BREAKING NEWS: Ben Buchele delivers electric motors for hybrid dredger Chicago

Ben Buchele Elektromotorenwerke GmbH delivered two electric motors to Reintjes for installation on a hybrid dredger Chicago at the Port of Hamburg recently.

“The end user wanted an electric motor solution that enabled fully electric power at a speed of up to six knots, and offered the capacity to recharge the batteries, while using the diesel engines,” said Bridger Howes in its announcement.

“Reintjes asked Ben Buchele for a weight-optimised, water-cooled engine that met certain criteria, such as 60 kW of power; frame size 200; rated speed of 2,130 rpm; inverter duty; and suitability for S1 continuous duty.”

The dredger Chicago, which shifts sediment in certain areas of the port so that it can be extracted by the suction dredgers, is a twin-engine vessel with two propellers and two prop shafts.

Each prop shaft is powered primarily by a diesel engine, but also has an electric motor to enable low-emissions operation.

Even when the ship is in electric mode, both propellers are still available, ensuring full manoeuvrability. This is made possible by the redundancy built into the system that allows a single prop shaft to be used if one of the propellers fails, said the company.

All of the power electronic components, from the batteries to the variable frequency drive, generate a certain amount of heat.

Water-cooling the electric motors eliminates all further sources of heat.

Another major advantage of a water-cooled motor is their low weight and compact size, meaning they can be installed without taking up too much space.

Water-cooled motors output the same amount of power as a surface-cooled engine at a much larger frame size, said the company.