Power and automation technology group ABB won two orders in the third quarter to provide the waste heat recovery systems, each powered by a power turbine generator (PTG), for 14 new 8,800 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container vessels.

The first seven post-panamax vessels will be built at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. Ltd., (DSIC) and the other seven vessels at New Times Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., for China International Marine Containers Group Co. and Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A (MSC). When delivered, in 2015 and 2016, the ships will serve under a long-term charter agreement to MSC, one of the world’s largest containership owners.

The employment of a waste heat recovery system (WHRS) to increase energy output onboard ships is becoming an increasingly viable means of reducing fuel costs. In marine propulsion plants, around 50 percent or more of the energy from fuel is lost to heat when converted to mechanical work by the main engine. By supplementing a ship’s main propulsion plant with a waste heat recovery solution, up to 4 percent of the lost fuel energy can be recovered and converted into electricity. More efficient energy use also reduces CO2 emissions in relation to the engine’s mechanical power output.

ABB’s scope of supply includes power turbines with control valves, alternators, reduction gears and dynamic compensators. The package also includes two newest generation turbochargers. The electrical output of the system is 1.65 megawatt (MW).

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