Marine Maintenance Technology International - April 2016

(^22) ⠿ MARINE MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL | APRIL 2016
⠿ CONDITION-BASED MAINTENANCE
access is facilitated via the data interface,
engine and turbocharging data and
additional information can be made available
to the company’s service technicians
onshore for analysis.
Real-time support
Technological advances in electronics,
sensors, interfacing, data collection,
analysis, the scope offered by remote,
internet-based monitoring and increasing
communications bandwidth, are set to drive
shipping into a new era of maintenance
management. Digitization will fundamentally
change the way marine plant maintenance
is carried out, providing new solutions
that use big data and advanced analysis to
help companies raise operating efficiency,
machinery and vessel availability, optimize
asset performance, and counter a growing
shortage of skilled, experienced seagoing
engineering personnel.
In practice, failure rates
tend to be random
rather than age-related
Real-time monitoring is now able to
recommend vessel maintenance keyed
to performance. This evolution of CBM
determines not only the condition of
machinery, but also tracks the rise or fall in
performance. Wärtsilä recently unveiled its
new Lifecycle solutions, which is software
that assists managing the efficiency and
performance of assets by combining
advisory services with vessel data and
digital tools.
The Finnish company set a standard for
the industry with its ‘virtual engineering’
by applying augmented reality to support of
its field service personnel. Now an engineer
attending a ship will have specially designed
goggles with augmented-reality technology
to interact with remotely based technical
experts who can access Wärtsilä’s complete
database and know-how to guide the service
engineer in real-time to solve a difficult or
unusual problem.
linear motion monitoring specialist SKF
suggests that around 10-15% of shipowners
and managers are actually using condition
monitoring as a basic diagnostic tool, but do
not have a class-approved process as yet.
Technological developments, industry
discussion and vendors’ marketing literature
suggest that condition monitoring and
CBM will become the norm, although the
overwhelming majority of maintenance at
sea is still conducted through adherence
to scheduled, pre-planned maintenance
regimes. This standard approach is oblivious
to whether maintenance is technically
required or not. A preventive maintenance
scheme is based on the assumption that a
component has a given life, or an increased
failure risk after a certain point. In practice,
though, failure rates tend to be random
rather than age-related.
The merit of CBM is that it offers ongoing
insights into the condition of critical
components, affording the flexibility to
change maintenance plans in the overall
interest of ship availability and efficiency
while reducing the risk of unforeseen
machinery and equipment failures. The aim
is that no parts should be changed before
there are indicators of reduced performance
or an upcoming failure. Wärtsilä estimates
that optimized maintenance may enable
savings of up to 15% in maintenance costs.
Condition-based service
Condition monitoring is core to one
of the largest-ever long-term service
agreements entered into by Wärtsilä,
entailing 142 engines on 36 vessels of
the Royal Caribbean Cruises fleet. The
10-year maintenance and support pact
includes a subcontract to ABB, covering 170
turbochargers. Wärtsilä’s deal builds on an
earlier agreement embracing 29 of the cruise
ships, entailing extensive use of proprietary
CBM systems, for online performance
monitoring of individual engines throughout
each vessel’s operating profile.
By contracting out technical
management, Royal Caribbean can focus
on its core business and achieve better
maintenance planning, leading to greater
ship use and increased income while
enhancing predictability and optimization
of operational and maintenance costs.
Growing numbers of OEMs are
integrating condition monitoring into new
products. For years, leading marine engine
designers and producers have provided a
basis for data gathering. For instance, all
MAN Diesel & Turbo engines delivered since
2000 have an integrated data interface that
can be upgraded to a complete local system
for engine monitoring and diagnostics (the
proprietary CoCoS EDS system). If online