A fishing boat ready for its first flight
It's not far from the day of the 003 aircraft carrier's first flight, and we will continue to talk about the 003. Or is it the power system, should the 003 aircraft carrier be nuclear powered or conventional powered? This time we will start with the displacement of 003, because the displacement and the power system are closely related. Regarding the displacement of 003, there are various claims on the Internet, some say 78,000 tons, some say 80,000 tons, 85,000 tons, and some say 93,000 tons. The logic of saying 78,000 tons to 85,000 tons is basically divided into several types. The first is because the oil-fired boiler derived from the Varyag is not powerful enough, and even after the improvement of the Shandong, it cannot increase the power too much. Limited by the boiler power, the displacement of 003 is at most 70,000 tons to more than 80,000 tons, because the displacement is not enough for the power of the boiler. This is one logic, and another logic is to see research papers on certain ships, such as the figure below, that there is some connection with the development of continental aircraft carriers.
Ship test model parameters
Then the displacement of 003 should be similar. This is also a certain origin of the displacement of 78,000 tons. The logic of saying 80,000 tons and 85,000 tons of displacement is to first determine that 003 is conventional power, and it is easy to pull the egg if the step is too big. We also need to run in small steps, our technical level is not enough to create nuclear power, so 003 must be conventional power. Previously, some professional studies believed that the displacement of aircraft carriers exceeded 85,000 tons, which was not suitable for conventional power, so the displacement of 003 had to be less than 85,000 tons. Unfortunately, these logics really can't stand up to a little scrutiny. First determine that 003 is conventionally powered, and then demonstrate its displacement, or first assume that our oil-fired boiler technical level is not enough power, and then demonstrate its displacement. The starting point of this logic is not right, how do you come to the premise that 003 is conventional power, and where is the basis? Is there a basis for it? No! I can't say it clearly, but it looks a bit self-actualized!
Some people say that the basis is the data of the above papers, and this logic is still a little better, because at least the basis of logic is based on some objective facts. But the question is whether these objective bases are correct, can the waterline length of 292 meters and the width of 39.5 meters match the number of these data and the real 003? That's right! There are already countless photos on the Internet for analysis, and the waterline of 003 is 303-306 meters long.
The maximum waterline width of the 003 is 41.2-41.5 meters in appearance
Looking at the photo above, the width of 40.8 meters is already equivalent to the maximum waterline width of the Ford class, but here is only the tail end of the power cabin. The widest place is not here, and the widest place is still in the auxiliary cabin tens of meters in front. The auxiliary cabin is the widest part of the waterline, and according to the analysis of many photos, the maximum waterline width of 003 is 41.2-41.5 meters. Much larger than the data in the paper, the conclusions drawn from the paper are naturally thousands of miles away. Of course, some people say that the displacement of 003 is 93,000 tons, which is relatively reliable, because it is mainly based on the real waterline length of 003. But what is the displacement of 003, if you want to get a more accurate judgment, you need to rely not only on the length of the waterline, but also on the maximum waterline width, draft depth, square coefficient and so on. Only by considering these factors can we draw a relatively accurate judgment.
Some photos show the draft of the 003 is 0.5 meters or more larger than the Ford class. We have also analyzed a lot of this before, so I will not repeat it here. We still refer to the judgment of the U.S. CSIS Center for Strategic and International Studies, because people have a large number of high-definition military satellite pictures to refer to, and the analysis and judgment is much more accurate than those of us who take civilian satellite photos and leather gauges. CSS also believes that the 003 is a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier. Therefore, no matter the results of our soil method measurements, or the research of foreign professional institutions can prove that the displacement of 003 will not be less than 100,000 tons. With such a basic judgment, we naturally have a mind about whether the 003's power system is conventional power or nuclear power. Displacement of more than 85,000 tons is not suitable for conventional power, and it is also exceeded so much, so 003 does not have the basis for using conventional power.
In fact, CSIS also said that the technical capabilities of 003 and foreign nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are comparable, what is called equivalent? Can a conventionally powered aircraft carrier be comparable to a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier? Of course not, that's too far away. Otherwise, the United States brother would not have decommissioned all conventionally powered aircraft carriers, leaving only nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. There is also a strange view on the Internet that nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are not as good as conventional power, and conventionally powered aircraft carriers spend less time on maintenance than nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. In fact, starting with the Ford-class aircraft carrier, the time spent on maintenance by nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is shorter than that spent on maintenance by conventionally powered aircraft carriers. Not to mention that our military nuclear reactor is now a third-generation integrated reactor, the structure is greatly simplified, much stronger than Ford's second-generation reactor, and the maintenance time will only be shorter and not longer.
Although the Soviet Union's Type 1153 aircraft carrier is nuclear-powered, it still has a large chimney on the island
If the 003 is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, many people will start to struggle with the flue on the 003 ship island. Think of flues as a sign of conventional power. But does this logic hold? No, you can't! Look at the island of the former Soviet Union's Type 1153 nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, there is a big flue, right, but the 1153 is still nuclear-powered, can you say that it is conventional power? This is not to say that the 003 is hybrid, but at least there is no necessary correlation between the use of conventional power and the chimney on the ship's island. In fact, all aircraft carriers, whether conventional or nuclear-powered, have flues, because even if the main force is not conventional power, there must be conventional power auxiliary power systems on the aircraft carriers, and there must be flues with auxiliary power, and the difference is only the size of the flue. So why is the 003 flue so big, is it really big, in fact, at most it is equivalent to the size of the Shandong ship's flue. If the flue is only so large, its supporting power system simply cannot push the displacement of the 003 aircraft carrier that may be more than 100,000 tons. If 003 is really conventional power, such a large flue, it is estimated that even 20 knots can not run, not to mention that there is no electromagnetic catapult system, energy weapons on the ship did not consider.
USS Kitty Hawk
Speaking of which, some people may say that your auxiliary power flue needs to be so big, of course, it is necessary. Taking the Ford class as an example, the power distribution power of its power station has been 172 megawatts, which is not far from the 209 megawatts of propulsion power. You have to know that the 003 design and construction time is very late, and the demand for the power system may be even greater. Based on the flue area of 003, up to 8 QC280 gas turbines can be installed. Even if 8 QC280 gas turbines are installed, the power generation power is 240 MW, and it is certainly not enough to reach 8 units, because the distance from the power cabin to the ship island is very long, and the gas turbine is more sensitive to the intake and exhaust resistance. The caliber of the intake and exhaust pipes that are actually required is much larger. So it's actually possible to install up to five or six gas turbines. The total power generation power is also 150 MW to 180 MW, which is not enough for propulsion power, and it is almost the same when the auxiliary power is used to generate electricity. So the 003 aircraft carrier is conventionally powered or go to wash and sleep.
Kitty's flue
Speaking of which, someone may take the Kitty out again, and this really can't be compared. Because the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk in the last century did not consider infrared characteristics at all. So there is no need for any cooling structure, no matter how high the exhaust temperature is, no matter how fast the exhaust speed, it is sprayed out. However, modern aircraft carriers cannot but consider infrared characteristics and need to add cooling structures, so that the flue is not small. If you really want to compare, you still have to find a modern conventional aircraft carrier to compare, such as the Shandong warship.