Press Release

E2F, Syroco’s innovative foil, to be deployed on the HYNOVA 40 hydrogen tender

Marseille, September 17, 2020 - Syroco announced today that it has been selected by HYNOVA Yachts to equip the shipbuilder's new generation hydrogen boats with its innovative E2F foil. Installed as standard on all HYNOVA 40 tenders, the foil was invented as part of a co-innovation project carried out by the Syroco Lab. It increases energy efficiency by 25%, reduces the energy footprint and improves navigation comfort. 

HYNOVA 40: innovative and efficient, the first hydrogen tender

For the first time in the history of yachting, a yacht with an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell has just been designed. Thanks to a thorough integration of the hydrogen solution, this day boat, beyond being perfectly silent, emits only water and zero CO2. 

HYNOVA Yachts, the company behind this project, has made a special effort in the conception and design of the boat, meeting high-end requirements in terms of comfort and aesthetics. The HYNOVA 40 uses materials with ecological characteristics and low carbon footprint that offer unparalleled navigation quality.

Chloé Zaied, founder of Hynova: “Very early in the design of the boat and study of its hydrodynamic characteristics, we decided to collaborate with the Syroco Lab to leverage the expertise of its engineers and its unique digital simulation platform. Thanks to this co-innovation approach, we have identified an opportunity to integrate a new load-bearing plane to our hull, to increase both energy efficiency and navigation comfort.”

A 25% improvement in efficiency, a virtuous circle for the environmental transition

Taking into account all operating speed regimes, the integration of the E2F technology allows the HYNOVA 40 boat to increase by more than 10% the efficiency of the hydrogen / electric group propulsion and reduce by 25% the energy storage capacity (batteries) required on the boat, for the same range and speeds. 

This reduction, which leads to a reduction in the weight of the boat, participates in a virtuous circle which reduces its energy consumption, but also the consumption of electricity used to produce hydrogen, the environmental and energy impact of manufacturing and battery recycling, etc. 

A technology born from Syroco's breakthrough innovation

The most common concept currently consists of using foils to make a hull emerge completely. Starting from the postulate that this operation mode is not always suitable, Syroco’s researchers compared the efficiency of the foil and of the planing hull, studying compromises and weighing their advantages and disadvantages. The lab has thus developed the E2F foil technology in co-innovation with HYNOVA.

Extensive modeling of the systems and their interactions was carried out using the digital simulation platform developed by Syroco and comprising in particular automated and fully integrated runs of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), FSI (Fluid Structure Interaction) and VPP (Velocity Prediction Program). These simulations made it possible to define the concept and the model of the E2F foil, which can then be adapted to any type of planing hull boat, such as the HYNOVA 40 tender. 

Alex Caizergues, CEO and co-founder of Syroco: “One of the founding principles of the Syroco Lab model is to leverage the technologies and methodologies that we use for the innovation that is at the heart of our pioneering challenges. By putting the Lab at the service of innovative projects, such as HYNOVA’s, we are able to question the fundamental principles of naval design, and thus move the lines in terms of energy efficiency. By collaborating with HYNOVA, we are proud to make our contribution to cleaner, more environmentally friendly navigation.”