ABSTRACT
Recent initiative in the preliminary design of the OPV93 led to the assessment of various propulsive arrangements, including the CODELOD propulsion system. As the electric propulsion set of the CODELOD arrangement could be fitted with either a soft starter or variable frequency drive, the two options are required to be evaluated so as to define the final arrangement for CODELOD as it will be used for life cycle costs calculations. For the evaluation, the propeller-gearbox-motor integration was performed, discussing the performance of each alternative considering the propeller curve and ship speed. Additionally, analysis of harmonic distortion, efficiency and power factor correction was performed along with the comparison of the main characteristics for both options. The soft starter-motor set come up as the appropriate solution to the electric propulsion train of the CODELOD arrangement, however, additional analysis on life cycle costs are recommended to define the impact of power savings of the VFD-motor set.
