Inland waterway gas-fuelled vessels: the basis of an innovative concept design for European rivers

The basic aspects of an innovative concept design for a vessel intended to be used on European inland waterways network are presented. The main requirements to be fulfilled concern technical matters for the vessel, and take into account all the constraints imposed both by the infrastructures present along the rivers/canals and by the normative about environmental protection. In particular, the paper deals with the definition of the framework of the problem, the analysis of suitable solutions and the possible adoption of innovative technologies nowadays available on the market. With reference to the latter issue LNG engines have been considered for both propulsion and generation, in order to low the emission of pollutants in air.