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The peculiarities of the European inland waterway transport are analyzed, and a novel design of a pushboat for barges convoys is proposed and optimized for the Rhine-Danube corridor. To this aim, a hybrid parallel electric propulsion system is adopted with the perspective to define an eco-friendly vessel. This paper is to be intended as the early stage in the proof of concept for commercial technologies useful for the electrification of pushboats employed in inland waterway navigation. Specifically, the optimal design solution is highlighted by evaluating proper attribute weights, which determine the degree of closeness among possible solution and the design target. In particular, computer-aided synthesis modeling methodology to minimize capital expenditures and operating expenses of a pushboat is adopted.
Bucci et al. (Mon,) studied this question.