10160380Streamlining High Fidelity Simulation for Wind Assisted Ship DevelopmentClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKInternally from regulators and externally via governments and consumers requiring clean supply chains, maritime has never before been under more scrutiny to reduce emissions. While the industry focuses on drop-in "sustainable" replacements for fossil fuels, as a standalone solution these continue to suffer from high cost, lower energy density, lack of infrastructure and availability, complexity in storage and distribution. Wind Propulsion Technology (WPT) remains the most viable means of achieving significant emissions reduction today, with independent analysis showing greater than 25% reduction in carbon intensity possible (MEPC79/INF.21), and internal studies at Spaera achieving significantly higher figures when combined with an appropriately designed vessel. In addition, WPT requires no infrastructure or significant ongoing costs -- it is the only energy saving technology that pays for itself. While WPT has great promise, it is struggling to achieve significant market adoption. Early trials have left operators underwhelmed, with systems unable to match supplier performance claims. As part of prior projects, Spaera has identified significant performance knock downs when WPT is deployed on traditional commercial vessels. Besides forward thrust, potent WPT devices impart strong lateral forces and moments that affect the balance of a ship, requiring significant rudder correction. One of the key observations from Spaera's CMDC4 project (verified both in towing tank testing and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations with self-propulsion) is that power consumption to maintain design speed can see up to 50% increase when rudder angle of 20 degrees is applied to rebalance the vessel. The more powerful the WPD, the more powerful this effect, placing a ceiling of maximum power that can be derived. Overcoming this issue is a significant challenge. CFD techniques necessary to model the complexity of the interactions are both computationally expensive and require significant skilled human resource. Each vessel behaves differently, meaning analysis cannot easily be repeated. This project aims to generate advanced CFD simulation templates that fully represents the required interactions in a high fidelity, accurate and repeatable manner, with automated workflows for the import and preparation of both vessel geometries and environmental scenarios, as well as export into full lifetime performance and cost analysis. Using this we can analyse the required range of conditions to resolve upon the most efficient design for Spaera's overall ambition -- developing the first economically viable net zero emission ship.