Clean energy replaces traditional fuel, and automatic driving and automatic operation have become a reality——
China's shipbuilding industry testing water green intelligence
Clean energy replaces fuel oil, and intelligent systems replace labor. The changes are not only sweeping the automotive field, but also in the shipping field.
Hydrogen fuel cells, lithium iron phosphate batteries, dual-fuel power, hybrid power and other power systems, used for passenger ships, cargo ships, engineering ships, working ships and other large and small ships, inland navigation, water cleaning, marine transportation, etc. Emerging in a variety of scenes.
China's shipbuilding industry competes with thousands of sails, catching up with the wave of the era of green intelligence.
Low carbon and environmental protection, ships are replaced with new energy
Recently, in the Yichang section of the Yangtze River, a cruise ship shuttled back and forth, attracting attention.
After the passengers boarded the ship, whether on the deck or in the cabin, they could not hear the roar of the engine, nor the pungent smell of diesel oil, but only the sound of the wind and waves, and the intoxicating river scene as far as they could see.
It is "Yangtze Three Gorges No. 1". It is a pure electric cruise ship with a length of 100 meters, a width of 16.3 meters, and a 4-story building. It was developed and constructed by the Three Gorges Group and Hubei Three Gorges Tourism Group. It is a veritable "big guy".
How big is the battery for such a big boat?
"'Yangtze River Three Gorges 1' has 4 battery compartments, equipped with 720 Ningde era lithium iron phosphate power battery packs, with a load capacity of 7,500 kWh, equivalent to the sum of the battery capacity of more than 100 electric vehicles, and it is the ship with the largest battery capacity in the world. Batteries and power have all been localized," said Zhang Yu, business manager of the technical management department of the Three Gorges Group Three Gorges Electric Power Company.
Electricity replaces diesel, no annoying noises and odors, no vibrations from diesel engines from time to time, and the boat is more stable and quiet.
"The electricity comes from the Three Gorges clean hydropower. Compared with traditional powered ships, it can replace 530 tons of fuel oil every year, reduce the emission of various harmful gases by 1,660 tons, and truly achieve zero emissions." Zhang Yu said.
Since its maiden voyage in March this year, the "Three Gorges 1" has sailed more than 40 times, carrying about 30,000 passengers.
Not only passenger ships, but also not only lithium iron phosphate power batteries.
Hydrogen fuel, liquefied natural gas, methanol and other clean energy replace traditional fuel oil, and are used in passenger ships, cargo ships, engineering ships, working ships and other large and small ships in various fields, becoming a new choice for the shipping industry under the global trend of green and low-carbon transformation.
"Ships are one of the important emission sources affecting the atmosphere and marine environment. Under the global trend of green and low-carbon transformation, ship manufacturers must constantly adapt to market changes through the research and development and application of new technologies and new equipment." Chief Engineer He Guangwei said.
Not long ago, the first 49,900-ton methanol dual-fuel chemical tanker built by Guangzhou Shipyard International was completed and delivered in Guangzhou. This is the first green ship built in China to use methanol dual-fuel power.
"It adopts a methanol dual-fuel drive system, which can be driven by four fuel modes: fuel oil, fuel hydrate, methanol, and methanol hydrate. The ship is equipped with various energy-saving devices such as front ducts and vortex fins to effectively improve propulsion. Efficiency, saving energy consumption and reducing ship operating costs. It has been verified that it can reduce carbon emissions by 75%, nitrogen emissions by 15% and sulfur and particulate matter emissions by 99%.” He Guangwei said.
In the field of clean power ships, Guangzhou Shipyard International has been deployed for many years. As early as 2017, it delivered the first thousand-ton pure electric zero-emission self-unloading ship in China.
It is understood that Guangzhou Shipbuilding International currently holds orders for 38 dual-fuel powered ships. In addition to methanol dual-fuel, there are also ships propelled by LNG (liquefied natural gas) dual-fuel and hybrid electricity. The company is in green ship design. The construction field has reached the world's leading level.
"Green, intelligent, safe, flexible and economical ships are more favored by the market, prompting continuous technological innovation in shipbuilding and opening up new market space for Chinese shipbuilding enterprises," said He Guangwei.
"Big man" and "Little Kuailing" have "big wisdom"
Like new energy vehicles, the large-scale application of clean energy in the field of ships has also brought about an increase in the intelligence of ships, and new energy ships are becoming more and more "smarter".
Complex functions such as automatic driving and automatic operation, which are gradually popularized in automobiles, are also applied in ships.
After setting the task through remote control, the unmanned cleaning boat will work along the predetermined route, and will return to the ship with a full load of aquatic plants and floating objects in a short time.
When the power is low, the unmanned ship will return to sail, recharge, and then put into operation.
This is the daily life of Suzhou, a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.
In this city with an extensive water system, the maintenance of the water surface environment is arduous. Relying on traditional manual methods to salvage is not only inefficient, costly, but also dangerous.
"Two workers work 8 hours a day and can complete the daily maintenance of 45 acres of water; and our small unmanned cleaning boat smurf, even if 98% of the water is covered with floating objects, it can complete 70 acres of water within 7.5 hours. Cleaning tasks. In extreme weather, traditional water cleaning methods face many difficulties, and the application of unmanned ships can improve safety and efficiency issues." Zhu Jiannan, CEO of Oka Zhibo, made a comparison.
"The maintenance area of the titan cleaning boat we landed in Suzhou is between 100 mu and 150 mu. With the wireless charging shore base, the unmanned cleaning boat has successfully replaced manual labor. Relying on the water quality monitoring module on board, it can also track pollution sources. To better protect this floating city." Zhu Jiannan said that Oka Zhibo's unmanned lawn mowers and cleaning boats have successfully achieved a number of technological breakthroughs, and the products have not only been recognized by domestic customers, but have also gone abroad and landed in 10 overseas countries.
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Then turn your attention to the sea.
Between Qingdao Port in Shandong Province and Dongjiakou Port, the "Zhi Fei" fully loaded with containers rides the wind and waves.
This is the first self-navigating 300TEU container ship independently developed by China, and it is an oil-electric hybrid ship.
Don't look at the size and feel like a "stupid guy", its "brain" is not simple at all, the curved cab console, a variety of smart devices, ship data, navigation maps, etc. show a full "technological style" .
"'Zhifei' can realize the functions of intelligent perception and cognition of navigation environment, autonomous tracking, autonomous route planning, intelligent collision avoidance, automatic berthing and departure and remote control driving, etc. system, and achieve synergy with shore-based production, service, dispatch control, supervision and other institutions and facilities such as ports, shipping, maritime affairs, aviation insurance, etc." said Jiang Haiying, chairman of the "Zhifei" investment and construction main body Smart Navigation (Qingdao) Technology Co., Ltd. .
How important is unmannedness to the shipping industry?
"The boring working environment at sea and the danger of sailing have led to high ship management costs and crew shortages. Smart shipping has huge economic benefits for ship owners. Moreover, the future period will be a 'key race' for the global competition in smart shipping technology. Who can Whoever takes the lead in breaking through the key technologies of intelligent shipping and realizing extensive commercial application will have the opportunity and dominance in the development of intelligent shipping." Jiang Haiying said.
"The demonstration application of 'Zhi Fei' marks that China has come to the forefront of the world in the field of research and development and application of ship intelligent navigation technology. It is a key step in the standard." said Zhang Baochen, chief expert of the think tank of the Ministry of Transport's Water Transport Science Research Institute, who led the overall design of the "Zhifei" intelligent navigation system.
During the operation of "Zhifei" between Shandong ports, the ship-shore collaborative operation of container unmanned terminals will also be explored, which is of great significance for building a comprehensive demonstration area of intelligent shipping.
Industry synergy to draw a new track for domestic ships
The world's largest, internationally advanced, and the first ship in China... In the highly complex and comprehensive shipbuilding industry, behind each major innovation is often the crystallization of collaborative research in the industry chain.
Take the "Three Gorges 1 of the Yangtze River" as an example, the "world's largest" ship battery with the largest battery capacity in the world is obtained in this way.
"The volume of the battery compartment is limited, and if too many batteries are configured, it will take up too much volume and weight of the ship, which will affect the overall design and construction." Zhang Yu said, "The navigation conditions in waters are also much more complicated than on roads. For example, water vapor erosion will affect the power battery. Security poses a threat, and ensuring the safe operation of large-capacity batteries is critical.”
In addition, avoiding electromagnetic interference between battery packs and difficulty in charging large-capacity batteries are also hurdles that cannot be avoided.
Zhang Yu participated in the whole process of research and demonstration and project management of "Three Gorges 1", and the power system is the part where he spends the most energy.
"We work with ship design units, power system integration units, power battery suppliers, etc. to jointly carry out scientific research." Zhang Yu said.
"We use large-capacity and high-energy-density lithium iron phosphate system cells to provide power, and provide voltage and temperature monitoring for each cell to ensure the safety and stability of the 'power heart'." Ningde, the supplier of the "Three Gorges 1" power battery Times officials said.
"With the joint efforts of all parties, 'Yangtze Three Gorges 1' has achieved technological breakthroughs in battery pack connection, high-voltage interlock and emergency shutdown, high temperature resistance and anti-corrosion treatment, ensuring the mechanical safety, electrical safety, and environmental protection of the battery system. Safety and thermal safety." Zhang Yu introduced.
Objectively speaking, unlike the faster-developing new energy vehicles, electric ships are still in the early stages of market development.
"At present, the domestic market's recognition of batteries and hybrid ships needs to be improved. The development of ship electrification is in urgent need of national policy guidance and support, so as to promote relevant enterprises in the industry chain to conquer key technologies of electric propulsion, master the production capacity of key core equipment, and form complete supporting facilities and operation. An orderly, independent and controllable industrial chain system." He Guangwei said.
"In the future, we will continue to develop more competitive high-safety and long-life power ship batteries, strengthen industrial cooperation, accelerate the integration of comprehensive capabilities of motors, electronic controls, and batteries, improve the overall performance of the three power plants, and better serve electric ships. "The relevant person in charge of Ningde Times said.
In terms of intelligence, Yu Qiaochan, an associate researcher at the Water Transport Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, believes that the development of various elements of intelligent shipping is uneven, and the development speed of navigation support, supervision and services is relatively slow, which restricts the overall coordinated development.
"The degree of autonomy of some equipment and devices is low, and the industrial innovation chain is incomplete, which also limits the technical level and market competitiveness of domestic intelligent navigation systems."
However, in the face of the blue ocean of intelligent ships, relevant companies are full of expectations.
"Improving the intelligence level of ships and eventually realizing unmanned ships will be an inevitable trend in the development of the shipping industry. With continuous breakthroughs in technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and big data, some key technologies are being developed and perfected. As a Chinese enterprise, I sincerely hope that We can leave our own track in the global smart shipping competition." Jiang Haiying said.
Our reporter Kang Pu