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Reducing fuel consumption for Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers using automatic steering

Noshahri, H. (2016) Reducing fuel consumption for Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers using automatic steering.

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Abstract:Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHD), are self-propelled vessels which contain large tanks for transferring sand or slurry. Dredging installations are used on board of these vessels to load and unload the sand. TSHDs work in consecutive cycles with four phases: 1. sailing empty to the loading area, 2. filling the hopper, 3. sailing full to the discharge area, 4. unloading the material. The aim of this study was to develop a method to reduce propeller thrust and consequently fuel consumption during the two sailing phases of TSHDs. The task was done by developing a novel control method for automatic steering of TSHDs subject to various disturbances and limitations. The solution involved trajectory planning, speed assignment and steering control which is applicable for underactuated ships. The results of simulation experiments manifested accurate trajectory tracking and reduced thrust. The reduced thrust implies reduced fuel consumption; this benefit is mostly due to the fact that the novel control method allows for a better distribution of required speeds. This M.Sc. assignment was defined as a collaborative project between IMOTEC B. V. and University of Twente. The thesis is reported as two papers which are written in IEEE format. The first paper entitled “Towards Automatic Steering of Underactuated Ships” has richer scientific and technical content and is ready for publication. “Reducing Fuel Consumption for Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers” is an application paper where the automatic steering control developed in first paper is employed to answer the research question of this M.Sc. assignment.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
Imotec B.V., Enschede, The Netherlands
Faculty:EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Subject:53 electrotechnology
Programme:Systems and Control MSc (60359)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/71027
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