Developers of a new technology aim to revolutionize the shipping industry and drastically reduce reliance on polluting energy by harnessing a natural force that has powered ships for millennia – wind.
The shipping industry currently relies almost entirely on diesel engines to power tens of thousands of ships around the world every day, accounting for around 3% of the gas that contributes to the overheating of the planet each year.
According to Interesting Engineering, startup CoFlow Jet is developing technology that would see cylinders fixed to the deck of a cargo ship suck in a small amount of air, pressurize and energize the air using a system of low-pressure fans within each cylinder, and then expel the air out another part of the cylinder, creating a significant amount of thrust.
CoFlow Jet’s current goal is to reduce fuel consumption by 20-50% for large cargo ships and 60-90% for small and medium-sized vessels.
“What's old is new again. Today's technological advances make wind-assisted propulsion an efficient alternative to diesel engines,” GeCheng Zha, founder and president of CoFlow Jet, professor of aerospace engineering and director of the Aerodynamics and Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at the University of Miami's School of Engineering, said via Interesting Engineering.
He added: “The shipping industry has tended to resist change because diesel engines are so powerful, but now, with pressure mounting, the industry will be forced to change, whether intentionally or not.”
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The project is funded by several government agencies, including NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Zha is still in the design and simulation phase of the project.
If successful, Zha's system would be one in a series of new technologies being developed to help transition the shipping industry away from diesel fuel and towards clean energy.
A French company recently completed successful sea trials propelling a cargo ship with a giant kite. In another technological feat at sea, a 47,000-ton bulk carrier saved £6,000 a day in fuel by using high-tech sails in tandem with its diesel engines.
Chinese natural gas giant Shen Energy also announced it would open a facility to convert food waste into green methanol, an alternative fuel that can be used on ships.
These technologies, and others Zha is developing, will not only help clean the air for people living near the port, but also lead to a cleaner, more livable planet.
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