Visakhapatnam :
Even as the city battles with persistent pollution, students of the Indian Maritime University (IMU) have built a prototype of a solar-powered, single-seater trimaran to make sailing an eco-friendly affair. What’s more, this green trimaran is also highly affordable as it has been built at a cost of just Rs 69,000!
Initial tests indicate that when charged for nearly three hours, this three-metre long and 0.6 metre broad fibre-glass boat, which is powered by a 12V 40AH solar battery weighing 13 kg to feed the four thrusters (two mounted on the main hull and one each on either side of the outriggers), can sail for 70 minutes at a speed of about 8 knots.
A trimaran is a multi-hulled boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (floats) which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. While these are mainly used as sail-driven yachts designed for recreation or racing, there are a few trimaran ferries and warships.
The solar powered trimaran has been designed by IMU’s bachelor of technology students – Soumya Ranjan Subudhi, Avala Venkata Karthik, Asish H Nair and Prathamesh Sakharam Chari – under the guidance of project guide Eswara Arun Kishore. They spent nearly 1000 collective man hours in the last five months to build this boat as part of their final year project in the naval architecture and ocean engineering at IMU Vizag. According to Avala Venkata Karthik, they had built the single-passenger boat from scratch, including the design and construction using fiberglass. “We built the boat keeping lake waters in mind so that it can be ideally used by tourists, but eventually we tested it in the rough conditions of the sea and succeeded. We tested the boat for about half-an-hour on the sea and it performed really well in terms of speed, manoeuvrability and stability,” Karthik explained.
“We got major support from the college, which funded the project. It cost us just around Rs 69,000 to develop the model and thanks to director’s (S C Misra) support we were able to complete the project. He had stressed on the need for developing renewable energy sources models so that we could have a zero-emission boat,” said Prathamesh Sakharam Chari.
Explaining the way the battery works, teammate Soumya Ranjan Subudhi said, “Once the boat is charged and sails in the waters, it can run continuously as the battery keeps getting charged by the solar cells. The pace should ideally be around 2 knots for the battery to get continuously charged.”
On the testing of the boat, Karthik said that Hindustan Shipyard had allowed the students to conduct their checks for an hour or so, ensuring that they measure the ship’s capability even on the sea.
Describing the routine, Asish H Nair said, “We learnt from scratch about boat building as were on a tight budget and had to do a market survey on the type of materials that are economical and as well as carry out the trials. This prototype can be scaled up to bigger boats that can carry up to 6 people.”
IMU Vizag director Prof S C Misra said the brief was to build an eco-friendly boat that does not emit any polluting agents. “We found it to be feasible during the test and are open to assisting any entrepreneurs, who may want to build solar boats,” Misra said.
Initial tests indicate that when charged for nearly three hours, this green boat can sail for 70 minutes at a speed of about 8 knots.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by Manish, TNN / June 29th, 2013