FEATURE/Cycloidal Propellers Bring 360 Degree Agility, Firefighting Power to Port of Los Angeles' Fireboat 2.

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Fireboat 2, an impressive addition to the Los Angeles Fire Department's fleet, is a floating firefighter that protects America's busiest port.

Fireboat 2, 105 feet long and 29 feet wide, patrols 35 miles of waterfront in the Port of Los Angeles's 7,500-acre harbor. It can apply water or foam at waterline level and up under docks and wharves. It is equipped to shoot a stream of water up to 600 feet and delivers 38,000 gallons of water per minute. That's enough to fill a 20 x 50-foot swimming pool to a depth of five feet.

But the water has to go to the right spot, and that's where Fireboat 2 really shines. Fireboat 2 can go forward, backward, sideways, or at any angle with equal ease. Where other fireboats are dancing bears, Fireboat 2 is a ballerina with 360 degrees of agility. She can virtually pirouette.

The key to all this agility is the use of twin Voith Schneider(R) propellers. That's a two-dollar term for a sophisticated and service-proven technology that eliminates inherent problems in getting boats to go where they need to.

Boats can be cumbersome to maneuver. They're big and heavy. Their propulsion and control systems push against water, which behaves very differently than solid ground. Apply full throttle to a boat and the water moves backward as the vessel moves forward. With a land-based vehicle, the pavement stays put when you stomp on the gas, no matter how many ponies are under the hood.

Traditional boat design separates propulsion (the propeller) and control (the rudder). But Fireboat 2 combines propulsion and control in one package.

The core concept of the Voith Schneider(R) propulsion system is the integration of propulsion and control into one unit that is equally effective in any position. A cycloidal propulsion system doesn't look like a propeller. It looks something like a giant centrifugal fan, the kind used in home heating and air conditioning systems, set on its end. Where the centrifugal fan might have dozens of blades, the Voith cycloidal propeller has only five or six. The angle of each blade is mechanically controlled. It is this coordinated mechanical control that gives the system its flexibility. The five or six blades of the unit protrude vertically through the hull, driven from above, with the axis of rotation perpendicular to the hull. It provides propulsion in 360 degrees.

Twin 1800-hp engines drive Fireboat 2 to speeds of up to 13 knots. Two other diesel engines, rated at 1555-hp each, drive pumps that send water and foam to the firefighting monitors and hose outlets. Fireboat 2 was built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland, Wash.

Nimble handling has become the expected standard on other workhorse equipment, from skid-steer loaders to riding lawnmowers to helicopters. But Fireboat 2 sets a new standard of agility for fireboats, thanks to the innovative design of the Voith cycloidal propulsion system.

Voith sets standards in paper technology, power transmission engineering, power generation and industrial services. Established in January 1867, it has a current workforce of approximately 24,000, sales of EUR 3.1 billion and over 180 locations worldwide. It is one of the largest family-owned enterprises in Europe.

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