Teignbridge Supplies Propulsion for World’s Largest Aluminium OPV

Teignbridge is proud to have been partners in the design and manufacture of the largest aluminium OPV built in the world. Designed and built by OCEA in France, the OPV 270 was built for the Philippines Coast Guard. Over a 20 year period of operation, the vessel design will allow for a CO2 emission reduction of 20,400 tons / 40% by comparison to similar vessels. Teignbridge Propellers has recently benefited from the results of a 2.5 year, UK-funded demonstration project into High Efficient Propulsion Systems (HEPS). The HEPS project was funded and developed as a partnership with the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) – a public-private partnership between global energy and engineering companies and the UK government with the mission to accelerate the development of close-to-market, low carbon technologies.

During the course of the £3 million project, Teignbridge Propellers has investigated three innovative areas of propeller performance improvement, targeted at the reduction of fuel and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the large fleet Handysize bulk carriers and product tankers, ferries, offshore service vessels and container feeders that operate in UK waters.

The innovations and associated learning, however, can be applied to almost all commercial, leisure and military vessels. The three areas of innovation in the project include:

• Development of an integrated ‘ship as a system’ design process to enable optimisation of the propeller blade geometry for maximum hydrodynamic efficiency followed by testing of the optimised performance in the context of a realistic representation of the vessel’s mission profile. The process typically delivers a 3.5% to 4.0% increase in hydrodynamic efficiency over a baseline performance of the equivalent Wageningen B-Series propeller +1.0% (typical representation of the vessels operating in this fleet).
• Development of a replaceable blade concept – the Clamp on Blade (CoB) propeller. The CoB has a smaller hub to diameter ratio than any other replaceable blade propeller on the market. The innovative design also enables a bolt head free blade palm. This pair of features improves efficiency by more than 2.0% over competing designs.
• Development of a pitch modification system – currently in proof of concept scale prototyping phase.

The exceptionally versatile OCEA OPV 270 is designed to carry out all maritime security and safety missions in the waters of the Philippine archipelago. Accordingly, she is equipped to ensure the comfort and safety of the crew, the reception of additional personnel, the sustainable presence at sea and the diversity of missions. She includes the following capabilities:

• Stabilisation of the platform for missions up to 5 weeks
• Diesel-electric propulsion optimizing fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and maintenance costs
• Ability to land, hold and maintain a 5-ton class helicopter
• Deployment of 2 RHIB of 9.2 m
• Mission Management System that integrates surveillance, detection and communication capabilities for situational awareness
• Ability to accommodate castaways, offenders, wounded, divers, special forces

Teignbridge designed and supplied the shaft lines for the OPV270 which consisted of a 205mm x 8,385mm tailshaft connected with muff couplings to a 190mm x 11,218mm intershaft. Oil lubricated stern tubes were sealed via Wartsila EK and EJ seals. To ensure the smooth and vibration free running of the propulsion shaft line, Teignbridge engineers undertook whirling calculations to produce the Lateral & Axial Vibration Report.

An optimally designed propulsion installation offers many benefits to customers including a reduction in noise, vibration and fuel consumption. Customers can also expect an increased life expectancy of bearings and seals and a reduction in unplanned maintenance periods meaning less expensive vessel downtime. Teignbridge Propellers recognises this, so for many years has used the state of the art shaft line design software ‘ShaftDesigner’ from SKF. This enhances the company’s design capabilities allowing its team of engineers to quickly optimise propeller shaft line designs to expertly understand and avoid potentially harmful shaft alignment and vibration problems. The Classification Society recognised ShaftDesigner software allows Teignbridge to provide customers with shaft alignment calculations and also highlight whether a critical speed will result in noise or harmful vibrations. The programme of investment in facilities, equipment, software, hardware and technology is part of Teignbridge’s continuing commitment to supplying its worldwide customers with world class marine propulsion equipment.