Page 87: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2011)

June 2011www.marinelink.com 83TECHNOLOGYPIPES, PUMPS & VALVES By Alex Piquer & Kurt Gibson, W&O Jacksonville, FL iShip represents a shift to a processbased approach in the maritime industry, the first step is the technologies required to address specific problems but the true change comes with the ability to visual-ize, analyze and optimize the entire ves- sel as a system.The value of iShips out of the box? technology comes from simply puttingready to use data in the hands of peoplethat know how to use it to drive mainte- nance, equipment and process improve- ments. Most marine operators areinterested in optimizing overall vessel fuel consumption and analyzing key per- formance indicators such as main enginegenerator, and boilers as well as ship- board service systems ship service aircompression, fresh water production and fuel oil and cargo heating and hotel loads. iShip allows operators to define parame- ters to analyze and then provides the technology, infrastructure and service to deliver on those needs. The system has many advantages in its ability to create information that can beused to make operational and business decisions on the vessel and across the fleet. This system brings together infor- mation from many of the isolated sys- tems on the ship without requiring any changes to the existing controls. One major advantage is that thanks to over 400 existing interfaces and customization capabilities from OSIsoft, regardless of the engines, vessel automation, naviga- tion systems, ship automation, etc. iShipprovides an interface that is the same on all the vessels across the fleet. W&O, a global supplier of marinevalves, pipe, fittings, engineered products and valve automation systems introduces iShip, an integration of instrumentation and vessel automation information man- agement platform designed specifically to address the emerging challenges of the maritime industry. iShip was developed by the W&O Integrated Solutions Group to provide real-time operational and event data so vessel operators and engineers can visualize, analyze, distribute, collab- orate and act. iShip is built on the PI Sys- tem data management infrastructure fromOSIsoft, LLC, to connect to and acquireoperating data from existing machinery, control, instrumentation, bridge systems,as well as key instrumentation and con- trol elements supplied as part of the iShipplatform. The PI System stores this time- stamped data at its original resolution vir- tually forever, creating a continuous record of ship system operations that issecure and easy to access by everyone in your company that needs it. Using standard configurable PI System Visualization Analysis and Reporting tools, iShip applications such as Fuel-Proof, DynaTrim, AutoReport, and Fuel- Switch provide automation and optimization of vessel operations. iShip also enables visualization and distribu- tion of actionable information out of allthe data allowing analysis and optimiza- tion at many levels. The information may be distributed in a variety of ways de- pending on the context and needs of the user from corporate KPI dashboards dis-playing vessel and fleet summary data to complex optimization analytics combin- ing data from several systems and in- volving calculations and rules. One of the key features is that it is open, flexible, modular and scalable so the user can eas-ily extend system functionality by creat- ing their own reports, displays and applications using PI System tools pro-vided. iShip leverages the same OSIsoft technology used successfully in shoreside industries like power generation, oil & gas, pulp & paper for the past 30 years. APPLICATIONS VERSUS INFRASTRUCTUREOther measurement and optimizationpackages currently being offered are typ- ically stand-alone systems that often ad-dress a single issue but add more complexity to a ships systems by requir- ing separate computer systems and addi-tional service contracts. iShip is uniquein that W&O has partnered with leading technology providers to create applica- tions which address important concernsfor the maritime industry such as fuelcustody transfer, energy efficiency, and emissions management and at the sametime provides a total information infra- structure that leverages the wealth of data and information available from existing vessel automation and third party sys- tems. The information can be accessed in many ways depending on the context and the needs of the user. It enables opera- tional improvement by allowing users to benchmark and identify targets and act upon operational and process improve- ment opportunities. iShip enables situa-tional awareness by allowing users to make sense of operational data through powerful yet familiar analytical and col- laboration tools.On the vessel, iShip provides applica- tions such as FuelProof which allow ship engineers to monitor and optimize fueland energy system efficiency. The sys- tem also provides real-time visualization and analysis of system interactions in asecure environment which is separate from individual control and automation system and accessible throughout thevessel or throughout the corporation. For shore side managers iShip provides au- tomated reports and KPI dashboards thatcan be prepackaged or user defined to allow the user to see the information that they want to see (financial, operational, etc.). The system is also capable of inter- facing to and delivering data to other im- portant enterprise software systems used by the business including maintenance, ERP and business intelligence applica- tions.THE ISHIP APPROACH ?Define Vessels and Fleets have dif- ferent needs depending on vessel class and operational profiles. One type or brand of measurement system is not suit-able for all types of vessels and iShip does not take a one size fits all approach. W&O is able to leverage nearly 40 years of maritime knowledge and key technol- ogy partnerships to design systems whichfit the needs of a single vessel or an entire fleet.?Integrate W&O ensures that thetechnology and systems provided as part of iShip as well as third party systemsand automation are seamlessly integrated into a single information infrastructure.?Collect Data sources usually origi-nate from multiple vendors devices cre- ating islands of data. This data, while related, is not easily analyzed and mayonly provide minimal value understand- ing how your processes can be improved or change over time. ?Historize Marine systems produceextremely large amounts of data from a wide variety of disparate data sources and many man-hours are spent traversing these systems in order to answer simplequestions. iShip brings all relevant data from disparate sources into a single sys-tem and delivers it in a uniform and con- sistent manner. ?Find Many marine operators are in- undated with a vast volumes of data from disparate sources that originate from on-line measurements, batch processes,manual entries, periodic calculation re-sults or various databases. With iShip you have the option to organize and find data according to equipment name and type inaddition to using instrument identifica- tion nomenclature.?Analyze iShip enables you to ana-lyze and aggregate real-time and histori- cal data and events into user-defined ac- tionable information or key performance indicators (KPIs). It will analyze datainto actionable information.?Deliver iShip allows users to maxi- mize interconnectivity between systems and people, facilitate the sharing of in- formation and have existing systems leverage each other's capabilities and data. You no longer have to deal with is- lands of data that were created over time, which makes analysis, visualization, re- porting and hence decision making diffi- cult.ISHIP APPLICATIONS W&O has partnered with leading tech-nology providers including EmersonProcess Management Flow Division, WR Systems, and Amot Controls to develop several modules designed specifically for maritime needs. These applications in- clude: ?FuelProof - Bunker : Mass flow measurement technology eliminates er- rors and ambiguity from one of thelargest vessel operational costs; fuel pur- chasing. By integrating the flow meas- urement into the iShip system, FuelProofprovides real time visibility and guards against problems during the fuel transfer. The automated reporting system pro-vides instant verification both on the ves- sel and at the corporate level. ?FuelProof- Efficiency : Combiningfuel consumption, engine performance,and energy loads into a consolidated ap- plication structure enables unparalleledanalysis and optimization capabilities.The ability to benchmark performance ona single vessel or across and entire fleet along with visualization of energy usage and implementation of performance man-agement algorithms will guarantee amore effective approach to vessel opera- tions.?FuelProof - Emissions : State-of-the-art vessel emissions monitoring provid- ing online measurements of NOx, SOx,CO2 and PM. This module will offer documented and verifiable ECA compli- ance standards.?FuelProof - FuelSwitch : As ECA rules expand, operators must implement and improve fuel switching operations. FuelSwitch provides the analysis and op- timization tools to ensure compliance andperformance during these critical opera- tions.W&O is developing additional applica- tions which will continue to complementthe power of the iShip infrastructure. iShipHarnessing Data in Marine Operations