Turbo manufacturer KBB slashes downtime for its customers with Knowledge 2 Swap programme
When the KBB-manufactured radial turbochargers on the engines of the 80-plus product tankers owned and operated by Denmark’s TORM shipping group are up for maintenance, the company can rest easy.
For more than five years, the turbos on the vessels’ four-stroke engines have been maintained by PJ Diesel Engineering under an arrangement with the manufacturer that keeps these tankers on schedule.
As some of the hardest-worked machinery in the engineroom, turbos are liable to breakdown without regular attention. However, the number of failures of TORM’s radial turbos has collapsed by a massive 95% because the maintenance programme has been so effective for its fleet.
As the head of TORM’s technical division, Jesper Jensen, explains, the tankers no longer depend on shore-based repairs. As a result, downtime for repairs of the turbos has been almost completely eliminated.
Reliability is vital for TORM, which shifts critical products around the world, variously working extended and medium trade routes. The group’s 245 metres-long, up to 122,000m³ Long Range 2 vessels usually transport naptha and other cargoes from the Middle East to the Far East, and diesel from the eastern hemisphere into the Atlantic.
The more flexible Long Range 1 ships will typically ship diesel or jetfuel from the Middle East to Europe, while TORM’s medium-range vessels, the work horses of the fleet, cover shorter and coastal trades, for instance transporting gasoline from Europe to the US East Coast.
Help in a cartridge
The Danish shipowner is the beneficiary of KBB’s Knowledge 2 Swap (K2S) service, which is purpose-designed to avoid any more downtime than is absolutely necessary. Developed for the German manufacturer’s turbochargers, K2S is a logistical solution for planned and emergency maintenance.
K2S is based on specially designed cartridges that deliver parts pretty much anywhere in the world within two days. And KBB’s long-standing service partners -- turbo specialists PJ Diesel Engineering in Denmark and Tru-Marine in Singapore – do the rest. Both run 24/7 operations.
K2S and the cartridge system grew out of a comprehensive analysis of the manufacturer’s inventory and installed base. It covers KBB’s most in-demand turbocharger models. K2S is a direct response to the explosion in demand for KBB technology over the past decade as shipowners install turbochargers in record numbers in the pursuit of more efficient, lower-polluting engines.
“As some of the hardest-worked machinery in the engineroom, turbos are liable to breakdown without regular attention”
KBB’s turbochargers now cover more than 1,100 engine types and applications, a number that has nearly doubled since 2013. One of the consequences is a 20.5% increase in the total of different stock parts the company needs to warehouse, so it can cater for the repair and maintenance requirements of its customers.
No shipowner wants vessels to be idle, but operators have long faced a dilemma when turbochargers break down. In the case of a complete overhaul, the turbocharger must usually be rebalanced in a workshop, putting the vessel out of action. Even if parts can be replaced on board, there can still be delays because the parts may not be immediately at hand and because the essential engineering skills may be in short supply. Although alternative parts may be available, there is a risk that they can invalidate warranties. (Under K2S, KBB and its service partners assume responsibility for all warranties and liabilities.)
Nothing if not comprehensive, K2S covers all the most widely used specifications of KBB’s single-stage, high-pressure turbos for medium-speed engines of 500-3,000 kW in output. It also includes KBB’s ST series for engines up to 6,000 kW. Typically, these turbos are put to work on Wärtsilä, Hyundai HiMSEN, Yanmar and MaK engines.
Plug and play
Borrowing from the computer industry, KBB sees its cartridge-based delivery system as a plug-and-play solution that saves on time, money and complexity. The vessel does not have to be dry-docked, nor is the engine or turbocharger brought ashore for cleaning and balancing in what are expensive and time-consuming operations.
True to the principle of plug and play, all the core components come in cartridges – bearing houses, rotors and related systems. The nozzle ring and diffuser can be added on request.
A bonus option delivers the diffuser and complete compressor casing for an adjustment-free installation, making life easier for the engineroom. “This further simplifies the installation for crew,” explains KBB. “They only need to check the gap on the turbine side after switching the units.” KBB has found that this bonus option also reduces the risk of damage to the compressor impeller, a delicately manufactured part that is made of aluminium alloy to the higher levels of accuracy. In a convenient arrangement, customers are refunded their 30% deposit when the old unit is returned within 60 days.
“KBB’s turbochargers now cover more than 1,100 engine types and applications”
Speed being of the essence, the cartridges can be shipped as airfreight almost anywhere within just two days. The entire process – installation of the new unit and despatch of the old one – can be done in just a few hours.
And what happens to the old unit? Because of the high demand for KBB’s turbochargers in the last decade, there is a corresponding increase in parts coming back to the manufacturer and its partners for servicing. “More turbochargers in operation naturally means that more repairs need to be carried out,” KBB points out.
A proven success with time and emissions-conscious shipowners, K2S is steadily being scaled up as the installed base grows. It may not be too long before K2S enables bespoke solutions, whereby the level of service levels is designed specifically for individual clients.
From the start, KBB could see that K2S was particularly suitable for fleets with the same or similar units. The TORM group’s four-stroke engines provide a good example – a 95% fall in failure rates provides convincing proof of the correctness of the original concept.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.