Schaller Automation, the market-leading supplier of oil mist detection systems on large diesel, gas and dual-fuel engines, is launching a new sensor for real-time monitoring of methane concentrations in the crankcase
Schaller Automation has been developing, producing and selling oil mist detection systems for the past 50 years. More than 58,000 engines on ships and power stations have been successfully protected.
Schaller Automation are experts on oil mist formation inside crankcases and analyses its source with the help of intelligent marine engine monitoring systems such as BEAROMOS 2020.
Schaller Automation developed GasMOS in cooperation with the Saarland University (Germany) within a public funded project financed by European Regional Development Fund and the federal state Saarland to selectively measure the methane concentration in harsh environments such as crankcases.
The increasing market uptake of LNG as marine fuel to help reduce GHG, NOx, SOx and particulate mater emissions poses new challenges for the safety concepts of large engines. Methane can enter the crankcase via blow-by over the piston rings and may accumulate to levels as high as the lower explosive limit. GasMOS can continuously monitor the methane concentration in the crankcase and helps to avoid critical engine operation. Changes in the LNG fuel composition are compensated by the detection algorithm and the automatic fresh air calibration helps to keep the measurement stable and accurate.
The GasMOS system’s software provides the operator with live methane concentration and information about the humidity within the crankcase. With this information, it is possible to detect the development of the methane blow-by in the crankcase and the wear behavior of the piston rings. The methane concentration can be determined within the resolution and accuracy comparable to a commercial gas chromatograph, even with an unknown amount of interfering gases in the measurement atmosphere. The system can also be adapted to detect methane concentrations in other spaces such as piston under liner configurations known from marine two-stroke engines.
The system is ready for retrofitting in existing dual-fuel engines, as a single extraction point is enough to monitor the entire crankcase atmosphere.
By installing GasMOS on board passenger ships, Schaller contributes to the preventative and predictive maintenance services for gas and dual-fuel engines and makes its contribution to proactive environmental protection.
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