Smart system for seawater cooling

The enhanced smart technology CM-1000 Series includes a new active valve control feature which, it is claimed, delivers energy savings of up to 85%. It also cuts maintenance by up to 50% and provides safer operation, a short term return-on-investment of around a year, and long term savings.

The system uses sensors to monitor real-time operating conditions such as temperatures in the freshwater cooling loop, as well as the pumps’ suction and discharge pressure. The sensors enable the system controller to regulate seawater flow to the coolers according to varying heat loads from the main and auxiliary engines. The controller checks pump status based on the pumps’ performance curve, then opens and closes valves in the seawater cooling system to adjust the pumps’ duty point for optimal operation. In the case of a three 50% capacity pump setup, active valve control also allows ‘cascading’ of pump operations.

Because valve adjustments are made automatically, the risk of incorrect manual settings is eliminated and active valve control also reduces complexity on the freshwater side, reducing pipe turbulence and allowing the removal of three-way valves and by-pass lines.

The CM-1000 features:

• Variable speed operation that adjusts motor and pump speed, giving energy savings between 40 and 80% and reducing loads for longer equipment life and minimised maintenance;
• Condition monitoring that detects potential wear and/or fault conditions to help prevent breakdowns;and
• Operation control that extends mean time between failures by avoiding part load and overload operation to decrease bearing load and cavitation occurrence and provide consistent pump performance.

An early system has been operational aboard the 5,000 TEU container ship Maersk Drury for 30 months without interruption, and to date around a further 120 units have been sold.