NEWS

15-09-2009 GREENER AND QUIETER FERRIES

Vicus Desarrollos Tecnológicos S.L. has been hired by prestigious shipyard H.J. Barreras (Vigo, Spain) for conducting a joint research project on the hydrodynamics of the stern of the ferry-type vessels.
The ferry ship market demands increasingly higher powers, however, limitations in the drafts of these vessels, forced to do designs with limited propeller diameter and high power densities and cavitation and vibration problems can appear. In parallel, the requirements of passenger and crew comfort are increasingly stringent, being necessary to seek solutions from the preliminary design stage in order to improve energy efficiency and comfort simultaneously.
In their desire to continue improvement and innovation in ship design, HJ Barreras start an ambitious research whose results will make a significant improvement in comfort and efficiency of the new generation of ferry vessels.
The main objective of the project is the redesign of the stern section and its appendages, (shaft brackets and arrangement) analyzing the effect of these changes on the hydrodynamics of the propeller, especially in regard to cavitation and hull vibration, also taking advantage on VICUSdt wake adapted rudder design, there will be a complete redesign of it in order to improve energy recovery and reduce the transmission of vibrations to the hull. The estimated energy efficiency improvement is between 5% and 10%.
The project will settle the basis upon which hydrodynamic design of the new ferry vessels in the immediate future will be based, looking for new developments adapted to the new traffic and market demands such as the Short Sea Shipping, although solutions will be also applicable to existing fleet.
In parallel, VICUSdt engineers and the R & D department at HJ Barreras are collaborating on a feasibility study of new propulsion systems based on direct-drive solutions for high power and speed.

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