German propulsion company Schottel says that with the EEXI, new benchmarks for the energy efficiency of ships came into force in January 2023 as an integral part of the IMO’s long-term climate objectives.
In order to comply with the EEXI regulations, an increasing number of vessels are operating at lower speeds (slow steaming) to reduce fuel consumption. Schottel is offering its customers the option of adapting the propulsion system to the vessels’ changed operating profiles, thus achieving maximum efficiency.
Schottel is now able to equipping existing vessels with new, hydrodynamically optimised blades for the Schottel ControllablePropeller (SCP). The propeller blades are custom designed by Schottel, using extensive propulsion system and vessel analyses as well as calculation methods, such as CFD.
In addition to the savings resulting from an optimised operating profile, the new propeller blades, which are precisely tailored to the revised operating conditions, are expected to increase propulsion efficiency by up to 5%. Taken together, this will significantly reduce fuel consumption, thereby lowering CO2 emissions and the ships’ operating costs. Besides increasing propulsion efficiency, redesigned propeller blades will also ensure a reduction in cavitation and pressure fluctuations, as well as a decrease in noise emissions.
Schottel CP propeller systems are said to be characterised by their performance in terms of propulsion efficiency and bollard pull. The SCP is designed to be both robust and user-friendly, guaranteeing minimum maintenance and thus a long service life. Suitable for vessels fulfilling a wide-ranging operation profile, the SCP is designed to provide optimal propulsion power for changing speeds or loads, in a design that has been tried and tested in thousands of practical applications.
To achieve IMO GHG targets, ship operators have to meet certain efficiency standards set by the EEXI from 2023. If the ships are not in compliance with the specified requirements, efficiency-enhancing measures must be taken to ensure unrestricted operation in the long term. In this context, retrofit propeller blades from Schottel are considered an effective way to reduce CO2 emissions, thus ensuring compliance with EEXI regulations.
Image: The new, design-enhanced propeller blades will increase propulsion efficiency (source: Schottel)
