EcoBin
The global challenge of climate change requires a comprehensive energy and transportation transition. Given the goal of greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045, inland waterway shipping must also drastically reduce emissions and achieve complete decarbonization of propulsion systems and onboard consumption within a few decades. Since this task requires a far-reaching transformation of energy and propulsion concepts, it can only be accomplished gradually and within the context of complex technological developments. This makes it all the more important, as a first step, to exploit all potential for reducing energy consumption. Energy-efficient navigation is a key approach in this regard, one that can be implemented relatively quickly and with minimal investment and applied to large parts of the fleet. Furthermore, the pressure to reduce energy consumption has intensified significantly due to rising fuel costs.
However, due to the complex interrelationships and numerous interactions between the vessel and the waterway—amid continuously changing water depths, currents, and traffic conditions—energy-efficient navigation poses considerable challenges for vessel operation. Automation, however, offers the opportunity to make these interrelationships easily accessible and to immediately tap into the potential for savings.
As part of this project, a route guidance assistance system is to be further developed to enable energy-optimized navigation on flowing waterways, dynamically taking into account arrival time, vessel dynamics, and external influences from water conditions and traffic on power requirements. It will be supplemented by a tool for consumption monitoring and energy-optimized
fleet scheduling.
Project duration: January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2026
Project partners
Argonics GmbH
Heßbrühlstraße 21D
70565 Stuttgart
Contact: Dr.-Ing. Alexander Lutz
DST – Development Centre for
Ship Technology and Transport Systems
Oststr. 77
47057 Duisburg
Contact: Niels Lange
Engineering firm Kauppert
Nebeniusstr. 34
76137 Karlsruhe
Contact: Tim Feierfeil
HGK Shipping GmbH
Dr.-Hammacher-Straße 49
47119 Duisburg
Contact: Anica Rieck
The EcoBin sub-projects:
“FuelPilot” – Argonics
The “FuelPilot” subproject focuses on researching an assistance system designed to optimize fuel consumption. Such optimization of vessel operation can help reduce fuel consumption in the existing inland waterway fleet, minimize environmental impact, and improve the economic efficiency of inland waterway transport.
First, the relevant factors influencing fuel consumption are identified. These include, in particular, water level, current, cargo load, and vessel speed. Mathematical models are then created to describe the effects of these factors on fuel consumption. An algorithm to be developed optimizes fuel consumption by adjusting the speed and the intended route, taking the aforementioned influencing factors into account. In doing so, the scheduled arrival time must be considered to ensure compliance with given schedules. Integration into the argoTrackPilot assistance system expands the automatic route guidance to include a component for automatic speed control.
To increase user acceptance and ease of use of the assistance system, the user experience is being optimized. To this end, feedback from ship captains is collected and evaluated to identify potential improvements in the system’s functionality and its human-machine interface (HMI), which are then implemented.
„EcoBin-Opt” – DST
The EcoBin collaborative project aims to tap into energy-saving potential through energy-efficient navigation in inland waterway transport. To this end, a route guidance assistance system is being expanded to include energy-optimized navigation on flowing waterways, taking into account arrival time, the vessel’s dynamic characteristics, and external influences from water conditions and traffic on power requirements.
Within this framework, the EcoBin-Opt subproject involves the development of a scheme for forecasting power requirements as well as a holistic method for optimizing trajectories with the goal of minimizing energy consumption. This work constitutes a necessary prerequisite for the development of the intended assistance system and forms the focus of the EcoBin-Opt subproject.
The intended assistance system is designed as a self-learning system capable of learning the characteristics and behaviors of the respective vessel while underway. This is intended to enable a broad range of applications, i.e., usability for a large number of common vessels and operational scenarios. Since the system must be able to react dynamically to changing target arrival times, it is necessary to be able to repeat the calculation of the optimal trajectory at regular intervals using updated arrival time targets. Updated data on currents and traffic density should also be incorporated into this process.
„EcoFleet” – HGK
Fully aware of the economic and environmental challenges already mentioned in the main proposal, the long-term decarbonization goals, and the corresponding technological adjustments regarding energy supply and propulsion concepts, we aim in this subproject to identify energy consumption patterns and potential savings through data-driven, digital, and nautical innovations. Potential for reducing energy consumption is quantified both numerically and through simulation as well as in practice, i.e., during regular cargo operations.
To this end, gas oil consumption and the resulting exhaust emissions—taking into account the complex relationships and numerous interactions between the vessel and the waterway under continuously changing water depths, currents, and traffic conditions, as well as convoy configurations and unloading operations—are mapped, compared with one another, and analyzed alongside data from periods prior to the subproject. The focus is on evaluating the data to identify potential savings, taking into account the different parameters for each route/transport. The development of fleet monitoring based on diverse data, using real and simulated datasets, serves the goal of establishing fleet reporting that includes individual assessments and the identification of measures for fuel savings.
Through a more energy-efficient and optimized driving style achieved by implementing previously unestablished assistance systems, as well as corresponding awareness-raising and training for skippers, a potential reduction in bunker consumption—and thus CO2 emissions—of 5% to 8% is expected.
„OPTim“ – Ingenieurbüro Kauppert (ibk)
The “OPTim” subproject within
the “EcoBin” research project aims to identify opportunities for energy savings through
adapted driving behavior in real-world operations and to develop a foundation for
promoting awareness of energy-efficient navigation on inland waterways.
Using real-world traffic data from
project partners in practical operations and established approaches to
ship resistance in restricted waterways, the energy demand along
traveled routes is to be approximated using an existing traffic simulation
that will be further developed. By applying
optimization algorithms, optimized speed profiles are to be calculated
while taking into account hydraulic conditions and waterway topology,
and the corresponding energy requirements are to be derived.
This allows theory and practice
to be compared, unfavorable driving behavior to be identified, and the potential for
energy savings to be demonstrated.
The findings can be utilized in the context
of education and training, as well as in daily operational practice,
to raise awareness among boat operators regarding energy-efficient navigation
and to embed this practice in daily operations.
The goal is to develop a
method for the short-term reduction of energy consumption in
inland waterway transport even without costly technical measures—such as
automated control systems—through adapted driving behavior. To this end, a
simple assistance and training system is to be created to support the
skipper in adopting an energy-efficient driving style using a “low-cost” approach
without interfering with the onboard electronics.
