ETY (E-Tech Yachting)
ETY are proud to announce
their latest collaboration
and a world premiere for
the upcoming Palma
Superyacht Show.
With a continued
commitment to design, supply
& integrate the latest energy
efficient systems, electric
hybrid propulsion and silent
night running solutions, ETY’s
research and development
team were very excited when
reading an article published
in the Superyacht Report
back in September 2013
related to the successful trials
of microturbine generators
aboard the 44m schooner
‘Lethantia’. ETY subsequently
contacted MME (Microturbine
Marine Energy) and twelve
months later in Monaco,
were appointed as the first
sales, service and intervention
company for Spain.
During last year’s METS,
where ETY launched their
incredibly successful
BLUEWAVE switchboard,
a meeting took place on
their stand with the principal
of MME and owner of S/Y
‘Lethantia’ Siegfried Steiner
to confirm that the first ever
showing at an exhibition of a
running MME microturbine
generator would be in
Palma de Mallorca in the
spring of 2015.
MME offers solutions for
power generation on-
board superyachts using
microturbines. A microturbine
is a small combustion turbine
and is an advanced yet simple
technology that provides a
solution for the demands of
responsible yacht owners
seeking more sustainable
energy and greater
environmental protection.Compared to traditional diesel
generators microturbines
provide power generation
without vibrations, resulting
in lower noise levels on-board
and extreme low emissions
resulting in a soot free
exhaust. As microturbines
use air bearings and contain
no oil, there’s no oil slick
around the water line. MME
dramatically reduces harmful
emissions without the
requirement for any exhaust
after-treatment. Capstone®
Turbine Corporation is the
world’s leading producer of
low-emission microturbine
generators, and was first to
market with commercially
viable air bearing turbine
technology. These award-
winning systems have logged
millions of documented
runtime operating hours.The Capstone microturbine
has just one moving part
supported by patented
air bearings; there are no
lubricants or coolants to
maintain. State-of-the-art
electronics are used to
convert the high frequency
power from the microturbine
into a useful 400VAC@50Hz
three-phase output. The
control electronics have
integrated paralleling
functionality and can
interface perfectly with
ETY’s revolutionary
BLUEWAVE series of
intelligent switchboards.Compared to a traditional
diesel generator, the
microturbine needs very
little maintenance. A diesel
engine requires maintenance
at 250 or 500 hours intervals
resulting in engineer’s time,need for consumables
(lubricant & filters) and
waste oil. The microturbine
only needs maintenance
at 8000 hour intervals and
consists mainly cleaning of
the air filter.The trend in energy supply
on Superyachts moves
relentlessly towards
sustainable energy. A
Capstone® microturbine
provides an enormous
reduction in NOx and
CO2 emissions compared
to traditional diesel
generators. The speed of the
microturbines is adapted to
the actual load demand (load
following), thus, significantly
reducing fuel consumption
unlike diesel generators
which run at a constant speed
(full load). An integral part
of the MME solution is the
microturbine exhaust cooler
with integrated heat recovery
functionality that can be
used for heating boilers, ship
heating, HVAC re-heaters or
thermal chillers.The Microturbines have
exhaust temperatures of
275°C (C30), 309°C (C65)
and 280°C (C200). These
temperatures are reduced
to 60°C by the exhaust
cooler, providing the same
temperature as diesel
generator wet exhaust
systems, with the added
advantage that the exhaust
of the Microturbine is free of
soot and is virtually odourless.Superyachts power generators
must be of a sufficient size to
handle peak load, plus 20%security. This often results in
generators running under-
loaded up to 80% of the time,
leading to excessive wear,
ingrained soot and extensive
fuel consumption. In order
for diesel generators to avoid
these issues, load banks and
soot filtering systems (exhaust
after-treatment) are installed,
which significantly increase
costs and maintenance.
Microturbines must also be
of sufficient size to handle
peak load, plus 20% security;
however microturbines
run according to load. This
means that the turbine speed
(fuel consumption) remains
parallel to the electrical
power consumption. Other
enormous benefits afforded
by microturbines are the
complete lack of vibrations,
and that they do not require
any servicing, lubricants
or exhaust treatment.
This dramatically reduces
the cost of operation and
installation and eliminates
the need for additional
platforms for the reduction
of vibrations and structure
and air borne noise.Engineers from ETY have
received their initial training
at MME’s facility in Munich
Germany and are looking
forward to demonstrating
the microturbine generator
combined with the
BLUEWAVE switchboard
on their stands 24 & 25.MALLORCA YACHTING INDUSTRY NEWS