Longer lifetime with new maintenance solution

The company has drawn on background knowledge from the aerospace sector and experience from the petroleum industries to create this Foresight product, and is cooperating, among other,  with Umoe Mandal, Eidesvik and Maersk Drilling on its further development.

By focusing on condition-based rather than time-based maintenance, the companies have a vision of reducing waste by extending the working life of vessel components. That in turn will cut customer costs substantially.

Reliable
Machine Prognostics develops sensors and analytical tools which allow owners of ships and other marine vessels and facilities to secure reliable information in real time. These data cover the present and future condition of critical machinery, such as pumps, cylinders, compressors, electrical or diesel-driven motors, and winches.

SENSORS: Machine Prognostics develops sensors and analytical tools which allow owners of ships and other marine vessels and facilities to secure reliable information in real time.

A challenge facing vessel and platform owners is the outdated and ineffective maintenance procedures used to keep machinery uptime above 90 per cent. These offer no guarantee against unforeseen faults which can halt operations and impose exceptional costs.

The Foresight system can mitigate this risk. It also provides other benefits, such as higher operational safety and less need to spend time on visual inspection.

Multi sensor system
Machine Prognostics draws on its core expertise and long experience from both petroleum and aviation operations to develop disruptive but reliable innovations for the maritime sector.

Foresight is a multisensor system which interacts with large quantities of sensor data covering such aspects as vibration, oil, power and acoustics.

Using a single cable which initiates up to 50 sensors bolted or clamped to the machinery housing making the installation straiforward.

The company’s unique IT architecture allows shipping companies to connect the system directly to existing ship-to-satellite communication links without overloading the network.

This solution has been developed for easy operation, and to compress data. Sensor output is converted to indicators in a “health index” (HI), and Foresight will automatically report expected machinery failure 250 hours in advance. The mathematical probability of false alarms in one in a million.

Concentrates on small classed ships
Machine Prognostics’ strategy is to concentrate on small classed ships. There are up to 33 750 of these worldwide, and 47 per cent are more than 25 years old.

Shipping companies which want to extend the commercial life of such vessels will be interested in a cost-effective monitoring system like Foresight.

Where scalability is concerned, Machine Prognostics plans to develop a cost-effective solution for unclassed ships – such as fishing vessels and large pleasure craft. Estimates indicate that 2.5 million motorised fishing boats of all sizes exist worldwide.