Zero emission dredging fieldlab (MENENS)
Type:
Presented during:
CEDA Dredging Days 2026
Authors:
M. Kom, B. Mestemaker, C. van den Berg, M. de Geus, A. Gubbini and D. Heidelberg
Abstract
The maritime sector is in transition to smart, safe, reliable, and sustainable shipping and maritime operations. The key challenges for this sector is are the high powers and the long autonomy range of operation, posing high demands to the sustainable fuels and power trains of the future. Additional challenge for dredging operations is the fast and large variations in power due to load variations induced, for instance, by propulsion in waves, maneuvering, Dynamic Positioning and operation of dredging pumps or cutter dynamics. A key question for power trains running on sustainable fuels is how the system can cope with these large power variations. A power train may include a power generation source (engine or fuel cell) and possibly energy storagebuffering devices to account for rapid load variations. Methanol is a strong contender for use in work vessels such as dredgers. Dredging vessels often have a large crew and operate close to populated areas (in ports and coastal areas), therefore toxicity, environmental impact and safety of the fuel are important. The energy density of methanol and the ability to store it at atmospheric conditions ensure the lowest impact on the vessel's autonomy. Insight in dynamics of methanol fuelled engines and the added value of load buffering is investigated to show whether methanol engines can cope with the dynamic loads and how load buffering can improve the energy efficiency of the dynamic operations.