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Swiss-Swedish multinational ABB, a leading power and automation technology group, has announced the launch of a marine energy appraisal initiative aimed at helping vessel operators lower fuel consumption by reducing their energy use.

The company says that seawater cooling pumps, chilled water pumps and engine room ventilation fans are some of the largest onboard energy consumers, often operating at full capacity even when demand is not high with flow being controlled through mechanical devices such as bypass valves and air dampers, which are inefficient and costly to maintain.

According to ABB, the installation of a variable speed drive to adjust the speed of these motors according to demand could reduce the energy consumed by approximately 50 percent and achieve a payback on equipment and installation, from fuel savings alone, in less than 12 months.

ABB's marine energy appraisal aims to identify the motor-driven applications that can benefit from the use of variable speed drives. Once the applications have been identified, the energy appraisal is undertaken and a value proposal for implementing improvements is presented. If accepted, an installation site survey is carried out before the actual engineering and commissioning is completed. A final report verifies the results including a return on investment.

"A single seawater cooling pump can save $29,000 and 117 tons of CO2 per year," said Stuart Melling, manager for harbour cranes and merchant vessel service. "When applied ship-wide and fleet-wide these savings can be tremendous. There is a large potential for retrofitting existing ships with new fuel-reducing technologies. For example, only around 2 percent of the global fleet is currently equipped with variable speed drives for their seawater cooling pumps, which means that 98 percent of the fleet is missing an opportunity for high fuel savings and environmental rewards."

"The marine energy appraisal is built on ABB’s extensive process knowledge combined with in-depth system competence in variable speed drives, motors, pumps and fans,” said Melling. “We take full responsibility for complete energy efficiency retrofit projects, ensuring quick and simple project execution which saves customers time and money."