BAE Systems has completed an operational sea trial of its ship energy assessment system (SEAS), to demonstrate the technology’s energy saving abilities.
Executed successfully on Type-45 Destroyer HMS Dragon in the Mediterranean waters, the live trial has revealed that a Destroyer can achieve up to 28% fuel cost savings by using SEAS.
The technology, which integrates SEAS dynamic ship energy and fuel performance model, is claimed to help the ship’s navigator and engineering crew plan the most efficient engine and cruise speed configuration.
BAE Systems Energy Solutions & Services head Chris Courtaux said the software solution stood up well to the real-use environment challenges when integrated within operations on HMS Dragon.
"It is great to see it working on a recent deployment, delivering fuel savings and assisting the crew in planning a passage profile and instantly visualising the impact on fuel consumption and endurance, providing a very real capability advantage for the crew," Courtaux said.
In the SEAS-enabled environment, users can interact with the system to perform tradeoffs in fuel consumption, and time on target and endurance, as well as fuel costs, said BAE Systems.
SEAS runs on the Windows 7.0 operating system and needs a laptop to implement; it is claimed to intelligently predict propulsion and service demand to meet user-configured operational requirements, planned speed profile and energy use patterns.
By integrating with the integrated platform management system (IPMS) prevailing on the ship, the technology imports sensor data from IPMS through CD-ROM and designs ship’s energy and fuel performance model for the crew to execute.
The system also helps the crew in assessing the due date for next bunker activity alongside displaying a more fuel efficient profile that ensures no compromise on time to achieve target and mission objectives.
Image: SEAS technology can save up to 28% fuel costs for a Type-45 Destroyer on deployment. Photo: courtesy of BAE Systems.
