- ABB Dynafin Achieves 81% Efficiency in Full-Scale Open Water Tests.
- MARIN Validates ABB’s Bio-Inspired Ship Propulsion System.
- Whale-Inspired Propulsion from ABB Shows Real-World Performance Gains.
An innovative propulsion concept from a Switzerland-based company, ABB Dynafin, has finally passed the hallmark, with its efficiency now confirmed by a renowned maritime research facility worldwide. Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) confirmed the efficiency levels predicted by the ABB Dynafin system, reports Interesting Engineering.
Efficiency Tested in Open-Water Trials
Extensive open-water trials performed at MARIN validated the idea’s effectiveness on propulsion efficiency and ship performance. According to MARIN, the ABB Dynafin scores up to 81 per cent open-water efficiency at 18 knots in full-scale operation.
“At MARIN, we measure hydrodynamic forces and moments, and determine hydrodynamic efficiency. All mechanical and electric losses have been subtracted from the test set-up,”
said Jie Dang, Senior Project Manager and Principle Investigator (PI), MARIN.
Bio-Inspired Design with Robotics Accuracy
The ABB Dynafin’s design consists of a central electric motor powering a big horizontal wheel, which has individually controlled vertical blades that mimic the motion of a whale’s tail. This bio-inspired movement is facilitated by ABB’s sophisticated robotics control technology.
“We have integrated ABB’s leading robotics expertise into the ABB Dynafin propulsor and achieved exceptionally strong, fast and accurate motion control performance,” said Bin Liu, Senior Principal Scientist, ABB Corporate Research Centre.
Real-World Application and Market Readiness
After testing at its Concept Basin in the Netherlands, ABB asserts that the Dynafin will equate to real-world ship performance benefits, especially in terms of fuel savings and lower emissions. This is in line with its mission to enable more sustainable shipping practices.
The idea, initially introduced in May 2023, is now considered market-ready. ABB is initially focusing on medium-sized and smaller ships, like passenger ferries, small cargo vessels, offshore support vessels, and yachts, in the 1–4 MW power range. “We placed a shaft torque and an RPM transducer, as well as a six-component force frame, which was calibrated here at MARIN, to measure the overall unit forces and moments.”
said René Bosman, Senior Specialist Mechanical Measurement, MARIN.
“We also calibrated the fin servos with the six-component shaft transducer of our torque motor.”
Independent Study Confirms Fuel Savings
Besides MARIN’s confirmation, ABB quoted an independent study by OSK-ShipTech A/S that concluded that a passenger ship with the Dynafin system would reduce propulsion energy consumption by 22 per cent compared to a traditional shaft line.
Aligning with Global Sustainability Goals
As the shipping industry works towards IMO’s 2050 net-zero emission goals, ABB Dynafin is a central enabler of more sustainable shipping. The concept was recognised with Spain’s Retina ECO Award 2024, cited as a “technological innovation with a positive impact on sustainability and climate change.”
“ABB Dynafin is all about extremely high efficiency, and this model scale testing gives a good platform for our customers to verify its performance,” said Janne Pohjalainen, Global Product Line Manager for ABB Dynafin, ABB Marine & Ports.
“Our testing has been really successful and what we have seen fully aligns with our expectations from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis,” he added.
Did you subscribe to our daily Newsletter?
It’s Free Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Interesting Engineering
