The demand for Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has rapidly increased over the past few years. This is because of increasingly stringent environmental regulations to curb harmful emissions from fossil fuels. LNG is one of the clean energy sources that has attracted a great deal of research. In the Republic of Korea, the use of LNG has been implemented in various sectors, including public transport buses, domestic applications, power generation, and in huge marine engines. Therefore, a proper, flexible, and safe transport system should be put in place to meet the high demand. In this work, finite element analysis (FEA) was performed on a domestically developed 40 ft ISO LNG tank using Ansys Mechanical software under low- and high-cycle conditions. The results showed that the fatigue damage factor for all the test cases was much lower than 1. The maximum principal stress generated in the 40 ft LNG ISO tank container did not exceed the yield strength of the calculated material (carbon steel). Maximum principal stress of 123.2 MPa and 107.61 MPa was obtained with low-cycle and high-cycle analysis, respectively, which is 50.28% less than the yield strength of carbon steel. The total number of cycles was greater than the total number of design cycles, and the 40 ft LNG ISO tank container was satisfied with a fatigue life of 20 years.

Recent developments in power electronics, energy storage systems, and renewable energy; increased market demands for more efficient and cleaner electric power to meet stricter environmental regulations; and development in gigawatt (GW)-class DC (direct current) transmission systems for transmission of greater power over longer distances than similar alternative current (AC) systems, have supported the development of the DC grid, making it a promising solution for both the onshore and offshore industries. This paper presents an experimental study on the effectiveness of an engine speed reduction strategy on exhaust gas emission and fuel consumption when applied to a 4-stroke generator engine equipped with a cam-driven plunger diesel injection system. The experiments were performed on an 8-cylinder V-type 4-stroke generator engine installed in the MASTC laboratory, which is the only demonstration testbed for the ship’s electric propulsion system in Korea. Experimental results showed that fuel consumption decreased, but emission mass fraction in exhaust gas increased when maintaining engine power while reducing engine speed. This study has shown economic benefits in reducing fuel consumption, but incurred penalties for the emission performance of 4-stroke generator engines equipped with cam-driven plunger diesel injection systems when applying the engine speed reduction strategy.

Small vessels operating in coastal waters are susceptible to propeller failure because of the entanglement of marine debris. Secondary accidents such as the injury of divers may also occur when removing entangling material. Rope cutters are devices used to prevent marine litter from entangling the propeller of small ships. However, installing rope cutters on propeller shafts might affect the working of the propeller. In this study, three-dimensional simulations were performed to investigate the effect of a rope cutter on flow characteristics behind the propeller. The Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models were validated by particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments performed in a rope cutter performance testing tank. The study results showed that the installation of a rope cutter on the propeller shaft led to an insignificant reduction in water flow velocity magnitude behind the propeller. Additionally, the effects of the rope cutter on the reductions of thrust (0.87%) and torque (0.76%) of the propeller were also negligible. However, it is very interesting to note that rope cutter installation resulted in a lower vortex formation, leading to a significant reduction in the turbulence intensity behind the propeller by 27.12%, 37.50%, and 47.29% at 100, 150, and 200 rpm propeller speed, respectively. Based on the study results, it can be concluded that rope cutters help to reduce propeller entanglements without significantly affecting the propeller’s working.

Nowadays, damage to ships due to marine debris at sea is increasingly reported. Specifically, a piece of rope or fishing net can wrap around the propeller shaft, stopping it from rotating. Although various efforts have been made, there are still numerous practical challenges. A rope cutter system, which was designed to cut suspended objects wrapped around the propeller shaft, offers a great advantage in protecting the propulsion system. Since the cutting action produces the transient torsional vibration, the connecting bolts should be stable and sufficiently rigid under normal conditions. However, in the event of an encounter with an object that is too hard to cut, the bolts must be broken so that the rope cutter is released. Those kinds of objects may not be long enough to wrap around the shaft, such as a piece of wood. Therefore, this research presents the novelty in maintaining the safety of the propulsion system installed with a rope cutter. In this study, a method for obtaining the maximum diameter of the connecting bolt as a safety device is described, and the torques required to cut ropes of various thicknesses were determined based on actual measurements. Finally, a series of experiments in the laboratory-scale and shipboard test on an actual ship show that the rope cutter does not significantly reduce the ship’s power performance or increase the structural vibration.

No abstract