World News
Hydrex Says New Propellers Cleaning Method Gleans Maximum Propulsion Efficiency
Hydrex NV (Hydrex) says it has developed a new method of maintaining ship propellers to optimise propulsion efficiency.
The company notes that the traditional approach to such cleaning is to polish the propellers once or twice a year underwater or in drydock to removed fouling - usually using a grinding disk that can potentially damage the propeller blades and remove a "substantial" amount of metal.
"We discovered that more frequent, lighter buffing of the propeller is the optimum approach to propeller maintenance," explained Dave Bleyenberg, Hydrex Production Executive.
"This is done using a different tool to a grinding disk to buff the propeller before any calcareous layers build up and cavitation erosion impacts efficiency. If done correctly and regularly we can achieve 5 percent or more in fuel consumption, which more than offsets the cost of this propeller maintenance process."
Hydrex says an experiment using this technique carried out on a 134 m cruise ship showed fuel savings of $2,100 on a 30-hour trip from Aruba to Barbados - a 5 percent savings compared to the same trip operating rough propellers.
"Many of our customers who have used this service have noticed a remarkable difference in their fuel efficiency after each cleaning. One Chief Engineer told me: 'you can clearly tell the difference in a ships' performance after Hydrex has done its thing'," said Bleyenberg.
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