Introduction

This project considers a technology being re-investigated all around the world for the potentially vital fuel savings it can be responsible for in the shipping industry. With ambitious industry targets set for reducing emissions and fuel prices rising, there has never been a better time to explore the past technology of Flettner rotors, which are already making an impact in projects today.

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The Flettner rotor is a form of mechanical sail that can be retrofitted onto ships of various sizes. It is a smooth cylinder with disc end plates which exploits the phenomenon known as Magnus effect to generate forward propulsion to assist the ship’s engine. This project looks to add to the current research on the technology by estimating the fuel/energy saving potential of a single Flettner rotor on a journey across the North Atlantic over a year. The project will also consider financial analysis to estimate a payback time for the installation of a Flettner rotor.

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Aims

• Review Flettner rotor technology used in modern shipping

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• Generate lift and drag coefficients for a chosen rotor using CFD software

• Estimate the fuel savings over a route across the North Atlantic

• Complete a cost analysis on the installation and operation of a Flettner rotor

Methodology

To conduct a relevant and accurate study into this technology, the following steps have been followed:

• Initially, a route across the North Atlantic must be decided upon and the way-points for this route plotted, the route should be one which is used in the shipping industry and should not repeat work found in the literature review.

• A ship type has to be chosen that would be appropriate for the application of Flettner rotors in the shipping industry and be one that is found on the chosen route.

• Weather data must be sourced for the way-points of the route to estimate the potential thrust generated by the Flettner rotor.

• Resistance values for the chosen type of ship must be calculated to find the power required for the ship to travel at a certain speed.

• The relationship between spin ratio and coefficients of lift and drag must be found for the particular design on the chosen Flettner rotor.

• The power and energy savings for each way-point of each journey for each month must then be calculated.

• Financial analysis should then be carried out to estimate a payback time for the retrofitting of the Flettner rotor