China's large ships are about to enter the era of autonomous' pods'
On December 1st, the S-POD series of marine podded thrusters, independently developed, designed, and manufactured by the 704th Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, was released to the world in Shanghai. The first domestically produced high-power T-shaped podded thruster was unveiled for the first time. The release of S-POD series pod thrusters marks China's successful breakthrough in international technological barriers in this field, achieving 100% localization and fully opening up a new era of independent research and development.
Over the course of 18 years, the power level of the pod thruster developed by the 704th Institute has been increased from 400 kilowatts to 10 megawatts, forming a complete spectrum and technical standard system for the S-POD series products. More than 20 patents have been applied for, 5 national standards and specifications have been formulated, and it has completely independent intellectual property rights, ending the history of relying entirely on imports.
The first domestically produced high-power T-shaped pod thruster has a power of 10 megawatts, equivalent to the traction power of the 8-car Fuxing high-speed railway train. Its technical performance is comparable to the international advanced level, breaking the foreign monopoly. This means that China has achieved a milestone innovation in high-power pod propulsion technology, leading China's large ships into the era of independent "pods".
The first domestically produced high-power T-shaped pod thruster. Picture provided by Institute 704
The first domestically produced high-power T-shaped pod thruster. Picture provided by Institute 704
The pod thruster is currently the most advanced new type of ship electric propulsion device in the world. It is the "propulsion center" of the ship's power system and the core equipment of high-end ships such as large cruise ships, scientific research ships, and icebreakers. The propulsion device adopts a "pod" structure design, which combines the motor and propeller installed in a shell and suspended at the bottom of the ship. It can rotate 360 degrees to achieve vector propulsion, bringing revolutionary changes to ship propulsion. Compared with traditional propulsion devices, it has the characteristics of good ship maneuverability, high operational efficiency, low maintenance costs, and low energy consumption.
It is reported that the 2-megawatt class pod thruster developed by the institute has been applied on the intelligent unmanned system mother ship "Zhuhaiyun" and the scientific research and teaching support ship "Tongji", with excellent performance. It has recently received a new order for polar research ships. The professional team for the development of pods at the 704th Institute has successively won honors such as the title of "Shanghai Employee Innovation Studio" in 2021, the first prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award of the China Shipbuilding Engineering Society in 2023, and the second prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. (End)
Information source: China News Network
