Machine owners and operators across different sectors have a common problem: unexpected failures are forcing them to spend money on repair and downtime costs and affecting their operational efficiency.
More than 70% of unexpected failures are linked to issues with the lubrication and in today’s supply chain environment, with oil prices at record highs, ship owners and operators are among those experiencing the highest levels of pressure.
According to an article from ShipInsight, review of insurance claim data has shown that main engine damage makes up nearly 35% of machinery claims costs and is the most expensive category with an average cost of over US$500,000 per claim. Additionally, with an average cost per claim of US$926,000, lubrication failure is still the most expensive cause of damage to the main engine, due to consequential damage to expensive parts such as crankshafts.
This highlights the importance of an experienced crew, but also of condition monitoring programs. However, due to the complex logistics and the slow turnaround of analysis results, only a few samples a year get analysed, giving inaccurate pictures of what’s happening in critical machinery like main engines and generators. Even when real-time sensors are used, only a few parameters are monitored, leaving potential problems unnoticed until it’s too late.
At SanChip, we believe our technology can revolutionise the maritime sector and give ship owners and operators peace of mind.
In fact, our online sensors HIVORTM and L-HUBTM perform multi-parametric analysis of lubricants and hydraulic oils in real-time, while allowing to reduce carbon footprint and increasing safety by respectively minimising lubricant waste and removing the need for operators working in hazardous environments in order to take oil samples.
HIVOR is a small, plug & play device that measures Oil & Machinery health, Water Content and Oil Temperature. It can monitor a wide range of oils including 2-stroke engines’ system oils, stern tube oil and hydraulic systems.
Although small, it has a very high sensitivity to metal particles and water. Ask us about that time we helped one of our partners figuring out they were storing fresh oil in the wrong way!
L-HUB, still under development and to be commercialised around mid 2023, is our top of the range Lab On a Chip. An analysis unit to be mounted on critical assets like main engines and generators, capable of analysing all types of lubricants, including scrape down oils and assessing their critical properties, e.g. viscosity, TAN/TBN, in-oil water and fuel content and wear particle going beyond count, analysing shape and dimension for failure recognitions, e.g. scuffing, cavitation, etc.
Once the devices are installed, data sampling starts and processed information is sent to the Cloud where further analysis is performed so that insights are provided to the end user via a remotely accessed dashboard highlighting warnings and potential next steps, e.g. increased oil feed rate or even machinery shutdown. In addition to continuous monitoring of assets, a clear picture of the lubricant’s conditions is constantly available allowing to push the fluid to the limit and minimise waste, as opposed to preventive oil drain schedules currently used in many applications.
If you’d like to hear more about our technology, understand how we can help you saving money, while increasing safety and sustainability, feel free to reach out. We’d be delighted to understand your needs and recommend the best options.