A systems engineering analysis of energy economy options for the DDG-51 class of U.S. Naval ships

Abstract

The SECNAV has identified an ambitious set of goals for the Navy's energy programs. The authors addressed DoN energy surety, economy, and ecology goals, scoped the problem to focus on the economy aspect of the DoN's energy goal, and further bounded the analysis to energy economy of the DDG-51 class of surface combatants which appeared to be an area with potentially high return on investment. The team determined that if energy was conserved or better utilized then the triad of SECNAV goals for energy surety, economy and ecology was positively addressed. This report documents a method to assess energy consumption that could be used to make trade-offs for current and future ships. Eight subsystems, along with fuel type, were researched for alternative solutions, with eight of nine subsystem alternatives resulting as "more cost effective." By implementing the optimal recommendations from our team findings and using the fully burdened cost of fuel, we estimate that the DDG-51 program could save $1 .9M per year per ship. For a fleet of 50 ships, this translates to a savings of $9 50M over ten years.