Improving the maneuvering performance of diesel hybrid propulsion plants for fast naval combatant

Abstract

Diesel engines have a bad reputation if considered for propulsion in fast naval combatants. Compared to gas turbines, propulsion systems with diesel engines are regarded to be heavy, prone to thermal overloading and suffer from poor maneuverability. However, diesel engines are efficient and require less expensive maintenance, offering the possibility of significant reduction in operational costs and fuel supply dependency. This research investigated whether the acceleration performance and the thermal loading can be improved with diesel hybrid propulsion in a CODLAD configuration. The performance and thermal loading was evaluated with dynamic simulation models representing different configurations of propulsion plants for the future M-frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The study demonstrates that fast naval combatant with diesel hybrid propulsion can accelerate as fast as gas turbine driven vessels. To fulfill the desired NATO standards for acceleration maneuvers an adaptive pitch control strategy in combination with controllable pitch propellers is required. This will enable a fast ramp up of diesel engine speed to provide maximum power without overloading the engine thermally. Furthermore, the electric drives need to assist the diesel engine during the acceleration maneuver for optimum acceleration.