Wärtsilä, the marine industry’s leading solutions and services provider, expands its offering in alignment and measurement services to help its customers keep their propulsion equipment healthy. In the fiercely competitive marine market of today, ship operators are constantly looking for ways to improve their cost-efficiency. Many find answers in services: as the life-cycle efficiency of the equipment improves, downtime and repair costs decrease. Wärtsilä Alignment and measurement services increase customers’ operating time by measuring, analysing and correcting alignment issues in propulsion equipment.
“Problems in alignment can lead to serious damage if not detected and remedied in time. As the misaligned equipment rotates, it causes vibration and stress that can result in breakdown of the shaft assembly or, in the long run, even large-scale damage to struts and hulls. Costly repairs and downtime can be easily avoided by regular alignment inspections and realignment when necessary,” says René Bertelsen, Global Sales Manager, Seals & Bearings Alignment & measurement services.
Wärtsilä uses patented gyro laser technology to measure the bending line quickly and accurately. Used together with a jack-up system, it allows the engineer to compare the measured bending curve with the actual load in the bearings. Realignment of shaft lines only takes a couple of hours once the necessary tools are in place. Shaft realignment is also useful in case of a bearing failure: measuring and correction can help bring the ship safely to dock for repairs.
Portable Condition Measurement System to the rescue
When a stern tube bearing, seal or shaft fails, finding the root cause quickly is of the essence to the customer’s operations. For this purpose, Wärtsilä has developed a state-of-the-art portable condition measurement system. With this new technology, health checks of equipment can be carried out flexibly while the vessel is in operation. Service engineers can measure the vibration, temperature, torque and position of the equipment to determine the reason for the failure and make the necessary repairs and adjustments.
“Troubleshooting is now easier than ever. Vessels with constant charter can have the portable measurement equipment mounted while loading or unloading cargo to avoid downtime. Monitoring can be initiated within one day, and the system logs all incoming data from the equipment while the vessel is in operation, helping to detect any abnormalities in the functioning of the equipment,” René Bertelsen explains. “This is a significant innovation that benefits all ship operators, but cruise and ferry operators and container vessels in particular, as avoiding vibration is very important to them and unexpected interruptions can become very costly.”
Expanded scope covers new equipment and enables global support
The Wärtsilä Alignment and measurement offering is now expanded to cover a wide range of equipment: stern tubes, propeller shafts, intermediate shafts, engines, gearboxes, shaft generators, rudders and hulls. All work is carried out using class-approved methods. The geographical scope of the Wärtsilä Alignment and measurement services is also extended, with services offered around the globe.
Link to image
Caption: Alignment measurement of the propeller shaft using Wärtsilä´s patented gyro laser technology.
Alignment Measurement Services
Media contacts:
Mr René Bertelsen
Global Sales Manager, Seals & Bearings Alignment & measurement services
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: +45 20 51 53 16
rene.bertelsen@wartsila.com
Ms Hanna Viita
Director, Marketing
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: +358 40 167 1755
hanna.viita@wartsila.com
Wärtsilä Services in brief:
Wärtsilä Services creates lifecycle services for its customers, enhancing their business – whenever, wherever. We provide industry’s broadest range of services for both shipping and power generation. Our solutions range from spare parts and basic support to ensuring maximised lifetime, increased efficiency and guaranteed performance of customer’s equipment or installation – in a safe, reliable, and environmentally sustainable way.
Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä is a global leader in advanced technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.
In 2015, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 5 billion with approximately 18,800 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
www.wartsila.com