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MARINE DESIGN A nyone that has spent much time in Norway must realize that the Norwegian maritime cluster is a special one, bound by generations of designing, building and operating in, around and under the sea. Unlike many ‘clusters’ that are formed out of fi nan- cial expediency, all matters maritime are seemingly interwoven into the Nor- wegian DNA. And while the country is relatively small on population, logging in just shy of fi ve million inhabitants, it is a global giant on maritime thought and innovation. So Per Egil Vedlog, Design Manager of Rolls-Royce Marine AS, was a natu- ral choice for insight on innovative mari- time design, fresh off receiving the Hey- erdahl Award for its Enviroship concept, the award presented by His Majesty King Harald at the Norwegian Shipown- ers’ Associations Annual Conference in Oslo earlier this year. The Enviroship Concept? The Environship concept is an innova- tive ship design which integrates a high- ly effi cient gas-based power and pro- pulsion system with an innovative hull design to provide signifi cant reductions in emissions. In bestowing the Heyer- dahl Award, the committee, chaired by Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Peter Hin- cliffe, noted that Rolls-Royce had taken a holistic approach to vessel design, combining a number of innovative so- lutions that increased energy effi ciency and contributed to signifi cant reductions in emissions. “The Enviroship concept is built on fi ve main technology pillars: PROMAS, hybrid shaft generator, gas fuel engines, wave piercing technology and the sys- tem engineering and integration,” said Vedog. “The systems integration and overall systems integration is critical.” “For us it is very important to be rec- ognized by these awards because they recognize our extensive R&D and in- novation work,” said Vedlog, a 30 year veteran in ship design. And while Rolls- Royce is the name on the award, Ved- log attributes some of the success to the Northwest coast Norwegian Maritime Cluster, which provides he and his col- leagues ready access to the design and equipment manufacture expertise of col- leagues both in and outside of the com- pany, an accrued knowledge base that that spans generations. “We have easy access to high maritime technology and innovation competence,” said Vedlog. Innovation by Design While the Norwegian maritime cluster receives partial credit, the legendary in- novative spirit of the country is deeply rooted in something relatively simple: need. “Norway is a high cost country, and we have very high labor costs. So we need to compete on technology,” said Vedlog. “We excel on the high technol- ogy projects, and we have found that when you combine technology as we have done on the Enviroship concept, you are able to get very good perfor- mance.” But make no mistake, the Envi- roship concept is not simply innovation for the sake of innovation, and Vedlog stressed that showing owners rapidity of investment payback is central to every project. “An important part of our work is doing cost benefi t analysis for the owners, to estimate payback time. So we have seen time and again when you com- bine technologies, the buy in cost may be a bit higher but the payback time can be quite short.” Until the last few years, it could be argued that “being green” was more statement than action. But a prolifera- tion of increasingly stringent maritime ... And the Winner is ... The Hybrid Shaft Generator (HSG) (left) is one of the fi ve pillars of the Enviroship Concept (below): The HSG system is a drive system that control the frequency from the shaft generator to the switchboard even when engine rpm varies. The system allows you to run the shaft generator in parallel with the auxiliary engines and the shaft generator can be functioning either as a generator or as an electric motor. Earlier this year Rolls- Royce was bestowed the Heyerdahl Award for its Enviroship concept. Mari- time Reporter & Engineer- ing News recently caught up with Per Egil Vedlog, Design Manager, Rolls- Royce Marine AS, for his insights on the honor as well as the challenge in designing for the maritime future. By Greg Trauthwein 30 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • OCTOBER 2014 MR #10 (26-33).indd 30 10/1/2014 9:41:10 AM
