1. Technical Field
The invention concerns a ship, in particular a cargo ship, comprising a Magnus rotor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A ship of that kind is already known from ‘Die Segelmaschine’ by Claus Dieter Wagner, Ernst Kabel Verlag GmbH, Hamburg, 1991, page 156. That involved investigating whether a Magnus rotor can be used as a drive or an ancillary drive for a cargo ship.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,584 also discloses a ship using a plurality of Magnus rotors for driving the ship. DD 243 251 A1 also discloses a ship having a Magnus rotor or a Flettner rotor. DE 42 20 57 also discloses a ship having a Magnus rotor. Attention is further directed to the following state of the art: U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,895, DE 101 02 740 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,848,382 B1, DE 24 30 630, and DE 41 01 238 A.
The Magnus effect describes the occurrence of a transverse force, that is to say perpendicularly to the axis and to the afflux flow direction, in respect of a cylinder which rotates about its axis and which has an afflux flow in perpendicular relationship to the axis. The flow around the rotating cylinder can be thought of as a superimposition of a homogeneous flow and a whirl flow around the body. The uneven distribution of the overall flow affords an asymmetrical pressure distribution at the periphery of the cylinder. A ship is thus provided with rotating or turning rotors which in the wind flow generate a force which is perpendicular to the effective wind direction, that is to say the wind direction which is corrected with the highest speed, and that force can be used similarly to the situation involving sailing, to drive the ship forward. The perpendicularly disposed cylinders rotate about their axis and air which is flowing thereto from the side then preferably flows in the direction of rotation around the cylinder, by virtue of surface friction. On the front side therefore the flow speed is greater and the static pressure is lower so that the ship is subjected to a force in the forward direction.