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Marine Gas Turbine for Efficient Ship Propulsion

Article · October 2020

DOI: 10.37410/EMERG.2020.3.08

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EMERG, Volume VI, Issue 3/2020 ISSN 2668-7003, ISSN-L 2457-5011

MARINE GAS TURBINE FOR EFFICIENT

SHIP PROPULSION

TURBOMOTOR PENTRU PROPULSIE NAVALĂ

EFICIENTĂ
Filip NICULESCU1, Claudia BORZEA2, Mirela Letiția VASILE3
Abstract: The paper presents the case of replacing an out-of-date gas
turbine with a newer turbine for marine use. The novelty consists in the
solution found for the mechanical adaptation due to the reversed gas inlet
and outlet ports of the engine, located in opposite positions to those of the old
turbine. As well, a customized command and control system was designed
and implemented, in full accordance with the requirements of the ship. The
tests to which the new turbine was subjected, in regimes close to those of the
old turbine operation, have shown that the replacement of the turbines made
the propulsion of the ship more efficient.

Keywords: marine gas turbine, efficient propulsion

Rezumat: In lucrare se prezinta cazul inlocuirii unui unui turbomotor

de generatie veche cu un turbomotor mai nou pentru utilizare marina.
Noutatea consta in solutia de adaptare mecanica datorita aspiratiei si
evacuarii gazelor aflate in pozitii opuse fata de cele ale ale turbinei vechi.
De asemenea, a fostrealizat și implementat un sistem de comanda si control
complet adaptat cerintelor navale. Testele la care a fost supus noul motor, in
regimuri apropiate de cele ale turbinei înlocuite, au arătat că înlocuirea cu
noul motor a făcut ca propulsia navei sa devina mai eficienta.

Cuvinte cheie: turbomotor marin, propulsie eficientă

1. Introduction

In marine propulsion, gas turbines are used for increased efficiency and
safety, with a very good power to weight ratio, as well as with reduced
maintenance required and low operation costs. Gas turbine engines experience

1 Senior Researcher III, Automation and Electrical Engineering Dept., Romanian Research and
Development Institute for Gas Turbines COMOTI, Romania, e-mail: fillip.niculescu@comoti.ro
2 Scientific Researcher, Automation and Electrical Engineering Dept., Romanian Research and

Development Institute for Gas Turbines COMOTI, Romania, e-mail: claudia.borzea@comoti.ro

3 Research Assistant, Automation and Electrical Engineering Dept., Romanian Research and

Development Institute for Gas Turbines COMOTI, Romania, e-mail: mirela.vasile@comoti.ro

86 Filip Niculescu, Claudia Borzea, Mirela Letiția Vasile

degradations over time that cause great concern regarding engine reliability,
availability, and operating costs [1, 2]. Rolls-Royce has announced the termination
of production for Tyne RM1C gas turbines which have been used as cruise engines
on the ship concerned and will no longer provide maintenance services for these
engines. This situation leads to the need of replacing these gas turbines with similar
ones regarding power, efficiency and propulsion speed, which are currently
available commercially, regarding manufacturing and operation and can be
repaired.
A thorough market analysis was conducted on gas turbines with similar
power performances and constructive solutions of same power gas turbines
currently available, it has been established that the ST40M naval turbine
manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Canada is the most suitable candidate for the
replacement of the RM1C gas turbine as a cruise engine for ship propulsion.
ST40M is being used on the series of large, superfast Norwegian Skjold
corvettes (Fig. 1), for sprint speed. Each propulsion system features four gas turbine
engines, out of which two 4000 kW ST40M turbine engines [3] and two 2000 kW
ST18M engines for cruise speed, in marine construction.

Figure 1. Norwegian Skjold-class corvette equipped with ST40M marine gas

turbine [4]

2. Gas turbines comparison

The Tyne gas turbine, manufactured by Rolls Royce, used as cruise engine
on fast ships, develops a maximum power of 4000 kW at a turbine speed of 13970
rpm. The maximum speed of the low pressure compressor is 14600 rpm, while the
inlet gas temperature in the low pressure turbine at maximum power is 700°C.
The ST40M is an aero derivative gas turbine, manufactured by Pratt &
Whitney Canada, whose performance is correlated with the performance of the
PW150A gas turbine for aviation use.
 Marine gas turbine for efficient ship propulsion 87

Figure 2. Tyne RM1C gas turbine constructive diagram [5]

The previous gearbox has been removed and the air intake was modified for
radial-symmetrical air intake to the gas turbine axis. The compressors remained
unchanged being the same as in the PW150A. The low pressure axial compressor has
three axial stages being driven by a low pressure axial turbine with one stage. The high
pressure axial compressor has a single centrifugal stage, driven by a high pressure axial
turbine with one stage.
The combustion chamber of ST40M is inverted ring type, the same as the one in
the aviation gas turbine version from which it is derived. However, the geometry is
modified for the use of diesel instead of aviation fuel. Kerosene was replaced with
standard naval diesel fuel for economic reasons [6, 7].
ST40M is the modified version of the aircraft gas turbine, so as to meet the
marine standard, namely treated for resistance to salt mist corrosion.
The ST40M engine has an advanced air-cooling system of the turbine stator
and rotor blades which allows a maximum exhaust gas temperature of t3*=1477ºC
(T3*=1750K). This increased temperature allows a thermal efficiency of 33%. In
order to achieve the specified high thermal efficiency (t=33%), the compression
ratio of the engine’s compressor has a high value of πc=18.
Other important engine parameters are:
- Air flow: Ma = 14.44 kg/s;
- Cruise power: P = 4039 kW;
- Specific consumption: Csp ≈ 3 kWh.
88 Filip Niculescu, Claudia Borzea, Mirela Letiția Vasile

Figure 3. Section through the model of ST40M gas turbine [3]

ST40M engine is more compact and lightweight than the current Tyne
turbocharged engine to be replaced. The dimensions of the ST40M gas turbine of
1700 mm x 660 mm x 965 mm (L x W x H) are considerably smaller than those of
the Tyne engine of 2600 mm x 1200 mm x 1000 mm (L x W x H).
On the other hand, the weight of the dry ST40M engine is 525 kg, which is
over 2 times less comparing to Tyne RM1C engine’s weight of 1270 kg. Reducing
the weight of the cruise engines contributes by itself to the increase of the
propulsion efficiency, as the overall ship inertia becomes lower.

3. Turbine replacement

Following the analysis of the characteristics and performance of the two

engines it was concluded that the ST40M engine is suitable to replace the old Tyne
RM1C engine. A new command and control system has been developed [8]. The
piping required to switch the air suction and exhaust ports was adapted to match
the configuration required by the frigate, driven by the old engine (Fig. 4).
The gas exhaust pipe was designed to pass through the air intake pipe, due to
space constraints on the ship. The teardrop design was carefully realized, so as to
obtain a laminar air flow along the air pipe, and not to obstruct the air intake.
An automated electronic control system was designed, built, installed and
tested together with the ST40M engine to replace the old propulsion system.
Among the available control systems [9, 10], the electronic control currently offers
the highest reliability and adaptability, and can easily and rapidly be tailored for
any arising situation or parameter change [11].
In the new configuration, tests have been carried out on the test bench until
the maximum power from the manufacturer's datasheet was obtained. Fig. 5 shows
the ST40M installed on the in-house test bench.
 Marine gas turbine for efficient ship propulsion 89

Figure 4. Section through the installation of ST40M gas turbine on test bench

After successful testing, the equipment was transported and installed on the
T22 frigate to be revamped, which has two propellers driven by gas turbines in the
CoGoG (Combined Gas or Gas) system [12].
As shown in Fig. 6, in the propulsion system of the ship, the ST40M engine
replaces the Tyne engine on the port line. After the installation work conducted,
tests were carried out to confirm the proper operation of the turbine.

Figure 5. ST40M gas turbine on test bench

90 Filip Niculescu, Claudia Borzea, Mirela Letiția Vasile

Figure 6. Block diagram regarding ST40M positioning

in the test setup on the ship

3. Comparison between the operation of ST40M and Tyne engines

The tests have been performed with the ship in motion, with the naval
propulsion group set to operate at regimes between idle and maximum speed. In
this way, the turbine load of the propulsion system was achieved by varying the
pitch and the propeller speed. Several tests were carried out, including:
- march ahead of the naval propulsion group;
- verification of the ST40 propulsion system acceleration and deceleration;
- endurance tests;
- march forward with ST40M at larboard and towed axle at starboard;
- march ahead and astern.

Figure 7. Tests on the ship with the ST40M engine at port

and Tyne engine at starboard
 Marine gas turbine for efficient ship propulsion 91

The march ahead with the ST40M engine at port and the Tyne engine at
starboard was performed with the two engines in tandem, with the power control levers
(PCL) at the same positions, to compare the propulsion characteristics of the ST40M
engine with those of the Tyne engine.
The tests were performed in two stages. In the first stage, we obtained the
propulsion characteristics of the two engines. Then, the difference between them was
corrected by adjustments made to the characteristic of the ST40M engine.
The adjustment consisted in metering the fuel flow to the ST40M engine so that
at the command received from the power control lever, at the same positions of the
levers the two propulsion lines port and starboard, to develop the same propeller speed.
The results from the first set of tests in Table 1 show that, at the same positions
of the power control levers, the fuel flow into the ST40M engine was considerably
lower, but the propeller speed was also lower than the one driven with Tyne.
As a result of the corrections of the ST40M engine's characteristics, the two
propulsion lines of the ship operate around same parameters (Table 2), for the same
positions of the control levers (propeller pitch and propeller speed), which confirm
that the two lines have developed the same propulsion power.

Table 1 – ST40M propulsion without corrections and Tyne characteristics

Point No. - 1 2 3 4
Time - 11:16 11:34 11:56 12:04
ST40 Tyne ST40 Tyne ST40 Tyne ST40 Tyne

PCL div 24 24 40 40 50 50 56 56
Throttle % 23 20 54 40 76 62 96 78
Fuel flow l/min 4.8 7.2 7.8 11.9 12.0 17.8 15.4 21.4
Propeller rpm 49 53 70 79 88 99 100 110
speed
Pitch div 32 32 34 34 34 34 34 34
Ship speed knot 5.2 9.6 11.8 13.1

Table 2 – ST40 propulsion characteristic corrected and Tyne characteristic

Point No. - 1 2 3 4
Time - 14:19 14:25 14:31 14:41
ST40 Tyne ST40 Tyne ST40 Tyne ST40 Tyne
PCL div 24 28 40 40 50 50 54 54
Throttle % 6 15 42 38 64 58 76 72
Fuel flow l/min 5.7 7.6 10.4 11.0 14.8 17.3 17.5 19.9
Propeller rpm 56 54 77 76 97 101 105 108
speed
Pitch div 32 32 34 34 34 34 34 34
Ship speed knot 6.0 9.0 11.6 14.1
92 Filip Niculescu, Claudia Borzea, Mirela Letiția Vasile

From the results shown in Table 2 above, for the positions of the control
levers, the consumption of the propulsion system with ST40M is lower with ~12%
than with Tyne engine. Therefore, at the revamp of the T22 frigate, which will
suppose replacing both Tyne engines for cruise speed, a fuel saving of almost a
quarter shall be obtained. Even though the fuel flow is lower, the propellers speed
values are very close, which demonstrate the increased efficiency of ST40M.

6. Conclusions

The replacement of the outdated Tyne gas turbine, whose production and
service have been terminated, with the newer ST40M gas turbine is economically
justified. Besides the maintenance that can be ensured due to the ongoing
manufacturing of its component parts, the ST40M turbine is also noted for its lower
weight and lower fuel consumption at the same developed power.
The results obtained by replacing the turbines on the ship during sea tests
have been presented. After conducting a first set of tests aiming to find the
adjustments and corrections that had to be made, the second set of tests with the
engines running on the ship's propulsion lines have shown the increased efficiency
of the newer ST40M turbine.
From tests conducted with the frigate in motion, substantial fuel savings can
be forecasted, along with the reduction of the carbon dioxide and monoxide
emissions and of other secondary products resulted from the fuel combustion
process, which are environmentally harmful.
Future research will consider revamping the T22 frigate by replacing both
Tyne engines, and assessing the parameters of ST40M gas turbines during normal
operation. As well, the efficiency increase of the new propulsion system comparing
to the old engines will be observed. The fuel reduction and the carbon dioxide
emissions shall also be measured, highlighting the reduction percentage.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The work presented herein was funded by the Operational Programme

Human Capital of the Ministry of European Funds through the Financial
Agreement 51675/09.07.2019, SMIS code 125125.

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