After taking a minority stake in a Dutch air lubrication system start-up in 2021, Alfa Laval has integrated the company
Alfa Laval said the integration of Marine Performance Systems will allow Alfa Laval to bring the company’s "fluidic air lubrication system" to market.
Known as FluidicAL, the product streams air over a vessel’s hull while the vessel is in transit to reduce friction and improve fuel efficiency, thereby reducing emissions and saving fuel costs.
According to Alfa Laval, the air lubrication system uses fluidics (flows of substances like fluid or gas) to generate a layer of small air bubbles that covers the full flat bottom area of a vessel’s hull.
"By adding [an] air lubrication system into our portfolio, we are thrilled to further expand our offering of energy-efficient and sustainable solutions to our customers,” Alfa Laval Heat & Gas Systems president Anders Lindmark said. “Since 2021, we have been closely supporting the development of MPS’ air lubrication technology and we are impressed with the performance of the fluidic air lubrication systems we have installed on board vessels."
8 July 2021
Alfa Laval has taken a minority stake in three-year-old Rotterdam-based air lubrication technology company Marine Performance Systems.
“The investment brings Alfa Laval full circle, since air lubrication technology for marine vessels was first pursued and patented by our founder Gustav de Laval in 1883,” said Alfa Laval Marine Division president Sameer Kalra. “The technology did not result in any product in his time, but our founder’s vision has new importance today. Air lubrication will smooth the marine industry’s path to a sustainable future.”
Creating a layer of air bubbles under a vessel’s hull reduces friction between the ship and the water, lowering fuel consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Air lubrication technology from Marine Performance Systems produces bubbles with fluidics, reducing fuel consumption by 8-12% at a vessel’s normal service speed, according to the company. Air lubrication is one of the technologies being considered by shipowners to improve vessel efficiency to comply with IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI).
“Our FluidicAL technology enables truly effective air lubrication, with immediate environmental benefits and substantial savings for shipowners,” said Frode Lundsteen Hansen, who founded Marine Performance Systems in 2018 with innovators Pieter Kapteijn and Fulko Roos. “Alfa Laval shares our belief that this technology will facilitate the transition to green shipping,” he added.
“Fleets cannot be replaced overnight, so existing vessels will need to rely on clean-burning fuels to lower their emissions,” Mr Lundsteen Hansen explained. “In a low-margin industry where fuel represents up to 60% of a shipowner’s costs, the premium price of those fuels is a heavy burden. With very small means, air lubrication can provide significant relief.”
FluidicAL technology requires no structural modifications or vessel recertification, making it well suited for retrofits and newbuilds. Compatible with any vessel size and any fuel type, it comprises evenly spaced bands of oscillators under the vessel’s hull. Using high-efficiency fluidics, each oscillator produces tens of thousands of microbubbles per second, creating a stable, uniform layer of air that significantly reduces friction between the hull and the water beneath.
In late 2020, a pilot installation on the Dutch-flag general cargo vessel M/V Tharsis yielded positive results, said Mr Lundsteen Hansen. The 88-m, 2012-built vessel is managed by Tharsis CV out of the Netherlands.
“With our FluidicAL solution in place, M/V Tharsis made 25 controlled runs in loaded and ballast conditions. As expected, there was a 60% reduction in specific drag over hull’s flat area, which meant considerably less fuel was consumed. Not only was there no impact on stability or manoeuvrability, the sailing was also noticeably smoother.”
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