Integration of gas turbine performance model with diesel engine performance model for marine application

Abstract

[EN] The design of a marine propulsion system for naval application is challenging, since the high-performance requirements to accomplish a certain mission, usually do not agree with an efficient operation. For this reason, the development of alternative propulsion systems, such as the combination of different prime movers emerged. One of the most efficient arrangement is the CODAG configuration, which combines the use of diesel engines and gas turbines. In this way, the operating profile of a particular vessel can be optimised for high performance and low consumption. This project involves the development of a CODAG propulsion system model in order to optimise the operating profile of a specific vessel. The required power for a particular scenario has been obtained using a Matlab code. It integrates the performance of two high speed diesel engines and an aero-derivative gas turbine based on the GE-LM2500. A matching methodology has been generated to couple the prime movers and the vessels propulsive device. In addition, Turbomatch simulations have been executed to understand the influence of ambient temperature on the gas turbine performance and therefore, on the performance of the CODAG propulsion system. In the same way, the degradation of the gas turbine has been analysed. As a result, it has been built a tool that integrates the above-mentioned features capable of assessing the vessel’s fuel consumption for a given operating profile. The developed tool exhibits a great potential to optimise the performance of vessels with a CODAG propulsion system. Depending on the vessel requirements, the optimization could be among a wide range of possibilities. Also, different CODAG configurations, such as adding another gas turbine, or removing one diesel engines can be analysed.