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Customer Application

The Lake is Calm and Still

Embedded in a stunning, idyllic mountain setting, Lake Lucerne provides a traditional atmosphere with its fjord-like straights and winding inlets. Right in the middle of this beauty is a daily shipping route bearing tourists between Lucerne and other popular travel destinations, like Weggis and Bürgenstock. While it may sound less than idyllic, it actually boasts an intriguing eco-friendly twist. The MS Bürgenstock, the new motorized vessel belonging to the Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (SGV), sports a quiet and fuel-efficient hybrid drive. Aventics, a specialist of hybrid drive controls in ships headquartered in Laatzen, ensures optimum control between the electric motors and diesel engines. Several years ago, Aventics expanded their solutions by using the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750.

Two years of design and construction came to fruition at the end of May: SGV’s new shuttle, the MS Bürgenstock, embarked on her maiden voyage on the lake, where she navigates the Lucerne-Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock route daily – from early morning to after midnight.

Visitors during the initial launch, who expected the typical clatter of diesel engines, were surprised by near silence instead. The catamaran, designed as a shuttle by Shiptec AG, was specifically developed to cruise the Lucerne basin in electric mode, supplied by batteries – the diesel engines are required for only half of the route as determined by the captain. According to Rudolf Stadelmann, CEO at Shiptec, “The MS Bürgenstock is a modern, innovative, and ecologically sound ‘bridge’ between Lucerne and Bürgenstock resort.” It is, however, also a fast bridge, as the ship travels at up to 35 kilometers per hour and reaches its destination in a mere 23 minutes.. Martin Einsiedler, head of Ship Design and Engineering at Shiptec, explains that the propulsion systems include two Scania diesel engines with an output of 552 kW each, and two permanently excited synchronous electric motors from Siemens, each with an output of 180 kW. “Basically, we use the diesel engines for travel outside of the harbor areas,” states Einsiedler. “The electric motors function as generators here to supply power for the ship and the system batteries. These batteries, in turn, provide the power for the electric drive and the onboard network in the Lucerne basin. Approximately 50% of the total travel time uses only the electric drive.”

The hybrid engine in the MS Bürgenstock protects the Swiss environment – with an innovative
drive control from Aventics.

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While designing the drive technology, Shiptec determined the most economically advantageous variant. Using similarly sized ships, comparable travel profiles were developed, and the requirements and consumption by the propulsion system and onboard networks were recorded. Based on this data, they decided on a parallel hybrid power and propulsion system. Martin Einsiedler, head of Ship Design and Engineering at Shiptec, explains that the propulsion systems include two Scania diesel engines with an output of 552 kW each, and two permanently excited synchronous electric motors from Siemens, each with an output of 180 kW. “Basically, we use the diesel engines for travel outside of the harbor areas,” states Einsiedler. “The electric motors function as generators here to supply power for the ship and the system batteries. These batteries, in turn, provide the power for the electric drive and the onboard network in the Lucerne basin. The all-electric system is used for about 50 percent of the entire trip.

Complex System, Reliable Solution

The demands on the drive controls are quite high in order to smoothly perform the complex processes in this hybrid propulsion and energy management system, while guaranteeing fast, reliable transitions between the two power sources. As explained by Marius Mudroch from Aventics, “The complications in hybrid technology lie in the fact that we have two types of drives that differ in their dynamics and behaviors. The captain always has the option of selecting between the drives or cruising with the combined system, depending on the travel profile,” according to Mudroch, who has specialized in the development of hybrid controllers in ship automation during a decade at Aventics; he supervised the Swiss project. The different travel profiles are stored in the controller; in the case of the Bürgenstock, this is a CAN controller from the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750.