Situation monitoring options firm CM Applied sciences (CMT) has developed new instruments to evaluate the situation of lubricating oils and cylinder liners.
The corporate’s new WBS IR Analyser is a complicated all-in-one infrared-based resolution designed to evaluate the Base Quantity, soot and water content material of cylinder and system oils, whereas the brand new CMT Scuffing Sensor can detect sudden and extreme put on of the engine’s cylinder liners and piston rings effectively earlier than different methods can see it.
“Trendy engines are much less tolerant to the rigours of maritime operation than yesteryears’ workhorses and must be accurately maintained and lubricated to stop failure,” mentioned Matthias Winkler, CMT’s Managing Director. “Engine know-how has superior markedly lately, however lube oil failure stays the commonest explanation for engine injury, accounting for 28% of all equipment insurance coverage claims, with a median price of US$1.2million per declare. The situation monitoring know-how we’ve got developed might help optimise engine efficiency, stop expensive engine injury and downtime, and scale back insurance coverage claims.”
The WBS IR Analyser follows market demand for a simple-to-use lube oil situation monitoring instrument that doesn’t want expensive refill chemical substances and reagents typical of present lube oil check kits. Not like the present technique, the CMT resolution additionally supplies outcomes inside seconds.
Able to measuring three vital parameters (water, BN, soot) immediately and concurrently, the small, handheld analyser incorporates the identical infrared know-how used for laboratory-grade oil screening to supply fast and dependable outcomes onsite.
A small oil pattern is uncovered to the infrared wavelengths to display screen for components and different substances to supply extra dependable information on the composition of the oil.
“The WBS IR Analyser permits engine room crews to shortly monitor for oil degradation in order that ship managers can extra effectively schedule an oil change, lowering operational prices and potential engine injury,” mentioned Winkler.
Price and injury limitation have been additionally key drivers behind the event of the CMT Scuffing Sensor.
“The primary explanation for sudden and sever put on of the cylinder liners – scuffing – is an insufficient lubrication movie on the liner wall. However present monitoring strategies, similar to drain oil evaluation, liner wall temperature readings, and visible port inspections are sometimes too late and time consuming,” mentioned David Fuhlbruegge, CMT’s Operations Supervisor.
Alternative liners can price greater than $10,000 every, but when cylinder liner scuffing just isn’t detected in time it may result in important, typically catastrophic, engine injury, leading to prolonged and expensive downtime.
“Common monitoring utilizing the CMT Scuffing Sensor can stop this because it measures cylinder liner friction whereas the engine is operating. It is a distinctive method that makes use of an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) to observe cylinder liner put on and temperature,” he mentioned.
Fuhlbruegge says that one of many predominant points with typical cylinder liner monitoring instruments is that it’s unattainable to visually detect scuffing when the engine is operating. “However with the CMT Scuffing Sensor the slightest adjustments in vibration may be seen throughout operation. There isn’t any must cease the engine to take readings, particular person cylinders may be assessed, and common readings will reveal lubrication issues that must be addressed.”
The EMAT sensors incorporate a built-in amplifier and sign conditioning know-how optimised to detect sound waves in 300 to 700KHz vary. The acoustic emissions are then evaluated utilizing CMT’s proprietary analytical software program.
