Marine thruster increases power output by 25%
Rolls-Royce has developed a new permanent magnet tunnel thruster for offshore vessels that is said to provide a 25% increase in power output compared to traditional thrusters as well as significant reductions in noise and vibration.
The new thruster design concept comprises a permanent magnet motor in a rim, which drives the propeller in the centre. The permanent magnet motor consists of a stator that carries a number of electrical coil windings, and a rotor fitted with a number of very strong permanent magnets.
By having the motor in the rim, this frees up space directly above the thruster where thruster motors are normally located, making the thruster room available for other equipment or alternative use.
A rotating magnetic field is created by the stator which interacts with the fields of the permanent magnets on the rotor, which generates force to drive the rotor around, providing the mechanical power.
"The new thruster is quiet, efficient and extremely durable," commented Rolls-Royce's president of offshore, Anders Almestad. "It is capable of running for thousands of hours in intensive operations such as the harsh conditions of the offshore oil and gas fields, where rapidly varying loads and alternating thrust directions are the norm."
The thruster has been put through extensive testing and the first model has now been delivered to to Norwegian company Olympic Shipping, which will operate the thruster on its Olympic Octopus vessel.
