Flexible Bubble Belt for Removable Hull Drag Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air lubrication systems for reducing hull drag on floating vessels require permanent installation and are impractical for vessels that infrequently undertake long journeys, necessitating a cost-effective and easily removable solution.
Innovation Solution
A flexible belt with embedded bubble generators, an air channel, and tensioning cables, which can be easily installed and removed, utilizing magnets for attachment and tension monitoring to ensure proper fit and operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a permanent air lubrication system is installed on the hull, then drag reduction effectiveness is improved, but installation complexity and cost increase, and removal becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The air lubrication system is divided into modular components: a flexible belt body containing embedded bubble generators and air channels, separate from the hull structure. This segmentation allows the system to be applied without permanent modifications to the vessel, resolving the contradiction between effective drag reduction and installation complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a flexible belt made of elastic material that can be wrapped around the hull and tensioned to maintain contact. This flexible membrane approach eliminates the need for rigid permanent installations while ensuring the bubble generators remain in contact with the hull surface for effective air lubrication.
2Reliability
If a permanent air lubrication system is installed, then drag reduction is improved, but the ability to easily remove and reuse is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a static permanent installation to a dynamic removable system. The flexible belt can be tensioned during operation to maintain contact with the hull, and easily released when not in use, allowing the same belt to be reused on different vessels without permanent installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The belt body with embedded bubble generators is designed to be removed and recovered for reuse. After use, the belt can be detached from the hull, stored, and applied to another vessel, eliminating the need for permanent installation while maintaining drag reduction effectiveness.
3Ease of operation
If the belt is made highly flexible to follow hull shape, then ease of installation is improved, but tension stability and attachment reliability are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The belt is pre-tensioned during installation to ensure continuous contact with the hull surface. This preliminary tensioning action maintains attachment reliability throughout operation, resolving the contradiction between flexibility for easy installation and stability for reliable operation.
Solution Approach 2:
A tension monitoring system provides feedback on the belt's tension state, allowing operators to adjust tensioning to maintain optimal contact between the belt and hull. This feedback mechanism ensures both ease of installation through flexibility and reliable attachment through controlled tension.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides effective drag reduction by generating air bubbles between the hull and water, ensuring secure attachment and operation, even on vessels with limited maintenance access, and alerting for improper tension to prevent detachment or breakage.
Implementation Method 1
the drag, in other words the frictional resistance, of the hull of a floating vessel, like a barge or a ship, when moving through water, can be reduced by employing air bubbles at the interface between the hull and the water. This is also called air lubrication.
Implementation Method 2
the belt body is made of an elastic and flexible material. Such a belt can easily be placed around part of the hull, in particular the underside, and possibly also the sides, of the hull, and then tensioned to be kept in place. Due to its flexibility it will thereby follow the shape of the hull and sit tightly against the hull.
Implementation Method 3
the belt comprises magnets which are embedded in the belt body, whereby the magnets are magnets for attaching the belt to a metallic hull of a floating vessel
Data Source
AI summary
A belt for reducing the drag of a hull of a floating vessel, whereby the belt includes a belt body extending in a length direction (L), whereby the belt has, a sequence of bubble generators which are embedded in the belt body, whereby the belt has an air channel for supplying pressurized air to the bubble generators, whereby the air channel extends in the length direction (L), whereby the bubble generators are connected to the air channel, whereby the belt body is made of a flexible material. Also disclosed is a device having such a belt and a method of reducing the drag of a hull of a floating vessel using such a belt.