Keeping your equipment healthy can be vital for smooth, efficient, high up-time propulsion.
Wärtsilä have announced that they have expanded their alignment and measurement services to cover a wide range of equipment. Stern tubes, propeller shafts, intermediate shafts, engines, gearboxes, shaft generators, rudders and hulls are all included.
In such a fiercely competitive market, it is critical to ensure that all ways to improve cost efficiency are exploited.
This type of service is said to offer on such solution. As the life-cycle efficiency of the equipment improves, downtime and repair costs decrease.
“Problems in alignment can lead to serious damage if not detected and remedied in time. As the misaligned equipment rotates, it causes vibration and stress that can result in breakdown of the shaft assembly or, in the long run, even large-scale damage to struts and hulls. Costly repairs and downtime can be easily avoided by regular alignment inspections and realignment when necessary,” said René Bertelsen, Global Sales Manager, Seals & Bearings Alignment & measurement services.
Fact File: How Does this Service Work?
Wärtsilä apply a patented gyro laser technology to measure the bending line quickly and accurately.
This is used together with a jack-up system, to compare the measured bending curve with the actual load in the bearings.
According to Wärtsilä, realignment of shaft lines only takes a couple of hours once the necessary tools are in place.
Shaft realignment is also useful in case of a bearing failure: measuring and correction can help bring the ship safely to dock for repairs.
Ship Efficiency Review News
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