The Propeller Forum “Propellkameratene”
10 Norwegian propeller manufacturers plus DNV, NTNU and MARINTEK are running a three-year joint industry R&D programme. The industrial participants include:
Helseth AS, Brunvoll AS, Servogear AS, Scana Volda AS, Rolls-Royce Marine AS, Heimdal Propulsion Norway AS, Finnøy Gear & Propell AS, West Mekan Produksjon AS, Nogva Motorfabrikk AS, Wärtsilä Propulsion Norway AS.
The objectives of the forum are to develop new and more efficient design and analysis tools and to secure long-term competence development in key areas of this discipline. The Research Council of Norway and Innovation Norway are supporting the programme.
Norwegian manufacturers of propellers, thrusters and rudders are a mixture of small and medium-sized enterprises and large international companies like Wärtsilä Propulsion Norway AS and Rolls-Royce Marine AS. However they are all keystones of industry in their respective regions.
These companies supply their products to the offshore industry, i.e. to all types of offshore vessels that take part in the multitude of complex marine and vessel operations with their stringent requirements regarding efficiency, emissions and safety. They also supply builders of fishing and passenger vessels, including high-speed craft and more conventional vessels. This is a branch of industry with a great deal of experience in dealing with a wide range of challenges related to vessel operation and management. These companies have displayed a high degree of creativity and ability to innovate.
The market is making ever greater demands of this sector, the most important of these being:
- Lower fuel costs
- Reduction of emissions
- Efficient, safe manoeuvring
- Improved onboard comfort, particularly with regard to noise
- Better documentation of product performance.
The three-year programme is a measure that aims to develop long-term competence and to improve the efficiency and implementation of design and production processes in the companies involved.
Utilisation of the results of the programme will take the form of delivering improved installations with lower fuel consumption and fewer emissions. Improved tools for optimisation of the operating profile and more efficient propulsion and manoeuvring systems will deliver improvements in emission releases and fuel consumption of up to 10–15%.
The main activities of the Propeller Forum are:
- Developing and verifying new design and analytical methods, which will include a number of different propulsion and manoeuvring configurations for which industry currently lacks numerical analysis tools
- Developing methods for the analysis of propulsion and manoeuvring systems operating under various loads and for given operational profiles
- Improving design and production processes
- Developing competence and human resources at university and college level, in order to raise the level of cooperation within the sector.
Develop and implementing methods for the design and analysis of propulsion and thruster systems is vital to the task of maintaining and improving the competitiveness of this sector.
Contact at MARNTEK: Aage Berg
(Article in MARINTEK Review No 2 - 2004)
