China launches cold region electric riverboat

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A cold region electric riverboat has been launched on a tributary of northeast China's Songhua River, according to the China Science Daily on Tuesday.

The intelligent cruise riverboat, about 27 meters long and six meters wide, is equipped with four groups of lithium iron phosphate batteries with a total capacity of 600kWh. It has a designed total tonnage of 138 tonnes and can seat 53 people.

The riverboat is driven by two 60kW permanent magnet synchronous motors. Their efficient propellers provide both sound seakeeping and maneuverability.

The trial speed of this riverboat on water that is both deep and still is not less than 18 km per hour, while its endurance is about eight hours.

Green intelligent boats and ships offer advantages of high efficiency, fast response and convenient maintenance. They have gradually become the main inland waterway transport choice in southern provinces, said the newspaper.

However, high latitude cold regions with temperature at minus 30 degrees Celsius or lower in winter tend to impact negatively on the performance of the battery and charging equipment of such boats and ships.

Researchers from the Harbin Engineering University, the Harbin Electric Corporation and the Heilongjiang Shipping Group responded to this challenge by applying appropriate energy management technology to enhance the efficiency of the riverboat's power generator in the cold conditions up north.