PROPULSION

IMPROVEMENT
Signicant increases in fuel prices over
the last years have had an adverse effect
on ship operating costs. The need to
maintain a vessels economic protability
has resulted in a wide ranging focus on
fuel-saving devices - in the broadest
possible sense.
Originally built non-Wrtsil propeller (2600 mm)
After conversion new Wrtsil design propeller blades in HR nozzle (2400 mm)
SUCCESS STORY:
WRTSIL NOZZLE IMPROVES FISHING EFFICIENCY
WRTSIL

is a registered trademark. Copyright 2008 Wrtsil Corporation.

Wrtsil Propulsion Netherlands B.V.
Lipsstraat 52, P.O. Box 6, 5150 BB Drunen, The Netherlands
l Tel. +31 416 388115 l Fax +31 416 373162 l www.wartsila.com
WARTSILA.COM
Built in 1988, MV Trygvason is a single-screw
trawler originally equipped with an open-
type, 2600 mm-diameter CPP. The vessel is
powered by a Wrtsil Nohab F38A with an
output of 1580 kW, running on marine diesel
oil. To save fuel, the owner was seeking a
propulsion retrot with an attractive Return On
Investment (ROI).
Wrtsils proposal was a modern propeller
design of diameter 2400 mm operating in
a high efciency (HR) nozzle. Calculations
indicated a bollard pull increase of 29% and a
13% improvement in free-running efciency.
Operating parameters in both sailing and
shing conditions were optimized. The ROI for
this rebuilding was calculated as being less
than two years.
REVERSE ENGINEERING
As the original propulsion unit was not a
Wrtsil design, measurements were made on
a spare propeller blade to establish the blade
geometry. Both hydrodynamic and mechanical
calculations were performed to dene the
maximum hub loading. Cavitation calculations
provided reference values for noise and
vibration.
Using this data and a technical specication,
new geometry for the propeller blades was
produced. Wrtsils state-of-the-art computer
techniques make it possible to not only
improve bollard pull and efciency, but also
to reduce hub loading. In this case, the nozzle
effect meant that the new designs cavitation
and pressure-pulse performance offered a
considerable improvement over the vessels
original equipment. Both noise and vibration
levels remained well within reference limits.
BETTER THAN EXPECTED
Bollard pull: 30 tons; fuel reduction 30%
The retrot was carried out in Norway and
the trawler was out of operation for about two
weeks. Trials showed a bollard pull close to
30 tons - calculations had indicated 27 tons.
Before the retrot, the bollard pull had been
21 tons. The owner also reported a reduction
in fuel consumption of approximately 30%.
The trawler now uses less fuel when pulling a
specic net, or can trawl using a larger net.
MV TRYGVASON: IMPROVED PERFORMANCE AND LOWER RUNNING COSTS
PROPULSION IMPROVEMENT
Wrtsil offers propulsion improvement for
both Wrtsil and third-party installations.
Following an initial assessment, deliverables
are a budget price, an indication of the
resulting efciency improvement and the
estimated ROI. The entire conversion process
from initial discussions to sea trials of a new
installation takes 6-12 months.
A MUCH QUIETER RIDE
MV Trygvasons owner is very pleased
with the overall result. Its much quieter
onboard now, says Captain Stle Lnning,
a regular visitor to North Sea shing
grounds. In the rst year, we used the
boat just as it was when we bought it,
but it became very expensive to run.
Even though it wasnt the cheapest
option, Wrtsils nozzle solution was the
most effective. We can now use more
efcient trawling equipment, and we
havent suffered any loss in sailing speed,
something which has happened to others.