Project Summary
This project aims to develop a drag reduction system for ships by further collaboration with academia and several vessel owners.
Project Achievements
Activities Concept Design. Venturi and injector. Delivered by Armada Technologies March 2022. Detailed design. Iteratively improved utilising computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software over four cycles. Delivered by SimFwd & Friendship System June 2022. System fabrication. PALS Mk3, based on above design and integration into ‘HYKAT’ cavitation tunnel. Delivered by HSVA end August 2022. Test Matrix, detailing 42 activities to be carried out over days in September. Delivered by Armada Technologies & LJMU August 2022. Test Program. Delivered as planned, however at drafts <1m, venturi produced over aerated water causing turbulence & increased drag. Swapped for pump to simulate venturi. Final Report. Detailed test data, analysis & report delivered by HSVA mid September 2022. modification, PALS can be the “perfect air lubrication system”.
Conclusions
Proof of Concept. Achieved. PALS introduced aerated water to simulated boundary layer. Under realistic ferry operating conditions average ‘on plate’>10% drag reduction recorded. Significantly higher drag reductions measured in other tests. Optimal performance. A ‘sweet spot’ can be achieved where hydrodynamic phenomena are balanced to match operating conditions. Water reduces drag. Injection of water reduces drag. Tests demonstrated beneficial impact of the active injection of water alone in all operating conditions tested. Sidewall. Just water injection makes sidewall lubrication, greater drag reduction, practicable. Full Passive. PALS can deliver fully passive aeration under targeted operating conditions. Owner interest. Significantly increased due to test results basis numerous customer discussions.
Next Steps
Installation: Subject to contract, PALS installation planned for a passenger freight ferry and a large bulk carrier in Q4 2023. Owner investment £34K. Scale up HYKAT results using HSVA’s in-house CFD code to estimate drag reduction if PALS were installed on a passenger freight ferry. November 2022. EU Horizon. Armada is a part of Retrofit55 consortia which won a grant to develop PALS and other systems to deliver 35% emission reduction during a 2-year project starting December 2022. Other Grand Funding: Armada won a ‘FastStart’ grant to develop a PALS performance optimisation control system and a Liverpool City Region grant to design PALS installation for a passenger ferry. Commercial Funding. Armada is currently raising a second round of commercial funding to finance its operations throughout 2023.
