Technical lecture
Speakers: Lode Huijgens (TUD)
Topic: Bringing the engine room to the towing tank
In the strive to reduce emissions, ship propulsion systems will change considerably in the years to come. The trusted diesel engine will likely become supplemented and even replaced by fuel cells and spark ignition engines. However, there still is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the performance of such technologies in a marine environment. For example, the transient behaviour of these new systems may in some cases be far inferior to that of diesel engines, potentially reducing manoeuvrability and sea keeping to dangerous levels. Considering this, the section of marine engineering of TU Delft is investigating Hardware In the Loop (HIL) in the towing tank, linking up a realtime simulation of engine room equipment with a model scale propeller and environment. As such, dynamic experiments with an unprecedented level of detail can be conducted, shedding light on the complex interaction between ship, propulsion system and environment.