This study presents a practical optimization procedure that couples the NavCad power prediction tool and a nonlinear optimizer integrated into the Matlab environment. This developed model aims at selecting a propeller at the engine operating point with minimum fuel consumption for different ship speeds in calm water condition. The procedure takes into account both the efficiency of the propeller and the specific fuel consumption of the engine. It is focused on reducing fuel consumption for the expected operational profile of the ship, contributing to energy efficiency in a complementary way as ship routing does. This model assists the ship and propeller designers in selecting the main parameters of the geometry, the operating point of a fixed-pitch propeller from Wageningen B-series and to define the gearbox ratio by minimizing the fuel consumption of a container ship, rather than only maximizing the propeller efficiency. Optimized results of the performance of several marine propellers with different number of blades working at different cruising speeds are also presented for comparison, while verifying the strength, cavitation and noise issues for each simulated case.

中文翻译：

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发动机-螺旋桨的选择程序相结合，可将指定速度下的燃油消耗降至最低

这项研究提出了一种实用的优化程序，该程序将NavCad功率预测工具与集成到Matlab环境中的非线性优化器结合在一起。这种开发的模型旨在在平静水域条件下，针对不同船速在发动机工作点选择螺旋桨，以最小的燃料消耗。该程序同时考虑了螺旋桨的效率和发动机的特定燃料消耗。它专注于降低船舶预期运行状况的油耗，并与船舶航路一样以互补的方式提高能源效率。该模型可帮助船舶和螺旋桨设计人员选择几何的主要参数，瓦格宁根B系列固定螺距螺旋桨的工作点，并通过最小化集装箱船的燃油消耗而不是仅最大化螺旋桨效率来定义变速比。还提供了几种不同螺旋桨以不同巡航速度工作的船用螺旋桨性能的优化结果，用于比较，同时针对每个模拟情况验证了强度，气蚀和噪声问题。