On the use of the capability polar plots program for dynamic positioning systems for marine vessels

As the capability of polar plots becomes better understood, improved dynamic positioning (DP) systems are possible since the control algorithms greatly depend on the accuracy of the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic models. The measurements and estimation of the environmental disturbances have an important role in the optimal design and selection of a DP system for a marine vessel. The main objective of this work is to present a new software program capable of estimating the environmental forces, thrusters capability calculations, and capability polar plots for marine vessels. A flowchart illustrating the logic and data flow of a developed software program, the Capability Polar Plot Program (CPPP), and the estimated results for two case studies for a scientific drilling vessel and a survey vessel are presented. It is obvious from the obtained results that the developed program has a future potential for the estimation of the Capability Polar Plots for marine vessels. Moreover, the developed software program would be considered as a marine tool for the thrusters' selection and their configuration for marine vessels and floating production units for the Oil and Gas industries.     

An experimental study on an auxiliary towing system for an FPSO using active thrusters

It is ideal to design the best hull shape for a floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) that meets all performance criteria from an engineering point of view. However, in reality, it is difficult to satisfy all the criteria at the same time. If one of the performances cannot meet the criteria, then additional equipment or systems are installed to improve that performance. In this paper, when an FPSO cannot meet the towing stability inherently, we attempt to establish a procedure for determining an auxiliary towing system. Firstly, various systems that can be applied to the FPSO are compared and reviewed to improve the towing stability of the FPSO. Among them, using three active thrusters was chosen as the auxiliary towing system. Improvement of towing stability was verified from a towing model test conducted at the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN). However, thruster cavitation was raised as a key problem when using thrusters for a purpose for which they were not intended. A thruster cavitation model test was additionally performed to check the safety of the thrusters. Based on these results, a safe operating range under extreme condition was confirmed by observing the occurrence of thruster cavitation. The predicted maximum unit total thrust of each thruster was compared with the observed safe operating range. Finally, the effectiveness and safety of the auxiliary towing system was verified.