Marine Propulsion Systems: RENK is World Wide Leader in Combined Plants
17 January 2007 12:03
Mechanic systems have been known for marine propulsion for decades. Prime movers like diesel engines, gas turbines or, in former times, steam turbines are mechanically linked to the propeller, using a reduction gear in most cases.
Combined mechanic systems, using different prime movers for different power requirements, have been introduced for modern military applications, such as frigate propulsion systems. There are Combined Diesel Or Gas (CODOG) turbine systems, Combined Diesel And Gas (CODAG) turbine systems and Combined Gas And Gas (COGAG) turbine systems.
Electric propulsion motors show advantages with respect to noise behavior. The propeller is operated by an electric motor, directly or via a reduction gear. The electric power is provided by a separate generator, driven by a diesel engine or a gas turbine. Such generator sets can be flexibly located in the hull and isolated to prevent structure borne noise from being transmitted to the hull.
Parallel hybrid systems combine most of the benefits of electric and mechanic propulsion. With a Combined Diesel Electric And Gas (CODLAG) turbine system, a gas turbine and an electric motor are used for propulsion through a combining gear.
With series hybrid systems main propulsion is done by an electric motor where the power is provided from different sources.
Combined Diesel Or Gas (CODOG) turbine
In the eighties and nineties, RENK delivered more than 60 CODOG gears, amongst others, for major NATO-fleets such as Germany, Turkey, Greece and Portugal. All class F122 and F123 frigates of the German Navy are equipped with such propulsion systems. With two independent plants (port and starboard), diesel engines and gas turbines are operated alternatively according to the required propulsion power. Automatic overrunning clutches provide a trouble-free changeover between the operating modes while a multi-disk clutch allows to engage the diesel engine to the standing still propeller.
For more information on this company:
RENK - Marine Gears for Main Propulsion, On-Board Power Generation, Bearings and Couplings
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