Condition Monitoring of Marine Machinery: Lloyd's Register presents new industry guidelines

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

25 Feb 2010

Speaking yesterday at the Cyprus Marine Technology Conference, onboard the cruise ship Thomson Spirit in Limassol, Chris Holland, Lloyd’s Register’s Condition Monitoring (CM) project leader, described the benefits of CM as part of a condition-based maintenance (CBM) programme. The new CM Guidelines published by Lloyd’s Register this week will allow shipping companies to realise the potential advantages that can be gained from using modern maintenance approaches. CBM bases the decision to undertake maintenance on the ongoing evaluation of machinery operating condition. It enables maintenance to be carried out only when it is shown to be necessary, rather than at fixed intervals, thus reducing unnecessary opening up of machinery.
As well as introducing the new Guidelines which are available from Lloyd’s Register, Mr. Holland described the application of bearing wear monitoring systems for main engines, a collaborative project to improve the way CBM is reported to Class.
‘From our perspective’, he said, 'CBM is an approach to maintenance intended to maximise reliability as well as safety and environmental protection. It can bring operational benefits to those companies willing to introduce the necessary management systems and can be integrated into the Classification survey regime'
Condition Monitoring – today and tomorrow
Condition monitoring, when used as part of a wider condition-based maintenance programme, provides the information to support decisions about when to undertake maintenance. This structured approach helps enable work to be carried out more effectively and efficiently. The technological advances which make condition monitoring a viable option also mean that maintenance programmes based predominantly on scheduled maintenance strategies are becoming less attractive.
As the use of condition monitoring increases, equipment manufacturers who have previously advised users about when to carry out specific maintenance tasks will have to become part of the condition-based maintenance process and offer guidance as to the most likely causes of failure. It is likely that manufacturers who work with end users to collect data about the operation of their machinery will be able to offer the most comprehensive guidance on using CM to maintain reliability. Work is still needed to understand the relationship between changing operating conditions and functional failures, and there will be further advances in the technical capability of sensors and data gathering processes to deliver machinery information to ships’ engineering staff. Using this information efficiently and turning it into maintenance tasks which optimise machinery life is the next big challenge.

Source: Lloyd’s Register