ABSTRACT
In order to tackle global warming, the maritime sector is trying alternative power sources to reduce the carbon emissions from ships. Wind assist technologies are considered as renewable alterative power sources and ships designed with such technologies may provide the important step toward decarburization. Among many effective measures, Flettner rotor, as one of the wind assist technologies, is increasingly becoming a topic of interest within the shipping industry. However, the performance of a ship fitted with Flettner Rotor is very much dependent on the wind magnitude and direction, which are random by nature. This paper aims to make an in-depth discussion on the benefits from Flettner rotor in terms of energy efficiency. Firstly, a ship weather routing system is briefly introduced which is very helpful to assess the true performance of ships fitted with Flettner rotor. Next, many case studies are carried out based on a generic ship with and without rotors. Different combinations of several traditional routes including both outward and return directions, different departure time throughout the whole operation year and average slow, medium and fast ship speeds are taken into account as shipping conditions for comparison. Finally, the benefit obtained through Flettner rotor technology – in various shipping routes, departure times and ship speeds—is presented and a framework for assessing the performance of wind assist technology is proposed.
