A new analysis tool seeks to inform shipowners when to spend on hull cleaning and when to accept the fuel penalty that fouling brings
A new analysis tool seeks to inform shipowners when to spend on hull cleaning and when to accept the fuel penalty that fouling brings
Hull fouling occupies the same sweet spot as energy efficiency; measures to improve it will cut both cost and environmental impact. If you want to encourage shipowners to minimise the spread of invasive marine species on their ships’ hulls there is no need to rely on their social conscience - just appeal to their profit motive. In more ways than one, cleaning your hull can add some shine to your bottom line.
It is perhaps for that reason that Piraeus-based Propulsion Analytics is focusing its expansion into vessel monitoring on the hot issue of hull fouling. The company’s expertise in engine monitoring and analysis has been put to good use over the last two years helping engine designer WinGD develop its integrated diagnostics expert (WIDE) system. Now the company believes that the time is right to look beyond the engine.
Chief executive Panos Theodossopoulos explained that the company’s engine modelling software, the Engine Hyper Cube, can build such a detailed picture of the engine that it can begin to isolate the impact of other operating conditions – the loading or weather, for example.
“We are using our engine digital twin model…to isolate the effect of hull fouling”
Any variation in engine performance that remains unaccounted for can be attributed to increased resistance on the ship’s hull due to fouling. According to Mr Theodossopoulos, this understanding will allow shipowners to balance the fuel penalty caused by fouling against the cost of cleaning. This will provide a basis for making decisions about when to schedule hull cleaning.
“We are using our engine digital twin model in a unique way, to get a more holistic view of engine and vessel performance, allowing us to isolate the effect of hull fouling,” said Mr Theodossopoulos.
The International Standards Organisation published a hull performance monitoring standard, ISO 19030, in 2016. Mr Theodossopoulos notes that although it is, in principle, easy for an operator to collect the data to meet this standard, the quality of data is proving a frustration. Propulsion Analytics’ tool will be able to offer an independent benchmark against which such data can be cleaned. The company is running a second pilot trial this year before exploring commercialisation.
The new function is just one avenue of development for the firm, which boasts installations with some bluechip ship operators, among them Euronav, Starbulk, Seanergy Maritime, Danaos and Thenamaris. The company is now looking to broaden the appeal of its condition monitoring expertise by looking at how this can practically be used to develop condition-based maintenance – for example, extending the time between overhauls for specific engine components.
This is more of a regulatory challenge than a technical one, said Mr Theodossopoulos. “It’s one thing to have the capability, but the operator also needs approval for that process. We have started discussions with class to see how an engine modelling process like ours can be approved, to give the operators the possibility of acting on these predictions.”
With both energy management and condition monitoring aspects to its business, Propulsion Analytics is observing a shift in the way owners deploy these tools. Mr Theodossopoulos noted that, when the company first started pitching its diagnostics expertise, it quickly realised that fault detection and the avoidance of downtime was the hook most owners were looking for. But that may be about to change as IMO’s sulphur ruling brings new fuel challenges, including a new uncertainty to fuel prices.
With several factors pushing energy efficiency into focus, it may soon be time for shipowners to clean up their act. The new tool under development by Propulsion Analytics should help them work out when is best to do so.
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