Sailing yacht Zero sea trials #05: Inside a revolutionary heat recovery system

With Sailing Yacht Zero launched and sitting in the water, the focus is now on system commissioning. Specifically, the team is methodically testing and calibrating every piece of onboard technology to prepare it for open-water trials.

This week, a particular area of focus has been the heat recovery system.

Generally standard vessels waste a lot of heat energy. Seawater is pumped in to cool a variety of systems — including propulsion and electric components — before being dumped right back overboard.

Sailing yacht Zero flips this traditional approach on its head.

Here, the team behind the project capture this “waste” thermal energy, and use it for the HVAC system, general cooling, and to heat various water sources.

It goes even deeper though. Zero also has an array of photovoltaic thermal (PVT) panels, which harvest both solar electricity and thermal energy, to ensure the heat generated from these units is utilised onboard.

Preparing this complex thermal network for sea trials is a massive exercise. The heat recovery system alone incorporates 2,000 inputs and outputs, including precision sensors, pumps, and control valves — and all these must be checked one-by-one. It goes without saying just how time-consuming this is.

With initial tests already yielding positive results, this rigorous multi-week commissioning ensures that when sea trials begin, every sensor is ready to measure real-world performance.

From this point, the data collected and lessons learned during the sea trials could set a new standard for how the maritime industry uses heat as a whole.

Make sure to tune in next week to keep abreast of this fascinating project!