Bunker-saving "Bubble" System Close to Final Tests

DK Group's Noah Silberschmidt said the retrofit solution could be an alternative to new vessel orders

A fuel-saving system that uses a "carpet of bubbles" to reduce friction will enter final trials on a Handymax tanker around the start of 2014, according to Lloyd's Register, which has been helping to test the technology for its developer, DK Group.

"We have been working very closely with Lloyd's Register and we see their brand as vital to this process, lending credibility and independent assurance to the new technology on its route to market," said Noah Silberschmidt, managing director of DK Group.

The Air Cavity System (ACS) technology has been tested on a full-scale demonstrator ship in Norway and in a cavitation tank at the HSVA Hamburg Ship Model Basin in Germany.

"It is clear that at full operation, ACS provides significant reduction in frictional resistance compared to the case without a cavity," said Dejan Radosavljevic, fluid dynamics section manager for Lloyd's Register's Technical Investigation Department.

DK Group said the technology has potential as a retrofit solution as well as in newbuilds.

"DK Group believes that the retrofit solutionwill be considered by shipowners as an alternative to investing in new tonnage," Silberschmidt said.

"A potential 10% improvement of the efficiency on existing tonnage will narrow the gap considerably to new and more efficient vessels.''

The final stage of the process will involve trials on a 45,000 deadweight tonne (dwt) Handymax tanker in December of 2013 or January 2014.

The technology is similar to an "air lubrication system" developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that has provided 5 percent fuel savings in tests, and also to a system being developed by Stena Bulk, according to a guide published on DK Group's website.