KOTUG's New Zero-Emission Heat Recycling System

KOTUG International BV has been nominated for a Maritime Innovation Award 2017 for their new cost-effective and sustainable system to store and regenerate heat on tugboats, the Zero-Emission Heat Recycling System. The award is presented annually by the Netherlands Maritime Technology (NMT).

The Zero-Emission Heat Recycling System, which can be described as an accumulator that stores heat using the latest PCM technology and redistributes the heat when required, has been amply tested and found to have many economical, technical and environmental benefits.

A tugboat requires energy when it is on stand-by to keep the engines at the right temperature, and for climate control. This energy is usually derived from onshore power supply stations at a considerable cost.

In order to optimise tugboat energy use and save costs, the idea to store and re-use the waste heat from the main engines and generator was conceived by KOTUG, who then set about developing and fine-tuning the technology for the heat recycling system.

The new system which is based on the latest Phase Change Material (PCM) technology is an eco-friendly and cost-effective solution. It reduces shore power consumption with 50%, thus cutting CO2 emissions by half.

“This use of PCM technology is new in the maritime industry and has great potential not only for tugboats, but for every type of vessel, as it can be tailored to different spaces and user profiles. KOTUG is looking into more applications for temperature control purposes”, said Koos Smoor, Manager Fleet Performance & Innovation at KOTUG. 

KOTUG is renowned for innovations such as the Rotortug and the eco-friendly E-Kotug. ”We see beauty in solutions that combine the golden triangle of state-of-the-art technology, sustainability and cost reductions. This innovation is an answer to market demand as well as environmental requirements and actually reduces costs as well.”