Maine Maritime Academy

R/V Quickwater is a 41-ft Coast Guard cutter-class workboat. The twin-screw vessel utilizes twin Cummins V903 engines each rated at 307 Hp @ 2,600 RPM. The vessel was converted to a research vessel in 2014 and fully-instrumented to conduct “at sea” testing of novel powertrain and fuel technologies. The vessel is instrumented for fuel consumption, power output and emissions and has a dedicated on-board data logger which tracks vessel performance. Unique vessel features are described below.

Flexible Fueling System A unique capability, the flexible fuel piping system allows the research team to continuously and independently switch between conventional and alternative diesel fuel for each engine while underway. The vessel is instrumented with dual mass flow fuel meters for accurate fuel consumption measurements. Together, the fuel system allows for simultaneous comparative engine performance measurements under same sea and weather conditions enhancing reproducibility of results.
	Power Monitoring Thermodynamic efficiency is an important measurement for combustion systems. The vessel was instrumented with shaft torque cells to obtain accurate power output data from each engine. This data is logged using the vessel continuous emissions monitoring system to calculate the thermodynamic efficiency of each engine while comparing alternative fuels and new engine technologies.
Data Acquisition The heart of the vessel's research capabilities is a custom high-speed data acquisition and monitoring system. The system acquires, displays and logs vessel operating conditions including fuel consumption, power output and emissions. The system also controls the fuel switching system and can provide historical vessel operational data.
	Emissions Monitoring Continuous emissions monitoring is used to evaluate combustion and emissions characteristics of alternative fuels. Currently, the system consists of an on-line Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) for gas analysis and condensation particle counter (CPC) for particulates. Together, the vessel conforms to ISO 8178 field emission testing protocols.