Performance Comparison between Ellipse and Circular Intake Shapes of Propeller Flow Cooling System (PFCS) with Numerical and Experimental Methods

Abstract

This research carried out an analysis on the use of high pressure flow behind propeller to cool the ship main engine known as Propeller Flow Cooling System (PFCS). The system is commonly found on relatively small fishing boats at South Sulawesi area of Indonesia. Using the system, the special pump for engine cooling purpose is not needed. The present research conducted an investigation on PFCS intake shape that would be optimal for delivering water to main engine which was arisen from the propeller rotation and to find the difference of water capacity produced from different shapes of intake. The implemented research methods were numerical and experimental methods that analysed the shape of two intake shapes namely, circular and elliptical shapes. In numerical computation, ANSYS CFX software was adopted. The result from numerical computations was an initial prediction to the tendency of the results. In order to verify the results, an experiment in a tank facility known as Circulating Water Channel (CWC) tank was conducted. In the experiment, measurements were performed at 2 (two) different locations which were at the center of propeller and at 0.7R of propeller blade. The results of the research found that the performance of the elliptical intake shape is more optimal compared to the circular one.