The effect of propeller cap angle and fin size of PBCF on propeller performance

Abstract

The propeller was one of the main propulsors in ships that consumed a lot of fuel due to the viscous force acting in the ship. Therefore many studies have been carried out to increase the performance of ship propellers. One of the ways is using Energy Saving Device (ESD) to improve propeller performance. One of the ESD is Propeller Boss Cap Fins (PBCF). PBCF was used to improve the propeller performance by reducing the hub vortex during propeller rotation. In this study, we compare the propeller performance before and after PBCF installation without changing propeller dimensions. The variations of PBCF fins were made in 0,1D, 0,2D, and 0,3D with a combination of the angle of the propeller cap were 15° and 20°. The propeller performance is carried out with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. It was made in the open water assumption to reduce of wall effect. B-series propeller is used in the present study. The validation of propeller performance is made using empirical results. This study aimed to determine the effect of the installation of PBCF on the performance of B-Series propellers on the Ro-Ro 1000 GT ship. The results show that variation with a fin diameter of 0,2D and a propeller cap of 20° can increase propeller efficiency by 0.03%. It can be concluded the addition of PBCF can improve propeller performance.