Obsidian: Feadship Raises the Bar on Carbon Reduction
By 2030, Feadship hopes to have produced carbon-neutral superyachts. This is one step closer. The 84.20-meter-long Obsidian, which was just completed, is the first of a new generation of large yachts from Feadship that furthers carbon reduction through weight control, hulls optimized for cruising speed rather than top speed, advancements in electric propulsion, and the ability to run engines on HVO, a non-fossil diesel fuel. In reality, this second-generation biofuel, which reduced carbon emissions by 90% when compared to boats using fossil fuels, powered the generators during the yacht's tests.
The boat was required to be more carbon-neutral and energy-efficient than Feadship's ground-breaking hybrid yacht, Savannah, which debuted in 2015. Even without the pandemic, it would have been challenging to reduce the environmental effect by more than 30% throughout the course of the project's 12-month design phase. No designers, engineers, or other parties were allowed to work together in person because of COVID-19 lockdowns.
A sustainability index was created concurrently by Bram Jongepier, Senior Designer of Feadship De Voogt Naval Architects, and it offers extensive insight on how all of a yacht's parts and activities affect its carbon footprint and environmental impact.
While lowering CO2 emissions is a primary concern, Feadship goes above and beyond by considering their boats' entire environmental impact. It is being looked at how building elements including steel, aluminum, fairing chemicals, antifouling, teak, interior finishing, and more affect emissions of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide (NOx), particulate matter, and hydrocarbons. This is what we refer to as an environmental effect, which is estimated using life cycle assessments along with CO2 emissions (LCA).
The Yacht Environmental Transparency Index, or YETI, was the name given to Jongepier's work. Feadship has made the algorithms describing the environmental impact of CO2, NOx, particulate matter, shore power, and fuel production freely available to the signatories of the Water Revolution Foundation, a yachting industry association dedicated to advancing sustainability in the superyacht industry through cooperation and innovation. This approach is based on the idea that one cannot control what one cannot measure. This resulted in the formation of a Joint Industry Project (JIP) with twenty significant yachting industry partners under the auspices of the Water Revolution Foundation.
Obsidian Copyright - Feadship Exterior
Using data from new partners, such as engine manufacturers, the YETI JIP developed a program that predicts the environmental impact of a typical operational year over the course of the yacht's lifespan. According to Jongepier, YETI efficiently collects 90% of a yacht's whole lifespan, and each new construction contributes to the collection of fresh data. If powered by fossil fuels, Obsidian is predicted to have a 27% lower overall environmental effect than a boat of comparable size launched only five years ago, and a 60% lower impact when powered by HVO.
Building on Savannah's award-winning invention was Obsidian's initial move. Obsidian has 4.5 times greater electrical storage capacity than Savannah, our first hybrid yacht, thanks to Feadship's Advanced Electrical Drive (FAED) system. She lacks rudders and drive shafts, reducing the additional drag that would be created by these add-ons. A pair of Veth contra-rotating thrusters that provide both steering and propulsion are used. Veth's knowledge of tiny modules for river-going ships was seen as an ideal fit for a yacht designed with a reasonably shallow draft. Feadship and Veth worked together to analyze the drive leg and propeller forms using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in order to improve efficiency and reduce vibration, with dampening vibration being another crucial element of the brief.
Four generators—two big and two small, bespoke, variable speed units based on modified CatC32 engines with power-delivery permanent magnet alternators—charge a 4.5 MWh battery bank that powers the whole system. Obsidian runs entirely on electricity, but the boat's DC system has a mind-boggling 1,000 volts of power as opposed to Savannah and Lonian, which debuted in 2018 and operated on 560 volts. Another advantage of the hybrid system may be seen in the 560 battery modules that are kept in a dedicated refrigerated chamber amidships on the tank deck: The components no longer need to be close to one another. The batteries, electrical switchboard, and generators with their exhaust systems are placed elsewhere for better weight distribution and crew access, while the thrusters are in the ideal location for steering and water flow. Obsidian should be able to cruise at 10 knots for 35 nautical miles with just batteries. The batteries will operate quietly at anchor for 10 to 15 hours.
Obsidian Copyright - Feadship Battery Room
But, relying solely on advanced propulsion would not save enough gasoline. When the YETI tool was used to analyze Obsidian, it became clear that the onboard lifestyle, including the air conditioning, heating, hot water, lighting, cooking, entertainment electronics, pools, and laundry service, consumed around 60% of the energy used. The goal was to use less energy to maintain the yacht's "hotel" load.
These goal areas are addressed by a number of significant technologies suited for Obsidian, including peak load shaving and lowering HVAC consumption through computerized control of cooling guest and employee zones. Yet, since producing and consuming energy generates heat, trapping surplus or "waste" heat for use elsewhere has become a crucial concern. About 35 to 40% of the energy produced by the burning of fossil fuels in a standard internal combustion engine is really useful mechanical energy; the remainder is heat, which is often lost in the exhaust gasses and water cooling system. The design and engineering team at Feadship started by coming up with a far more sophisticated method than just heating a swimming pool with generator cooling water, which has been a common practice among superyacht builders.
Anything that required heat was identified, as producing heat accounts for 25% of the "hotel" energy usage. Air conditioning was the main consumer.
Obsidian Copyright - Feadship Engine Generator Room
The reason for this is that the HVAC system needs to cool incoming fresh air to around 7 degrees Celsius in order to dehumidify the surrounding sea air sufficiently, but then heating units need to warm the air to the appropriate temperature for each room in order to prevent the interior from feeling like a meat locker.
Obsidian employs waste heat instead of the electric heating elements that are generally used for reheating in conventional systems. Waste heat is gathered not just from the generators but also directly from the AC chillers. Due to the fact that it recycles accidental heat from another operation, this energy is basically carbon-free. “There are so many points of energy savings integrated on this yacht that it is hard to count,” said Project Manager Mark Jansen.
Engineers at Feadship were compelled to exhaust all possibilities, so they developed a cutting-edge heat pump system that can extract heat from a variety of sources, including ambient seawater. According to Jongepier, a heat pump is five times more effective at transferring thermal energy (heat) than a standard electrical heating coil at producing heat.
An onboard computer system helps to seamlessly choose the appropriate combination of sources. This translates into the following operational modes:
The waste heat from the AC compressor and, if necessary, a heat pump produce heat at normal sea temperatures while plugged into shore power in a harbor.
When at anchor and the sea is at normal temperature, an onboard battery-powered heat pump can be used to supplement the AC compressor's waste heat.
While at sea, at anchor, or in a harbor at normal sea temperature, generator waste heat provides all of the necessary heat.
Obsidian also featured novel hull shape methods since the road to carbon-neutral superyachts involves more than one answer. De Voogt's naval architects used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to design the low, slender hull and optimize it for cruising speed. The final design was then turned into a model and tested in a towing tank. New uses for carbon fiber are part of complex engineering for balance and weight reduction. For instance, there are no support pillars needed for the carbon fiber louvered aft deck overhangs that are linked to the aluminum superstructure. Also, this weight advantage opened up new deck design options.
Obsidian Copyright - Feadship
Feadship is releasing a yacht with a single level engine room for the first time in a long time, which offered her designers a great deal more latitude to create the interior arrangement. Moreover, it provides a greater area for guest lodging and has a total of seven cabins. The volume of an 84-meter boat is comparable to that of a 100-meter Feadship, claims Jansen.
The layout is as daring and cutting-edge as the outside appearance would imply. The British company RWD worked with MONK Design to collaborate on the exterior style and interior design.
There are several unexpected destination areas, such as an asymmetrical atrium stairway that leads to a dining saloon on the lower deck, where one wall opens to reveal a terrace view only 75 cm above sea level.
A large window structure below the water's surface in the Aqua Lounge at the stern provides a unique perspective for the surrounding gym. The Aqua Lounge may serve as a theater, a classroom, or even a movie theater.
The design theme runs across the whole ship, from the decks to the interior: none of the outdoor living areas, most of the passageways, or many of the rooms are positioned fore and aft or athwartships. In actuality, none of the interior rooms—aside from staterooms—have 90-degree angles. A subterranean salon on the main deck and a secret stairway leading to a study are just two more of the surprise interior features. Yet, the employment of undersea anchors is the biggest surprise. Obsidian has a beautiful inside bow observation lounge with twin curved glass floor-to-ceiling windows because there is no longer a requirement for a mooring deck ahead. The main deck hallway leads to this hidden treasure from the guest accommodations section to the tender garage.
The yacht's two main tenders are both electric-powered and were custom made by Tenderworks in accordance with the carbon reduction philosophy. They may charge in the water or in the tender garage thanks to four rapid charging stations that were placed in the yard.
Obsidian proved to be significantly more effective than predicted during the sea experiments.
