Retrofitting propeller procedure for a hydrogen fueled offshore support vessel

With new technologies bringing drastic changes to ship design, existing vessels are facing challenges to accommodate the revolutionary changes for a cleaner future. This paper presents the retrofitting study applied to the propulsion system of an offshore support vessel to be fueled by hydrogen, which shows suitability to operate coastal vessels.

Redesign of the vessel’s propulsion system has been conducted. First, the ship resistance is computed using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The results show a good agreement with the data exported from the experimental tests and the computed results from empirical formulas. Then, based on the resistance calculation, the propeller is redesigned to improve its performance without any modifications in the main prime mover and the gearbox. The results show a significant improvement in the propeller performance as well as ship operating conditions compared to the existing propeller.

The findings of this study contribute to the ongoing TransShip II project, which is applied to the Prince Madog research vessel to achieve zero emission levels in the maritime industry. This kind of retrofitting procedure will promote energy-efficient designs in further ships to reduce the amount of fuel consumption and exhaust emissions compared to the performance of the existing vessels.