A numerical analysis of propeller pitch variations for wind assisted ship propulsion

Paper in proceeding, 2026

Wind propulsion has arisen as a key pathway for the decarbonisation of the maritime sector, carrying benefits such as reduced fuel consumption, lowering emissions and involving potential economical benefits. In spite of its advantages, in many cases wind propulsion technologies cannot act as a complete substitute to conventional marine propellers, but rather as a complement. This situation means that the propeller must be efficient over a wide range of conditions, since throughout a large part of its operation it will be operating in a lightly loaded setting due to the contribution from any wind generated thrust. Controllable pitch propellers are often regarded as an option to guarantee good efficiency on the propeller. This work uses the RANS equations to carry out a numerical analysis of a single-screw chemical tanker and corresponding controllable pitch propeller at full scale when operating for a varying range of wind thrust contributions and different pitch settings for the propeller blades. The results show additional power savings of up to 2% when increasing the propeller pitch, which tend to be slightly more impactful the larger the wind contribution is. Propulsive factors such as thrust deduction, effective wake fraction and relative rotative efficiency are seen to be dependent on the propeller pitch, whereas design methodologies often assume these factors to be constant. These results show important factors to consider in propeller design within a wind-assisted propulsion framework.