Advanced Propulsion System
GEM 423E
Week 9: Podded
Propulsion&Propellers
Dr. Ali Can Takinacı
Assosciate Professor
in
The Faculty of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
34469
Maslak – Istanbul – Turkey
Contents
• WHAT IS PODDED PROPELLER ?
• HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF
PODDED PROPELLER
• THE ADVANTAGES OF PODDED
PROPULSION
• THE DISADVANTAGES OF PODDED
PROPULSION
• SCIENTIFIC INFORMATIONS
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WHAT IS PODDED PROPELLER ?
2
WHAT IS PODDED PROPELLER ?
• One of the latest developments in ship
propulsion is the increasing use of podded
propulsion.
• This is provided by an azimuthing main
propulsion unit.
• The unit incorporates an electric motor, which is
located inside the pod.
• The use of mechanically driven azimuthing main
propulsors is a proven technology, especially in
olution in marine technology
tugs and supply vessels.
propulsion units
n newly built ships
Drives
n and
re is no
tlines
and
ed to
ric drives
developed in part in two EUREKA projects
nts, ABB Industry Oy and Kvaerner Masa-
with the Italian shipbuilding company 3
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF
PODDED PROPELLER
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• The use of pod propulsion, on the other hand, is a
relatively new invention.
• The first known installation was made by what is
now ABB Azipod in 1990 in a buoy handling vessel
belonging to the Finnish Maritime Administration.
• The following installations were made in ice-going
vessels but the main breakthrough was their
installation into the cruise liners ms Elation of
Carnival Cruise Lines in 1998, by Kvaerner Masa-
Yards.
• Since then, development has been rapid. Today,
there are at least four commercial manufacturers.
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THE ADVANTAGES OF PODDED
PROPELLERS
• High maneuverability
• Fuel oil savings
• Performance low noise and vibration
• Safety
• Resistance
• High efficiency
Maneuverability
The main benefit of podded propulsion
is of course, dramatically increased
maneuverability.
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• Fuel oil savings
The gain in power demand is generally high
10-15% fuel oil savings have been reported.
Podded propulsion also calls for new thinking in
hydrodynamic design.
A ship equipped with podded propulsion does
not have conventional shafts affecting the wake
or rudder.
On the other hand, the correct hydrodynamic
balance between the pod shaft, the pod itself
and the propeller, are important.
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Performance low noise and vibration
One might expect that the efficiency of
propellers for APDs would be higher than for a
standard series propeller (e.g., B-series, Gawn).
In fact, this is not generally true.
APD propellers have a large hub (>30%) and
often have design features to help mitigate noise
and vibration concerns, which degrade the
efficiency a few percent.
These features typically include variable pitch
distribution to "off-load" the tip and root areas,
and a forward leading rake to increase the
distance from the propeller to the pod structure
immediately aft.
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A consistent numerical model can be
constructed by using the Gawn propeller as the
basic propeller series. To account for the
reduction in efficiency versus the Gawn, we can
choose KT and KQ multipliers that reflect this.
Based on published data, typical values in the
normal design range would be KTmult=1.02 and
KQmult=1.06.”
• Safety
Safety is something that cannot be compromised.
The growing size of the ships has caused some important
new aspects to be taken into account, regardless of the
size of the ships.
Risk based approach is a modern way to consider
safety, whether it relates to fire, operational safety or
stability.
Risk is the combination of the probability of accident or
incident and its consequences. Preventive measures
must be balanced by any risk.
10
• Fire safety is of course, of the utmost
importance.
• New general arrangement solutions call
for simulation of fire propagation.
• New fire extinguishing systems have been
developed, especially for use in machinery
spaces that have the biggest fire risk,
where extensive fire testing of various new
materials and structural solutions have
been performed.
• Large new ships call for special operational
safety measures.
• Podded propulsion offers extremely good
maneuverability.
• On the other hand, modern cruise vessels have
a very large wind area above the water line.
Safe approaches to some harbors that are
difficult to maneuver have been studied.
• This includes wind force coefficients for various
wind speeds and directions for the ship model,
which have been tested in a wind tunnel.
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• A model of the actual harbors has also
been tested in the same way, in order to
get the local wind velocities under some
nominal wind speeds.
• This data then goes in to a ship-handling
simulator.
• The result is a calculation of the wind
speed/direction combination for it to be
safe to come into a particular harbors
• High Speed
the interest for the use of podded drives as the
main propulsion system of ships is increasing
due to the hydrodynamic characteristics and the
advantages of the diesel-electric propulsion.
The main characteristic of podded drives is the
integration of a powerful electric motor in a
hydrodynamic optimised gondola below the aft
body. The propeller is driven directly by the
electric motor.
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The following podded drive systems are
available in this moment: AZIPOD® (ABB),
MERMAIDTM (KaMeWa/Cegelec), SSP
(Schottel/Siemens), DOLPHIN (John Crane
Lips/STN).
The studies for podded drives with a pulling or a
pushing propeller and with a twin propeller
system include the design of propellers, pod
housings and different model
tests.
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• Resistance
Model testing of hulls fitted with APDs have
shown that the drag of a vessel with pods is
often a bit less than the sum of the bare-hull
vessel drag plus the independent APD pod drag.
In other words, the "whole is better than the sum
of its parts".
It is surmised that the pods act like small stern
bulbs and introduce a beneficial change in the
wave system - in the same fashion as we see
with bulbous bows.
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• This notion is compatible with visual
observations of the wave system.
• It is our suggestion that the appendage
drag of ADP pods be modeled and added
to the bare hull as for any appendage.
• Any actual resulting improvement in the
resistance of the podded hull can then be
held as a design margin.
Summary of the advantages of using
podded propellers
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DISADVANTAGES
• As the concept is new, there have also
been some negative experiences, mainly
of a mechanical nature.
• The concept itself is great, however, and
may just need refinements to some
details, operating instructions etc…
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• There are other challenging areas for
research and development, such as
electricity - how to get enough power to an
electric motor that is slim enough to
ensure that that the pod itself is not
hydrodynamically incompetent.
• The structural design is also demanding.
• The weight of a unit may be over 100
tons hanging off a strut.
• All this calls for multi-technological
research to support the design:
dynamic analysis of the structure and
hydrodynamics using as tools both
model testing and computational fluid
dynamics.
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• Propulsive Coefficients
The amount of published information for self-
propulsion tests of APD models is very limited.
From the literature, however, we can make a
few recommendations for typical values - wake
fraction (W) is 0.05-0.08, thrust deduction (TD)
is 0.04-0.06, and relative-rotative (RR) efficiency
is 1.04-1.07.
It is important to correlate W and TD, so that
values in the low range of W match values in the
low range of TD, and vice versa. The intent of
this is to keep the hull efficiency relatively
consistent at 1.01-1.02.
• Propulsive Coefficients Cont.
The amount of published information for self-
propulsion tests of APD models is very limited.
From the literature, however, we can make a
few recommendations for typical values - wake
fraction (W) is 0.05-0.08, thrust deduction (TD)
is 0.04-0.06, and relative-rotative (RR) efficiency
is 1.04-1.07.
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• Overview
Azimuthing podded drives (APDs) have recently
become an attractive propulsor option. By
careful consideration of the underlying elements
of the APD pod style of propulsion, it is possible
to model their performance in parametric
performance prediction software, such as
NavCad. By choosing proper correlation
coefficients (i.e., KT and KQ multipliers),
propeller series and propulsive coefficients, you
can reliably model an APD with standard
propeller series data.
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• System Improvements
The high RR is one of the principal reasons for
the high efficiency of APD systems.
Placing a propeller in front of the pod strut
induces the recovery of rotational energy.
In other words, the strut aft of the propeller acts
like a stator in the flow stream.
Even though the propeller itself may be a bit less
efficient due to the large hub and design
features used to minimize noise and vibration,
the amount of improvement of the APD system
versus a conventional propeller can be
significant - on the order of 2%-4%.
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Based on this information, a strategy for
modeling APD propulsors is:
Model and add APD pod appendage drag.
• W=0.05-0.08, TD=0.04-0.06 (or, =0.8*W),
RR=1.04-1.07.
• Gawn AEW propeller.
• KTmult=1.02 and KQmult=1.06.
• As with all design data, this information is
subject to a designer's own information or
preferences
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