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Sector
Marine
Location
United Kingdom - At Sea
Services
Remote Monitoring and Data Services
Condition Monitoring
Our partnership with a national cruise line company
Overview
Like many ship owners and operators today, the cruise line company traditionally carried out maintenance according to fixed periodic scheduling of maintenance tasks and elapsed running hours.
In partnership with Lloyds Register, the cruise line company wanted to move from traditional planned maintenance routines to condition based maintenance to maximise the contribution of each asset over its lifetime.
The challenge
Recommended OEM planned maintenance routines necessitated the strip down of plate heat exchanger every 12 months for cleaning.
On completion of cleaning and reassembly the units invariably leaked, Further strip down and reassembly was required, eventually leading to further leaks and damaged seals. The units were sent ashore for seal renewal at considerable cost.
With 12 main propulsion alternator engines, a national cruise liner found the fixed, period maintenance of its plate heat exchangers was labour-intensive and costly. Too much maintenance carried out on operational and clean heat exchangers can lead to leaking seals and increasing bilge water levels after rebuilding.
The cruise liner wanted a solution that would provide actionable insights into the health and performance of its heat plate exchangers, whilst avoiding unnecessary maintenance.
The solution
Our Mimic condition monitoring system technology was installed throughout the fleet. The system’s functionality enabled heat exchanger operational information (pressure drop across the heat exchanger and temperature differential) to be recorded.
This was installed onboard to record heat exchanger operation (in and out) temperatures and pressures.
Threshold values are set against Mimic’s calculated exceptions which are used to trigger maintenance.
In partnership with Lloyds Register, a decision was made by the Cruise Line company to change the planned maintenance routine from a strip-down exercise to condition based maintenance.
The result
In the first two years of installing Mimic, the condition monitoring system had saved the cruise liner over 250,000 labour hours across 11 ships.
By monitoring the correct operational effectiveness indicators and intervening only when required, excessive use of spares, creation of leaks and unscheduled breakdowns were mitigated.
Mimic successfully reduced excessive maintenance of the cruise line’s plate heat exchanges, increasing uptime and improving reliability.
Key outcomes
Condition monitoring system saved 250,000 labour hours across 11 ships in 2 years.
Reduced excessive maintenance, increased uptime, and improved reliability.
Mitigated excessive use of spares, leaks, unscheduled breakdowns.
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