The impact of rotor sails on a vessel’s manoeuvrability
Forsberg, Michael (2020)
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202005118332
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202005118332
Tiivistelmä
Higher fuel prices and new emission directives, drive ship owners to find new solutions to cut their fuel consumption. One solution to this is the rotor sail or “flettner rotor”, it’s easy to install and its low maintenance. But what kind of an impact does it have on the handling characteristics of the ship? The idea behind this study is to find out if there is a noticeable difference in handling characteristics between a ship fitted with a rotor sail versus one without.
The study was carries out in the simulator (Transas virtual shipyard) at Aboa Mare, with rotor force data provided by Norsepower. The simulations were divided in to two parts: with rotor and without rotor. The simulations consisted of four “standard” manoeuvres; turning circle, zig zag manoeuvre, Williamson turn and crash stop, furthermore each manoeuvre was done with four different wind directions; north, east, south and west. The wind was set at a constant speed of 25m/s and for each run the ships starting condition was a course of 000° and engine at full ahead.
The results indicate that there is a small difference between the two configurations. Mainly the ship’s ability to retain more speed throughout the manoeuvres.
The study was carries out in the simulator (Transas virtual shipyard) at Aboa Mare, with rotor force data provided by Norsepower. The simulations were divided in to two parts: with rotor and without rotor. The simulations consisted of four “standard” manoeuvres; turning circle, zig zag manoeuvre, Williamson turn and crash stop, furthermore each manoeuvre was done with four different wind directions; north, east, south and west. The wind was set at a constant speed of 25m/s and for each run the ships starting condition was a course of 000° and engine at full ahead.
The results indicate that there is a small difference between the two configurations. Mainly the ship’s ability to retain more speed throughout the manoeuvres.