Mimic saves 250,000 labour hours
Challenge
- With 12 main propulsion alternator engines, a national cruise liner found the fixed, period maintenance of its plate heat exchangers was labour-intensive and costly.
- Too much maintenance carried out on operational and clean heat exchangers can lead to leaking seals and increasing bilge water levels after rebuilding.
- The cruise liner wanted a solution that would provide actionable insights into the health and performance of its heat plate exchangers, whilst avoiding unnecessary maintenance.
Solution
- James Fisher Mimic’s condition monitoring technology was installed onboard to record heat exchanger operation (in and out) temperatures and pressures.
- Threshold values are set against Mimic’s calculated exceptions which are used to trigger maintenance.
- By monitoring the correct operational effectiveness indicators and intervening only when required, excessive use of spares, creation of leaks and unscheduled breakdowns were mitigated.
Results
- In the first two years of installing Mimic, the condition monitoring system had saved the cruise liner over 250,000 labour hours across 11 ships.
- Mimic successfully reduced excessive maintenance of the cruise liner’s plate heat exchanges, increasing uptime and improving reliability.
- In partnership with Lloyds Register, the cruise line company wanted to move to condition based maintenance to maximise the contribution of each asset over its lifetime.