Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OC-Tech (OC-Tech: Innovative vessel for cleaning-up activities in marine and fluvial environments.)
Teaser
\"The OC-Tech project devises an innovative vessel able to: [A] recover hydrocarbon spills, [B] deal with algal blooms and jellyfish infestations; [C] collect flotsam and jetsam. The main benefits of OC-Tech are: [1] Polyvalence: collecting all pollution episodes and has also a...
Summary
\"The OC-Tech project devises an innovative vessel able to: [A] recover hydrocarbon spills, [B] deal with algal blooms and jellyfish infestations; [C] collect flotsam and jetsam. The main benefits of OC-Tech are: [1] Polyvalence: collecting all pollution episodes and has also a large deck for transporting personnel (12 p.) and loads (1.500kg/m2); [2] Velocity: cleaning activities at 4 knots at Force 6 (Beaufort scale) at open sea, ports, inshore and rivers; [3] Maneuverability: four propulsion units; [4] Efficiency: collection+bagging system facilitates clean-up waste at 15 tons/hour; [5] Easy Operation: Our proprietary OC-Tech collecting system (24-hour work) avoids the need to go back to the port to upload the recovered hydrocarbon leading to savings in fuel and [man•hours] (≈55%); [6] Easy Transportation: OC-Tech foresees a modular design; [7] Multi-Purpose: OC-Tech can carry up to 12 people thus operating as a conveyor for other operations: ship chandlers; beacons, buoys, barriers carrier; off-shore assistance; Fire protection assistance, cleaning+repair of other ships;
MARKET: The Consortium allows the access to a broad market of nautical prospects because of the addition of Tincasur’s valuable accounts and current approaches linked to OCT commercial activity focused specifically in OC-Tech. Being Spain ranked #11 worldwide in relevance at International Ports (28 Port Authorities managing 46 public-interest ports; 312 fishing ports; 300 marinas) ensures a solid start ground for our joining forces in the nautical industry and the Environment Protection Agencies and Govern Entities to increase overall sales.
FINANCING: We have forecasted a production of 33 OC-Tech units (10m and 20m) over a 5-year period; OC-Tech will deliver cumulated revenue of €21,55M and cumulated profit of €10.365M by 2023. We will invest total €3.05M = €250,000 (already invested) + €2.8M (pending to invest). Our Return of Investment by 2023 will be 2.40€ for each invested euro.\"
Work performed
\"[Development #1] Consortium / Nautical Performance of the Vessel: The first step is to approach the need of partnering with relevant and reliable companies (engineering, researchers, shipyard) to build the vessels to be commercializing along the life of OC-TECH. Therefore, after we have developed an internal self-assessment to identify OCT weaknesses, we have approached the gaps between us and a successful commercial life for OC-TECH: [1] NAVAL ENGINEERING OFFICES: capable to develop the full detail engineering required to ensure full forecasted performance of the vessel complying with the basics of navigation; [2] RESEARCHERS to identify the key parameters for a controlled flow of the waste to collect, via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); [3] SHIPYARDS that gather the experience and knowledge of building this type of vessels, and at the same time ready to join OCT as a Consortium along the commercial life of OC-TECH, because their work is not only part of the core of the project but also involves recurring labour as each vessel is planned and delivered. We describe later on this section these initial candidates.
As a result, from now on, OCT consolidates with TINCASUR a Consortium for the project. This will involve having specific tasks and budget responsibilities as described later in the Future Activities section.
[Deployment of OC-Tech vessel configuration/construction]: As a result of the Technical Viability Analysis regarding the Nautical Performance of OC-Tech as a vessel, we have gathered from the Technical Office works the Specification list for the OC-Tech vessel. This leads to the preparation of the Bill of Materials to be used as a standard within the Industrialization process. The vessel will be built in hull naval Aluminum 5083-H111 with the scantlings (patterns used for the naval construction) calculated according to the regulations of the classification society Bureau Veritas or Lloyds Register (both recognized by the Dirección General de la Marina Mercante - Spanish Marina Management), also fulfilling the Supplementary Rules governing the construction of boats in Spain and also with the SOLAS regulation with regard to maritime safety. Enrolled in 5th list as a professional boat for port work and sheltered coastal areas, thus belonging to Group III and designed for coastal navigation class A1, and thus for class S.
[Development #2] Control of the Hydrocarbon flows. We have approached this through several scale models of the vessel, testing both collection operation, but the very maneuverability of the boat.
“AGILE†DEVELOPMENT PLAN: We have set up a specific experiment plan in order to minimize the time and efforts between phases at this specific development phase. Each iteration of the project we will be defining the “Minimum Feasible Product†which is functional enough to deliver results/conclusions and simple enough to allow us smooth and agile changes into each prototype. The key focus is to reduce uncertainty. Therefore, we have forecasted and planned an iterative-testing sequence with a specific pace of progress so as to arrive in a final model for Hydrocarbon spill flow control and collection.
[Outsourcing of Technical Activities]: Our next steps are the base for requesting EC-H2020 additional funding
1. Design of our tray (“version 3â€) by specialized engineers in fluids and conducting the necessary tests in CFD. (Task to be assisted by “Team 1†- engineers from University of Cádiz - UCA)
2. Selection of the tray level CFD simulation that is considered as more effective. (Team 1).
3. Construction of a tank simulation to study and measure the simulated real elements in CFD (This work will be assisted by “Team 2†- Sendekia engineering). Tray simulation will take place in the tank to corroborate the design enhanced by CDF. (To be executed by OCT and Team 1).
4. Build in actual size the best choice and install into vessel prototype for testing navigation and collected in different scenarios. (To be executed by OCT and Team 1)
[Development #3] Hydrocarbon Spills Collection+Bagging System. Early stages of the benchmark of the commercial options across the market. Collection: We foresee the outsource of conveyance system. Our initial design comprises a screening system to separate solids from liquids right at the bow of the vessel. We have identified alternative way: having the own collecting system screening and separating. We will leverage Tincasur’s experiences at manufacturing general-purpose cleaning vessels. Bagging: A design focused on OC-Tech is needed. This is compatible with benchmarking the market and therefore we have carried out an assessment of different suppliers with proven design schemes.\"
Final results
ENVIRONMENT:
Shipping and ports are essential to the EU economy, as they facilitate the import/export of goods. Thus, the total gross weight of goods handled in EU ports was estimated at 3.7 billion tons in 2013. However, they contribute to multiple environmental pressures: introduction of non-indigenous species, introduction of synthetic and non-synthetic compounds or marine litter. One of the most serious threats to the marine environment is the oil spills. Approximately 5.74M tons of oil were lost as a result of tanker incidents from 1970 to 2014 at global level by means costs of €155billion. Nevertheless, most oil spills are the result of routine and daily operations, thus, small/medium sized spills account for 95% of all the incidents. Moreover, the disposal of waste and discharge of sewage have severe effects on marine and fluvial life and water quality deterioration, being the most damaging the plastics (80% of all marine debris). Marine litter including flotsam has also other consequences: affecting the whole food cycle by entering and accumulating in animals (i.e. mussels), death of species or economic costs for removing litter from beaches and for reducing the tourism. Hence, potential cost across EU for coastal and beach cleaning was assessed at €630M per year.
EMPLOYMENT:
The OC-TECH project means a significant breakthrough for local regions where the vessels will be deployed. Specifically, Cádiz (region where OCT and first commercial prospects are based) leads the unemployment in Spain (42,05% in 2015); The top-3 unemployment cities in Spain are concentrated in the province of Cadiz, owning also additional 4 out of the top 11, according to European project Urban Audit . Additionally, having a 70% of youth unemployment, our project devises the development of a new business capable to grow so as to generate the seeds for future socio-economic development of Cádiz region.