Considerations regarding the use of rigid sails on modern powered ships

Atkinson, Gregory Mark; Nguyen, Hung D.; Binns, Jonathan

doi:10.1080/23311916.2018.1543564

Cited by 25 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…According to [47], in the 1970s and 1980s, the Japan Machinery Development Association (JAMDA) was involved in the development of rigid sails, and this led to more than a dozen ships being fitted with JAMDA sails, as shown in Figure 4. These sails proved that the use of rigid sails on modern powered ships could lead to significant fuel savings, with reductions of around 30% being reported under certain conditions.…”

Section: Wind Power Re-emerges In the Maritime Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Developments in Electric and Green Marine Ships

Koumentakos

2019

ASI

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The maritime industry, among all other industries, is being forced to gradually reduce its emissions. Legislation is one of the tools applying this pressure, and from 1 January 2020, it focuses on the reduction of sulfur percentage in the heavy fuel oil (HFO)-powered vessels to 0.5%. In the beginning of this paper, the harmful environmental contribution of the naval sector is presented, along with the current legislation. The maritime industry is in a transitional stage, diverging from fossil fuels through alternative technologies and fuels, aiming to become over the long term a zero-emission industry. However, there are many implemented technologies, mostly of a mechanical nature, that already improve the efficiency of vessels and indirectly reduce their emissions. Such technologies include shaft generators (SGs), scrubbers, etc. The aim is for alternative fuels and technologies such as solar and wind to be implemented, too. Such technologies, when combined with the advantages of digitalization and automation, can further reduce emissions toward zero-emission vessels (ZEVs) through integrated systems. The present paper serves the purpose of a common point of gathering, addressing, and explaining the latest updates, previous achievements, and future targets of the maritime sector. The very nature of the subject—electric propulsion in the maritime sector—makes it very difficult to find sufficient and trustworthy data. There are two main reasons for this problem. The first one is that electric vehicles became commercial at a large scale (electric cars) very recently, and are still in a transitional stage. The second reason is that the maritime industry is very competitive; therefore, state-of-the-art technologies and data that give each company the lead are rarely published, and when they do, it happens very discreetly. In the quantitative part of the paper, where the photovoltaic (PV) and battery system calculations take place, there is no use of a specific model rather than a simplified approach. The purpose of the calculations is to show that with the present technologies, a purely solar-powered commercial vessel (such as RoRo, passenger, etc.) is technically impossible, and that there could be only a small contribution—of around 7%—to the electricity needs of a roll-on/roll-off (RoRo)-passenger ship. The state of the art finds a very short number of vessels that already use battery propulsion, but is expected to increase in the upcoming years. The present paper not only presents an overview of the state-of-the-art achievements in the electric propulsion of vessels, it also considers the exploitation of the continuous growth that the battery market is facing. As stated before, batteries are on the up, and this is due to the emerging need for energy storage in electricity grids that depend increasingly on renewable energy sources (RES). The paper makes a first consideration about the feasibility and possible benefits of implementing grid-like battery systems on-board vessels. In such a scenario, vessels would acquire significantly bigger energy capacity, allowing greater travel distances, a possible contribution of 44% of the vessel’s total power requirements (propulsion included), and a surplus as far as electricity requirements are concerned. There is also the more futuristic long-term scenario where Green Ports would charge vessels purely from RES dedicated to the port’s needs. The last part of the paper contains a qualitative assessment about the possible impacts that a battery-powered maritime industry could have.

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Section: Wind Power Re-emerges In the Maritime Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Developments in Electric and Green Marine Ships

Koumentakos

2019

ASI

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“…These key performance characteristics could be used along with other features to compile a rigid sail power profile. This would allow the specifications for sails of differing designs to be compared (Atkinson 2016a(Atkinson , 2016b(Atkinson , 2016c.…”

Section: Drag Coefficient and Drag Forcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The advantage of this configuration is that both sails could utilise wind coming from astern and approximately 30°either side given that airflow was not obstructed for example by the wheelhouse, accommodation block or superstructure, and so on. Furthermore, by locating the sails near the sides of the vessel, this may assist in solving the problem of the sails and associated equipment interfering with cargo operations or the ability of the ship to carry cargo (Atkinson 2016a(Atkinson , 2016b(Atkinson , 2016c. This configuration may be best suited to smaller tankers and cargo ships of around 2500 DWT where the deck space available for installing sails is limited.…”

Section: Side By Side Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This might be suitable for ships that have large uncluttered areas of deck space available such as pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessels. An array configuration would provide flexibility in terms of installation options and operating profiles (Atkinson 2016a(Atkinson , 2016b(Atkinson , 2016c especially when the AoA of each sail could be set individually. The primary disadvantage of this configuration is that it inherits to some extent the relative disadvantages of the previous two configurations.…”

Section: Array Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of drag, airflow and surface pressure characteristics of a segment rigid sail

Atkinson

Binns

2018

Journal of Marine Engineering & Technology

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Rigid sails have been used on powered ships in the past to reduce fuel consumption and recently there has been renewed interest in this technology. Rigid sails could potentially be used on a wide variety of ships and vessels; therefore, it is necessary to better understand the performance and characteristics of these devices. The present work investigated the airflow and drag characterises of a segment rigid sail using a virtual wind tunnel. Sail surface pressures were also observed and recorded. It was determined that the most effective angle of attack for this type of rigid sail was between approximately 10°and 30°. It was also noted that at larger angles of attack, the presence of a significant wake would limit the effectiveness sails mounted downwind.

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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].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concept Design and Performance Evaluation of a Fossil-Free Operated Cargo Ship with Unlimited Range

2020

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To meet the IMO goals of emissions reduction in shipping, drastic actions must be taken. Wind-assisted propulsion and renewable energy sources are today discussed frequently as realistic alternatives for future ship propulsion and energy production. This study presents a new and innovative concept of a fossil-free operated cargo ship aiming to achieve an unlimited range. The purpose of the study is to present the feasibility but also the limitations of a ship propelled and operated purely on renewable energy harnessed at sea, independent from shore-based energy sources. Aside from Flettner rotors for propulsion, the ship concept incorporates photovoltaic generators, wind turbines, and a dual-mode propeller to produce energy for the auxiliary systems and for the Flettner rotors, as well as batteries to balance the energy production and consumption. The dual-mode propeller can be used for energy generation and propulsion, thus levelling out any speed drops or peaks and thereby ensuring more reliable operation. The whole system is modelled numerically, and full ship voyages are simulated using the ship performance model ShipCLEAN. Results show feasible achieved speeds on a route with realistic weather conditions. However, negative energy balances limit the pure renewable sailing conditions. Further logistic and technical challenges are discussed.

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Considerations regarding the use of rigid sails on modern powered ships

Cited by 25 publications

References 14 publications

Developments in Electric and Green Marine Ships

Developments in Electric and Green Marine Ships

Analysis of drag, airflow and surface pressure characteristics of a segment rigid sail

Concept Design and Performance Evaluation of a Fossil-Free Operated Cargo Ship with Unlimited Range

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