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Yep, supporting the moment from the wing via containers is the biggest structural concern. The containers are strong enough in most sea states, with reefing/fea
by ArpanRau 4y ago
Yep, supporting the moment from the wing via containers is the biggest structural concern. The containers are strong enough in most sea states, with reefing/feathering required in heavier winds and seas. We will stow the sail long before it encounters conditions like the ones shown in your video.
Oceanbird is awesome! The trouble is that overhauling the entire industry with new-built ships would take too long to make a meaningful climate impact, and be extremely expensive (not to mention that their approach only works for ro-ros).
Synthetic fuels will compete with aviation for the green hydrogen supply (needed to make methanol/ammonia/green hydrocarbons) and are expected to cost 2-3x what current fuels cost. This net makes our fuel cost savings case even stronger.
Industry insiders generally already know that there's really no good cost-saving decarbonization solution, and that decarbonizing fast is a hair-on-fire problem for owner/operators. The barriers standing in the way of most wind-assist devices are: poor ROI, shipyard availability for retrofits, risk to shipwoner (capital upfront), and that they don't package on containerships. We solve all these problems by using a large, efficient wing and depending on the container load path. There are technical problems to solve, but the fundamental physics works.
- theflyingpigeon 3y ago>> Oceanbird is awesome! The trouble is that overhauling the entire industry with new-built ships would take too long to make a meaningful climate impact, and be extremely expensive (not to mention that their approach only works for ro-ros). Shipping is responsible for like 2% of emissions. A 5-10-20% reduction on a small number of vessels for a small number of voyages is not gonna make a dent.
- julosflb 4y agoWhat is the order of magnitude of the wind load generated on one single wing?
- ArpanRau 4y ago10s of Kn . It's <10% the wingloading of a 747.
- mike_d 3y agoEvery "I'm going to start with a shipping container" solution eventually runs into the same problem: shipping containers are effectively empty soda cans. They are only strong when loaded exactly as expected. Have you actually talked to anyone in the cargo ship industry about your idea?
- IshKebab 3y agoNonsense. Drinks cans are strong when filled because they are pressurised. Containers aren't pressurised. Their contents have no effect on their strength.
- mike_d 3y agoThat is why I explicitly said an empty soda can.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Turskarama 3y agoUltimately they don't need to use an actual standard shipping container but just a container that's the same shape on the outside.
- garrettgarcia 3y agoIt's not their container that's the issue. It's the containers below it.
- someweirdperson 3y agoIs the sail-container sufficiently heavy to stay in place, or does it need pull on something that's holding it down? If the sail is pulling, the container below would see a remaining uneven load from above. Is there a limit to this? Loading/unloading an unbalaned container sounds like a problem, but is it, while sitting on the ship?