System simulation-based feasibility and performance study of alternative fuel concepts for aquaculture wellboats

Climate change and population growth are increasing the need for sustainable food production. The ocean covers around 70% of the earth’s surface area and there is a great potential in utilizing this for ocean farming. However, the maritime traffic needs to decrease the emissions per transported mass with 50% by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement. With an increased ocean space utilization, the vessel fleet will increase due to operational demands. Hence, with increased energy consumption, the need for decarbonization will increase further. Wellboats are one of the main contributors to the CO2-emission related to traditional fish farming production of Atlantic Salmon, not counting the actual feed production. Within the wellboat the fuel system has the highest potential to reduce the carbon footprint. However, one of the major challenges with the renewable fuels are their low energy density compared to fossil fuels. New, promising energy concepts have emerged, but they lack a quantifiable performance evaluation within the complete aquaculture supply chain. Further, the choice of the vessel’s engine, generator and consumer modules affect each other. For example, changing to a fuel with lower energy density may lead to a larger fuel storage tank which then limits the available space for the fish tank. The main objective of this study is to use graphical system simulation to model and evaluate the performance of new concepts for low- and zero- carbon fuels. Based on these simulations, new fuel concepts can be compared with conventional marine diesel systems. The simulation model can be used to detect operational limitations with respect to range, transported mass (fish), vessel size, weight, and refueling possibilities. Further, it can also be used to identify bottlenecks in terms of size, weight, and voyage limitations. Based on the outcome of the wellboat system simulation model, the feasibility of fuel systems can be evaluated and used as recommendation for the design of new wellboats. The industry needs feasible solutions which are sustainable in terms of reliability and cost. The insights gained from using the simulation model aim to assist the industry to reach their emissions reduction goals by 2030, and to provide decision support for retrofitting the fuel and energy system of wellboats. Graphical system simulation, energy efficiency, well boat, aquaculture, emission reduction, renewable energy, maritime fuel.