The evening event for April 2024 was concluded, where:
Mr. David Hill, Head of Sales, RAB Microfluidics
made a presentation on the topic of:
“Revolutionising Oil Condition Monitoring for Condition-based Maintenance (CbM) and Predictive Maintenance (PdM) on Vessels”
Presentation Summary:
New technologies can help vessel operators to gain a detailed view of equipment condition and lubricating oil performance, without the delays associated with onshore laboratory testing.
The use of Microfluidic technology, when combined with Machine Learning and advanced AI, gives the opportunity to conduct detailed chemical and physical analysis of oil properties on-board.
Specifically, the microfluidic platform incorporated with optical (e.g., Ultraviolet or Infrared) spectroscopy techniques enable identification and isolation of target components in the oil and captures their compositional signature for analysis using Machine Learning and AI.
By applying Machine Learning to the generated compositional signature of the oil, an AI algorithm can be trained to quantify practically any known component in the oil such as acidity, basicity, soot, water, metals etc.
This technology enables automation that allows deterministic onsite real-time analysis of lubricating oil producing results that are comparable to traditional laboratories.
Such automation heralds a state-of-the art application where it is now possible to generate comprehensive lab quality data in real-time, combine this with information on equipment condition and operation such as running hours, workload, lube consumption etc for Condition-based Maintenance (CbM) and Predictive Maintenance (PdM).
With the inclusion of automatic machine-integrated sampling and sensing devices, vessel operators can be presented with predicted equipment failure modes well in advance. This gives sufficient time to take appropriate action to avoid unplanned maintenance while reducing operating costs.
About the Speaker:
David Hill brings to the RAB-Microfluidics team a wealth of experience supplying lubricants, fuels, fuel additive chemistry, associated technical services and advice to the marine industry, mining and oil & gas. David graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in Brisbane, Australia, starting his sales and customer service career at Shell, before relocating to the UK. Over more than 25 years involved with supplying all sectors of the marine industry in Europe with Shell, Gulf and Innospec, David has developed from an account manager to become a sales team leader, business development manager and sales director. Now as head of sales for RAB Microfluidics, David hopes to continue this lifelong commitment to helping his customers succeed in their own endeavours. A passion for helping customers drives David’s philosophy that, in order for businesses to get the most from any product or service, the fundamentals of what underpins customer value must first be deeply understood.
The presentation can be found below: