propellor

Wärtsilä has unveiled a new fixed pitch propeller (FPP) design concept, known as FPP Opti Design, which aims to offer significant fuel savings for ship operators.

The FPP Opti Design concept was developed at the company’s technology and service centre in the Netherlands, using the latest computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology.

The CFD calculations provided the design engineers with extremely accurate information to analyse propeller performance and the interaction between the propeller and hull, while enabling them to achieve design and parametric optimisation.

The new design offers fuel savings of up to 4% and highly reliable full-scale performance predictions.

Wärtsilä Ship Power Propulsion vice-president Arto Lehtinen said: "Wärtsilä has more than 100 years of experience in developing high-quality propeller solutions. To this huge knowledge resource we have now been able to add a highly sophisticated state-of-the-art design approach that is unmatched in the industry."

"The result is a higher level of efficiency and lower operating costs."

"The hull and the propeller, and the interaction between the two, can both now be taken into account during the design process. The result is a higher level of efficiency and lower operating costs."

Wärtsilä’s FPP Opti Design is currently on display at the maritime exhibition, Posidonia 2014, which is being held in Athens, Greece.

The company is also developing solutions, such as the Tip Rake Concept, Wärtsilä EnergoProFin and Energopac optimised propulsion and manoeuvring solution, to save energy and improve the efficiency of ship propellers.

Image: Wärtsilä’s new fixed pitch propeller (FPP) Opti Design Concept. Photo: courtesy of Wärtsilä.