During the last SAFETY4SEA Hamburg Forum, Patrick Arand, Sales Manager OEM, SKF Marine, underscored the significance of condition monitoring as a proactive measure to address potential issues before they lead to damage. Additionally, he explained how electrification endeavors for critical applications, like stabilizers, help decrease the use of hydraulic systems, resulting in reduced sustainability footprints and improved operational efficiency.
The maritime industry undergoes major sustainability challenges. Considering that transport accounts for 25% of global emissions and the maritime emissions accounts for 3% of global emissions, the IMO has set ambitious targets for net zero close to 2050. In addition, the industry has a direct impact on UN Goals, especially #7 – Affordable and clean energy, #13- climate action and #14- Life below water.
As such, to deliver on our Intelligent and clean strategy, we are focusing on areas where our technological edge will support customers striving for a sustainable future. We design our products to be re-manufacturable and, eventually, recyclable. We are accelerating the development of new technologies, such as solutions for cleaning oils, electric systems, recycling and critical sectors. To contribute to a better future, we focus on propulsion systems which make circular use of oil, support condition monitoring, water lubrication and are 100% fully electric.
The oil that we have on board can no longer has to be viewed as an environmentally harmful consumable, but rather as a sustainable, circular asset. It became normal that vessels going to dry dock, they will replace the oil, which is on board, not on a regular base. So, they do not use it as a component that will be scrapped. However, a consumable oil can be sampled and be sent to the oil manufacturer who will decide whether this oil can be used again or should be replaced.
The key factor here is the lifetime of the oil we have on board and this is the first step where we can go into a sustainable approach with high quality of the oil.
The better the quality remains over the time, the longer we can use it and we don’t have to scrap it. And on the other side, we are saving the cost for the replacement of the oil. So how can we achieve this? We can use fine filtration systems because the nanoparticles in the oil are more or less responsible for the aging due to oxidation. When we can manage to get nanoparticles out of the oil, then we can use this oil over and over again. Therefore, we can extend the replacement intervals, or when we do it right, we can use it for a really long time without exchange.
When it comes to hydraulic systems, a cleaning unit for fine filtration can operate aside the system. That means it’s working in a kidney loop and it can be retrofitted right now. So, when we have some oil amount on board and we have installed such a cleaning system aside, then we can take the contaminated oil out of the tank of a hydraulic system to refresh it, clean it, and pump it back into the tank and finally, reach a clean circuit to use oil for a longer period. In particular, we are taking out and the nano particles. We are also taking out the varnish that could maybe block some valves and of course we take out a certain amount of water; this will help to clean oils in several applications that we have on board.
Marine applications for retrofit and new building
Fields of applications
- Commercial
- Work boat
- Cruise
- Yacht
- Passenger/RoPax
- Dredger
- Navy
- Offshore
- Research vessels
- Tugboat
- Shipyards
Further applications
- Passenger elevators
- Winches / Ramps
- Hatch covers
- Cranes
- Jack-ups
- Compressors
- Gearboxes
- Engines
It’s a common practice nowadays to switch over to make a vessel more environmental friendly and more sustainable by using water in the stern tube. The interesting here is that this kind of application is increasing. That means not only the smaller shaft lines, also the bigger shaft lines are typical candidates.
There are two different systems for water-lubricated sterntubes:
1. Open sterntube with fwd. seal: Sterntube with seawater access from the aft
- No risk of pollution & ready for tougher regulations
- Contributes to UN14 Goal, Life under water
- Supports your company in reaching your fleet sustainability goals
2. Closed sterntube with fwd. and aft seal: Fresh water filling
Another point, which is in a development stage, but also a common practice nowadays is, the use of condition monitoring systems. These are used for critical components which need to be monitored over the ship operation time. As an example, a mechanical thrust needs reliable propulsion through data-driven decisions and specifically:
- More and higher quality data to support the strive for optimized maintenance and fuel – to meet the reduced CO2 levels
- Remanufacturing of bearings
- A wireless communication link (compact in size) and smart electronics for sampling vibration and/or fibre optics enables the electronics to be fitted in the lower gearbox
When we are censoring critical parts, then it is coming up the information this part might fail in the near future and thus, it gives you the chance to replace this part on an early stage, ensuring sustainability. When we replace a part on an early stage, we get the chance to overhaul it. That means that instead of scrapping it, you may repair parts before they are completely broken. In addition, sensors will be able in the future to measure the performance of the parts. This will help you later on to optimize maybe the operation and the fuel consumption of your vessel. As a result, this will have direct impact onto the savings of CO2 of emissions from the condition monitoring.
Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that hydraulic systems are now being replaced by electric, for example, stabilizers. This results to the following benefits:
• Sustainability Improvement
- 35% Less weight
- 99% Less oil on Board
• Silent operation:
- 30% Less Noise
- 80% Less Vibration
• Less maintenance: industry standard parts (maximum reliability)
• Energy recuperation system minimizing electric power consumption to operate the fin through an internal storage device
In conclusion, when we manage to make things last longer on board, when we manage to eliminate the oil on board and when we take the chance to go electric, whenever it is possible, then we are making a big step forward onto our approach of a sustainable vessel operation.
The views presented are only those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
Above article is a transcript from Patrick Arand’s presentation during the 2024 SAFETY4SEA Hamburg Forum with minor edits for clarification purposes.
Explore more by watching the video presentation here below
