Alternative Practices to Improve Surface Fleet Fuel Efficiency
Abstract
We explore the United States Navy s surface fleet policies and practices that, if changed, could provide significant fuel savings for fossil fuel ships. Recent and potential future budget cuts give fuel conservation and efficiency extreme importance. The policies and practices explored incur no overhead cost, and to reap the benefits of these changes, we simply need to prudently change in the way we operate. Conducting drift operations 10% of the nights while underway can save the Navy $14.1 million per year, and conducting single-generator operations 25% of the time underway can save $27.4 million per year. Removing the moving window requirement during a transit can reduce fuel consumption by as much as 21%. Utilizing the Transit Fuel Planner shows fuel savings as high as 19% during transits. Lowering the minimum fuel safety levels in 5th and 7th Fleets from 60% to 50% reduces fuel consumption for Military Sealift Command ships by $18.5 million per year. Changing or removing outdated policies and practices utilized by the surface fleet can save significant amounts of fuel, and therefore dollars, and can be done with the stroke of a pen.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA619481
Entities
People
- Dustin K. Crawford
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School