New propulsion sytems for ships

Bad link there in post 270, Guillermo... looks like the article's gone?

 

Hi, Matt
No, it's still there. I don't know what's happening but if you google 'Jirnov Vortex Engine' is the first page that appears...

 

ahh, i see.... forum software's putting the closing ) as part of the hyperlink.... works fine without that last character.
as for the engine itself.... still looks to me like a lot more hype than engineering; claiming a 70% thermal efficiency is a pretty radical, if frighteningly common, step. I have yet to see a single engine whose builders make such claims, actually live up to them.

 

FellowSHIP project

The FellowSHIP project, initiated in 2003, aims to develop and demonstrate completely integrated hybrid fuel cell systems in ships and to qualify that technology for future use. Results from the initial research phase conclude that fuel cell technology can be applied in commercial shipping in the near future.

“On this basis, a full-scale demonstrator of a 330kW auxiliary power plant is planned for 2008,” says Tomas Tronstad, who demonstrated a small-scale model at the ONS exhibition in August.

The project is led by DNV and includes the companies Eidesvik Offshore, MTU CFC Solutions GmbH, Vik-Sandvik and Wärtsilä Automation Norway. FellowSHIP first phase also included Wallenius Marine and Wärtsilä Corporation.

Together with these companies, and in parallel to the activities above, DNV will test a new, smaller fuel cell technology for ships in a EU funded project to be started up.

More at: http://www.dnv.com/publications/classification_news/3_2006/fuelcelltech.asp

 

From IBI news (http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20070121110317ibinews.html)

Consortium of Dutch companies developing fuel cell boat

By IBI Magazine / David Foxwell

Pressure from operators of pleasure craft in an around the canals of Amsterdam and a desire on the part of the authorities there for any new craft that are licensed to be 'zero emissions' vessels will see a new generation of commercially operated fuel cell craft introduced into service early in 2008.

Fuel Cell Boat BV, a consortium of Dutch companies, is developing a hydrogen-powered vessel with a fuel cell as its power source that Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell plans to use to transport around a 100 of its employees to and from work on a daily basis.

Speaking in early February, Hauke Sie, who is responsible for overseeing the Fuel Cell Boat project explained that there are currently around 170 tourist vessels licensed to operate on the canals in and around Amsterdam, but that licences for new craft - for which there is a high level of demand - had been denied by the Amsterdam authorities because of concerns about congestion on the waterways and concerns about pollution.

"After about a decade of pressure from operators, the authorities in Amsterdam have finally agreed to grant permits for 25 new craft, " Mr Sie explained, "but they have stipulated that those vessels must be zero emissions craft."

"The great advantage of the hydrogen vessel is that it is environmentally-friendly. The new vessel will be a zero emission vessel with absolutely no emissions such as CO2 or NOx or SOx" said Mr Sie.

The 'green' vessel is being designed by small naval architectural practice in The Netherlands and is expected to be complete later this year. Fuel Cell Boat has been talking to a number of yards that might build the vessel and is looking at the various types of fuel cells it might be fitted with, and talking to potential suppliers.

The fuel cell system on board will provide a total of 65kW of energy, but it is not clear yet whether this will be provided by a single, large unit or a number of smaller fuel cell modules. Once the craft is completed, it will be rigorously tested by classification society Germanischer Lloyd and approved by the Dutch government, prior to entering service with Shell.

Apart from the fuel cell craft itself, the other key feature of the project will be the construction of a hydrogen station akin to a petrol station, at which the vessel will be topped up with hydrogen once a day.

The hydrogen required will be produced by electrolysis using electricity produced by a wind farm in the North Sea, making the process 'green' from production of the hydrogen right through to its consumption onboard.

Shell in Amsterdam will use the vessel to transport employees over the IJ river in Amsterdam, to and from their work, between Amsterdam Central Station and the Shell's New Technology Centre (NTC). Amsterdam-based shipping company Lovers will acquire and operate this first hydrogen-powered vessel.

The consortium responsible for the project includes Alewijnse, Integral, Linde Gas, Marine Service North (MSN) and Lovers. The Dutch Ministry of Economics has provided a subsidy for the development of the vessel. Alewijnse specialises in onboard electronics; Integral will be responsible for project management; Linde Gas is responsible for production, storage and distribution of the hydrogen; and MSN is responsible for the mechanical engineering on board.

David Foxwell

(21 February 2007)

 

Ocean Envy: Reinventing the Fish to Improve Watercraft Designs
http://www.cdnn.info/news/article/a040905.html

 

Thanks, George. We have been dicussing fins propulsion in this and other threads in these forums. I find particularly interesting from that article the humpback whales fin's tubercles thing.
Cheers.

 

Is there much study done on the different effects of Micro and Micro Tubercles on sea animals?

I'm very much interested in applying this to a scalloped or sickle shaped air fan blade. Riblets are already used on jet turbine compressor blades where everything is very smooth. The riblets as I understand it keep the air from sliding off and out the surface much like the wing treatments on an old MIG-15 jet fighter.

The hydro formed and cast intake manifolds on automobile engines are left or made textured because people who polished them loss HP. The little turbulent jetties on the surface did not allow air to stick and slow down combustion air intake.

Example Macro:
http://oregonstate.edu/groups/marinemammal/pages/MN05aCA0512.htm


Example Micro:
http://www.chalk.discoveringfossils.co.uk/irregular echinoid terminology.htm#4


NOTE: I made up the terms "Macro" and "Micro" for this particular application. Please forgive me if I've misused these terms, just kind of running with it. They may in fact be in exact proportion to the sea life they are found on.

 

Another interesting concept: The mechanical eel
http://www.inocean.no/eel/index.html

more on the matter:
http://www.exuvia.net/eel/eel.pdf
http://155.69.254.10/users/risc/www/water-eel.html

 

Science for kids at heart....................

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_ideas/Aero_p015.shtml?from=Home
The bumps of a Humpback whale's fins are called tubercles, which help them move gracefully through the water without meeting too much resistance, drag, or friction.


First you will need to make three whirly-birds with differently shaped edges. One will have a straight edge like the wing of a plane. One will have sharp, pointy edges like the tail of a tuna or the skin of a shark. The last one will have curvy, scalloped edges that resemble the tubercles of a whale fin or the dimples of a golf ball. Use the picture below as a template to make the three different whirly-birds from a sheet of construction paper:

 

2 decades ago BF Goodrich offered an underwater surface coating that was claimed to reduce friction (5%-10%)and act as an anti-fouling.

It was 1/4 inch divers wet suit material that simply was to be epoxied on. Claimed service life was over a decade,
BUT

The anti-fouling impregnated in the material was Mercury , which didn't go over very well.

Perhaps today there is an anti-fouling that is more PC?

FF

 

BF Goodrich NoFoul

I believe the substance you are referring to was a product called NoFoul. It was actually originally developed for use on the spherical surfaces of the sub's sonar dome, as most existing antifouling paints could not be used on the domes... and certainly not metallic ones that would interfere with the sonar signals

I believe you may be wrong about the Mercury content. It was an 'organic antifoulant' impregnated into the neoprene material. I believe this 'organic' material was the predecessor to the 'tin based' antifoulants that are now illegal, but were so effective

I subsequently saw some of this material be utilized on the outer skins of the nuclear subs, and enquired with David Taylor as to whether it had been tested for drag resistance...never could get an answer.

It was VERY effective as an antifoulant, having gone 10 years in tropical waters with virtually no fouling. I was just getting interested in the pleasure boat business at the time, and thought this material might be an excellent item for application there. But when I looked at the price of the product, plus its special glue, it did not offer that great of a savings over the traditional 'pull the boat each year and bottom paint it'. And the latter offered that other work could be performed on an annual basis besides bottom painting

 

Goodrich product link:
http://www.epp.goodrich.com/msds.shtml

Many pdf's you can download on it.

http://www.epp.goodrich.com/capabilities/materials.shtml

 

On the subject of less toxic antifouling, the latest & best I'm aware of uses hydrogen peroxide.
http://www.epaint.net/
http://www.proboat-digital.com/proboat/20070203/ (click "pages" and read beginning page 106)

Tim Severin showed that mutton grease & lime can still be successfully used (gotta love that guy).
http://www.timseverin.net/sindbad.htm

 

"At his stall at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, which took place from 20th to 23rd of September, Rob Humphrey presented the plan of a SkySails super yacht. The design has been specially developed with the features of the SkySails-System in mind, to maximise the advantages the system offers. The yacht is a 40 metres long Trimaran which can attain speeds of up to 20 knots using the SkySails propulsion alone - without support from the main engine - provided that suitable winds are present."

http://www.skysails.info/fileadmin/user_upload/Pressedownload/Dokumente/Brochure_Humphreys.pdf

Brian: You should try this also for your big game fishing catamaran.
- 55º off the wind are possible.
- High thrust. 1kW per sqm average is possible in 20 kn winds.
- Small heeling forces.
- Lifting of the bow instead of nosing it down.
- Kite control totally authomatic when flying, computer controlled.
- Deploying and retrieving pretty easy, requiring only one person for a short time.
- Possibility of zero pull when needed without retrieving, by zenithing the kite (less than 10 seconds).

Cheers.