APL Team To Analyze Systems Controlling Steam Plants On Ships

The Maritime Administration has awarded a cost-shared reimbursable no-fee contract in the amount of $295,800 to American President Lines, Inc., 601 California Street, San Francisco, Calif.

94108, to analyze the characteristics of systems used to control steam propulsion plants on ships of the U.S. merchant marine. The overall objective of this work is to develop a systematic methodology for evaluating the control and monitoring equipment and related operating procedures aboard steam powered vessels to allow "fail-safe" control of the propulsion plant from a centrally located site. The team assembled to conduct this work consists of American President Lines, Inc., J.J. Henry Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., and Systems Control Incorporated, Palo Alto, Calif.

The project is divided into three phases. The Phase I objective is to isolate the throttle control system problems and potential problems which could be experienced by ship operators with current installations as they relate to the throttle and to develop engineering recommendations to alleviate identified throttle control system weaknesses.

The Phase II objective is to ex- pand the evaluation to include the steam propulsion control system, account for the effects of those subsystems interfaced with the throttle control system. The Phase III objective is to use the functional data collected and analyzed in Phases I and II to simulate the system in terms of failure modes and effects and to develop s p e c i f i c a t i o n s for advanced centralized steam propulsion control systems.

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