About this project

Economic considerations and environmental restrictions drive the demand for better energy management onboard. Depending on the ship type, about 40–50% of the heat energy is currently disposed to the environment. Most of the lost heat energy is low (< 100 °C), which is more challenging to convert into valuable energy such as electricity. In port areas, ships are one of the largest air polluters (CO2, SOx, NOx, particles). The HEMOS project aims to develop and verify a holistic and dynamic on-demand heat energy system concept to utilise the otherwise lost waste heat energy. An estimated 14% increase in the energy efficiency could be reached through reconfiguration of heat energy flow between consumers, producers and new waste heat recovery technology. At the same time, fuel savings and lower emissions will also be achieved. This can be reached by the dynamic optimization of the ship’s energy system as a whole. For example, if LT heat could be utilised for heating potable water, HFO tanks and pools, and in the cold environment for HVAC heating, then HT heat could be used for electricity production. Based on initial estimations, the payback time could be as low as 2 years. HEMOS will develop a novel design methodology for enhancing ships’ thermal load and energy demand assessment based on a tailored dynamic simulation approach. A dynamic simulation model can consider the entire ship’s energy system and environmental effects. We are entirely optimising the whole vessel/plant system to minimise diverse objective functions. This allows us to demonstrate the benefits of access to data collected on a large cruise ship. We will implement new system engineering and development activities, including unique system descriptions, principles and logic. Furthermore, we will enforce a small-scale pilot project to verify the calculation model. A new design methodology for optimal efficiency will verify heat system balancing on ships.