The dream of the Suez Canal

Norwegian company is revolutionizing technology. Got the idea after a 400-metre-long ship got stuck in the Suez Canal and stopped all shipping traffic.

On an early March evening in 2021, Davoud Tayebi (Ph.D.) sat and watched the news. A 400-metre-long and 59-metre-wide ship had gotten stuck in the Suez Canal and stopped all shipping traffic. It was a disaster for the environment and the world economy.

The incident sparked an idea for Tayebi. He was going to revolutionize the technology that removes loose sand and sediment with a new type of robot. In collaboration with Siemens Xcelerator, his company, Granfoss, is now on its way to becoming a new maritime technology company.

In ports all over the world, mud is a big problem. Both for shipping, which does not come in with the boats when the bottom in the ports becomes too shallow, and not least, a problem for the environment.

– Dredging technology has changed little over the past 30 years, says Davoud Tayebi, founder and CTO of Granfoss.

When the mud is collected, it is filled into large barges or tanks where the water that comes with the mud leaks out and carries toxins back to the sea.

– The methods of removing the mud often make the environmental impacts worse. Today, large excavators or dredging vessels are used to dig in the seabed. This causes the environmentally hazardous substances in the mud to swirl up and out into the sea. It is extremely destructive for all marine life, and for water quality both locally and globally, he explains.

The work of removing mud must be constantly repeated to prevent the ports from becoming clogged. Especially in ports located at the outlet of rivers where sediment is carried by the current and accumulates in underwater sediment banks, the risk of larger ships running aground increases.

Davoud Tayebi (left) is the founder and CTO of Granfoss. Here with the team from the Port of Drammen and Siemens.

Central vacuum cleaner or robotic lawnmower - on a large scale

Tayebi's idea the night he sat and looked at the ship in the Suez Canal was a kind of vacuum cleaner robot that sucks the mud in the harbor into a closed system.

– Imagine a kind of central robot vacuum cleaner in your house that vacuums the floors free of dust and dirt that is then sucked into a central system, says Tayebi, and continues:

– In this way, you prevent toxins in the mud from flowing out and instead stay in the robot until it reaches "docking stations" along the ports.

Granfoss thus becomes a complete system. When the robots return to the "docking stations", the dredge is pumped up and cleaned in a centrifuge that separates the pollutants from the water.

The robots also work continuously, in contrast to the current solution, which waits until the ports are overflowing with mud before digging up.

– I often also use robotic lawnmowers as a comparison when explaining the Granfoss robots. While a robotic lawnmower makes sure that the grass never gets too high and you are eventually forced to use large, polluting tools, our robots can do the same job with regard to mud, says Tayebi.

According to the engineer, the robots make sure that large cornices of mud do not form under water, where ships can run aground, and which also collect environmentally hazardous substances that leak into the sea over time.

Frank Rørtvedt, Digital Transformation Architect in Siemens Xcelerator.

A strong fit for Siemens Xcelerator

An important supporter in the work on the development of the robot is the global technology giant Siemens.

– Granfoss is a very good match for us. We are incredibly impressed with the concept and how their robot can eliminate the need for annual dredging, says Frank Rørtvedt, Digital Transformation Architect at Siemens Xcelerator.

Siemens Xcelerator is Siemens' technology portfolio with hardware and software that work seamlessly together in an ecosystem where manufacturers, developers and industry can benefit from each other.

CEO of Granfoss, Solveig Elilla Kristiansen.

– The Granfoss concept involves autonomous robots, patented dredging technology and scalable technical solutions that are powered using a digital platform that are the building blocks of the industrial metaverse, Rørtvedt explains, adding:

– Here we have technology systematized with a clear goal of making the world, and especially our oceans, a better place.

This fits very well with the Xcelerator concept, which focuses on sustainable ideas and solutions, according to Rørtvedt.

CEO of Granfoss, Solveig Elilla Kristiansen, is also pleased with the partnership.

– What we are going to build is not just a product, but an industrial company. We will collaborate with those who are better than us in the areas where we do not have expertise. That's why Siemens Xcelerator is a dream partner for us, she says, and emphasizes:

– The ecosystem of experts and projects we get as an Xcelerator partner gives me the belief that there is little that can stop us, says Kristiansen.

A sea of possibilities with Siemens Xcelerator

The suction head of the robots that Davoud Tayebi has developed and that ensures that the dredge is closed inside the system has already been patented, but the robot also has several possibilities that they are working on developing in collaboration with Siemens.

Among other things, they are working on connecting sensors that will allow data to be collected on a wide range of environmental and water-quality data, such as information about water quality, minerals, temperatures or the like.

– We are already in the process of prototyping the concept for the technology platform and making the necessary preparations to be able to scale with structure and speed, says Rørtvedt, and explains that a digital twin of robot and port already in the scale-up phase will offer great value to the ecosystem.

– And provide the opportunity to simulate and verify assignments digitally, which will contribute to commercial upscaling, he adds.

From the Port of Drammen to the Suez Canal?

Granfoss has also entered into a collaboration with the Drammen Havn as their pilot port. This, like all other ports, has a problem with mud that builds up and must be removed to keep the port open and accessible.

– Dredging today is both time-consuming and expensive. It also has major and negative effects on the environment. Contaminated sediments can be spread over larger areas and environmental toxins can be transferred to the water," says Ingvild Sedahl, Head of Communications and Marketing in Drammen Havn.

– In addition, the machines used for dredging operate on fossil fuels that contribute to CO2 emissions, she adds.

Sedahl is looking forward to seeing how the Granfoss technology can contribute to more efficient and environmentally friendly port operations both in Drammen and in other ports.

– If Granfoss succeeds with its technology, we will be able to dredge autonomously, emission-free and continuously without disrupting shipping traffic. You can imagine that provides great opportunities, she says.

Both the founder and the CEO of the company agree.

– There is a global market here, says Kristiansen, and Tayebi follows up:

– Dredging is a problem for all the world's ports, and the market is very concerned with finding sustainable solutions. So then maybe the dream of Granfoss robots in the Suez Canal is not so far away after all, he smiles.

Want to know more? Contact Frank Rørtvedt

Tel. +47 99772527

E-mail: frank.roertvedt@siemens.com