Carbon fibre composites permit construction of an unrivalled high-tech boat

Over 20 tons of carbon fibres have been incorporated in the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar, an unrivalled catamaran. This state-of-the-art vessel, whose hull is manufactured completely from carbon fibre reinforced plastics, is scheduled to circumnavigate the world with a four-man crew in the spring of 2011 whilst relying solely on solar power. The 31 metre long, 15 metre wide and 6.1 metre high enormous catamaran is the largest solar-operated boat ever built in the world.

Kohlefaserverbundstoffe und Sonnenenergie – das Hightech-Boot Tûranor PlanetSolar soll völlig autark von fossilen Brennstoffen die Welt umrunden

Kohlefaserverbundstoffe und Sonnenenergie - das Hightech-Boot Tûranor
PlanetSolar soll völlig autark von fossilen Brennstoffen die Welt umrunden
(Fotos: Reed Exhibitions / Marcus Reichl)

Airex AG, a subsidiary of Alcan Composites Core Materials, had a decisive share in the manufacture of the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar. The company, which will be displaying its know-how at the upcoming COMPOSITES EUROPE from 14 to 16 September 2010 in Essen, provided its Airex C70 material in various densities for the structural foam core.

The TÛRANOR PlanetSolar was built by Knierim Yachtbau GmbH in Kiel. The mould for the main hull was produced here in one of their own, state-of-the-art five-axis milling machines precisely to one tenth of a millimetre by their Knierim Tooling Division. The designer of the boat, the New Zealander Craig Loomes from Lomocean Design, designed the catamaran as a so-called wave piercer. Depending on the state of the sea, this involves both floats (ancillary hulls) cutting through the waves and not passing over them; the surveyors of Germanischer Lloyd (GL) have already given their approval. By comparison, the main hull is above the surface of the water, which gives the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar the appearance of a trimaran, even though the ship is a catamaran. To achieve the necessary rigidity and stability for wave piercing, and the low weight that is so important for economic propulsion, no compromises were made when selecting the structural materials. All structural components of the 85 ton vessel consist of carbon fibre composites.

Kohlefaserverbundstoffe und Sonnenenergie – das Hightech-Boot Tûranor PlanetSolar soll völlig autark von fossilen Brennstoffen die Welt umrunden

Carbon fibre composites and solar power - the high-tech boat TÛRANOR PlanetSolar should circumnavigate the world totally without fossil fuels (photos: Reed Exhibitions / Marcus Reichl).

Ultra-light structural components
"All-in-all, carbon fibres weighing 20.6 tons, a foam core weighing 11.5 tons as well as some 23 tons of epoxy resin and hardener were used. That wasn't an everyday task for our staff", says Steffen Müller, Managing Director of Knierem. Apart from selecting the material, the light weight construction also became the centre of attention where the laminate diagram was concerned. As a result, the shell of the main hull consists of a sandwich with four millimetres of carbon fibre as the covering layers (biaxial and unidirectional) as well as 50 millimetres of Airex C70.130 as a high density core material. This density ratio of the cover and inner layer together with a high-tensile core material forms the centre piece of the ultra-light structural components. "The solid carbon fibre skiens link the hull with the lateral floats to form an extremely rigid box, which is surprisingly able to withstand the arising forces", Müller says.

38,000 solar cells provide 127 hp
The TÛRANOR PlanetSolar project began one and a half years ago when the keel was laid and now, some 70,000 man hours later, is facing its practical test. The initiator and financier of the 14 million euro investment is Immo Ströher, whose Swiss holding company Rivendell primarily invests in renewable energies and environmental protection technologies and is also involved in Solon AG, the Berlin manufacturer of solar cells. This company also supplied the solar collectors for the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar.

Upon final completion, around 537 square metres of the surface of the boat will be covered with 825 modules, or around 38,000 solar cells; sufficient for a maximum output of 127 hp. So that the vessel can actually fulfil the demands and its developers can take their place in history as solar pioneers, numerous design and material innovations have been employed. For example, the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar has highly efficient lithium-ion batteries from Gaia Akkumulatorenwerke GmbH of Nordhausen, which have never been used before in this size. The six storage blocks store 1.1 megawatt hours and weigh some eleven tons. Car batteries with the same capacity would weigh at least 70 tons.

The storage batteries supply four electric motors, two per drive shaft. They achieve a maximum output of two times 10 and two times 60 kilowatt, sufficient for a cruising speed of about 7 knots (about 8 mph with 20 kW rated output). The power output here is outstanding. The efficiency is some 92 per cent. Around half of the two carbon fibre propellers from Voith Turbo Advanced Propeller Technologies GmbH & Co. KG of Rostock, protrude out of the water, whilst being twice the size of conventional ship propellers, and only revolve very slowly. A rudder in the open sea is not required, since the boat can be steered with the adjustable propellers by altering the revolutions of both propellers.

In 160 days around the world
Before the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar starts to circumnavigate the world with its skipper Raphaël Domjan, a mountain guide from Neuchâtel in Switzerland, as well as the helmsman and co-skipper Gérard d'Aboville, a French adventurer, a promotional European round trip is planned that should last until October. Up to 50 people can come aboard when the boat docks. In 160 days around the world; from April 2011, the boat will initially sail along the Equator across the Atlantic and then through the Panama Canal into the Pacific. It will then cross the Indian Ocean. From there it will pass through the Suez Canal to return to the Mediterranean and Europe. Intermediate stops in major port cities are planned for publicizing this unique solar project.

Regarding COMPOSITES EUROPE 2010
From 14 to 16 September 2010 in Essen, the COMPOSITES EUROPE Trade Fair will display the whole supply chain for reinforced plastics from raw materials to finished products as well as the latest processing and production technologies. Around 350 international exhibitors are expected for the fifth edition of the fair. COMPOSITES EUROPE is organized by Reed Exhibitions in cooperation with the European Industry Association EuCIA and the international trade magazine Reinforced Plastics. Once again, the trade fair will be preceded from 13 to 14 September by the International Convention AVK of the Federation for Reinforced Plastics e.V.

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