Determination the optimum location for microbubble drag reduction method in self propelled barge model; an experimental approach

Abstract

Nowadays, the energy efficiency is the most important aspect to pay attention. Ship resistances are one of the most important factors in order to see the energy efficiency aspect in the marine transportation. Researchers have done a lot of researches to reduce resistance on ship. One of the method that can reduce the resistance on ship is Microbubble method or known as Microbubble Drag Reduction (MBDR). Ships such as barges play a major role in marine transportation. They are very large and move very slowly. They are proper for microbubble applications. Many factors can affect the effectivity of microbubble. One of them is the location of the microbubble injector. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the optimum injector location for microbubble on a barge ship model with 2 m long. Based on research that has been undertaken by the previous researchers, two locations were compared. The locations were after the bow and after the mid-ship. The test results show that the after the bow location is the most effective injector location on the barge ship model. Because this ship has wide flat hull bottom, microbubble can cover the whole bottom. It shows that effectivity of the injector location depends on the ship type.