The Greening of the Tugboat:

Challenges & Opportunities

Robert G. Allan P.Eng
FSNAME, FRINA
Executive Chairman

Presentation
ROBERT ALLAN LTD
a brief history & our background in the tug industry

GOING GREEN
WORKING PROFILE FOR TYPICAL HARBOUR TUGS
REDUCING FOSSIL FUEL DEPENDENCY
REDUCING EMISSIONS
OPTIONS FOR A GREEN FUTURE FOR HARBOUR
TOWAGE?
Q&A

History

Canadas most senior firm of

Consulting Naval Architects
Founded in 1930 in Vancouver

Three Generations of Family Ownership:

- Robert Allan
- Robert F. Allan
- Robert G. Allan

President 1930 -1960

President 1960 -1981
President 1982 -2008

Company Re-Structured in 2008:

Business sold to team of 11 new Employee Shareholders
100% Canadian Owned, Fully Independent

HISTORY:
1940s / 1950s:
Small Coastal Vessels BC focus
1960s:
Complete re-build of coastal tug
and barge fleet (wood to steel)
1970s
Major activity in Mackenzie River and
Beaufort Sea

HISTORY:
1980s Tough Times!!...
Some Offshore opportunities in
South East Asia

1990s - Growth of
International Design Business
- Fireboats
- Patrol Craft
- Crewboats
- ITugs

Markets in:
- Turkey
- Norway
- S/E Asia

21st Century
Rapidly Expanding International
Activity
Major Tug Designs in many countries
Leading Designer Worldwide
Major International Fireboat projects
: USA & China
Offshore Sector: Large AnchorHandling Tugs, FSO conversions
Self-Unloading Bulk and Oil Barges
Icebreaking Supply Vessels and
Tugs
Patrol Craft
Ferries: Drop Trailer & Ro-Ro
Major River Transportation Systems
Science Research Vessels

International Tug Business

is good!!

THE MARINE WORLD IS GOING GREEN

General Publicity / Consciousness

ECO Pressure
Government Regulations/ Industry Standards
Public Perceptions / Misconceptions
Fossil Fuel Scarcity / Rising Costs
Marketing Gimmick??

THE ROLE OF THE TUGBOAT

Coastal Towing
River Towing (Pushing!)
Ocean Towing
Tanker Escort
Harbour Towing
Miscellany !

The Changing Role of the Harbour Tugboat

Ever larger ships to handle

Increasing demands for tug power / performance
Increasing cost consciousness
Environmental Concerns in Ports
Rising Fuel Costs
GREEN pressure!
MUST look at new Fuel
and Propulsion Options

The Changing Role of the Harbour Tugboat

Tugs are one of the most visible elements in a harbour
Watched from shore and from Office windows!

Zero Tolerance today for smoke belching like this!!!

GOING GREEN

No shortage of new ideas

Numerous emerging technologies
Alternative fuels
Some $$ Incentives
A very few Successful Prototypes
Current Focus is on Technology
Inot on basic design improvements
Regulatory Barriers to Progress

Green Objectives
Reduced Fossil Fuel Dependency
Reduced Emissions
Not necessarily Compatible ObjectivesI
- some fuel alternatives create higher
emissions!
Should be an economic payback??

The Harbour Tug Dilemma

60.0%

Large percentage of time

spent at very low power
levels

Percent of Time

50.0%

40.0%

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

0.0%
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Percent Load

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

SFC ( Gal/
Gal/hp-hr)

The Harbour Tug Dilemma

0.140

where fuel consumed

per kW of Power
produced is very high

0.120
0.100
0.080
0.060
0.040
0.020
0.000
0

20

40

60

Per cent Load

80

100

6000

Power Demand (kW)

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
06:00:00

08:24:00

10:48:00

13:12:00

15:36:00

Time

Power Demand

Constant Generation
Requirement

18:00:00

BACKGROUND
Increased demand to :
Reduce environmental impact
Fuel Consumption & Emissions

Improve engine loading for optimum service life

Light loading reduces service life

Range of options for propulsion emerging

Diesel Mechanical, Diesel Electric, SDME, Hybrids

Range of vessel operating profiles

Need quantitative analysis to match propulsion design
options with operating profile

RAptures is an analysis platform developed at RAL

RAptures

Robert Allan Ltd :

Powering
Tugs for
Real
Energy
Savings

A customized Analytical
Design Tool to enable
modelling of the life
cycle costs of any
propulsion system
alternatives

SELECTION PARAMETERS
What is the best Propulsion Package solution for any
given Tug?
Depends on:
Mission
Operational profile of the Tug
House & deck loads

CASE STUDY - US NAVY

Goal: By 2020, at least half of all energy that is

used by the Department of the Navy will come from
non-fossil fuel sources.
(Nothing stated about emissions!)
RAL Proposal offered to review and evaluate a range of
options for all harbour service craft, particularly the Tug
Fleet

USN Service Craft Fleet

61 different classes of vessels
Approx. 400 active vessels in total
Tankers
Lighters

Rescue Vessels
Launches
TUGS

Patrol Craft
Gate Craft, etc..

USN Service Craft Fleet

Operate in proximity to harbours or Mother ships (sources of alternate
energy)
Good Candidates for 100% fossil fuel reduction
RAL designed YT Class Tug: indicative of Service Craft Fleet
Potential common platform to evaluate the best available technologies
Multiple YTs currently planned with latest engine technology

USN YT Class Harbour Tugs

Z-Tech 4500 Class tugs
Designers:
Robert Allan Ltd.

Builders:
J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding

Tier 2 Diesels
B20 Capable
Highly regarded new tug
designed for USN
5 built to date

Alternative Energy Sources

Fossil Fuel Alternatives:
Biofuels
Including drop-in replacements such as HR-D
(Hydro-processed Renewable Diesel)

LNG/CNG

Fossil Fuel Replacements:

Hydrogen via fuel cells

Nuclear
Hydro
Wind
Solar
Wave
Geothermal

All Difficult (or Impossible!) to use

on board!

Bio-fuels
Original engine by Rudolf Diesel

1898 Patent
Ran on vegetable oil
Better source of energy than whale oil!
Society again considering bio-fuels

Future diesel engines:

100% biofuel very feasible

Problems to date

Coking, combustion chamber deposits, oil sludge,

corrosion
Increased NOx?
Sufficient Quantities available to Mil Spec?
Limited long term operating experience

R&D Resources Scarce

In USA, EPA Regulations and Navy Targets are

competing for R&D resources
In Canada, few if any incentive programs for
marine

Alternative Fuels - LNG

Not well-suited to smaller vessels:

Large fuel storage space required (app. 4-5 x volume of diesel)

Significant impact on tug size for same power (= more $$$)
Few engines available to run on LNG
Not suited for load cycling associated with harbour towage
Leads to Diesel-Electric configuration (inefficient/costly)

Worlds First Hybrid Tug Project

Foss Tug Carolyn Dorothy
Dolphin
Dolphin Class design by Robert Allan Ltd.
23.7 m. x 10.36 m.
3790 kW power
60+ tonnes Bollard Pull

Hybrid Tug Propulsion

Smaller
Diesel
Engines

Auxiliary
Generators
MotorGenerators
Storage
Batteries

Z-Drive
Thrusters

Hybrids
Advantages:

Proven (Canadian!) Technology

Significant reduction in emissions
Increase efficiency on diesels for reduced fuel consumption
Maintenance Savings
Reduced Hours on Large Engines
Better loading on Small engines

On same track as EPA emission reduction

Disadvantages:
Significant Cost Premium
Adds significant complexity on board
Added crew training and expertise

Relies on liquid fuel for primary energy source

50% fossil fuel reduction would depend on using biofuels

CARB Study -2010

(California Air Resources Board)
Evaluating Emission Benefits of a Hybrid Tug Boat
U of C, Riverside

Side-by-side comparison-2 Dolphin Class Tugs

One diesel, one hybrid

Conclusions:
Fuel Savings ~ 27% (+/- 5%)
Lube oil savings of 20-30%
Diesel Engines still operating in
inefficient zone
Suggest smaller engines and
larger batteries needed in next
generation of hybrid tugs.

A Rechargeable Option
Energy storage

Replenish electrical energy from any shore-based or

mother ship energy supply
A constant weight solutionIno ballasting

The Rechargeable Option

Advantages:
Access to all the alternate energy sources:
Hydro, nuclear, solar, wind, wave, hydrogen,
Technical Experts not required on Service Craft
For USN - utilize the Navys nuclear generating capacity?
Same Track as EPA Emission Reduction

Disadvantages:
Endurance depends on battery technology: (Lithium Polymer most promising)

BACKGROUND: EFFICIENCIES
Mechanical system:
Z-drive
Shafting
Main Engine

Mechanical Equipment
Main Engine to Propeller: ~94% efficient

BACKGROUND: EFFICIENCIES
Electrical system:
Motor
96%

Generator
96%
Drive/Conversion
97%

L-drive
97%

Electric Equipment
Aux. Engine to Propeller: ~87% Efficient

Aux.
Engine

PROPULSION CONFIGURATION EFFICIENCIES

Diesel Mechanical
Diesel Electric
Difference

94%
87 %
7%

- A significant Delta to overcome through

fuel and oil management savings

CONFIGURATIONS
Diesel Mechanical (DM)

CONFIGURATIONS
Diesel Electric

HYBRID CONFIGURATIONS
Series Diesel Mechanical/Electrical (SDME)
Basic configuration with just motor in shaft line = SME

Simple variation with off the shelf components for greater operational flexibility
Diesel Mechanical or Diesel Electric
Non-simultaneous power generation

HYBRID CONFIGURATIONS
SDME Variants
SME: shaft motors only
SMEG: shaft motor/generators
SMEGS: shaft motor/generators with stored power (full hybrid)
ENERGY
STORAGE
CONV.

TUG POWERING OPTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Conventional Diesel-Mechanical
Diesel
Biofuel

Hybrids
SDM Diesel
SDM Biofuel
SDME/SME - Combined with Batteries

All Battery-Electric

Option : Conventional Mechanical systems

Conventional diesel/mechanical engines/drives
Application: vessels in service with Tier II diesel engines,
OR
Introduce Biofuel in increasing % as quality/availability of
biofuel improves
Objective: 100% Biofuel over time (5-10 years?)

Option: Biofuel Hybrids

New hybrid vessels with diesel engines
operating on biofuel

Smaller main engines

Larger gen-sets
Motor/Generators
Batteries

Most Practical Option: Simple Hybrids

SDME worth considering
Benefits:
Less main engine runtime
Better loading on main
engines and gensets
Reduced fuel consumption
Reduced emissions
Reduced Maintenance Costs
Relatively small capital cost
increase

Results will depend on

operational profile

Option : Rechargeable Power Supply

Build vessels with energy storage exclusively in
batteries, recharged from shore or from Mother ship
(Limited Mothership Opportunities in commercial field!)
Current Limitations of Battery Technology / Cost

Capital Cost Impacts:

Bio-Fuels:
Hybrid:
Rechargeable Electric Tug:

per Existing Vessels

+15%
+ 25%

Cost Impacts
Hybrid or electric options are difficult to show a payback
at present cost levels
Some ports offering subsidies, but unless universally so,
increased costs will just shift Port user demand
elsewhere
Over time will undoubtedly show ROI;

Increased fuel costs

Improved battery technology
Reduced battery costs
Less R&D and development costs

Summary
Technologies exist to achieve
100% fossil fuel reduction in
most typical Harbour Tug Fleets
New Technology
is not cheap!
Need further careful study to
prove relative merits of:
Biofuel endurance
Biofuel Hybrid operation
Rechargeable Systems

NO doubt the all-electric tug

will be seen in the not so
distant future

Questions ??