Ballast is a weight that is placed on a boat to vary its center of gravity and stability. Cargo ships generally need this “ballast” or extra weight when they are carrying little or no cargo. The technique consists of directly taking water into the so-called ballast tanks, whether seawater or fresh water, taking this water from the area where the ship is unloading or when it is going to begin its navigation, to later discharge these waters when the ship loads again and no longer needs it.
Given that the loading and unloading areas can be in different countries or very different areas (rivers, seas, etc…), serious environmental problems have occurred since these waters transport living beings, including viruses, bacteria and others. microorganisms, causing episodes of contamination by invasive species.
Due to this, the IMO (International Maritime Organization) has implemented the Ballast Water Management Convention, BWM, which requires special treatment of ballast water.
The main objective of the BeSeL project is to eliminate the use of ballast water in the operation of the ship.
Eliminating the use of this ballast water has several benefits:
For more information: BeSel Solution Official Web
The BeSeL project has a high innovative content and requires the use of advanced engineering for its correct development.
The design of the BeSeL has many similarities with the design of a traditional ship, but requires innovative and engineering capacity when thinking about different solutions with iterative developments to reach an optimal solution that meets all the requirements requested by the client.
It also requires engineering and design of the highest level that allows the development of optimal forms in order for the project to be viable, while reducing fuel consumption.
Exhaustive weight control and optimization of the structure are also key points of this ambitious project.
The work carried out by Ingeniacity ranges from naval architecture to structural calculation. The design objectives were the elimination of ballast water, the reduction of consumption and the optimization of load capacity. In addition, studies were carried out on behavior at sea, layout of the engine room and habitability, relationship with classification societies, suppliers and test channels.
To carry it out, advanced engineering tools such as fluid dynamic simulation and finite element calculation have been used.
BeSeL has 1 registration application in Spain and 12 utility models in different countries around the world, registered under the name E+ingeniería (Ecoeficiencia e Ingeniería)
