Rotor pilot project on M/S Estraden of Bore fleet
Suominen, Tanja (2015)
Suominen, Tanja
Satakunnan ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201502051937
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201502051937
Tiivistelmä
In this work a completely new wind assisted propulsion technology for commercial shipping is introduced. The rotor sail solution by Norsepower Ltd. was installed on M/S Estraden from Bore Ltd fleet. Rotor sails are essentially improved Flettner - rotors with full automation. Although the basic principle of Flettner- rotors has been known for a long time, this was the first time that a rotor has been retrofitted on to a ship and made commercially available. Since the beginning of 2015 the sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions are regulated in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and in the English Channel. Instead of the traditional heavy fuel oil (HFO), existing ships are now forced to use more expensive low - sulphur content HFO, change their engines to work with marine diesel oil (MDO) or to install scrubbers that eliminate the SOx compounds from the exhaust gas. New builds can be made to work with environmentally friendly liquid natural gas (LNG). The bunker costs will rise despite the method applied. Even before, with the traditional, cheaper HFO, the fuel costs were remarkably high, forcing the ship owners to search for savings on other operating costs. Thus it is essential to find a way to reduce the bunker costs. Already optimization programs are used to minimize the consumption by calculating optimal trim, selecting the best route based on weather and currents, adjusting the travel speed between the way points etc. With the use of Flettner rotors it is possible to obtain notable savings, up to 8 % per rotor. They are completely independent, almost maintenance free and programmed to work without manual adjusting or crew members attending. They are fully automated and no special training or course is required from the user. Also, they can be installed on board during normal harbour stop without interruption or delays in the normal schedules. Their payback period is so short, that they can be installed even on older ships. Some minor alterations have been made on this on-line version. The whole work is available in the SAMK library upon request.