Sistemas alternativos de propulsão: implementação das turbinas a gás e motores elétricos como propulsão principal em navios mercantes

Abstract

Gas turbines have been being implemented on merchant ships as main propulsion machinery, replacing the diesel engines. Due to the great concern of shipowners with spending this have sought to save on fuel - as unleaded gasoline, kerosene, conventional diesel, biodiesel, vegetable oils and fats, as well as methanol, ethanol and gaseous fuels without the need for promoters additives ignition - and come up sat isfying to the results obtained with the turbines, which in addition to being more economical, have a smoother operation, easier maintenance, smaller footprint, decrease in vibration and noise levels, reduced number of moving parts when compared to an American V8 and an excellent power / weight ratio. However, its implementation in the merchant scenario is still questioned. Its construction is n ot cheap, due to the fact that the turbines reach very high temperatures, which increases the cost of the project; human predisposition to refute the new, whether it will work or not and maintaining what already works, among other factors challenging the e xtension of the application of gas turbines in the marine environment to replace diesel engines mostly. However, in the pursuit of sustainability and preserving the environment, reducing the use of fossil polluting fuels, with the injection of new technolo gies to implement more and more renewable energy sources in the marine environment, gas turbines as the main production source of energy electricity on board, and electric motors, as consumers of this energy for main propulsion of vessels, form a duo that achieves high level of efficiency and performance and are strong competitors as an alternative to the old diesel propulsion.