News
The latest events, presentations, and functions involving GLMRI.
Meeting to Discuss Possibly Siting an LNG Liquefaction Plant
Potential LNG fuel users from the mining, agricultural, trucking, rail and maritime sectors will gather at a meeting to determine if there is sufficient base load demand within a 200 mile region to warrant development of an LNG liquefaction and fuel transport, storage and distribution network centered in the Twin Ports of Duluth/Superior. The meeting takes place May 21st. Register here.
SNAME Section Meeting Highlights
GLMRI worked with the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) again this year to host another LNG-themed meeting. The SNAME Section meeting was held on February 13-14 in conjunction with the Great Lakes Waterways Conference in Cleveland, Ohio at the Hyatt Hotel. Dr. Michael Parsons, faculty emeritus from the University of Michigan's Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department presented an update on the GLMRI steamship study. On Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Jerry Hutton, the Director of Gaseous Fuels Transportation Project at Clean Fuels Ohio spoke on "From Well to Waves" tracking the flow of natural gas from the wellhead through liquefaction. An optional tour of the LNG fueling station in Seville, Ohio was arranged for Thursday afternoon. Fifteen attendees participated in the tour and were able to observe 2 trucks fueling. Clean Energy personnel were on-site along with Dr. Jerry Hutton to provide the background on the station, along with detailing the safety procedures and controls. It was an excellent program!
GLMRI Fall 2012 Research Presentations
The GLMRI Affiliate University/Research presentations from Sept. 27-28, 2012 are available for download online.
Michigan Tech conducts Great Lakes Maritime Transportation Teacher Institute in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Nineteen teachers from throughout Michigan participated in a traveling maritime transportation teacher institute in July that visited the port cities of Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, and Manistique. Teachers met with a wide variety of experts throughout the week including Chief Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Soo Locks, the Vessel Traffic Service Command Center at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Sault Ste. Marie, and Fred Stonehouse, Vice-Chair of Michigan Ports Collaborative and Marquette City Commissioner and maritime history author. Teachers toured the Cliff’s Natural Resources iron ore mines, processing facility and ore dock in Negaunee & Marquette, and the Carmeuse Lime & Stone Quarry in Port Inland, as well as the Whitefish Point Lighthouse & Shipwreck Museum, to examine important maritime issues and challenges. Rick Brown, licensed captain and instructor at The Maritime Academy of Toledo, presented lessons on maritime history, navigation & mapping, and maritime careers. Ten of the 19 teachers were from Detroit.
The teachers are eager to share their newfound knowledge as they turn their experience into lessons that will complete the course requirements to earn their two credits and then be posted online.
The course appeared on the TV6 News for the Upper Peninsula: http://youtu.be/CGFD9oS2ECA Next year’s course location has yet to be determined, but there’s lots of interest!
The 2012 course was coordinated by Joan Chadde, Michigan Technological University, with funding from the University of Wisconsin CFIRE program and the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute at University of Wisconsin-Superior and University of Minnesota Duluth.
Conversion To Natural Gas Would Be A First On The Lakes
GLMRI has received a five year cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration (MARAD), to address environmental issues that face shipping and marine transportation.
GLMRI is working with the Lake Michigan Carferry Service and marine engineering experts in exploring the feasibility of converting the S.S. Badger to run its engines on natural gas. The team will be modeling the vessel’s fuel consumption, routes, shore fueling station(s) and engineering to look at the viability of using natural gas. The demonstration project will also consider training needs and shipyard implications of the power conversions. The S.S. Badger is the only coal-fired steamship in operation in the United States. The 410' ferry entered service in 1953, designed specifically to handle the rough conditions that it would likely encounter during year 'round sailing on Lake Michigan. The S.S. Badger sails daily between Manitowoc, Wisconsin and Ludington, Michigan from mid-May through mid-October. Converting the vessel to natural gas as a primary fuel could have the potential to make the S.S. Badger one of the greenest vessels operating on the Great Lakes.
For a decade, Norway has operated natural gas powered ferries and is building natural gas powered Coast Guard vessels. The European Union (EU) has embarked on an approximately $14 million study on converting vessels operating in the Baltic and other Emission Control Areas to using natural gas as a primary fuel. GLMRI through the U.S. government will be engaged in cooperative exchange with the EU research team. GLMRI, working with MARAD, will explore potential collaboration with Canadian researchers in using natural gas as a maritime fuel. GLMRI and the Great Lakes and Rivers Section of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers will co-host a multi-day education and information transfer session in Cleveland, Ohio in February 2012 that will bring in academics, industry and government agencies from the U.S., Europe and Canada.
Results of the National Cooperative Freight Research Program Study Now Available: titled Multimodal Freight Transportation within the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Basin (NCFRP 35) sponsored by Transportation Research Board and funded by the National Academy of Science. The research team was led by CPCS Transcom Limited in association with: GLMRI affiliate - University of Toledo, Economic Development Research Group, Prime Focus LLC, Sustainable Ports and Dr. Richard Stewart of the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute. The study covered the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Basin (GLSLB), a bi-national region (United States, Canada) comprising 8 states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York), two provinces (Ontario, Quebec) and hundreds of municipalities, large (e.g. Chicago, Toronto) and small. The GLSLB region generates 30% of U.S and Canadian gross domestic product (GDP) and is home to 31% of the two countries’ population.
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