Thordon Bearings to support wind power technology

<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20230628/1687926192117003.png" title="1687926192117003.png" alt="1.png"/></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Thordon&nbsp;Bearings is supplying its grease-free, self-lubricating ThorPlas-Blue bearing material to a novel containerized wind propulsion system designed to reduce fuel consumption and fossil fuel emissions across all commercial ship types.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The rigid sail system—developed by entrepreneurs Miles Keeney-Ritchie and Satchel Douglas, co-founders of Boston, Mass.-based&nbsp;start-up Aloft Systems—is a rigid aluminum and composite airfoil housed in a 16m (53ft) shipping container that deploys automatically when the wind is sufficient to propel the vessel along.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Four ThorPlas-Blue bearings were machined and installed on a ? scale prototype to allow the sails to fold, rotate 360 degrees and pivot to optimize wind conditions.&nbsp;Thordon&nbsp;will supply the material to full-scale units once the entrepreneurs have partnered with a shipowner with whom to trial the system.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Aloft Systems’ Head of Engineering Satchel Douglas said: “We contacted a number of bearing manufacturers, but decided on the&nbsp;Thordonmaterial as it’s as robust and low maintenance as you can get. We needed a fit-and-forget solution capable of withstanding high loads and pressures. And with ThorPlas-Blue there’s no maintenance, no grease, no corrosion. It was exactly what we were looking for.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Jason Perry,&nbsp;Thordon&nbsp;Bearings’ Regional Manager – North America, said: “Aloft Systems aligns completely with our mission statement and ethos on environmental sustainability, so we are delighted to be part of this innovative and important project from the outset. The flat-out ingenuity of something like this has the potential to get the entire global shipping industry moving to wind power. Aloft has hit the sweet spot.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">At full scale, two Aloft sail units, each containing a pair of 15 meter (49.2 feet) long, 3 meter (9.8 feet) wide folding sails, can reduce fuel consumption and emissions by at least 6%. Depending on vessel size and configuration more units could increase the fuel savings.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The sails tower 18.3 meter (60 feet) above deck when fully extended.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“The goal is not to replace the ship’s existing propulsion system, rather reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and help shipowners meet their emissions targets without taking vessels out of service to do so,” said CEO Keeney-Ritchie.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“The beauty of it, is that vessel owners can change the number of units on their vessels for each voyage to optimally balance fuel savings with the cargo requirement. It’s not a fixed installation, the sails can be moved from ship to ship.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">While wind propulsion technology is maturing, the industry cannot wait and requires a system today that can be easily installed and dropped into existing vessels to meet the gamut of emissions legislation.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The modular, autonomous high thrust propulsion system Aloft Systems has designed does just that. It can be easily lifted on to the deck of any vessel without the need for structural modifications, pipework, wiring, or drydocking.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“If shipowners want to make a difference right now, if they want to save fuel and reduce CO2&nbsp;emissions right now, then it is wind power that’s going to get them there fast and more cost effectively than any other form of renewable propulsion,” said Keeney-Ritchie. “We’re designing for a 25-year life span, with an ROI directly related to the cost of fuel we save. Where our solution stands apart is the installation cost will be essentially nothing whereas the installation cost for other systems can be the almost as much as the unit itself (so nearly doubling the effective cost).”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Craig Carter,&nbsp;Thordon&nbsp;Bearings’ VP Business Development, furthered: “As a member of the International Wind Ship Association (IWSA), we are keen to support new developments in sustainable propulsion technology. Wind is currently the only zero-emission means of propulsion and Aloft Systems has found a way of making that energy available for all vessels.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Having successfully demonstrated the technology on land with the ? scale prototype, Aloft Systems is now actively engaging with ship operators to trial a full-scale version on an ocean-going pilot vessel.</span></p><p><br/></p>