WeTech Solutions is a Finnish clean-tech company that develops and produces energy efficiency solutions for the global shipping industry. Solutions that are suitable for upgrades of existing ships as well as for new building vessels.
The Shaft Generator system has over the past three decades been successfully employed on board ships worldwide. Its main advantage is the usage of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) in the Main Engines, fact that leads to the great reduction of the running hours of the Auxiliary Generators for the electrical power production.
However, generating a ship’s electrical power by means of a Shaft Generator has also imposed a great disadvantage: the constant speed operation of the propulsion machinery. The WE DriveTM system from WE Tech Solutions removes this need by using variable frequency drive technologies in the shaft generator systems. One could say it is like the last piece in the puzzle of achieving superior energy efficiency in global shipping.
There are five different solutions provided by WeTech clearly shown also in the pictures below.
- Solution One focuses on the energy efficient operation of any ship equipped with direct-driven propulsion machinery combined with a Shaft Generator system, also called Power Take Out (PTO) system. In this case the propulsion machinery can be operated at optimal duty points at all vessel speeds.
- Solution Two is an Auxiliary Power Drive (APD) system that gives propulsion power if the Main Engine is out of operation.
- Solution Three provides auxiliary power to boost the Main Engine when the application finds itself in demanding situations, such as high bollard pull or sailing in icy condition. This solution can also be used for economical slow steaming with the single Main Engine in a twin-shaft installation.
- Solution Four uses the common DC-link of the WE DriveTM technology, thereby enabling new methods to distribute power in energy efficient and economical ways. Large electrical consumers such as thruster or large compressors can have their dedicated Inverter Units (INU) connected directly to the common DC-link.
- Solution Five uses all the energy efficient features of a Hybrid Propulsion Machinery plus a ship-wide DC-link power distribution system. With the DC-link distributing electrical power to all consumers, energy efficiency is increased by up to 20%.
