HVAC Upgrades for Carnival Cruise Line’s Cruisers

KNUD E. HANSEN A/S, in cooperation with Novenco Marine & Offshore A/S, have contracted with Carnival Cruise Line to install state-of-the-art HVAC upgrades on the Victory, Triumph, Conquest and Spirit Class cruise ships, in order to improve the overall operational efficiency of their fleet.

Owner’s newbuilding requirements often specify excessive capacity for HVAC systems in order to ensure passenger comfort while cruising in tropical climates. This means that there is significant potential for operational optimization when the vessels are in less demanding climates or in transitional periods where there are fewer passengers on-board.

Furthermore the upgrade will ensure that the system is taking advantage of the simultaneous factor for persons and for various heat sources such as entertainment equipment, so that cooling capacity is transferred to the areas where needed.

The basis of this technology, is to monitor the passenger flow and occupancy of each area. Ventilation is reduced to a minimum for unoccupied areas in order to save both electrical power and chilled water. Each area is controlled from a “Timeschedule”, but to maintain a comfortable climate in the areas, CO2 sensors detect the passenger flow, and avoid any discomfort if the passenger flow changes

Up to 25% efficiency gains may be expected in the HVAC system, by upgrading equipment on-board, changing system operational parameters, and installing customized software to better manage operation of HVAC machinery. As a consequence, the payback period is expected to be less than 6 months.

Many of the upgrades have already been installed onboard several Carnival ships, and are performing as predicted and specified.

The new generation of the “TimeSchedule” and “Energy Saving Calculation” system, can be interfaced to most existing HVAC HMI control systems, and is therefore applicable to most vessels, without exchanging the HVAC HMI.

Further improvement of the energy efficiency for the HVAC system is in progress and can now be implemented, which will include chilled water flow control, “Freecooling” of chilled water for ships sailing with low outside temperature, Unoccupied Cabin control, improvement of Return Air and Enthalpy Wheels as well as demand air flow in Galleys.

KNUD E. HANSEN A/S and Novenco Marine & Offshore A/S in Denmark will manage the upgrades in co-operation with the local KNUD E. HANSEN A/S office in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA.

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Knud E. Hansen, November 29, 2013