TRIPOD - TRIple Energy Saving by Use of CRP, CLT and PODded Propulsion
Overview
Background & policy context:
There is a need for fast ship transportation that is both efficient and non-polluting. Conventional propellers are known to have low efficiency. As an indicative example, most of ship propellers installed on cargo vessels waste about 40 percent of the energy in the form of rotational losses in the wake, vortex generation, noise production, cavitation, etc. The recovery of such losses is one of the major ways to contribute to a more rational, environmentally-friendly use of energy.
Objectives:
The main objective of the TRIPOD project was the development and validation of a new propulsion concept for improved energy efficiency of ships.
The ship propulsion efficiency will be optimised through the advanced combination of three existing propulsion technologies. In particular, the TRIPOD project explored the feasibility of a novel propulsion concept resulting from the integration of two promising EU grown technologies (podded propulsion and tip loaded end plate propellers) in combination with energy recovery based on counter-rotating propeller ('CRP') principle. The three existing technologies have been used separately and are known to improve the overall ship propulsion efficiency as compared to conventional propulsion. However, they have never been combined together in a single propulsion package.
Methodology:
The TRIPOD project contemplated two types of propulsive innovations, which were tested for the first time:
- Using Contracted Loaded Tip ('CLT') propellers in combination with pods;
- Using CLT propellers in connection with CRP propulsion and with pods.
As a result of the investigation tools were developed to assess the optimal use of propulsive energy from environmental and economic viewpoints both for new designs and for the retrofitting of existing ships with the novel propulsion concept.
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