Electrically powered manoeuvring of water jets

Abstract: A shift towards electric and hybrid propulsion within the marine sector create new challenges for conventional water jet units manoeuvred by hydraulic systems. The high efficiency in high speed water jet crafts benefit from being powered by electricity but will be compromised by constantly running hydraulic pumps, draining available electric capacity on-board. Wear and tear on hydraulic components are also an environmental contamination hazard, due to high pressure oil and exposed cylinder rods. However, conventional hydraulic power packs with subsystems to manoeuvre water jet unit is a well proven and reliable marine application.Steer-by-wire is not an uncommon subject, as it is frequently used in several industries such as aviation, automotive and offshore. The purpose of the study is to prepare a concept design proposal with CAD-models and drawings of electrically powered manoeuvring system for Marine Jet Powers DRB 750 steering units. The study did a literature study on the topic and qualitative research to fulfil the purpose. A generic product and concept development is conducted and computer aided design is done to present proposed prototype design.Results from the research gave 4 commercially available electrical actuators, all with significantly different functionality from each other resulting in 4 different concepts and thereof 1 prototype proposal integrated in the waterjet unit according to DNV standards.The selected concept in the study will need some further manufacturing configuration and optimisation for a full installation and working prototype.