Advanced Propulsion System

GEM 423E

Week15 :Waterjet Propulsion

Dr. Ali Can Takinacı
Assosciate Professor
in
The Faculty of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
34469
Maslak – Istanbul – Turkey

Contents

• Waterjet History
• What is Waterjet Propulsion System
• How a Waterjet works
• Advantages of Waterjet

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 Waterjet History

Waterjet History
• In the early 1950s, when Sir William Hamilton
began experimenting with marine jets, he
followed the lead of the most successful
invention to date, the American Hanley Hydrojet.
• Using a round centrifugal waterpump that drew
in the water and expelled it through a steerable
nozzle under the boat, he was able to achieve
an encouraging but unspectacular speed of 11
mile per hour.

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• 1954
• A slight modification to expel the jet stream
above the waterline proved the turning point in
marine jet propulsion, increasing speed to
17mph and eliminating all underwater
appendages.
• Waterjet propulsion was at last truly successful
and the Hamilton Waterjet was born.

• This first type of unit was named "Quinnat" and

consisted of a vertical shaft centrifugal unit,
driven through a right angle gearbox.

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• 1956
• The first batch of "Rainbow" jet units were produced.
• A small direct drive centrifugal type of unit, the Rainbow
gave a good performance in a suitable light craft, without
the noise of a gearbox.
• About 125 were manufactured and marketed in New
Zealand.

• 1957
• This year saw the birth of the "Chinook" unit.
• A twin impeller axial-flow turbine, the Chinook was far
more efficient with its straight-through flow and two-
stage pressure build up.
• Following this came the three-stage Chinook unit which
increased performance further.

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• 1963
• The "Colorado" series of jet units was a completely new,
greatly simplified design which halved the cost of the
unit.
• This series was developed into a full range of one, two
and three stage units driving a wide range of boats from
river-runabouts to off-shore racing craft.

• 1970
• This year saw the introduction of the "Work Jets" - larger,
heavy duty units designed for diesel commercial vessels,
large launches etc.
• The Work Jets were the forerunners to today's Hamilton
HM Series of larger waterjets.

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• 1973
• The 750 series of jet units evolved a standardised
method of installation in hulls, regardless of the number
of stages.
• This gave more cockpit space in the boat and employed
modern controls and engines.

• 1975
• First 'commercial' waterjet, Model 1031,
introduced.

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• 1980
• 400 Series waterjets are introduced.
• These are for craft up to 30 metres long.

• 1984 - 1990
• Split duct deflector developed for 1031 jets and then
introduced on all Hamilton Waterjets.
• The split duct design increases astern thrust by
directing the jet stream down and to the sides of the
boat transom to avoid recycling and increase steering
responsiveness.
• HM Series waterjets, for craft up to 60 meters, is
introduced.

• 1991
• HS Series waterjets, for 50-65 knot craft, is
introduced.
• These were multi-stage waterjet units designed
for high-speed light commercial craft with power
inputs up to 1600kW.

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• 1992
Total Quality Management programme, FOCUS,
implemented to ensure the highest level of quality
in all aspects of waterjet production.
• 1993-98
• New jet models introduced to fill holes in Hamilton's
waterjet range - HJ241, HJ321, HM461.
Existing models further developed with more
efficient intake and screen designs, 0 and 5 degree
intake block options, and improved anti-fouling/anti-
corrosion protection.
• Largest Hamilton Jet model waterjets developed
HM651, HM721, HM811.

• 1994
Turbo impeller developed along with HJ212 model
to replace the multi-stage 773 unit in trailerable
boats. The Turbo impeller improves jet performance
in aerated water conditions.
• 1996
Control Monitoring Unit (CMU) developed as a fully
electronic jet and engine control system for larger
waterjets.
• 1998
Patented JT Steering system introduced. Nozzle
design minimises thrust loss when steering to
improve steering control and course-keeping
efficiency.

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• 2000
• MECS (Modular Electronic Control System)
supersedes CMU for electronic control.

What is Waterjet Propulsion

System

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 What is Waterjet Propulsion
System
• Once waterjets were used exclusively for small,
high-speed boats.
• They, in fact, are more efficient than
conventional propellers when speeds are over
25 knots.
• Waterjets now are being built for work boats that
need to go slow.
• Like the conventional fixed-pitch propeller, they
lack very-low-speed thrust modulation.

• Unlike the propeller though, they can moderate

their thrust by partially engaging reversing
buckets so that they do have the ability to go
very slow.
• Depending upon the configuration, the waterjet
drive usually includes a clutch but often does not
require a reduction gear.
• Occasionally a reversing reduction gear is
installed to allow back flushing of the waterjet.

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How a Waterjet works

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 How a Waterjet works
• A water jet is used as a propulsion system for
high-speed vessels and is modelled with STAR-
CD. The main component of a water jet
installation is a mixed-flow pump, which includes
a stator bowl and a nozzle.
• The water is supplied through an inlet duct. An
example of a water jet assembly is shown in
figure 1. The flow through the inlet duct can be
characterised by the Inlet Velocity Ratio (IVR),
defined as ratio of the ship speed and the
average axial velocity across the pump’s inlet.

• It should be obvious that the latter is a function

of the mass flow, and therefore related to the
applied power of a water jet.

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• A waterjet generates propulsive thrust from the
reaction created when water is forced in a
rearward direction.
• It works in relation to Newton's Third Law of
Motion - "every action has an equal and
opposite reaction".
• A good example of this is the recoil felt on the
shoulder when firing a rifle, or the thrust felt
when holding a powerful fire hose.

• Put simply, the discharge of a high velocity jet

stream generates a reaction force in the
opposite direction, which is transferred through
the body of the jet unit to the craft's hull,
propelling it forward (see diagram below).
• In a boat hull the jet unit is mounted inboard in
the aft section. Water enters the jet unit intake
on the bottom of the boat, at boat speed, and is
accelerated through the jet unit and discharged
through the transom at a high velocity.

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• The picture opposite shows where water enters
the jet unit via the Intake (A). The pumping unit,
which includes the Impeller (B) and Stator (C),
increases the pressure, or "head", of the
flow. This high pressure flow is discharged at
the nozzle (D) as a high velocity jet stream. The
driveshaft attaches at the coupling (E) to turn the
impeller.

• Steering is achieved by changing the direction of

the stream of water as it leaves the jet
unit. Pointing the jet stream one way forces the
stern of the boat in the opposite direction which
puts the vessel into a turn.
• Reverse is achieved by lowering an astern
deflector into the jetstream after it leaves the
nozzle. This reverses the direction of the force
generated by the jet stream, forward and down,
to keep the boat stationary or propel it in the
astern direction.

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• The first prototype (here under trial in the water
channel) has a 2-nozzle configuration, where
the final version will use 7 nozzles to allow the
control of all the 6-DOF of an underwater
vehicle.

• To produce and control the required thrust, the

system uses specially-designed variable-area
nozzles.
• The area of the nozzle is controlled by a spear
valve

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• To allow very high-speed control of the jet
intensity, the spear valve is actuated by a
directly-coupled linear electric motor.

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 Advantages of Waterjet

• Waterjet propulsion has many advantages over

other forms of marine propulsion, such as stern
drives, outboard motors, shafted propellers and
surface drives. These advantages include...

• Excellent Manoeuvrability
• High efficiency
• Low drag and shallow draft
• Low maintenance
• Smooth and quiet
• Total safety
• Maximum engine life
• Simplicity
• Easy installation

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 Excellent Manoeuvrability
• Precise steering control at all speeds
• "Zero Speed" steering effect provides 360°
thrusting ability for docking and holding
stationary.
• Sideways movement possible with multiple jet
installations.
• High efficiency astern thrust with "power-
braking" ability at speed

High efficiency

• Propulsive coefficients as good or higher than

the best propeller systems achievable at
medium to high planing speeds

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 Low drag and shallow draft

• Absence of underwater appendages reduces

hull resistance shallow draught - Jet intake is
flush with hull bottom to afford minimum draught

Low maintenance

• No protruding propulsion gear eliminates impact

damage or snags
• Minimum downtime and simple maintenance
routines

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 Smooth and quiet

• No hull vibration, no torque effect and no high

speed cavitation gives maximum comfort levels
on board
• Low underwater acoustic signature

Total safety

• No exposed propeller for complete safety

around people in the water

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 Maximum engine life

• Jet unit impeller is finely matched to engine

power
• Power absorption is the same regardless of boat
speed
• No possibility of engine overload under any
conditions

Simplicity

• Single packaged module

• No heavy and expensive gearbox required for
many installations. Simple driveline from engine
to jet coupling

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 Easy installation

• Complete factory tested package, ready to bolt

in
• No difficult engine alignment problems

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