HANSA 01-2021

HaNSa tECH-HUB
PPG MARINE
Energy effcient with silicone coatings
The shipping industry faces a significant
challenge in achieving the iMo’s targets for
carbon emission reductions, requiring major
adaptations in the way new ships are designed
and existing ones are operated. The ability to
achieve savings of this magnitude will require
new fuels, new vessel designs and radical improvements
in operating effciency.
in the area of low friction coatings, several
studies have concluded that silicone technology
stands out versus antifouling technologies, as it
can significantly decrease hull drag resistance.
The reason is its combination of low surface
free energy and high elasticity – it has the lowest
critical surface tension of any engineered
material. according to PPG, as a result of these
properties, silicone coatings are smoother and
can deliver a significant benefit over antifouling
coatings, optimizing the vessel design parameters
by shifting the speed and power curves.
The company performed several studies in
cooperation with leading independent marine
institutes in Europe, in order to measure the power
and speed impact on vessels retrofitted with
PPG’s Sigmaglide 1290 silicone coating.
Using computational fluid dynamics analysis
(CFd) following ittC standards, on different
ship model geometries and hull forms, a significant
shift in the speed and power curves was
confirmed. The measured improvement in power
demand averaged at 7% less power for the
same speeds across the different ship models,
says ariana Psomas, Global Segment director,
Marine Newbuilding and dry docking, PPG.
additional studies including mathematical
extrapolations and practical validation with
ships in service, confirmed the improvement
in speed and power curves, which can provide
a significant benefit for shipowners wishing to
improve energy effciency performance.
according to the company, the impressive results
with PPG Sigmaglide 1290 silicone technology
are attributed to the choice of the appropriate
polysiloxane precursors and cross-linkers
which result in the highest known silicone density
of any coating on the market today. The higher
the silicone density, the lower the surface energy
and therefore the lower the frictional resistance
and the higher the foul release properties.
as a result, shipowners wishing to improve
their EEdi (Energy Effciency design index)
and EEXi (Energy Effciency Ship index) performance
will benefit from significant reduction
in power demand as well as improved operational
performance and minimal speed loss.
HEADWAY TECHNOLOGY
OceanGuard obtained DNV GL AiP certificate
oceanGuard, a Marine lNG Fuel Gas Supply System
(FGSS) from Headway, has offcially received the approval
in Principle (aiP) certificate issued by dNV Gl.
The certification scope of the aiP includes comprehensive
solutions for medium-pressure, high-pressure, and
BoG compressor systems. With strict review and technical
observations, dNV Gl confirmed that the system can
be granted with the aiP certificate as it has fully met the
international Maritime organization (iMo) iGF rules
and dNV Gl requirements. according to Headway, the
system can detect its working status at any time to ensure
the redundancy, reliability, and safety of the security system.
Meanwhile, Headway integrated the function of gas
recovery, which can prevent natural gas leakage when it
approaches the extreme load changes of high-pressure
main engine. in the future, Headway intends to construct
a shore-based real-time data monitoring platform based
on the upcoming intelligent fleet management system.
56 HaNSa – international Maritime Journal 01 | 2021