Recently, the test vessel “Chuangzhi”, equipped with rotor sails and air layer drag reduction (ALDR) device, successfully completed a series of real ship application test tasks in the waters near Penglai, Yantai, which was designed by China Ship Scientific Research Center and built by Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu Ship Industry Co., Ltd. (Jinglu Shipyard).
The rotor sails and ALDR device equipped on this vessel are developed independently by Shanghai Marine Energy Saving Technology Development (CMES-Tech), a subsidiary of China Ship Scientific Research Center. This series of tests aims to carry out the functional test and verification of rotor sails and ALDR system, as well as the test and verification of the combination application of wind rotor and air layer.
This test has successively completed the rotor sails multi-operating condition energy efficiency test and long time stable operation test, ALDR system external appendage drag increase test, air layer stability test, rotor sails and air layer combination application verification test.
During the test, the test vessel “Chuangzhi” experienced complex environment and conditions, encountered the maximum sea state of 5, the highest relative wind speed of 17m/s. In this case, the sea trial team successfully completed a series of tests of the wind-assisted rotor sails and the gas layer reduction system, using a variety of monitoring equipment to monitor the gas layer at the bottom of the vessel, the gas state at the stern, the rotor rotational speed, the rotor limiter wheel pressure, temperature and other parameters.
Under Class 3 wind condition and 75% MCR of the main engine power, the rotor sail’s long time stable operation reached 4 hours, the rotor’s outer barrel speed reached 240rpm, the energy saving effect reached 7%, and the test vessel’s average speed was increased by about 0.3kn.
This test is the first combined application of wind-assisted rotor sails and air layer drag reduction device on a real ship in China, which verifies the stability and reliability of working under high load and long time conditions, and also reflects the ability of the test vessel as a domestic system test platform to support the test stably.
At the same time, it provides valuable data support for the functionality of the rotor sails and the ALDR device, and also preliminarily verifies the combined application scheme of the device, which lays a solid foundation for new energy saving technology’s engineering application research, and will powerfully promote the industrial development of China’s green marine equipment, energy-saving and emission reduction devices.