The CAT is a 91 meter high speed, wave piercing catamaran ferry, built by Incat in Australia and is powered by 4 Ruston RK270 marine diesel engines. Each engine develops 9500 hp and 1000 rpm and drives water jets for propulsion at a speed of 43 knotts (50 mph)
Each pontoon hull serves as an engine room and houses 2 main engines. Due to the high noise, heavy ship movements and limited space, all engine monitoring is performed outside the engine room by cameras and remote sensors.
As these engines operate at maximum horsepower
and maximum speed, it is imperative that all operating parameters
are closely monitored. The smallest problem can very quickly escalate
into a major failure if not monitored and correct.
Oil analysis is not an effective maintenance tool for the marine
industry to determine progressive wear or a pending failure. Often
it can be days or weeks before an oil sample can be sent ashore
for analysis. This lag is too long, real time monitoring is the
solution.
Metal Particle Detectors were fitted to all four engines to provide real time health monitoring for the detection of metal particles in the engines lubricating oil and have proven very successful in this task.
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