Aluminum Propeller Contributions to the Shipping Industry

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Use of aluminum propellers in the marine industry have seen tremendous rise in the past two dacades, this has come about due to the advances that have been made on the metal itself. Aluminum metal is the most common metal found on earth’s solid matter making up 7 %. The metal is made up of 270 different minerals which naturally occur on the planets solid surface but require an intense chemical reaction to bond and form the material.

aluminum propellers

This chemical reaction occurs rarely thus leaving the minerals ore deposits known as bauxite in formations that can be mined and be shipped for processing, aluminum on its natural or pure stage is a metal that carries many good qualities that are desired in the engineering world but also had a major negative quality. The metal when in a pure state is soft and malleable; this made it practically unusable on comportments or parts that underwent high pressures when working.

The metal remained in use on marine vessel where it was used on parts that required minimal pressures, but two decades ago researches made a breaker through when they developed a stronger form of aluminum that could withstand more heat and was stronger. This was what the engineering industry was waiting for since they wanted to use the metal due to its anti corrosive and light weight qualities, this was a welcomed discovery, and marine engineers began immediately designing parts like the ship and boat aluminum propeller among many other parts that required to be protected from corrosion. The propeller was the main concern since it is exposed to salty corrosive water and required replacement over time, with aluminum the problem would be solved and gives two major advantages:

1. Anti corrosive properties: the corrosion problem has and still posses’ major concerns in the marine industry and vessel manufacturers and owners must ensure proper maintenance to prevent corrosion from destroying their vessels. With the evolution of stronger aluminum the problem has seen significant improvement in some parts and components on board marine vessels. Since it is not practical to manufacture the complete vessel from strengthened aluminum some smaller parts like the propeller and rudders are being manufactured using the metal.
2. Light weight: aluminum light weight is a special property that few metals have and one that many engineers desire, aluminum weight is almost half the weight of steel but a little weaker than steel. This property has increased the capability of usage of metals; marine engineers realize that the weight difference contributes immensely towards the power produced which in turn reduces the fuel consumed by marine vessels. Fuel economy has been a major concern in the shipping industry due to huge quantities that are consumed by marine engines. The propeller made from aluminum reduce fuel cost something that the vessel owners have welcomed.

bauxite

These positive factors noted on aluminum propellers has brought  major changes in the shipping industry fuel economy but further concerns are yet to be solved concerning the use of aluminum propellers. Factors such as brittleness and the ability to adjust pitch remain major factors shipping companies would like to the resolved with regard to aluminum propellers
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Adjustable Propeller Pitch

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  0diggAdjustable propeller pitch is an important capability in the shipping industry since in increases fuel efficiency, speed and thus of a vessel, with this in mind designs must constantly we modified to further improve economy and production on each vessel. The technology is more commonly used in the navy and cost guard  but is a major requirement that commercial vessel companies would like to see being added to ships and boats, this is not so simple to do since the specialized propeller are complicated and increase maintenance requirements onboard marine vessel.

The propeller are also considerable more expensive and must be specially made for most vessels.

Although the marine industry  are pressuring engineers to develop adjustable propellers for commercial vessels, engineers argue that the safety of vessel must be considered as priority and current adjustable propeller pitch designed may not have attained the required levels required. Reliability is a major concern in the commercial shipping industry, due to tight schedules that vessel must meet, this is brought about due to fluctuating world market prices of commodities. Delay due to breakdown or mechanical failure could lead to million of dollars’ of losses to the concerned parties, with this factor in mind many commercial shipping companies maintain the pressure to deliver efficient propeller while relying on the more efficient fixed props.

Currently the designs are in use on navy and coast guard vessel that pursue suspects or defend nations from invasion, some specialized vessel have been installed with the adjustable propeller to be able to deliver more thrust thus moving faster and covering more distance over a shorter time. Many of the vessels installed with this adjustable propeller are designed to sprint and carry fewer loads to reduce drag and pressure exerted on the propeller and transmission. Commercial marine vessels are responsible for caring thousand of tons of weight and the adjustable propeller are yet to be tested on commercial vessel.

Not all commercial vessel owners require this adjustment either, it has been noted that the oil tanker sector is the most in requirement of the adjustable propeller pitch, this is due to the fact that majority of the vessel travel empty one way of their trip only loaded while moving from oil field to consumer and empty while travelling back. Even when empty oil tankers have been noted to consumer large volumes of fuel, to reduce this unnecessary usage of fuel vessel owners propose that oil tankers should be fitted with adjustable propeller pitch to help increase thrust and reduce fuel used while empty.

The research is still ongoing, and engineers showing concerns over safety and violability, they argue that these concerns must be solved before any designed approved as that matter of safety and reliability must be addressed and solutions found. Until then engineers hope to improve aluminum props to increase fuel efficiency as aluminum designs have already be proven to be both reliable and safe to use in the commercial sector
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