Influence of Kite Characteristics on Propulsive Power Applied to Ship Auxiliary Propulsion

Abstract

A Design of Experiment method was applied combined with a performance prediction program to assess the influence of four design parameters on the propulsive capacity of kites used as auxiliary propulsion for merchant vessels. Those parameters are the lift coefficient, the lift to drag ratio or drag angle, the maximal load bearable by the kite and the ratio of the tether length on the square root of the kite area. These parameters are independent from the kite area and, therefore, they could be used with various kite ranges and types. The maximum wing load parameter is the one that shows the most influence on the propulsive force. Over 50% of the gains obtained through this study are directly attributable to it. Then the ratio of the tether length on the square root of the kite area comes as the second greatest influence factor for true wind angles above 70°. While the drag angle is more influential for the narrower angles. In fact, the most substantial gains are made upwind.