Schneider Electric has received orders from Thenamaris to provide an Energy Efficiency Solution for engine room fans and sea water pumps on-board 44 ships operated by the Greek company.
Thenamaris is a worldwide ship manager of high-specification modern ocean-going vessels.
Schneider Electric, the leader in energy management, has more than 90 years of experience in the marine industry and a strong presence in major ship-building countries. As an experienced and reliable partner for both electrical distribution and automation, Schneider Electric products are 100% compliant with marine standards and integrate the latest technologies.
In the maritime industry, engine room ventilation fans and cooling sea water pumps used on-board vessels are generally oversized during the design stage and constantly operate at peak flow. The process, however, requires maximum capacities only for a very short time period during the operating cycle, resulting in constant energy loss.
Schneider Electric’s Energy Efficiency Solution uses drives to reduce energy consumption, and automation to control the applications. As the ship operates under different scenarios (at speed while cruising, stopped at port, maneuvering) and in different environments in terms of seawater temperature it is critical not to operate fans and pumps at speeds that can put the ship in jeopardy. Automation considers all of the scenarios and variables, and controls the drives to achieve maximum energy-efficiency, while ensuring the safe operation of the ship. With product design assessment (PDA) by the American Bereau of Shipping (ABS), the architecture proposed by Schneider Electric offers maximum reliability.
The first project of the energy efficiency application was installed on the vessel SEAPRINCESS, an Aframax-size tanker. The preliminary study showed that engine room fans and sea water pumps supplied air and water at a much higher flow than the ship’s applications needed. An estimation of the return on investment was conducted and showed that the payback period would be less than a year in the worst case scenario. Thorough measurements of the motors’ power consumption before and after the installation of the Energy Efficiency Solution showed the following results:
