condition monitoring
››› provides early warning of thruster component damage, lubricant degradation and seal leaks or failures.
Information is also provided to help optimise thruster operating parameters and effectively manage overhaul schedules. Real- time feedback ensures that any changes are highlighted as they start to occur, rather than at scheduled inspections when it may be too late to heed the warning and initiate remedial measures. “We have been fine-tuning our offshore- specific ThrusterSCAN product for the past two years with detailed technical input and support from Transocean,” reports Peter
PCMS specialist approved by ABS
ABS has recognised Wärtsilä as a propulsion condition monitoring service (PCMS) specialist, its approval acknowledging that the Finnish group’s service can determine the health condition of propulsion equipment without visual internal inspection.
On ships where an approved condition monitoring system based on PCMS is in effect the class requirement for a fixed five-yearly internal survey can be waived; instead, the CM process is audited on an annual basis. Released by Wärtsilä in September 2010, PCMS provides the customer with real-time advice and periodic operational feedback and reports on the condition of machinery, particularly of thrusters, which cannot be visually inspected unless the vessel or rig enters drydock. The system’s scope is therefore more extensive than those intended for more accessible equipment. A reliability-centred maintenance strategy can be applied to provide insight into current and future reliability, and to maximise the availability of the installation, helping to reduce total life-cycle costs. PCMS is also used as a tool from which field data can be developed to contribute to improving product quality. Wärtsilä’s installed PCMS base has grown significantly and mainly monitors steerable thrusters, although some systems are serving transverse thrusters and CP propellers. Several were sold before the official release, the first vessel outfitted with the final product being the semi-submersible Fjord Fairstar.
Classification societies have always required thrusters to be inspected internally every five years, but it is not a class requirement to overhaul a thruster every five years. Instead, a thruster has to be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations. The optimum time to overhaul a thruster depends on its health condition, design lifetime and operational history. With the approval of PCMS, therefore, major overhauls can now ›››
www.mpropulsion.com
Pilon, chief executive officer, Kittiwake Americas. “Developed and tailored for the particular requirements of the oil and gas industry, ThrusterSCAN provides essential condition monitoring information enabling rig operators to make confident decisions that optimise operations.”
ThrusterSCAN was developed to predict failures, support preventative maintenance and avoid downtime, particularly in offshore industry installations. Individual monitoring units installed locally by each thruster incorporate a touch-screen machine interface, metallic particle sensor, oil condition sensor, oil temperature sensor
and sampling pump.
A touch-screen display in the central control room offers an overview of the condition of all the thrusters. Compatible with existing condition monitoring systems, ThrusterSCAN is reportedly simple to retrofit.
“Not only can it predict failure and enable more efficient lubricant usage, it can demonstrate the effect of operating conditions, informing parameter adjustment to prolong life,” says Peter Pilon. “Service intervals can also potentially be extended based on condition rather than hours of operation, which assumes that thrusters are running at 100 per cent capacity all of the time.”
Drilling rig Songa Eclipse’s eight steerable thrusters will benefit from PCMS systems
oil monitoring vibration sensors* reel time feedback
hydraulic pressures
controls and nautical par
A typical Propulsion Condition Monitoring Service system Marine Propulsion I February/March 2012 I 85
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