EMEA News
Wärtsilä Expands Propulsion Condition Monitoring Services
Wärtsilä Corp. (Wärtsilä) on Monday announced it is launching two updated editions of its Propulsion Condition Monitoring Service (PCMS) to suit the needs of different users.
Frank Velthuis, Manager of Wärtsilä's CBM Centre Propulsion in Rotterdam, says these new editions have been developed with regard to a "changing business environment and classification requirements that have evolved over time."
Wärtsilä will offer 'PCMS Starter' for ship owners focussing on vessel reliability and cost reduction, whereas the 'PCMS Professional' is designed for vessels with a high criticality of functions, such as drilling and cable-laying ships.
While the focus of the two editions is different, both aim to extend intervals between costly thruster overhauls and promote optimal equipment conditions.
The new PCMS Professional edition also incorporates Dynamic Lifetime Prognosis (DLP), a new approach to monitoring the expected useful life of ship thrusters.
In a break from previous PCMS capabilities, DLP monitors various factors such as load, RPM, lubrication oil temperature, and contamination to estimate the longevity of a thruster.
Wärtsilä says monitoring these factors in real time will mean thruster overhauls are needed much less often, at up to 10 year intervals in certain circumstances, thus reducing maintenance costs for ship owners.
Wärtsilä says PCMS is authorised for use by 3 major classification bodies to be used in place of other mandatory time limits for thruster overhauls, and has seen 200 installations since it's launch in 2010.
Earlier this year PCMS was noted as an example of how the shipping industry is harnessing the much touted opportunities provided by 'Big Data'.
