Optimizing Fuel Consumption in Thrust Allocation for Marine Dynamic Positioning Systems

In offshore maritime operations, automated systems capable of maintaining the vessel’s position and heading using its own propellers thrusters to compensate exogenous disturbances, like wind, waves, currents, are referred as marine dynamic positioning (DP) systems. DP play a central role in several such drilling, pipe-laying, coring, ocean observation. These operations primary cause fuel consumption, having strong impact on overall footprint vessel. For this reason, we will face problem optimal thrust allocation an over-actuated vessel maintain with minimal consumption. State-of-the-art approaches simplify by roughly approximating it obtain simple, mostly convex, optimization that can be solved near-real time automation system. article, improve current following contributions. We exploit higher fidelity representation physical system, manipulate resulting accordingly, allow for near-real-time solutions conventional computing platforms on-board. evaluate quality proposal case study drilling unit equipped six thrusters. The results show is possible achieve up 5% savings respect approaches. Note Practitioners —This article was motivated minimizing consumption issue adopting simpler, yet related, problems surrogates, keeping tractable control. propose, instead, solve original state-of-the-art modelization system reasonable theoretical proprietaries near-real-time. additional alternative