Wing Sails

Wind is free fuel and ships can harness it via WASP technologies to reduce fuel and GHG emission. WindWing in CHEK project is an innovative wing sail system that can be mounted on the ship’s deck to produce thrust from the wind with an ability to be lowered onto the deck if necessary for port operations or severe weather conditions. The purpose of this work is to optimize the wing system aerodynamically to provide the maximum thrust reliably and design it structurally and mechanically to be suitable for ships operations and the environment they operate in which will form a specification of the wing sail design. To look at the aerodynamic optimisation, a study of 2-D sections varying number & size of elements were performed and then an extensive analysis was undertaken on 3-D geometries varying 14 parameters for the maximum lift while providing reliable performance for dynamic wind conditions. The design process covered the choice of materials & construction for strength and weight, mechanical arrangements for wings movement range, tilting operation and the wing control strategy. The structural assessment was performed using aerodynamic, inertial, green water and icing load criteria from DNV. The stability of the ship with the wings were assessed for the safety aspects. The results from performance perspective, ShipSEAT, a state-of-art tool used for routing and VPP, predicted realistic average fuel savings of approximately 12% and 20% from single and two wings respectively on the CHEK bulker, Pyxis Ocean, for the proposed China centric route set by Cargill. With regards to the design & safety, the design imposes no restrictions in port operations and satisfy DNV’s design criteria in various aspects of loading conditions including extreme weather conditions. The intact stability assessment of the vessel with wings and additional structural weight satisfied all the criteria with little changes from the original vessel. Upon the completion of the wing installation, the performance and structural monitoring will be carried out continuously to validate the expected saving from this work package as well as to compare and review the design load against the actual load experienced during operation.

BA Technologies have developed the design of a 37.5 m span WindWing to be fitted to the Kamsarmax bulker Pyxis Ocean as part of project CHEK. This work package developed the concept design further to be adopted for the manufacture and provide practical solutions for various operating conditions and the shapes of the wing and deliver the final design drawings for the manufacturer, Yara Marine. The development of the WindWing underwent design iterations from the design specifications to the detailed design with the highest level of confidence to not only become manufacturable but also perform as intended and can withstand in extreme conditions. The outcome of this detail design process is the final drawings which include the drawings of the whole system, the main dimensions and position and number of the wings on the Pyxis Ocean as well as wing configurations both folded and unfolded for various at sea and port operations defined fully with high level descriptions. Yara Marine reviewed the final design and ratified as “manufacturable” and economically viable. This concludes that BAR technologies’ design iterations successfully transformed the concept into a product. BAR will be working closely with Yara throughout the manufacturing period to support Yara and fabricators for smooth building process.

Classification society approval is a requirement for modifications or new installations onboard ship that impact on safety or environmental performance of the ship (as defined by class rules and IMO regulations). Hence, having relevant plans approved by each ship’s class society is an important milestone towards installation of the CHEK technologies onboard; as it validates that the relevant designs are in compliance with the rules and regulations. This report details the scope of the approvals achieved for each of the technologies to be installed onboard the bulker and cruise ships.