Abstract
Recently, the fuel price for fishing vessels have increased, as a result, the current balance of them have deteriorated. As a countermeasure for reducing fuel consumption, introduction of the wind-power generator was examined to the fishing vessels. When introducing the generator, it is necessary to consider the generated electric power as well as increase the output of the propulsion engine. To estimate the energy balance of the wind power generator and propulsion engine in the vessel and to determine the relationship between wind velocity and the generated electric power, we measured the force as the drag that works leeward of the wind power generator. The generated electric power of and the varying output of the propulsion engine were estimated from the data about the wind velocity and wind direction measured during the 33rd voyage of our university's research vessel, Umitakamaru. The results indicated that the energy balance was improved because the output of the propulsion engine decreased although the generated electric power reduced when the vessel ran leeward. In contrast, when the vessel ran windward, the energy balance deteriorated because the output of the propulsion engine increased although the generated electric power increased. We clarified the range of the apparent wind direction where the wind power generator stopped working.
