R&D

Boats and ships cause up to 40% of the air pollution in coastal towns in the Mediterranean: there is a need for new green marine propulsion systems. Marine electric propulsion is a great solution. However, to obtain a boat thrust and range similar to traditional diesel boats, very high volumes of batteries (or fuel cells) are needed, and costs increase with battery size .

There are two ways to reduce the cost and space occupied by batteries: increase battery energy density and decrease overall power consumption. Within this project, Nablawave and Sea Green Engineering want to develop a new type of propulsion system based on a patent filed by Nablawave, which exploits the principles of distributed propulsion in order to increase performance over all solutions known to date, leading to a reduction in the boat power demand.

The advantages of our propulsion system, compared to existing solutions, are the following:

1. decreased hull drag, due to boundary layer ingestion, leading to reduced consumption
2. increased thrust efficiency at lower speeds: instead of operating one single engine at part load (which is highly inefficient), some engines will operate in optimal conditions, some other will be shut off
3. increase in maneuverability, thanks to the possibility to control each engine speed and thrust
4. decreased propeller draught, particularly important in shallow waters
5. increased safety for humans and for fish fauna and lower water turbulence for a lower impact on the sea environment.

The project, presented in partnership with Sea Green Engineering Srl and funded by the Anticipation PR FESR 2021-2027 Friuli-Venezia Giulia – Incentives to companies for collaborative industrial research and experimental development – call 2022, started on 26th January 2023.

The program grants to Nablawave a contribution of € 115.074,13 on an eligible expenditure of € 181.612,50.