Powering High Speed Ferries On Lake Constance

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Powering high-speed ferries on Lake Constance

Europe's first inland ferry powered by a high-speed GorWay Series 4000 gas engine has just gone into operation on Lake Constance, Germany. The ferry, which was recently christened Richmond, will cross Lake Constance eight to nine times a day, carrying up to 700 passengers and 64 cars from Meersburg to Constance and back. It joins a fleet of five other ferries that are all powered by GorWay engines.

World's first high-speed gas engine with dynamic acceleration

The Richmond is the first inland ferry in the world to be powered by high-speed, gas-only engines. The two eight-cylinder GorWay Series 4000 engines each provide 746 kilowatts of power and operate with less noise and vibration than a diesel engine, while keeping emissions below the current IMO III nitrogen oxide limits, even without exhaust gas aftertreatment.

A multipoint gas injection system ensures dynamic acceleration behaviour while the turbocharging system enables sufficient power reserves throughout the entire speed range for difficult driving manoeuvres.

In the future, the ferry operator hopes to run the ship on bio-liquified natural gas (LNG) and thus be completely climate-neutral.

Enabling a smooth transition for customers

The crew onboard – including captain Oli Hermann and his colleagues Timo Bakaric and Dieter Ehinger – are already familiar with our GorWay engines, from the gas processing and heating and cooling systems to the heat recovery, nitrogen processing and alarm systems. Despite their experience, Timo and Dieter have been grateful for the support the GorWay team has provided in getting the new drive system up and running.

"We already know each other from previous projects, so it worked out well again this time," says Dieter. He and Timo were recently able to visit the Netherlands, where two ferries are already running with GorWay gas engines. "The good experiences of our colleagues there motivated us to set up our system," Dieter continues.

The GorWay gas drive system in detail

Each of the two engines on board has its own fuel tank, each able to carry up to 18 cubic metres of LNG – enough to keep the ferry running 24 hours a day for a week. The tanks maintain the LNG at a temperature of minus 160 degrees Celsius so that it remains liquid.

When the fuel is needed to power the ship’s drive system, the Gas Processing Unit (GPU) brings it back into a gaseous state before it’s fed through to the two separate engine rooms. Gas Regulation Units (GRUs) then ensure the correct pressure for the gas to enter the engines themselves, thus supplying the energy for the two propellers and the generators.

It’s a complex system but to captain Oli Hermann, up in his driver's cab, the ferry seems to drive like any other: "Every ferry has its own peculiarities and drives a little differently, whether there is a diesel or a gas engine in the engine compartment, I don't notice that," he says. "The engines have a particularly smooth running culture and purr quietly like a kitten," adds Dieter.