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According to the environmental organization – OCEANA, the global shipping industry is the 6th largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore it is necessary to reduce the contribution of shipping to global emission. The main goal of this thesis is to review the application of environmentally friendly (“green”) engine technology with minimum environmental impacts and high energy efficiency in inland waterway tankers based on inland navigation regulation for the European river Rhine. The nature of inland shipping, which passes through or close to major population centers, makes Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) – a clean fuel with lean burn combustion characteristics and low level of exhaust emissions an attractive way to reduce harmful local emissions. In the first two chapters, the thesis provides an introduction into the European inland shipping sector, describing its main classification rules, technical and operational requirements which are necessary to comply with in developing and building the new “green” inland vessel. 

In the following chapter, the state-of-the-art in inland vessel design is explained and analyzed with focus on two types of double-hull inland waterway tankers: oil/chemical tanker and gas tanker. In chapter four, different types of fuel such as Marine Diesel Oil (MDO), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and the combination of MDO and LNG (dual-fuel technology) in one engine are described. Chapter five mainly describes and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different engine types: traditional marine diesel, gas and dual-fuel engines. Chapter six discusses and analyzes different types of propulsion configuration. These preliminary steps are necessary to evaluate the most favorable main engine type and propulsion configuration. 

The most favorable option is the dual-fuel engine concept with a compact propulsion configuration. This combination is the best alternative mainly due to its fuel flexibility and it allows naval architects to find the most optimal general arrangement. The efforts in chapter seven focus on reviewing the application of dual-fuel technology in inland chemical tankers of waterway class IV driven by compact hybrid-azipod propulsion system.

inland navigation, inland waterway tankers, environmental emission, future fuels, dual-fuel technology, green ship technology --- Ingénierie, informatique & technologie > Ingénierie civile