Ship owners and operators realize that hull fouling causes drag-related speed loss and increased fuel consumption when more power is delivered in order to maintain ship schedules. Hull fouling is also a topic of growing environmental concern and international regulation as it relates to green house gas emissions and the carriage of aquatic invasive species on fouled hulls.

Because of the rising cost of fuel and hull coatings, hull cleaning and drydocking decisions should be based on hard scientific data, rather than gross level indicators or subjective “guesstimates”.  MACSEA offers an independent hull monitoring service to detect hull fouling as early as possible to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The new Hull Medic service uses automatic onboard data acquisition to gather and analyze salient ship performance data.

“Accurate shaft torque measurements are essential for early detection of hull fouling”, remarks MACSEA’s President, Kevin Logan. “Existing torquemeters on customers’ ships have historically been unreliable and inaccurate. We can eliminate much of this uncertainty by using Binsfeld’s TorqueTrak system, which based on our experience, is one of the best products on the market, with proven accuracy. By integrating TorqueTrak into our offering, we not only provide convenient “one-stop shopping” for our Hull Medic service, but our alliance with Binsfeld Engineering also allows us to provide superior value and technical support to our customers.”

Bob Holden, Sales Manager for Binsfeld Engineering, states “MACSEA’s Hull Medic is a great application for our TorqueTrak Revolution instrument, which measures the true mechanical Torque, RPM and Power on the propeller shaft.  Coupling TorqueTrak with Hull Medic, hull fouling can actually be measured.  Hull cleaning and maintenance can now be condition based – done only at the right time when Hull Medic indicates the need.”

MACSEA’s Hull Medic calibrates each ship’s propeller as a power absorption dynamometer, using propeller characteristics and “clean-hull” ship performance data. The calibration establishes the unique relationship between speed, propeller rpm, and shaft power for each vessel. The propeller can then be used to track power/fuel/emissions increases over time. The technique works for ships with single, double, fixed, or variable pitched propellers.

About MACSEA Ltd.

MACSEA provides health monitoring solutions to the marine industry to ensure that ships’ machinery plants and hulls are operating at top efficiency. Our products, services, and expertise makes Condition-Based Maintenance implementation a turn-key operation for our customers. With the benefit of over three decades of experience and numerous shipboard installations behind us, we help customers avoid equipment breakdowns, extend overhauls, and reduce maintenance and operating costs. This translates into increased profits, improved machinery reliability, and maximum mission readiness.

About Binsfeld Engineering Inc.

Binsfeld Engineering Inc. specializes in rotating-to-stationary data communication systems, with digital instrumentation technologies that provide accurate and reliable signals from rotating sensors. Binsfeld diagnostic telemetry systems, inductive powered monitor and control systems and on-site consulting services have a proven track record for precision and reliability, both in the U.S. and worldwide. In 2002, Binsfeld introduced the TorqueTrak Revolution system, a permanently powered rotary data transmitter that provides continuous torque, RPM, power and rotational direction measurements. Founded in 1971, Binsfeld is now a world leader in rotating data telemetry technology, providing innovative instrumentation solutions and creating value for its customers.

www.binsfeld.com

As a ship’s hull condition degrades due to marine fouling, more power and fuel are needed to maintain service speeds. A by-product of the increased fuel consumption is increased Green House Gas emissions. Rising fuel costs, increasing hull maintenance expenses, and mounting environmental regulations make hull condition monitoring a crucial tool for prudent ship operators to eliminate energy waste due to hull fouling, reduce carbon emissions, and eliminate the carriage of invasive species between ports. In addition, the uncertainty over paint performance based on manufacturer claims can now be eliminated through independent, scientific hull condition monitoring.

Methods for using a ship’s propeller to accurately track  power and fuel penalties due to hull fouling will be presented, along with salient results of using the techniques to monitor two Navy sisterships over a year-long time period. This information may be useful for both Naval and commercial ship operator personnel responsible for hull/propeller maintenance and hull paint selection.

The Symposium will take place on May 25-26, 2011 at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. More information can be found at the ASNE Web site:

http://www.navalengineers.org/events/individualeventwebsites/ISS2011/Pages/ASNELandingPage.aspx

Click below to download the paper …

Using a Ships Propeller for Hull Condition Monitoring

To combat these issues, shipping companies are relying on modern hull coating systems like foul-release paint to provide a ready solution. Foul-release and most other types of marine hull paint are expensive and shipping companies have had few easy choices for accurately measuring paint performance and cost effectiveness before making fleet purchasing decisions. Some paint companies are now offering performance guarantees when ship owners buy their monitoring service along with the paint. This is like putting the fox in charge of the hen (data) house.

Foul-release paint may be a good environmental choice, but because this paint contains no biocides, it is susceptible to marine bio-fouling, which can become severe if a ship remains at birth for extended time periods. After reaching mature states, some forms of fouling may not “release” when the ship returns to open ocean steaming. A recent study showed that the resulting fuel penalty can be quite severe (over $100,000 per month in extra fuel burn for a single ship).

Ship owners need accurate scientific data to support intelligent decisions on coating systems and hull cleaning intervals. MACSEA now offers an independent hull monitoring service designed to save fuel and reduce emissions by detecting hull fouling as early as possible. The new service, called Hull Medic, uses automatic onboard data acquisition to gather salient ship performance data and transmit it ashore for detailed analysis. Hull Medic will typically review 100,000’s of a ship’s data records per month, providing high-accuracy statistical analysis for earlier detection of hull fouling.

Hull Medic Calibrates Propeller as Measuring Device

Hull Medic calibrates each ship’s propeller as a power absorption dynamometer, using propeller characteristics and “clean-hull” ship performance data. The calibration establishes the unique relationship between speed, propeller rpm, and shaft power for each vessel. The propeller can then be used to track power/fuel/emissions increases over time. The technique works for ships with single, double, fixed, or variable pitched propellers. Performance reports are provided to shipping management on a timely basis such that significant fuel penalties don’t go unnoticed.

Hull Medic calibrates each ship’s propeller as a kind of power absorption dynamometer, resulting in a highly accurate, customized model of ship performance. Coupled with advanced database filtering, high accuracy models allow Hull Medic to detect ship performance losses earlier than other methods of ship performance monitoring, allowing hull maintenance and fuel savings to occur earlier.

Even small amounts of hull fouling translate into large fuel penalties for active ships and the sooner the hull is cleaned, the more fuel can be saved. The fuel penalty of the Navy ship resulted from the ship sitting at birth throughout most of the warm summer months. Hull Medic detected the performance loss as soon as the ship returned to normal operations. The Navy then verified the extensive fouling through an underwater hull inspection and immediately ordered the hull to be cleaned.

The ship was one of two vessels involved in a Navy study to evaluate the relative effectiveness of alternate hull paint systems on fuel economy. Both ships were painted with different coatings during drydocking and outfitted with Hull Medic. Propeller models were then calibrated and the ships were monitored over the year-long study. Contact MACSEA for further information.

Navy Projects 13-to-1 ROI with DEXTER

An independent Business Case Analysis for installing DEXTER on the Navy’s LSD class vessels predicted over a 13-to-1 return on investment (ROI) in maintenance cost savings. The study was conducted by ASC (Washington, DC) at the request of the LSD life cycle support office. Actual cost data from historical LSD maintenance activities was analyzed to determine DEXTER’s cost avoidance potential.

All ships in the LSD class are undergoing a mid-life modernization to replace obsolete systems with modern technology to cover their next fifteen years of service life. DEXTER is now an integrated component of the new machinery control system., operating on Windows-based MCS workstations located throughout the machinery spaces. DEXTER acquires real-time machinery data directly from the new control system’s network, allowing DEXTER’s diagnostic and prognostic software modules to perform real-time equipment fault analysis and prognostic reporting to the crew. In practice, operators will verify the reported faults and either stop equipment for repair, make adjustments, or change operating profiles to avoid failures or improve fuel efficiency. Since DEXTER is primarily software, its neural network-based diagnostic and prognostic capabilities can be readily integrated into most modern control systems.

The Navy study examined approximately ten thousand historical engine casualty data records and modeled this data through DEXTER’s diagnostic intelligence features to determine which casualties would have been avoided if DEXTER were installed.

This resulted in a projected maintenance cost avoidance of approximately $44.5 million over the next 15 years of remaining life of this ship class.
The projected ROI for DEXTER was estimated at $13 to $1., with a payback period of approximately 13 months.

In other Navy applications, DEXTER provides expert-level real-time machinery health monitoring, notifies crew of impending casualties, suggests maintenance and corrective actions to avoid casualties, and accurately documents historical machinery plant operating parameters, much like a “black-box” data recorder. Through standard interfaces, DEXTER fault information can also be fed into any computerized maintenance management system for automatic generation of maintenance work orders.

The study concluded that DEXTER offers a positive ROI, short payback, and advances the Navy’s Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) effort. Based on these findings, the Navy decided to install DEXTER on all twelve ships of the LSD 41/49 class as part of their Mid-Life modernization. All ships of the LSD class will undergo mid-life modernization over the next five years to ensure that they remain capable assets and can meet mission requirements through 2038.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is addressing this issue by taking steps to bring a control mechanism to mitigate the spread of invasive species through ship hull bio-fouling. The fifteenth session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases (BLG 15) met in London in early February to develop “Guidelines for the control and management of ships’ bio-fouling to minimize the transfer of invasive aquatic species”. These Guidelines will now go forward to the July session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 62) for adoption.

Watch IMO’s video on Invasive Species here >>

Adopting guidelines on bio-fouling is a first step toward IMO regulations that address the transport of invasive aquatic species on ship hulls.

Preventing the Spread of Invasive Species with Effective Hull Maintenance

Hull Medic’s high accuracy ship performance models detect performance losses earlier than other methods, when bio-fouling is in the earlier stages of growth. MACSEA sees the mounting environmental regulatory pressure by the IMO and others as creating a growing market need for Hull Medic. Hull Medic’s Key Performance Indicators clearly show when the hull needs cleaning and at the earliest possible time, when cleaning costs are at a minimum.

In addition to spreading invasive aquatic species, hull fouling causes speed loss, extra power and extra fuel consumption. Hull cleaning is one method available to ship owners to implement an effective hull maintenance program that will keep hulls clean, save fuel, and avoid the spread of invasive species. Prudent companies conduct periodic underwater hull inspections to determine the extent of hull fouling, driving decisions to perform cleaning. The inspections and the subsequent cleaning both cost money. In particular, hull cleaning costs can be significant if a hull is heavily fouled.

“Early detection of fouling is a triple win situation for the ship owner”, remarks Kevin Logan, MACSEA’s President. “If an owner can clean the hull at the right time, the ship saves fuel, reduces carbon emissions, and effectively eliminates the risk of carrying invasive species on its hull”.

DEXTER acquires real-time engine performance data directly from the machinery control system shipboard network. DEXTER’s diagnostic and prognostic software modules then perform a detailed fault analysis and near real-time machinery prognostic reporting to the crew. In practice, operators will verify the reported faults and either stop equipment for repair, make adjustments, or change operating profiles to avoid failures or improve fuel efficiency.

DEXTER provides reliable real-time, continuous machinery health monitoring, immediate notification of impending casualties, suggested maintenance and/or corrective actions to avoid casualties, and the means to accurately document historical machinery plant operating parameters, much like a “black-box” data recorder. DEXTER fault information is also fed into the shipboard automated maintenance management system for generation of engine work orders.

MACSEA’s latest OPC I/O drivers are compatible with several major automation providers, including Wonderware^TM, Cimplicity^TM, and many more. The OPC interfaces are easy to configure, reliable, and expandable. Using this interface, the DEXTER Machinery Health Monitoring software is now compatible with a large population of shipboard and factory automation systems, allowing intelligent agent-based diagnostics and prognostics to be added quickly and efficiently.

Although DEXTER can be interfaced with virtually any automation system, the integration of this latest OPC-based driver has proven to be one of our most effective platforms. With so many automation system providers now supporting OPC, MACSEA has made it even easier for customers to take advantage of the cost-effective diagnostics and prognostics that the DEXTER system provides.