LUBRICATION – AN OPTION FOR TODAY
Coatings, Mews Ducts, Boss Caps are smaller hardware additions which can be relatively easily installed providing fuel economy improvements of 1-3%, possibly more for coatings.
Sails and Air Lubrication are undeniably larger installations but offer larger 5-10% savings. The properties of sails and Air Lubrication have not changed too dramatically over the last decade – flettner rotors and Air Lubrication systems have been installed on “modern” vessels since 2010. It is the mandates which have driven a geometric increase in installations and customer trials over the last two years.
That is where Minke Marine is – tested and ready for customer trials. It is well established, a stable layer of air, or air bubbles, under a flat hull brings increased sailing efficiency to the vessel. The Minke Marine Air Lubrication System generates its layer in a unique way, using as much of the vessel’s existing hardware as possible. Compressors are not used so reducing the power needed to create the air layer. Using less power increases the available net gain for the vessel, and using no compressors dramatically reduces CAPEX and OPEX.
The mandated reductions in carbon emissions do not account for the operational efficiencies or economic improvements a solution can bring to a vessel. ROI for the owner is not part of the regulations, emission reductions are simply mandated (well, these are shipping regulations so it’s really quite complex). Minke’s 6–24-month ROI on turnkey purchase and installation stands out in the field and makes it a compelling option to help owners improve performance and comply with regulations.
