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1 INTRODUCTION
The history of the design of an autonomous movable
objects, such as a transport watercrafts (TW) shows
that the question of the choice the power plant
equipment was posed to designers at all times very
sharply [8, 9, 11]. The main parameters that determine
the criteria for choosing equipment from the very
beginning of shipbuilding are: ensuring all the energy
needs of the vessel in all modes of operation; the
overall minimization of the costs of the vessel for the
period of its operation; the reliability of the operation
and maintainability of the equipment. The article [2]
presents the results of a study of 4 types of ship power
plants for improving the configuration of power
equipment according to the above criteria.
2 MAIN
The operation of a transport watercraft (TW) implies
the presence on board of energy generators capable of
providing energy needs, the bulk of which is
necessary for moving the TW – that is energy
consumption that occurs during the operational time
of the vessel. To ensure this mode of operation of the
vessel in accordance with the criteria noted above, a
set of equipment is installed on board which includes
Navigation’s Safety Improving by Efficiently Analysis
of the Ship’s Power Plant Energy Flows Interconnection
A. Veretennik, I. Kulyeshov & S. Mikhailov
National University “Odessa Maritime Academy”, Odessa, Ukraine
ABSTRACT: The operation of an autonomous movable objects, such as a sea transport vessels, implies the
presence of a source of potential energy on board the vessel and the possibility of converting this energy into
the work required for the autonomous movable object (vessel). Being an autonomous object, a transport vessel
should be provided with energy for it moving, energy for heat exchange processes on board and electricity for
powering electrical equipment, automation and navigation systems, and household needs on board. An analysis
of the component of the engine room equipment made it possible to designate (combine) the generating
equipment of mechanical energy flow, equipment which are generating the heat energy flow and equipment
which are generating the electric energy flow. Based on the results of the research the relationships between the
energy flows are identified connections and ways to ensure stabilization of energy generation on board the
cargo vessel is outlined. Using the results of the research the relationships between the energy flows will reduce
the likelihood of accidents on board a cargo vessel due to a stop in the generation of one of the energy flows and
thereby ensure increased safety of man at sea. Taking into account the peculiarities of the distribution of energy
flows in ship power plants can be an effective tool not only to improve the economic performance of it, but also
to increase the safety of navigation and navigation in general, due to the reliable provision of uninterrupted and
efficient operation of ship power plants.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 16
Number 1
March 2022
DOI: 10.12716/1001.16.01.03
40
the main generator of mechanical energy - the main
engine (ME), the choice of which is additionally
determined by the criteria for ensuring the speed
characteristics of the vessel, economic criteria for the
operation of the main engine, criteria for ensuring the
safety of navigation and requirements ensuring
normal marine practice of operating the TW. The
article [4] presents the results of using a modern
system of modeling and optimization of integrated
marine energy systems in terms of energy efficiency,
emissions, safety/reliability and costs both in
stationary and in dynamic mode. The article presents
the main characteristics and the approach to
modeling, and the key features are illustrated in two
studies on thermoeconomic design and optimization
of the combined cycle system for large bulk carriers.
Currently, the main potential source of energy on
board the TW is oil refined products (here in after
referred to as fuel). All the main modern types of
main engines [1, 6], are the technical means for
converting the potential internal energy of fuel into
the energy which is needed on board.
The Seagoing practice involves the use on board of
TW not only the potential energy of oil products but
also the potential energy of nuclear decay, solar
energy, wind energy and other types of sources
currently used in transport.
The practice of introducing nuclear installations
into ships is analyzed in article [5]. The authors of the
article review past and recent work in the field of
offshore nuclear power plants, and for the purpose of
demonstration, set out technical considerations for
developing the concept of a Suezmax tanker operating
on a small-module Gen4Energy 70 MW reactor (SMR).
The authors focus on understanding the technical
risks and consequences of introducing modern
nuclear technologies, which are an important first step
in the long-term process of improving energy
conversion.
In article [3] is described photovoltaic (PV) systems
converts the solar energy falling on them directly into
electricity. In this paper, a small-scale ship's bus-tied
PV system is proposed. Also, the necessary steps and
key components needed to design and build an
efficient, reliable and low cost photovoltaic system for
TW are examined.
However, the experience of using the above energy
sources has not been sufficiently developed as the
main source of energy in the fleet for various reasons.
3 RESEARCH RESULTS
Currently, specialized vessels use power plants, the
source of potential energy on board of which is
nuclear fuel. The power plant of such vessels includes,
like the power plant of vessels using oil products as a
source of potential energy, mechanical, thermal, and
electric energy generators and, from the standpoint of
assessing the interconnection of energy flows, the
concept of energy conversion is presented in Figure 1
both for ships using the potential energy of petroleum
products, and for ships on board which the source of
potential energy is nuclear fuel.
The use of oil products as a potential source of
energy on TW board is widely used in the transport
fleet due to the possibility of ensuring safe storage of
fuel reserves on TW board, the development of energy
conversion technology that allows you to control the
process of energy conversion from the position of the
required amount of it, maintainability of energy
converting equipment, which determines the
durability of this equipment.
Figure 1. The concept of energy conversion
To ensure the current operation of the TW, it
power plant (PP), using the fuel on board and the
corresponding energy generators, provides the vessel
with (Figure 1):
− mechanical energy generated on board the vessel
by the main or several main engines (ME), which
ensure the operation of the ship's propulsion and
the mechanisms attached to the main engine and
auxiliary engines, which ensure the operation of
electric energy generators;
− thermal energy generated by special equipment on
board the vessel - the main or auxiliary boilers and
ME exhaust gases economizer. Thermal energy is
necessary to ensure the operation of the TW as a
whole and to ensure the life of the crew;
− electrical energy, which provides the operation of
mechanical and thermal energy generators, as well
as almost all:
− auxiliary equipment of the ship power plant;
− navigational equipment of the vessel;
− devices and household items on board the vehicle.
The issue of obtaining the necessary flow of basic
mechanical energy on board has been studied from
the very beginning of navigation, and almost the
entire marine and propulsion industries continue to
deal with this issue. The issues of converting the
energy of petroleum products into mechanical energy
of rotation of the shaft, internal processes and the
design features of the main engines are considered in
a number of publication and today in the practice of
shipbuilding they have received solutions acceptable
enough to ensure the safety of navigation.
In the practice of sailing, the use of thermal energy
of steam as the main energy on board the TW was
developed when studying the processes of converting
the liquid phase of water into gaseous and the
Energy
consumers
Mechanical
energy
generators
Fuel
Heat energy
generators
Electrical
power station
41
development of steam engines that convert thermal
energy into mechanical energy used to drive the TW
propulsion. Steam, as a workspace of thermal energy,
is generated using steam generators by converting
fuel into potential thermal energy of steam.
On most modern ships, internal combustion
engines are installed as the main engines, due to its
universality, and the steam energy during the
operation of the TW is used to perform the vessel’s
production tasks - heating the cargo and fuel,
provision the needs of the power plant (PP),
generating electricity, and satisfying household crew
needs. The practice of equipping a ship’s PP with
heat-generating equipment shows that on board an
unspecialized transport vessel, an autonomous steam
generator and a steam generator that uses the energy
of exhaust gases exhausted in the main exhaust gas -
the “exhaust gas economizer” are usually installed.
The use of steam energy has been developed from
the earliest period of the introduction of mechanical
propulsion drives in the fleet. At the end of the 18th
century, ships began to use steam piston engines and,
somewhat later, steam turbines. At the same time, the
theoretical basis and technical design of steam
generators, which provide the necessary technical
parameters of steam for the main power plant and
auxiliary needs of the TW, were developed to ensure
the highest possible efficiency of converting fuel
energy into heat energy. The perfection of the
theoretical basis of the processes of converting fuel
energy into thermal energy and the technical
performance of equipment that produces and
consumes thermal energy is confirmed by the long-
term practice of operating the fleet.
Introduction of electric power equipment in the
fleet. To meet the needs of the TW for electricity (EE),
on-board generators are used that generate EE by
converting the mechanical energy of the drive engine.
The following equipment are used as drive engines
for electric generators:
− internal combustion engines and in the practice of
sailing, these engines are called “auxiliary internal
combustion engines”;
− steam and gas turbines;
− drive from the crankshaft of the main engine or
propeller shaft.
An analysis of the processes of energy generation
on board a transport vessel allows us to present a
schematic diagram of the interaction of energy flows
in a ship PP (see Figure 2).
The fuel received from the environment (oil
refining products), which is a source of potential
energy on board the TW, is supplied via on-board
systems to the generators of the main types of energy -
mechanical, thermal and electrical.
In the main engine, during the operating cycle, the
potential energy of the fuel is converted into thermal
energy of rotation of the shaft of this mechanical
energy generator. In the TV propulsion system, this
mechanical energy is converted into work to move the
vehicle through the water.
The generation of mechanical energy by the main
engine is accompanied by the formation of thermal
energy flows - the thermal energy of the exhaust gases
and the thermal energy of the ME cooling water.
The thermal energy of the exhaust gases is used in
an exhaust gas economizer - a generator of thermal
energy - to convert the energy of exhaust gases into
thermal energy of steam on the board.
Figure 2. The relationship of mechanical, thermal and
electrical energies in a marine power plant
The thermal energy of the cooling water can be
used in the ship's fresh water generator and crew life
support systems.
The return to the ship's power plant of the thermal
energy of the exhaust gases and cooling water allows
to increase the overall efficiency of the ship's PP. The
magnitude of the increase in efficiency from the
utilization of heat energy losses for a ship depends on
its characteristics.
The heat flow of energy on board is generated by
the boiler (steam generator) and the exhaust gases
economizer. The workspace of this flow is steam.
The flow of electrical energy is generated by diesel
generators, turbogenerators and a shaft generator and
is switched in the main switchboard [7, 10].
There are practically no aggregates and systems on
board a modern watercraft whose operation would
not be related to electricity consumption.
This is due to the development of power electrical
equipment, the use of electric motors as drives, the
introduction of power semiconductor electronics, the
growth of the introduction of automation of
technological processes and computer technology in
almost all on-board systems and components.
The introduction of various electrical equipment
on board the ship, the total capacity of which reaches
tens of thousands of kilowatts, and several megawatts
on large ships, necessitated the organization of a
shipboard electric power plant (SEPP) on board.
42
EPP is designed to provide electricity to TW in
various modes of operation. The presence of electrical
equipment of a different class and power, which
ensures the operation of navigation systems, an
electronic control system and ensures the safe
operation of the vehicle, causes stringent
requirements for the quality of electricity produced on
board the ship.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Taking into account the peculiarities of the
distribution of energy flows in ship power plants can
be an effective tool not only to improve the economic
performance of it, but also to increase the safety of
navigation and navigation in general, due to the
reliable provision of uninterrupted and efficient
operation of ship power plants.
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