Swiss marine power company WinGD has launched a pilot project for a new engine diagnostics solution that will be trialled on a vessel managed by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM).
As explained, the solution is an enhancement to WinGD’s engine monitoring and remote support platform, WiDE (WinGD integrated Digital Expert).
The pilot installation will monitor five of the engine components crucial for reliable engine operation (cylinder liners, piston rings, exhaust valves, fuel pumps and fuel injectors), recommending condition-based maintenance intervals by using algorithms to estimate their remaining useful life.
The trial vessel is a BSM-managed LNG carrier with two five-cylinder WinGD X72DF engines.
Propulsion Analytics, the software company that assisted in the development of WiDE, is acting as a partner, with further support and verification provided by classification society Lloyd’s Register. Throughout the project the WiDE remote support team will validate and improve the system in preparation for full release. Through WiDE’s engine diagnostics system, crew on the vessel will be provided with the possible causes to diagnose faults and prompted to add relevant maintenance tasks. The scheduling of the tasks will be calculated based on the predicted remaining useful life for the components affected.
Furthermore, Propulsion Analytics and WinGD will define faults, improve diagnostics and formulate a scheme for condition-based maintenance recommendations. The accuracy of the diagnostics will be validated through feedback from BSM on maintenance activities and subsequent monitoring and analysis.
The technology is an important step to enable smart, predictive maintenance for two-stroke engines.
“When we approached WinGD for the project we knew that the move towards predictable maintenance was an important element in our strategy using digital tools to reduce costs, improve safety and maximise availability for our customers. We expect that this trial will point us towards operational improvements that could be rolled out across our managed fleet of WinGD-powered vessels,” BSM Group Technical Superintendent Theodore Ioannou said.
“After the trial, maintenance interval changes will be automated, taking us from fixed time-based maintenance intervals to true condition-based maintenance. That will mean a dramatic reduction in unplanned maintenance and possible human error around scheduling essential tasks, translating to lower engine lifecycle costs for operators using WiDE,” WinGD Operations Director Rudolf Holtbecker stated.