Environmental Aspects of Total Resistance of Container Ship in the North Atlantic

Abstract

The total resistance of ship in waves is composed of calm water resistance and added resistance in waves. The added resistance in waves is one of the main causes of an involuntary speed reduction of a ship. It may cause a significant increase in ship resistance and consequently increased fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission, especially at heavier sea states. Thus, the added resistance is very important from both an economic and environmental point of view. In this paper, an increase in fuel consumption is calculated for container ship on a typical North Atlantic route. The calm water resistance is calculated utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics based on the viscous flow theory at model scale and the obtained results are extrapolated to full scale. The added resistance in waves is calculated using three-dimensional panel code based on the free surface Green function, for the sake of simplicity. It is calculated at regular waves and the mean value of the added resistance at certain sea states is obtained by means of spectral analysis. Two-parameter Bretschneider wave spectrum recommended for the North Atlantic, defined by significant wave height and zero crossing period, is used in the spectral analysis. The obtained results may provide valuable insight into the important environmental issue of pollution reduction.

Keywords

• Calm water resistance
• Added resistance
• Total resistance in waves
• Container ship
• Fuel consumption
• Computational fluid dynamics
• Bretschneider wave spectrum.