A design for ship stabilization by activated antiroll tanks

An activated antiroll tank system design for ship roll reduction was investigated. Considering the dynamics of the ship motion, tank flow, and variable-pitch impeller, a control law is derived based on optimal control and estimation theory. Finally, a series of numerical computations for a 1174 tonne ship without an antiroll tank system, with a passive tank system, and with the proposed activated antiroll tank system is performed. The results show that the proposed activated tank system has superior antiroll properties for free rolling, regular, and irregular sea loads to the passive tank system. In addition, this design has a very low sensitivity to variations in ship and tank dynamics. It shows that the proposed system is reliable and valid for practical use.