As a Guest Lecturer in Fluid Mechanics at Macquarie University, I had the pleasure of delivering a short talk on the impact of external flows on our journey towards decarbonisation.
In this presentation, I discussed our latest achievement in an industry-based project focused on a groundbreaking air lubrication technique designed to reduce the frictional resistance between ship hulls and seawater. This innovation, known as the Gas-Injected Liquid Lubrication System (GILLS), operates on the principle of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. It generates and releases bubbles downstream of a hydrofoil, driving atmospheric air into the water when the pressure above the hydrofoil is lower than the hydrostatic pressure in the air chamber of a shallow-draught ship. These bubbles act as a lubricant between the water and the hull, significantly reducing friction and drag, thereby enhancing the ship’s overall efficiency.
Our parametric study using CFD simulations in STAR CCM+ identified the key factors influencing drag reduction, culminating in the design of the most effective GILLS system. This system not only improves fuel efficiency by reducing the need for external power for bubble generation but also contributes to environmental protection by lowering fuel consumption.
This project was funded by Harwood Marine Co., AusIndustry, the Australian Maritime College at the University of Tasmania, and managed by CSIRO. Our research has been published as a conference paper presented at AFMC 2022 and as a journal article in the Journal of Marine Science and Technology in 2024.
link.springer.com/article/10....
#CSIRO #marine #fuel_efficieny #macquarieuniversity #AMC #UTAS #Harwood_marine #air_lubrication #external_flows #fluidmechanics
1 июл 2024
