Australian_Science_Illustrated_Issue_52_2017

ships as tall as 20 storey buildings. Moreover,

the handling of the staggering number of

containers is not an easy task.

The average industrial port can load and

unload 115-120 containers per hour from one

single container vessel. At this speed, it

would take 160 hours, or about one week, to

load and unload all the containers of the MSC

Oscar. To prevent bottlenecks and avoid

costly wasted time, the ships should not be in

the port for any more than 24 hours, and so,

industrial ports throughout the world are

investing in robotic technology. The port of

Los Angeles, which handles about nine million

containers a year, is a good example of the

automation of the ports. When a vessel

berths in Los Angeles, it is still a crane

controlled by a human being which

moves the containers from ship to

pier, but subsequently, robots take

over. On the pier, the containers

are picked up by driverless

cranes, known as straddle

carriers, which take them to the

central storage site, placing

them on top of each other. GPS

control and laser sensors in the

asphalt make sure that the four-

wheeled robots do not collide.

Subsequently, automatic

New Tech Makes

Super-Ship Economical

And Practical

The MSC Oscar container vessel has more horsepower than

80 Formula 1 racers combined. But the purpose is not speed.

The giant is fine-tuned to pollute as little as possible.

Air purifies exhaust

4

Before the exhaust gas

escapes into the air, it is

mixed with the engine

intake air and cooled. The system

reduces the emissions of harmful

nitrogen oxides, NOx, by about 80

per cent. Sulphur is also “washed

out” in a chemical process.

Turbocharger boosts the engine

3

The key to optimum fuel efficiency is a modern turbocharger,

which uses the exhaust gas to power a compressor, forcing

more air into the cylinder and boosting engine power.

Reused heat saves CO 2

5

Modern container vessels

use heat recovery to

generate part of the

electricity aboard the ship. The

engine exhaust gas powers a

steam turbine linked with a

generator. The method reduces

the vessel's CO 2 emissions by 9 %.

80,000 HP Engine

1

The heart of the MSC Oscar

is a 15-m-tall and 25-m-long,

80,000 HP diesel engine. A

computer system continuously

adjusts the output according to the

weather. Cruising speed: 42 km/h.

2

3

4

5

1

MAN DIESEL & TURBO

CLAUS LUNAU

MERCATOR MEDIA 2017

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