A continuous and analytical modeling for kites as auxiliary propulsion devoted to merchant ships, including fuel saving estimation

Abstract

International audienceA performance prediction program dedicated to merchant ships was developed to assess fuel saving abilities of a kite. The solving of the parameterization presented led to kite velocities and tethers tensions prediction continuously along a flight path within the wind window, including especially wind gradient and ship velocity. Both static and dynamic flight cases were considered regarding optimization strategy for kite tow efficiency. For dynamic flight case azimuth, elevation and orientation of the trajectory are continuously optimized in the present algorithm. Magnitude orders of towing forces induced by the kite were compared to those obtained in the literature. Especially in upwind conditions, which are the most frequent point of sail for fast vessels, results are dramatically improved. Finally, using a 320 m2 kite on a 50,000 dwt tanker, the fuel saving predicted is about 10% for a wind velocity of 9.77 m s−1 (Beaufort 5) and reaches more than 50% for a wind velocity of 15.68 m s−1 (Beaufort 7)

A review of marine renewable energy storage

“…The kite and sail are two main ways of auxiliary propulsion. Successful trials have shown that 30% to approximately 50% fuel savings could be achieved under good wind conditions …”

“…Successful trials have shown that 30% to approximately 50% fuel savings could be achieved under good wind conditions. [33][34][35][36] 2. Offshore solar energy Offshore solar energy can be harnessed for heating and photovoltaic generation on ships, offshore platforms, and islands.…”

Kite as a Beam: A Fast Method to get the Flying Shape

“…In dynamic flight mode the kite is operated perpendicularly to the tether and the kite velocity is a variable. It is possible to use a simple dynamic flight model, such as the zero mass model [6,[12][13][14], to calculate v k as a function of time and to use this in Eq. (4.1) to derive the apparent wind velocity.…”

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“…In the last decades, renewable energies have been reintroduced in the shipping industry. These energy sources have been incorporated mainly as a complementary technology, hybridizing traditional fossil fuel-powered systems, see e.g., [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], but some projects substitute fossil fuels completely [13].…”