S-273 Project 613E Katran AIP/ECH
The boats of the 613 project were often modernized or altered. More than 30 submarines were modernized according to other projects, including the S-273 submarine was re-equipped according to the 613E Katran [katran = tar, the black, oily, sticky, viscous substance, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons derived from organic materials, and slang for a sailor, because of the traditional tarpaulin clothes]. This project developed an air-independent propulsion unit with an ECH - Elektr-Chimicheskie Heneratory - electro-chemical generator, notable for the unusual containers on the deck of the submarine.
The principle of the electrochemical generator was formulated in the 19thcentury, when attempts were made to use the oxidation reactions of natural fuels for the direct production of electrical energy. Back in 1839 Grove received a current from an oxygen-hydrogen element . However, he did not imagine the possibility of a practical, -. use of such a current source. Pavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov was the first to attempt to create a fuel cell suitable for practice . They were developed in 1895, "with elements of gas electrodes. Particular attention was paid to the development of fuel cells after the Great Patriotic War.
When designing electrochemical generators - fuel cells - electrodes with a porous structure are used. This led to the development of the theory of porous electrodes. In a fuel cell, an electrochemical fuel (reducing agent) and an oxidizing agent. Electrochemical generators have been created with a capacity from tens of watts to thousands of kilowatts. Specific energy depends on the type and amount of stored fuel in storage tanks. It is significantly higher than the specific energy of galvanic cells. The problem of the electrochemical generator is connected with the problem of hydrogen energy, in which the conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy will be carried out in an electrochemical generator. Electrochemical generators are still relatively expensive. For their widespread use, work is underway to find cheaper and more active catalysts for electrodes.
Using German experience, a number of large, medium and small submarines were created, armed with traditional torpedoes and mines. Among these 215 medium submarines of project 613 were built. The boats were built both with traditional power engineering and with the so-called "single engines", which allowed the submarine to maintain an underwater speed of over 20 knots for several hours. The most successful was the average submarine of Project 613 (WHISKEY class) - the most numerous in the history of Russian submarine building. The project of the boat was developed at TsKB-18 (later renamed TsKBMT " Rubin").
The main tactical property of submarines is stealth. But only nuclear submarines can fully realize this advantage. Despite the fact that diesel-electric submarines have a lower level of underwater noise, they have to periodically (once every 1 to 3 days for 6 to 12 hours) surface to surface or to periscope depth to charge the batteries. For this period of time, they turn into a defenseless surface target, limited in the ability to maneuver and available for detection by all means of naval reconnaissance.
The inability of diesel-electric submarines with a given degree of efficiency to fulfill the assigned combat missions in conditions of enemy domination in the theater of operations was clearly shown by the "Battle of the Atlantic" during World War II and the Caribbean crisis. The problem of a short stay under water was from the very beginning of the appearance of submarines at sea, and the designers, of course, were looking for a way to at least slightly increase this time interval, but the results were insignificant. A definite solution was the introduction of the RDP system, or "Snorkel", but the boat was still vulnerable at that moment and could be detected.
Dramatic technical solutions were required, and they were found in 1986. Of course, at this time, nuclear submarines had been in operation for quite a long time, but no one was going to refuse diesel-electric submarines, so the task was quite urgent. The issue was raised in the late 1970s in front of a number of Soviet design and research bureaus, the result of which was the Katran project.
The solution to this problem (increasing the time spent under water) for diesel-electric (non-nuclear) submarines became air-independent (anaerobic) engines. One of the most promising types of air-independent power plants for submarines are power plants with electro-chemical generators (EI with ECH). The Soviet Union was the first (1 year ahead of the FRG) who began testing a submarine on which the power plant was equipped with an ECH.
In the USSR, work on the creation of a non-nuclear submarine (NNS) with an ECH began in the first half of the 70s. XX century in the SKB "Sudoproekt" (currently OJSC CDB "Lazurit", Nizhny Novgorod). For testing and development of power plants with ECH, in 1979, the Lazurit Central Design Bureau developed a technical project for the conversion of a diesel-electric submarine of project 613 into an experimental submarine of project 613E (chief designer V.S. Permyakov , since 1988 R.I. Lafer ).
Until 1969 S-273 was part of the Northern Fleet, after which he was enlisted in the Baltic Fleet. After another 11 years of service, he was sent to Krasnoe Sormovo, where in 1980-1986 he was reequipped according to the 613E Katran project, developed by the Lazurit Design Bureau for testing a power plant with an electrochemical generator based on fuel hydrogen-oxygen cells.
The ECH worked on the principle of using the so-called "fuel cell" (hydrogen) electro-chemical device, similar to a galvanic cell, only chemical reagents and catalysts are forced from external containers. To save internal space and the safety of the crew, it was decided to place the "fuel cells" outside the hull of the boat, at least for the duration of the tests. The already operated submarine C-273 of project 613 was chosen as a base for an experimental submarine, hence the name of project 613E (SS-273).
An ECH generator with a capacity of 280 kW was installed on this submarine. Cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen were used as working reagents, stored in containers outside the strong hull of the ship. The power plant with an ECH generator included 28 blocks of direct current sources based on low-temperature hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells with sintered electrodes and liquid electrolyte. This power plant with ECG provided electric power to propulsion electric motors and general ship consumers in the economic mode.
For greater strength of attachment of the installations to the hull, the design of the light hull of the boat was slightly changed, part of the deck in the wheelhouse area was increased in width and the containers were half recessed into the hull. The work process of the submarine crew practically did not change. Submarines of project 613 could stay under water for up to 7 days, while only the smallest speed was allowed. A number of test trips showed good results, the boat "Katran" 613E could stay under water for up to four weeks.
He became the first submarine in the world with this type of power plant. Re-equipment of the S-273 submarine for the offshore testing phase of the power plant with electro-chemical generators was completed in 1986. The re-equipment was carried out while maintaining the unchanged strong hull and broadening the outer hull and superstructure in which the ECH reagent storage tanks are located. The EHG unit with service equipment is located in a separate compartment behind the central post instead of the dismantled living quarters and the second group of AB. Torpedo armament and one diesel engine were also removed from the submarine.
On August 21, 1986, he was renamed SS-273. After entering service as a test boat from 1987 to 1989, he served as a base for gaining experience with anaerobic power plants. In 1988, project 613E submarine S-273 successfully completed interdepartmental and state tests, during which the fundamental possibility of operating this type of air-independent power plants on submarines was confirmed. The entire scope of tests of the world's first submarine with ECH was completed in 1989.
Using an electrochemical generator, the SS-273 could remain submerged for about four weeks, moving at a speed of 2.5 knots, while the standard boats of Project 613 did not even last up to a week. After the tests, the boat was enrolled in the fleet, but he remained the only one. In December 1990, the boat was decommissioned and later cut into metal. On April 19, 1990, the boat was excluded from the fleet, on December 31, 1990, it was disbanded, and subsequently cut into metal. The boat of the Katran project became another quite successful "first in the world" project which was not introduced into mass production.
The first foreign submarine power plant which was equipped with electro-chemical generators appeared in Germany in 1988. At this time, at the German shipyard "Hovaldswerke Deutsche Werft", work was completed on inserting an additional section with an EHG unit into the hull of the U-1 diesel-electric submarine of project 205. This was in contrast to the Soviet practice, where the large tanks were installed externally. The tests of the German boat were successfully carried out in the period from 1988 to 1993, and the results obtained were used to create the world's first series of non-nuclear submarines with electro-chemical generators of Project 212.
