TUESDAY 3 MAY 2022

To mark the end of the project, AIRCOAT presented its research approach, developments, and final results on Wednesday 16 March 2022 at its Virtual Final Event during Oceanology International in London. A recording of the event can be located on the event website.

The results presented at the event are the culmination of 4 years of collaborative work by the AIRCOAT partners: Fraunhofer CML, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie-KIT, Biomimetics Innovation Center – University of Applied Science Bremen, PPG, Finnish Meteorological Institute, AquaBioTech Group, HSVA, Avery Dennison, Danaos, and REVOLVE. The AIRCOAT technology, which consists of a self-adhesive structured foil that retains air when submerged underwater, aims to prevent biofouling (accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals) and reduce drag, thus increasing fuel efficiency and reducing gas emissions of maritime shipping.

The AIRCOAT final event included the presentation of project results and methodology, including the variety of different surface structures that the research team developed, produced, and studied. Two ships were coated with AIRCOAT during the project: on a small research vessel in Malta, and on a container ship in Romania. Testing revealed that the AIRCOAT foil was successful in creating a full air layer upon contact with water. Near- operational hydrodynamic experiments showed a frictional drag reduction of about 10%. The durability of the air layer across different environments remains an important challenge and an area requiring further study.

Over the course of the project, a number of reports, articles, publications, and videos have been developed and are available on the AIRCOAT website.

The project closed officially in Hamburg (Germany) during the Final Consortium meeting that took place on April 27-28.

POLICY BRIEF

Stemming from the project’s work, the AIRCOAT team developed the policy brief, “Shipping decarbonisation shout for new technologies: developing passive air lubrication”, to contextualise the broader relevance of the AIRCOAT technology and highlight the need for further research.

With the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal of achieving net zero by 2050, as outlined in the European Green Deal, the maritime shipping industry must reduce emissions: 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. This cannot be achieved by a single measure alone.

Ship resistance reduction measures (via advanced coatings, air lubrication, hull management of biofouling, hull form design) are necessary drivers available to reduce emissions today. Ship owners cannot alone focus on alternative fuels, which will not be available in the medium-term in large quantities, and slow steaming which is well understood but will increase delivery times and the number of ships needed for transport. Therefore, the need for resistance reduction measures is high now.

To realise market-ready innovative solution, longer research time-frames and incremental funding are necessary to allow for further improvements on real-world testing that is appropriate for the two-decade life cycle of ships.

Read the full brief here.

ABOUT AIRCOAT

AIRCOAT aims to reduce energy consumption and maritime emissions, as defined by the EU Green Deal looking to reduce greenhouse gas emission for the shipping industry by 40% by 2030. The air barrier created by the AIRCOAT foil limits the attachment of fouling and the potential for invasive species translocation. The produced air layer of the AIRCOAT foil reduces frictional resistance. The AIRCOAT foil will also help to avoid the release of biocide substances of underlying coatings to the water and mitigate the radiation of ship noise, something that has detrimental effects on marine life such as cetaceans. The project helps advance and validate environmentally friendly initiatives within the maritime industry, paving the way for further marine research initiatives that reduce our carbon footprint in the oceans.

CONTACTS

Read more on www.aircoat.eu

TUESDAY 4TH MAY 2021

Summary:

• One-year extension of the project and pilot experiments on research vessel and container ship
• Stakeholder workshop conclusions at the LEC Sustainable Shipping Technologies Forum 2021
• Online event on May 19th during EU Green Week Partner Events: How can nature help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry?

The reduction of greenhouse gases has played an important role in the 21st century in limiting climate change. Yet with the increase in the international transportation of goods, with most of them being transported by ships, new regulations and decarbonisation targets have been implemented. As a result, the need for new technologies to reduce emissions is high. In response to that challenge, over the last three years the AIRCOAT H2020 project has been developing a foil system to be applied to ship hulls. The surface structure of the foil aims to retain air when submerged under water reducing the frictional resistance of the ship, forming a passive lubrication technology.  As we move towards the end of the project, it is clear 2021 will be an intense and productive year in order to validate the technology.

After three years of research and small-scale experiments – in laboratories and in open water – the project is ready to test the prototypes on a larger scale. With a one-year extension – due to massive delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – AIRCOAT will now end in April 2022 and will be able to finalise the pilot experiments. Large-scale pilots are essential to demonstrate the efficiency and industrial feasibility in operational environments. The two experiments will be done on a research vessel and a container ship. The research ship experiment aims to observe the stability of the air retention of the foil. The container ship experiment is about observing its efficiency over time. This last step is fundamental for the product before being released on the market.

Container ship pollution represents the biggest environmental impact of the shipping sector. A reduction of their drag resistance would offer the possibility of a substantial decrease in fuel consumption and subsequently reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.  More than 50 % of the energy required for propulsion – which is approximately 70% of the total fuel usage – is used to overcome frictional resistance.

On 27th April, AIRCOAT participated at LEC Sustainable Shipping Technologies Forum 2021. Project Coordinator Johannes Oeffner from Fraunhofer CML moderated Session II: Ship efficiency technologies, combining speeches on the latest technology innovations to improve the efficiency of ship propulsion. During the event Nils Hagemeister presented the latest developments in AIRCOAT: LDA channel experiment results, laboratory fouling test results and prototypes, and laboratory roll production results where we obtained a “replication ratio of the structure at 99,95%” explained Nils Hagemeister, research associate at Fraunhofer CML.

WEBINAR | Wednesday 19 May at 3.00 pm CET | EU Green Week – EU Partner Events

AIRCOAT H2020 project: How can nature help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry? 

As part of the EU Green Week Partner Events, the webinar will give insights into the development of the surface structure and test results. We will demonstrate how the size, geometry, and chemical properties of the surface structure play a crucial role in creating air lubrication.

Speakers:

• Jonathan Weisheit, Research Associate | CML Fraunhofer
• Dr Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, Senior Researcher | Finnish Meteorological Institute – FMI
• Dr Stefan Walheim, Senior Researcher | Karlsruher Institut Für Technologie – KIT
• Dr Albert Baars, Group Leader Computational Fluid Dynamics | B-I-C of City University Of Applied Sciences Bremen
• Christoph Wilms, Researcher | B-I-C of City University Of Applied Sciences Bremen

Moderator:

• Clémence Contant, Project Manager, REVOLVE

AIRCOAT technology is aiming to reduce energy consumption and ship emissions, as defined by the EU Green Deal looking to reduce gas emission for the ship industry by 40% by 2030. The air barrier created by the AIRCOAT foil further limits the attachment of fouling and consequent invasive species translocation. It will also avoid the release of biocide substances of underlying coatings to the water and mitigate the radiation of ship noise, something that has detrimental effects on marine life such as cetaceans.

The project will help to understand and validate environmentally friendly initiatives within the maritime industry, paving the way for further marine research initiatives that reduce our footprint in the oceans.

CONTACTS

Read more on www.aircoat.eu