10126152Safer, Smarter Ships – Strategies and innovations for vessels using low flash point fuels (Project Triple S)ClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKTransferring and storing low flash point fuels (LFF) in a ship presents a series of potentially catastrophic scenarios where leaks and permeation can become trapped in pockets creating a risk of explosion. It is essential that the gas does not reach the critical stoichiometric concentration (e.g. 4% H2) and that it is evacuated before an explosion. Without a clear understanding of how new fuels will impact ship design, there is a tendency to stick with traditional designs and fit a "square peg into a round hole" without looking at the potential consequences of installing new fuels like hydrogen. Equallyimportantly, port owners want to offer fuels that are in demand but the risks commonlyassociated with fuels like hydrogen are slowing adoption. In other words, ship design is far behind other technical design advances. Ship skeletons are made up of "ribs" which could potentially trap gas in hidden pockets.Hydrogen's molecular structure means that it will leak, regardless of how well made the storage tanks are. It is inevitable that these complex structures will eventually fill with pockets of gas. However, hydrogen naturally rises and it is this tendency, alongside sophisticated software monitoring and sophisticated management strategies that result in smart ship designs incorporating electronic controls preventing catastrophic explosions. Naval architects, shipyards and machine manufacturers are capable of delivering clean vessels but using new fuels like methanol and hydrogen means changing the way ships are built, fueled, monitored, operated and designed. This project aims to investigate how smart shipping technologies can make ships safer when carrying large payloads of high-pressure, low boiling point, low flash point fuels. This project aims to deliver a set of design and software integrations that can be built intonew vessels. In much the same way that steam boilers created a need for new shipdesigns, the use of hydrogen also requires a new set of standards and designs that can be incorporated for generations to come. This project will demonstrate how safer, cleaner ships will look. By delivering potentially patentable design innovations the project will define requirements and design efficiencies used for production of more accurate safety control systems and production applications which impact shipyard operations.