Program of the optimization of the operated fleet's propulsion tuning was developed by our company.

Purpose of the program.

Increasing of economical parameters of fleet's operation by means of the specific fuel consumption reducing and decreasing of repair charges, the improvement of the ship propulsion in the heavy weather condition.

Main preconditions of program realization

Main precondition of the propulsion tuning program realization is the disbalanced "engine-hull-propeller" system on the huge number of ships in operation. The necessity of the program realization is approved by the following facts:

• main engines are operated in conditions that are differed from specification. It is attended with infringement of the fuel equipment adjustment, with infringement of the work process, with overloading of the engines and elements of the shafting. The operation in these conditions that aggravated by the inadequate qualification of the crew, results the significant unproductive losses of the engine power and the increasing of the fuel consumption.
• wastage of the main engines that are in the long-term operation causes necessity of their power limitation
• modernization of the ships connected with their capacity increasing according to the projects, that don't contain the measures of the propulsion elements conformity checking and their coordination
• proof tendency of the oil-products prices increasing
• appearance of the new methods and tools for the efficiency improvement of the ship's operation since the moment of her project development

Methods of the program realization

Complex solution of "engine-hull-propeller" system efficiency improvement task is in the base of the program.

It is necessary to achieve the following results for each component:

• Engine - achieving of the maximum fuel efficiency by the supporting of the serviceable condition and the optimal adjustments
• Hull - achieving of the maximum fuel efficiency by the supporting of the serviceable condition and the optimal adjustments
• Propellers - creating of the most favorable hydrodynamical conditions for the hull and propeller

Special tools and diagnostic procedures are applied for the estimating of the quality of the engine's technical operation. The results analyzing of the technical diagnostics allows to determine the parameters of the fuel equipment operation and work process with the high accuracy, the propeller power, and also give out the recommendations on the engine adjustments. The realization of the diagnostics guarantees the maximum approaching of the engine's characteristics to the passport values and allows the optimization of the fuel consumption.

For the hull it is made the direct calculation of the towing resistance and propeller parameters with the help of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. The developed calculation techniques allow to receive the results that completely equivalent to the results of the tests in the better ship model basins. Besides the applying techniques permit receiving the flow characteristics and qualitative pictures that inaccessible in the towing tanks.

On the base of the calculation the capability of the hull improvement and creation of favorable condition for the propeller operation can be checked. The examples of such measures are: changing the configuration of the bilge keels and other appendages, the bulbous bow installation, variation of the ship hull form.

Direct calculation of the propeller characteristics is made with the CFD methods. The developed calculation techniques allow to determine with the high accuracy the parameters of the propeller with the account of the real operational conditions behind the ship's hull. The measures of the propeller efficiency increasing are made on the base of the results of computational modeling: the changing of its geometry (cutting), the installation of the propulsive nozzle, contra-propellers and wake equalizing equipment, Costa birnes on the rudders etc.

Realization of the program

The realization of the program is made in 3 stages:

1. At the first stage the possibility and necessity of the program's realization are discussed. The owner represents the information about ship types, their number, and desired succession of the works on the ships of different types.
2. At the second stage the preliminary collection of the information about each ship type and about each ship separately are made. All information is represented in special developed questionnaires convenient for the filling. After the analysis of the questionnaires that filled by the crews the owner receive the preliminary information about adequacy of the represented data, the condition of the system "engine-hull-propeller", the possible ways of the improvement of the ship's propulsion qualities and assumed changes of the ship's performance and economical efficiency of the ship after the propulsion tuning realization.
3. At the third stage the complex of the calculations of the propulsion characteristics of the system "engine-hull-propeller", the diagnostics of the main machinery with the recommendations on repair and adjustments are made. The complex of the measures on improvement of the ship's propulsion is developed and the final parameters of the ship's performance after tuning realization are updated.

First and second stages of program realization are made without owner's finance charges. After the analysis of the questioning's results and preliminary determination of the economical expediency of the program's finishing the owner accepts the decision about the necessity of the financing of the final third stage of the program.