SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 — Growing global demand for its advanced technology marine fuel monitoring system has prompted Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K., headquartered Royston Diesel Power to expand its dedicated support team for
The support for the £1.5 million project, which is being conducted in collaboration with Newcastle University’s School of Marine Science & Technology, is coming from Innovate UK, the U.K.’s government sponsored innovation agency
The project is focused on producing a system for the complete understanding of the complex energy flows around a vessel.
Energy use and consumption on vessels will be measured through a physical monitoring system integrated with dedicated software and the development of new products and services to aid vessel efficiency.
The three-year project will initially focus on developing a system examining total energy flows and vessel energy architecture for smaller vessels, then for progressively larger vessels provided by maritime and shipping companies Svitzer, Topaz and CalMac Ferries, who are collaborative partners on the project.
The ultimate goal is to reduce the environmental impact of shipping and maritime activities, such as the reduction of CO2 emissions and poisonous air pollutants both when the vessel is at sea, and mitigating the effect on near-by communities when the vessel is in port.
The system will also focus on the prevention of catastrophic faults and failures through early warning diagnostics. It is predicted that the proposed whole-vessel system will generate considerable financial reward to end-users from efficiency savings and reduced “port dues” for ships demonstrating compliance towards reduced energy consumption.
Lawrence Brown, Managing Director of Royston Diesel Power, said: “We are delighted that Royston’s reputation as innovators in marine engineering has been recognized by the award of this grant by Innovate UK to help us develop our marine offering.
“The Managing Energy on Marine Vessels program is ambitious and challenging as the performance of one system within a vessel is under the influence of many other interconnected systems, all of which effect the whole-vessel energy usage.
“The project will push boundaries and allow us to develop new methodologies and technologies. The collaboration with Newcastle University is particularly important from a research standpoint and allows the project to benefit the wider marine and academic community as a whole.
“For Royston, we hope that this project will bring an excellent return on investment and added value to the company and our suppliers from significantly increased sales in the UK, Europe and elsewhere.”
