Development of a Calculation Method for Fuel Consumption of Ships in Actual Seas With Performance Evaluation

Abstract

Greenhouse gas shall be reduced from shipping sector. For that purpose the regulation of EEDI (energy efficiency design index for new ships) and SEEMP (ship energy efficiency management plan) have been entry into force from 2013. In order to improve the energy efficiency in ship operation it is necessary to predict the fuel consumption accurately. In actual seas the wave effect is the dominant component of the external forces. In particular it is well known the bow shape above water affects the added resistance in waves. To reflect the effect of the bow shape a method which takes into account the result of simplified tank tests is proposed here. Using the results of tank tests the effect of the bow shape above water can be evaluated with accuracy as well as with robustness. Regarding to the fuel consumption it should be evaluated by combining the ship hydrodynamic performance with the engine characteristics. Especially the operating limits of the main engine, such as the torque limit and the over load protection, are affected to the ship hydrodynamic performance. In rough weather condition the revolution of the main engine will be reduced to be below the operating limits of the engine. This causes the large decrease of ship speed. To prevent the increase of fuel consumption, a control system by Fuel Index as an index of fuel injection has been applied to some ships. The calculation method for the fuel consumption by using Fuel Index is presented. In this paper following contents are reported; 1) development of a calculation method for the added resistance due to waves combined with the simplified tank tests in short waves, 2) comparison of the calculation method with onboard measurement, 3) development of a calculation method for the fuel consumption considering the engine operating mode in actual seas and 4) comparison of the method with onboard measurement of a container ship. From these investigations the availability of the present method is confirmed.