JP2024051332A - Ships - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a ship capable of improving propulsion efficiency when sailing. [Solution] When wind blows, the ship 1 can sail using propulsion force from a wind propulsion unit 10. The ship 1 is equipped with an information detection unit 51 that detects the degree of inclination of the hull 11, and a tilt suppression unit 60 that suppresses the inclination of the hull 11 based on the detection results of the information detection unit 51. Therefore, when the hull 11 inclines, the tilt suppression unit 60 can suppress the influence of reduced propulsion efficiency caused by the inclination of the hull 11 by suppressing the inclination of the hull 11. As a result, propulsion efficiency when sailing can be improved. [Selected Figure] Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to ships.

In recent years, ships that generate thrust using renewable energy such as wind power have become known in order to reduce GHG gases such as CO _2. For example, the ship described in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a wind propulsion unit on the hull that propels the hull by wind power, in addition to a propeller-based thruster.

JP 2020-45018 A

Here, the ship described above has a plurality of wind propulsion units, each having a rotor sail, etc., on the hull. The ship controls each wind propulsion unit so that maximum thrust is obtained from all the wind propulsion units. In a ship, when the hull tilts, a turning moment occurs that causes the hull to turn, and the resistance of the counter rudder to deal with this reduces the propulsive efficiency of sailing, which is a problem. In addition, when the hull tilts, the horizontal component of the propulsive force is reduced, which is a problem that the propulsive efficiency of sailing is reduced.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and aims to provide a ship that can improve propulsion efficiency when sailing.

The system comprises a hull according to the present invention, a plurality of wind propulsion units that propel the hull using wind force, a detection unit that detects the degree of inclination of the hull, and an inclination suppression unit that suppresses the inclination of the hull based on the detection results of the detection unit.

The ship according to the present invention is equipped with multiple wind propulsion units that propel the hull using wind force. Therefore, when the wind blows, the ship can sail using the propulsion force generated by the wind propulsion units. Here, the ship is equipped with a detection unit that detects the degree of inclination of the hull, and a tilt suppression unit that suppresses the inclination of the hull based on the detection result of the detection unit. Therefore, when the hull inclines, the tilt suppression unit suppresses the inclination of the hull, thereby suppressing the effect of reduced propulsion efficiency due to the inclination of the hull. As a result, the propulsion efficiency during sailing can be improved.

The tilt suppression unit may adjust the amount of ballast water in the ballast tank depending on the degree of tilt of the hull. When the hull tilts, the tilt suppression unit can correct the hull's posture and suppress tilt by increasing the amount of ballast water on the floating side of the hull compared to the submerged side. The ballast tank is equipment that is already installed on the hull. Therefore, by adjusting the amount of ballast water in the existing equipment, the tilt suppression unit can suppress tilt with a simple mechanism.

The tilt suppression unit may move the mass body. In this case, when the hull tilts, the tilt suppression unit can return the hull to its original position and suppress the tilt by moving the mass body in the direction in which the hull is floating.

The tilt suppression unit may move the wind propulsion unit. In this case, when the hull tilts, the tilt suppression unit can return the hull to its original position and suppress tilting by moving the wind propulsion unit in the direction in which the hull is floating.

The vessel according to the present invention comprises a hull, a plurality of wind propulsion units that propel the hull by wind force, a detection unit that detects the degree of inclination of the hull, and an inclination adjustment unit that adjusts the inclination of the wind propulsion units based on the detection results of the detection unit.

The ship according to the present invention is equipped with multiple wind propulsion units that propel the hull using wind force. Therefore, when the wind blows, the ship can sail using the propulsion force generated by the wind propulsion units. Here, the ship is equipped with a detection unit that detects the degree of inclination of the hull, and an inclination adjustment unit that adjusts the inclination of the wind propulsion units based on the detection results of the detection unit. Therefore, when the hull inclines, the inclination adjustment unit can reduce the vertical component of the lift of the wind propulsion units by suppressing the inclination of the wind propulsion units, thereby suppressing the effect of reduced propulsion efficiency due to inclination of the hull. As a result, propulsion efficiency during sailing can be improved.

The present invention provides a ship that can improve propulsion efficiency when sailing.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a ship according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a diagram for explaining the principle of a rotor sail, and FIG. 2B is a plan view of a ship. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the hull as viewed from the rear. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which the hull is inclined. FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing how the inclination of the hull is suppressed. FIG. FIG. FIG. FIG.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the terms "fore" and "aft" refer to the direction connecting the bow and stern of the hull, the term "across" refers to the left-right (width) direction of the hull, and the terms "up" and "down" refer to the up-down direction of the hull.

Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a ship according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ship 1 is a ship that transports petroleum-based liquid cargo such as crude oil or liquid gas, and is, for example, an oil tanker. Note that the ship is not limited to an oil tanker, and may be, for example, a bulk carrier or various other types of ships.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ship 1 comprises a hull 11, a thruster 12, and a number of wind-propulsion units 10. The hull 11 has a bow section 2, a stern section 3, an engine room 4, and a cargo room 6. An upper deck 19 is provided on the upper part of the hull 11 (or inside the ship). The bow section 2 is located on the front side of the hull 11. The stern section 3 is located on the rear side of the hull 11.

The bow 2 has a shape designed to reduce wave-making resistance, for example, when the ship is fully loaded. The propeller 12 mechanically generates thrust for the hull 11, and for example uses a screw shaft. The propeller 12 is installed below the waterline (the water surface of the sea W) at the stern 3 during propulsion. In addition, a rudder 15 is installed below the waterline at the stern 3 to adjust the propulsion direction.

The engine room 4 is provided adjacent to the bow side of the stern section 3. The engine room 4 is a compartment for arranging the main engine 16 for providing driving force to the propulsion device 12. Above the engine room 4, an accommodation area 22 and an exhaust chimney 23 are provided on the upper deck 19. The cargo room 6 is provided between the bow section 2 and the engine room 4. The cargo room 6 is a compartment for storing cargo. The cargo room 6 is divided into multiple cargo rooms 26 and multiple ballast tanks 27 by adopting a double hull structure of an outer plate 20 and an inner bottom plate 21. The ballast tanks 27 store an amount of ballast water according to the size of the ship, etc.

The wind propulsion unit 10 is a mechanism that propels the hull 11 by wind force. In this embodiment, a rotor-type wind propulsion mechanism is used as the wind propulsion unit 10. A plurality of wind propulsion units 10 (four in this example) are provided on the upper deck 19 of the hull 11, lined up in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 2(a), the wind propulsion unit 10 includes a cylindrical rotor sail 31 that extends in the vertical direction, and an electric motor 32 that rotates the rotor sail 31. When wind WD blows into the rotor sail 31 from the side, the rotation direction of the rotor sail 31 and the direction of the wind WD are opposite to each other at the rear side, and the rotation direction of the rotor sail 31 and the direction of the wind WD are the same at the front side. This generates a pressure difference between the front and rear of the rotor sail 31, generating a thrust force PF toward the front side (Magnus effect). As shown in FIG. 2(b), when wind WD blows from the side of the hull 11, the hull 11 moves forward due to the thrust PF of each wind propulsion unit 10. In this embodiment, four wind propulsion units 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D are provided.

With reference to FIG. 3, a control system 100 including a control device 50 will be described. The control device 50 is a device that controls the ship 1 having multiple wind propulsion units 10 as described above. The control device 50 suppresses the inclination of the hull 11.

Specifically, the control system 100 includes the aforementioned multiple wind propulsion units 10, the thrusters 12, the rudders 15, and the tilt suppression unit 60. The control system 100 also includes a control device 50 that controls these devices, and an information detection unit 51 (detection unit).

The control device 50 is configured as a general computer, including a processor, memory, storage, and a communication interface. The processor is an arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The memory is a storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage is a storage medium such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The communication interface is a communication device that realizes data communication. The processor controls the memory, storage, and communication interface, and realizes the functions of the control unit 30 described below. The control unit 30 realizes various functions, for example, by loading a program stored in the ROM into the RAM and executing the program loaded into the RAM with the CPU. The control unit 30 may be configured from multiple computers.

The control device 50 rotates the rotor sail 31 at the desired rotation speed by outputting a control signal to the electric motors 32A, 32B, 32C, and 32D of the wind propulsion units 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D. The control device 50 operates the propeller 12 by outputting a control signal to the drive unit (main engine 16, etc.) of the propeller 12. The control device 50 operates the rudder 15 to the desired angle by outputting a control signal to the drive unit of the rudder 15.

The information detection unit 51 detects various information necessary for the calculations of the control unit 50. The information detection unit 51 has an anemometer 52 capable of detecting information related to wind, such as wind direction and wind speed (see FIG. 1). The information detection unit 51 has a rudder angle meter 53 that detects the angle of the rudder 15 (see FIG. 1). The information detection unit 51 also has a measuring instrument 54 that measures the hull motion, such as the attitude and rolling of the hull 11, and the direction (see FIG. 1). The information detection unit 51 can detect the degree of inclination of the hull 11 from the results of the measuring instrument 54. In addition, the information detection unit 51 has an information receiving unit that can grasp wind conditions in advance, such as weather forecasts. The information detection unit 51 has a measuring instrument, such as a GPS, that can detect the position of the hull 11. The information detection unit 51 transmits the detected information to the control unit 50.

The tilt suppression unit 60 suppresses the tilt of the hull 11 based on the detection result of the degree of tilt by the information detection unit 51. When the hull 11 tilts so that it sinks to one side, the tilt suppression unit 60 suppresses the tilt of the hull 11 by transferring mass to lighten the mass on one side and make the mass on the other side heavier. Note that in this embodiment, the tilt suppression unit 60 illustrates a case in which the tilt is suppressed in the width direction of the ship, but the tilt direction is not particularly limited, and tilt in the fore-aft direction may also be suppressed.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the tilt suppression section 60 of the ship 1 according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the hull 11 as viewed from the rear. As shown in FIG. 4, the hull 11 includes a starboard ballast tank 27A, a port ballast tank 27B, and a bottom ballast tank 27C. The ballast tanks 27A and 27B are formed between the outer plate 20A and the inner plate 21A in the ship's width direction. The ballast tank 27C is formed between the bottom outer plate 20B and the inner plate 21B. In this embodiment, the rotor sail 31 is provided at the center position of the upper deck 19 in the ship's width direction.

The tilt suppression unit 60 adjusts the amount of ballast water in the ballast tanks 27A and 27B depending on the degree of tilt of the hull 11. The tilt suppression unit 60 includes a pump 61, piping 62, and valves 63A and 63B. The pump 61 pumps ballast water to the ballast tanks 27A and 27B. The piping 62 connects the pump 61 to the ballast tanks 27A and 27B. The valve 63A is connected to the piping 62 between the ballast tank 27A and the pump 61. The valve 63B is connected to the piping 62 between the ballast tank 27B and the pump 61.

Next, the operation of the tilt suppression unit 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 shows the ship 1 with the hull 11 submerged on the starboard side. When wind blows from the side toward the ship 1, lift is generated in the multiple wind propulsion units 10. The center of the sum of these lifts is the lift center CE (Center of Effort). Lift LF of the entire ship 1 is generated at the lift center CE. On the other hand, resistance against the wind is generated when wind blows against the ship 1. The center of resistance RF in the lateral direction at this time is the resistance center CLR (Center of Lateral Resistance). At the resistance center CLR, a lateral resistance RF is generated in the opposite direction to the lift LF. A buoyancy FF acts on the resistance center CLR. The line extending vertically through the resistance center CLR is the reference line SL.

When the hull 11 tilts, the wind propulsion unit 10 tilts relative to the reference line SL. Therefore, the lift force LF tilts diagonally downward. Therefore, the lift force LF has a horizontal component LFx and a vertical downward component LFz. When the vertical component LFz is generated in this way, a loss occurs because the component LFz does not contribute to the thrust when the lift force LF is converted into thrust.

In addition, when the hull 11 tilts, the center of lift CE shifts horizontally from the reference line SL. This shift causes a turning moment to act on the hull 11, causing it to turn. If the rudder 15 is turned to prevent this turning, the resistance of the counter rudder reduces the propulsive efficiency of sailing.

In response to this, as shown in FIG. 6, the tilt suppression unit 60 supplies ballast water from the ballast tank 27A to the ballast tank 27B when the tilt of the hull 11 exceeds a predetermined level based on the detection result of the information detection unit 51. Specifically, the tilt suppression unit 60 opens the valves 63A and 63B and operates the pump 61 to supply ballast water from the ballast tank 27A to the ballast tank 27B. As a result, the ballast water on the starboard side decreases and the ballast water on the port side increases. Therefore, when the hull 11 returns to the port side, the attitude of the hull 11 becomes horizontal and the tilt is suppressed. As shown in FIG. 6, the lift force LF does not have a vertical component. Therefore, no loss occurs when the lift force LF is converted into thrust. In addition, the lift center CE is located on the reference line SL. Therefore, no turning moment occurs in the hull 11, and no resistance that reduces the propulsion efficiency occurs.

Next, the action and effect of the vessel 1 according to this embodiment will be described.

The ship 1 according to this embodiment is equipped with multiple wind propulsion units 10 that propel the hull using wind force. Therefore, when the wind blows, the ship 1 can sail using the propulsion force from the wind propulsion units 10. Here, the ship 1 is equipped with an information detection unit 51 that detects the degree of inclination of the hull 11, and a tilt suppression unit 60 that suppresses the inclination of the hull 11 based on the detection results of the information detection unit 51. Therefore, when the hull 11 inclines, the tilt suppression unit 60 can suppress the effect of reduced propulsion efficiency due to the inclination of the hull 11 by suppressing the inclination of the hull 11. As a result, the propulsion efficiency during sailing can be improved.

The tilt suppression unit 60 may adjust the amount of ballast water in the ballast tanks 27A, 27B depending on the degree of tilt of the hull 11. When the hull 11 tilts, the tilt suppression unit 60 can return the hull 11 to its original position and suppress tilt by increasing the amount of ballast water in the floating side of the hull 11 compared to the submerged side. The ballast tanks 27A, 27B are existing equipment on the hull 11. Therefore, by adjusting the amount of ballast water in the existing equipment, the tilt suppression unit 60 can suppress tilt with a simple mechanism.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

For example, the structure shown in FIG. 7 may be adopted. As shown in FIG. 7, the tilt suppression unit 70 may move the mass body 72. In this case, when the hull 11 tilts, the tilt suppression unit 70 moves the mass body 72 to the side opposite the tilt of the hull 11, thereby returning the attitude of the hull 11 and suppressing the tilt. The tilt suppression unit 70 has a base member 71 on the upper deck 19 for moving the mass body 72 in the ship's width direction. The base member 71 has an upper surface 71a that is curved so as to be concave downward. This allows the tilt suppression unit 70 to move the mass body 72 in the ship's width direction along the upper surface 71a of the base member 71.

A tilt suppression unit 80 as shown in FIG. 8 may be employed. The tilt suppression unit 80 includes a hinge unit 81, a support unit 82, and a mass body 83. The hinge unit 81 is provided on the upper deck 19 and supports the support unit 82 so that it can rotate in the ship's width direction. One end side of the support unit 82 is connected to the hinge unit 81. The mass body 83 is provided on the other end of the support unit 82. With this configuration, when the hull 11 tilts, the tilt suppression unit 80 rotates the support unit 82 around the hinge unit 81 so that the mass body 72 moves to the side opposite the tilt of the hull 11.

A tilt suppression unit 90 as shown in FIG. 9 may be employed. The tilt suppression unit 90 moves the wind propulsion unit 10. In this case, when the hull 11 tilts, the tilt suppression unit 90 moves the wind propulsion unit 10 to the side opposite the tilt of the hull, thereby returning the attitude of the hull 11 and suppressing the tilt. Specifically, the tilt suppression unit 90 has a moving support unit 91 provided on the upper deck 19. The moving support unit 91 supports the wind propulsion unit 10 so that the wind propulsion unit 10 slides in the ship width direction. In FIG. 9, the tilt suppression unit 90 can move the wind propulsion unit 10 to positions shown by virtual lines on the starboard and port sides of the hull 11.

The structure of the vessel 1 as shown in FIG. 10 may be adopted. The vessel 1 shown in FIG. 10 is equipped with a plurality of wind propulsion units 10 that propel the hull by wind force. Therefore, when the wind blows, the vessel 1 can sail using the propulsion force of the wind propulsion units 10. Here, the vessel 1 is equipped with an information detection unit 51 that detects the degree of inclination of the hull 11, and an inclination adjustment unit 110 that adjusts the inclination of the wind propulsion units 10 based on the detection result of the information detection unit 51.

Specifically, the tilt adjustment unit 110 is composed of a hinge unit that rotatably supports the wind propulsion unit 10 on the upper deck 19. As shown in FIG. 5, the wind propulsion unit 10 also tilts with the tilt of the hull 11. In response to this, the tilt adjustment unit 110 rotates the wind propulsion unit 10 so that the wind propulsion unit 10 is parallel to the up-down direction. At this time, the lift force LF acts in the horizontal direction, so no vertical downward component is generated. When the hull 11 tilts, the tilt adjustment unit 110 suppresses the tilt of the wind propulsion unit 10, thereby reducing (or eliminating) the vertical component of the lift force of the wind propulsion unit 10, and suppressing the effect of the decrease in propulsion efficiency due to the tilt of the hull 11. As a result, the propulsion efficiency during sailing can be improved.

There are no particular limitations on the number and arrangement of the wind propulsion units, or how they are attached to the hull. For example, the wind propulsion units may be arranged so as to be offset laterally.

The structure of the hull 11 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1 and may be modified as appropriate depending on the application, etc.

1...ship, 11...hull, 10...wind propulsion unit, 51...information detection unit (detection unit), 60, 70, 80, 90...tilt suppression unit, 72, 83...mass body, 110...tilt adjustment unit.

Claims (5)

The hull and
A plurality of wind propulsion units that propel the hull by wind force;
A detection unit for detecting the degree of inclination of the hull;
a tilt suppression unit that suppresses tilt of the hull based on the detection result of the detection unit. The ship according to claim 1, wherein the tilt suppression unit adjusts the amount of ballast water in the ballast tank according to the degree of tilt of the hull. The vessel according to claim 1, wherein the tilt suppression section moves the mass body. The vessel described in claim 1, wherein the tilt suppression unit moves the wind propulsion unit. The hull and
A plurality of wind propulsion units that propel the hull by wind force;
A detection unit for detecting the degree of inclination of the hull;
and an inclination adjustment unit that adjusts the inclination of the wind propulsion unit based on the detection result of the detection unit.

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