Through the Bohemian sea with hybrid technology

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September 2016 Motion Control & Drives

Using a bow thruster as a manoeuvring aid, lends the bow of the ship a valuable added lateral thrust in the required direction in case of crosswind.

In the Bohemia Rhapsody, one of the fastest and most up-to-date passenger ships in the Czech Republic, this thruster has an additional use: configured as a 360° pump jet, it also acts as a ship’s engine in emergency mode. To achieve this, the Konstanz-based company, Zebotec, opted to use a compact bidirectional DC power converter from Siemens. The result: a redundant ship’s propulsion system supplied with its own independent source of ecologically generated power.

The 45 metre long ship offers perfect views of Prague’s sights from the vantage point of the Vltava River. To ensure that the ship is ready for operation at a moment’s notice, the Bohemia Rhapsody uses a storage battery and Siemens technology to enable three operating modes with up to 80 kilowatts of power. This allows the ship to switch over to the emergency mode from running operation at any time for a period of up to 30 minutes.

The special feature of this propulsion concept is that it combines different types of power sources.

Unique solution for a special ship

To allow the Bohemia Rhapsody to use the bow thruster as an engine in case of emergency, it is connected together with secondary units to a bidirectional Sinamics DCP DC/DC power converter from Siemens. Buck and boost of the voltage, feeding and charging the battery all take place in the DC power converter, eliminating the need for additional devices. The high switching frequency allows a compact design of the DC/DC power converter and consequently significant space savings.

A hybrid concept in record time

It took just three months between placement of order and delivery of the passenger ship. Zebotec founder and partner, Richard Morris, is delighted by the innovative propulsion concept: “Even the basic concept of the bow thrusters, which can also be used as a means of propulsion, is a very special one. But the really outstanding innovative feature is the energy supply provided by a storage battery – and the way in which the battery can be used both for emergency purposes and for covering peak loads in normal operation”.

For more information contact Jennifer Naidoo, Siemens Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 652 2795, [email protected], www.siemens.co.za

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Motion Control & Drives

Through the Bohemian sea with hybrid technology

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