SAFeCRAFT is a 4-year project funded by Horizon Europe Research and Innovation program and UK participation in the project is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe guarantee [grant-numbers 101138411 and 10110519]. The overall goal of SAFeCRAFT project is to develop, demonstrate the safety and viability and accelerate the adoption of SAFs in waterborne transport.
The SAFeCRAFT consortium brings together experience from the whole safety value chain and includes 2 major classification societies/ IACS members (ABS, RINA), 4 technical universities (NTUA, UoS, UPAT, TUD), 4 industry partners (HYDRUS, MOTOR OIL, METACON, SEANERGY), and 1 network association (WEGEMT).
Europe’s waterborne transport is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for approximately 13% of overall transport emissions. Thus, meeting ambitious climate targets is imperative and requires accelerating the transition to sustainable, climate-neutral fuels in this sector. However, the adoption of sustainable alternative fuels (SAFs) is often slow due to concerns around safety, global availability, technological maturity, and economic viability. SAFeCRAFT seeks to address these challenges by leveraging the ZEWT Partnership's existing network of stakeholders and infrastructure to develop, validate, and demonstrate SAFs on board oceangoing vessels.
SAFeCRAFT addresses significant safety and operating challenges, going beyond the state-of-the-art while achieving FuelEU Maritime 2040 targets. The project intends to develop and validate a solution that can be applied to a wide range of vessel types and sizes. To ensure the applicability of SAFs, the project will consider strict environmental expectations and regulations for short-term measures further targeting the KPIs as determined by Fuel EU Maritime Directive and IMO, such as those applicable to environmentally sensitive regions.
SAFeCRAFT’s overall goal is to develop and demonstrate the safety and viability and accelerate the adoption of Sustainable Alternative Fuels (SAFs) in waterborne transport. SAFeCRAFT examines four alternative SAFs and then physically implements a H2 GenSet onboard a Cape size Bulk Carrier, utilising H2 as the primary fuel source. In addition to the physical demonstration, the SAFeCRAFT project simulates and assesses H2, along two additional and high-promising sustainable fuel carriers, namely LOHC and NH3 on four different types of oceangoing vessels.
SAFeCRAFT will showcase the entire A-Z approach required for the utilisation of SAFs, starting from the supply chain assessment, bunkering, storage, handling and finally, fuel consumption onboard, as well as the development of guidelines and best practices.
SAFs used will be demonstrated on a bulk carrier and assessed and validated through detailed desktop studies for four other types of vessels typical in EU ports. For the demo vessel, H2 will be used as the primary fuel source for a Generator Set providing power to a shaft motor (Power-Take-In) in parallel with the M/ E, thus covering part of ship’s propulsion needs. The desktop studies feature the previously mentioned SAFs that lead into three powertrain options for each vessel:
These SAF enabling power train systems will be analysed in-depth, using specific KPIs for safety, energy efficiency, environmental impact and techno-economic feasibility. SAFeCRAFT A-Z approach in utilising SAFs, including bunkering, storage, handling and fuel consumption onboard, and the issuance of Approval in Principle for the engineering and design processes, will accelerate their implementation.
To achieve the above, 8 development steps have been established and presented in Table 1. The proposed 8 development steps will be split in several work packages to be consistent and relevant to the call topics.
Table 1: SAFeCRAFT innovation development breakdown
|
No |
Steps |
Sub-steps |
|
1 |
Development of a retrofit methodology for the 180,000 tons DWT Cape size Bulk Carrier |
a) Design conditions and parameters b) Implementation scenarios, feasibility assessments c) Identification of challenges/solutions during retrofitting |
|
2 |
Concept, basic and detailed engineering of the H2 GenSet power system with PTI/PTO |
a) Determination of technical specifications of the power system b) Selection of most promising type of PTI-PTO c) Integration with detailed engineering studies |
|
3 |
SAF systems analysis and comparison for different ship types and sizes - generalisation of method |
a) Comparative study of alternative fuel systems for various types of oceangoing vessels b) Evaluation of potential application of each technology to each vessel, including ICEs and FCs as final consumers c) Determination of technical and economic barriers of alternative fuel systems d) Selection of the most promising type for alternative application scenarios e) Evaluation of selected fuel systems regarding sustainability and circularity f) Desktop studies of LH2, CGH2, LOHC and NH3 fuels systems on seagoing vessels g) Retrofit and new building design studies h) Modularity and scalability assessment |
|
4 |
Full scale onboard operational Demonstration |
a) Assembly and onboard Installation b) Functionality testing of system c) Physical demonstration d) Performance monitoring and data collection |
|
5 |
Smart digitalization of the engineering process |
a) Digital Integration b) Digital monitoring and operations tools c) Virtual demonstration d) Use of results for optimisation / predictive maintenance |
|
6 |
Technical Guidelines for accelerated transition |
a) Approval-in-Principle of vessel integration design b) Development & dissemination of technical guidelines, best practices to industry stakeholders |
|
7 |
Operational, risk and safety assessment of LH2, CGH2, LOHC and NH3 as a fuel |
a) Safety and risk evaluation of the designed systems b) Development of safety assessment guidelines and design recommendations |
|
8 |
Techno-commercial evaluation of the proposed solutions |
a) Life cycle assessment of alternative systems b) Life cycle cost analysis of alternative systems c) Techno-commercial assessment of demonstrator d) KPI-based evaluation and technology |
SAFeCRAFT aims to create and demonstrate innovative solutions for integrating climate-neutral, sustainable alternative fuels in waterborne transport, tackling urgent sustainable transport and energy challenges. The project leverages interdisciplinary collaboration with stakeholders like industry partners, regulatory agencies, and researchers, spurring innovation in fuel technologies, safety standards, and emissions monitoring and control. By addressing key market barriers such as high initial costs, limited infrastructure, and regulatory challenges, SAFeCRAFT seeks to accelerate sustainable transport solution commercialisation and support global climate change mitigation efforts.
Scientifically: the project furthers knowledge and technical abilities, establishing itself as a sustainable transport solutions leader.
Economically: it creates opportunities by encouraging new markets and business models targeting sustainable transport solution demand.
Societally: it addresses vital social and environmental issues like climate change, air pollution, and public health through promoting SAF adoption in waterborne transport.
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101138411
LinkedIn: @SAFeCRAFT
Dr Byongug Jeong (byongug.jeong@strath.ac.uk)
Prof Peilin Zhou (peilin.zhou@strath.ac.uk)
Dr Haibin Wang (haibin.wang@strath.ac.uk)