Hull Air Lubrication: Impact on Ship Efficiency and Global Decarbonisation

Presented by Dr Arno Dubois, the Lead Hydrodynamicist at Silverstream Technologies.

Over the past decade, hull air lubrication has proven itself as a practical and scalable decarbonisation solution for the shipping industry. Air lubrication aims to reduce the frictional resistance of a ship, thereby cutting fuel burn and emissions. The unique system developed by Silverstream Technologies generates a microbubble carpet through fluid shearing and, since the company’s technology came to market, has demonstrated an average of 5-10% net savings as such showing that effective energy saving technologies can be commercialised and scaled rapidly. This lecture will explore how the technology works, how performance is measured, and what development opportunities lie ahead.