Page 26: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 15, 1969)

Non-Reversing Turbo-Gear Powerplants Discussed By Northern California Section Attending Northern California Section Meeting were, left to right: Lester Rosen-blatt, national meetings chairman, M. Rosenblatt & Sons, and W. B. Hill, North-ern California Section meetings chairman, Babcock & Wilcox. The design economies and opera-tion of modern 130,000-dwt ore/oil ships, as being built by the Mar-cona Corporation, was the subject of the March meeting of the North-ern California Section of The So-ciety of Naval Architects and Ma-rine Engineers, which was held at the Engineers Club in San Fran-cisco. The meeting was conducted by Hugh Downer, Section chair-man and vice-president of the Mar-cona Corp. Nominations for Section officers for the coming year were announc-ed as follows: Graham Fraser, Pa-ceco-chairman; Wm. B. Hickman, Ocean Machinery-vice-chairman, and Arthur J. Haskell, Matson Navigation Co.-secretary-treasurer. Nominated for the executive com-mittee were : David Seymour, naval architect, and Ben Andrews, Stan-ford Research Institute. Prior to the technical portion of the meeting, the 'T. Douglas Mac-Mullen Award,' an engraved pew-ter set, was presented to the im-mediate past chairman, Thomas T. Lunde. Arthur J. Haskell, papers com-mittee chairman, introduced the au-thors of the paper "Vanguard Class of 130,000-DWT Ore/Oil Carriers," N.J. Thompson and T.B. Thomas of the Marcona Corpora-tion. This paper deals with all fa-cets of bulk carrier economic analy-sis, design and construction. These vessels contain several "firsts" Marshall Silverthorne (left) accepting "Cer-tificate of Appreciation" for T. T. Lunde from Hugh Downer, Section chairman. 28 "5. Turbines with c-p propellers operating at almost constant rpm enable installation of a generator and feed pump driven through a clutch from the main turbine. This reduces the amount of auxiliary machinery required and adds to fuel economy. "6. Since these are ore/oil ships, a large boiler is needed in any re-spect for tank cleaning and cargo heating. "7. A turbine plant requires con-siderably less maintenance than a diesel. In Marcona's type of opera-tion, long voyages with a limited time in loading and discharging ports, it is practically impossible to carry out the preventative main-tenance necessary on large diesel plants without costly offhire time. This has been conservatively esti-mated as 5-6 more days offhire than the comparable turbine plant. "8. Replacement parts and main-tenance costs are much higher on a diesel than on a steam turbine. Maintenance costs for a diesel ship, the same size as the Vanguard-class, would run $20,000 more per year. "9. The use of the steam turbine with gear allows a decrease in the propeller speed to 85 rpm?result-ing in a larger propeller with great-er efficiency. "A reheat cycle was studied but the consensus was that there had not been enough experience with these types of installations to justify their incorporation into these ships. However, a c-p installation is ideal for a reheat cycle, and Marcona hopes that perhaps such an installa-tion on one of our future buildings can be justified." Hilder To Represent French Manufacturer Of Deck Machinery J. P. Tanquerey, of the Marine Department, Brissonneau et Lotz, Nantes, France, has announced the appointment of Jack R. Hilder Jr., as U.S.A. Gulf Coast agent for the firm's line of deck machinery. Brissonneau et Lotz has over 100 years of experience in the design and manufacture of equipment for the marine industry. Products include windlasses and winches with a a-c motor drive or ac/dc with electronic control, electro-hydraulic deck cranes, elec-tric and electro-hydraulic self-ten-sioning automatic mooring winch-es, chainstoppers, universal fair-leads, auxiliary rollers and other deck machinery. According to Mr. Hilder, there is a great interest among the drill-ing contractors and other oil coun-try users in the automatic mooring systems developed by the firm. The Neptune Pentagone 81, semi-sub-mersible drilling rig, is equipped with Brissonneau et Lotz deck equipment including its 125-ton an-choring winches. Inquiries in the Gulf Coast area should be directed to Jack R. Hil-der Jr., Special Offshore Services, P.O. Box 7576, Metairie, La. 70002. Maritime Reporter/Engineering News among which is a non-reversing turbo-gear set with a controllable-pitch propeller. The authors esti-mated that the additional cost for this type of powerplant including interest, will be recovered in four years. The authors gave the following factors as influencing the selection of steam turbine/c-p propellers. "At present, the Marcona fleet con-sists of seven steam turbine and two large-bore, slow-speed direct diesel ships. During the prelimi-nary design stages of the Van-guard-class ships, the main aim among which is a non-reversing turbo-gear set with a controllable-pitch propeller. The authors esti-mated that the additional cost for this type of powerplant including interest, will be recovered in four years. The authors gave the following factors as influencing the selection of steam turbine/c-p propellers. "At present, the Marcona fleet con-sists of seven steam turbine and two large-bore, slow-speed direct diesel ships. During the prelimi-nary design stages of the Van-guard-class ships, the main aim was to have the best equipment, which represented the maximum in efficiency, and to only incorporate tried and tested developments, thus the steam turbine/controllable-pitch propeller. This choice was made based on the following con-clusions : "1. With a c-p propeller maneu-verability of the ship is outstand-ing. Authors at the Northern California Section meeting were, left to right: N. J. Thomp-son, staff naval architect and T. B. Thomas, staff marine engineer, Marcona Corporation. "2. Full power can be obtained astern as well as ahead with a c-p propeller, a condition which is im-possible to obtain with a fixed-pitch propeller regardless of the type of powerplant. On a steam turbine, the astern element is elimi-nated. Controllable-pitch propelled ships can come to a crash stop from full ahead in considerably less time than can similar ships equipped with fixed-pitch propellers, and a maneuver is carried out with con-siderably less strain on the overall ship. "3. Should one blade be dam-aged, that blade can be replaced without drydocking the vessel sim-ply by ballasting the ship down by the head and raising the stern suf-ficiently to uncover the wheel hub. Conversely, damage of one blade on a fixed-pitch propeller usually requires drydocking of the ship and removal of the entire propeller. "4. It is not necessary to pur-chase and carry on board a spare propeller, as in the case with a fixed-pitched propeller. Because each blade is independently attach-ed to the hub, it is necessary only to carry one blade as a spare. 1 9 § 1 Wk w gjr maneuver is carried out with con-siderably less strain on the overall ship. "3. Should one blade be dam-aged, that blade can be replaced without drydocking the vessel sim-ply by ballasting the ship down by the head and raising the stern suf-ficiently to uncover the wheel hub. Conversely, damage of one blade on a fixed-pitch propeller usually requires drydocking of the ship and removal of the entire propeller. "4. It is not necessary to pur-chase and carry on board a spare propeller, as in the case with a fixed-pitched propeller. Because Litton Appoints Preisser President Of Great Lakes Corp. Victor L. Preisser Victor L. Freisser has been ap-pointed president of Litton Great Lakes Corporation, a division of Litton Industries, Ellis B. Gardner, Litton senior vice-president in charge of the Marine Group, an-nounced. In his new position, Mr. Preisser will direct the transportation sys-tems activities of Litton's Marine Group on the Great Lakes. He will be located in Cleveland. Previously, Mr. Preisser was as-sistant vice-president of the Chi-cago & Northwestern Railroad Company, where he was in charge of developing transportation sys-tems programs. He also organized and directed the Chicago & North-western's accident and loss preven-tion department. Mr. Preisser received a bachelor of science degree in physical sci-ences from Stanford University and an MBA degree in transportation and operations research, also from Stanford. He spent four years in consulting and research work with Stanford Research Institute prior to joining the Chicago & North-western. Maryland Names Ferrari Ass't Sales Manager Gino Ferrari Gino Ferrari has been promoted to assistant manager of sales for Maryland Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, according to an an-nouncement by Harry A. Berke, manager of sales for the company. Mr. Ferrari came to the company five years ago, from Todd Ship-yards Corporation, where he was employed in ship repair sales since 1953. He is a native of Italy and a graduate of St. John's University, Brooklyn, N.Y. He is a member of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Propeller Club and Sportsmen Club.