Colfax Optimizes Cooling Pumps
Colfax Fluid Handling, a business of Colfax Corporation and a global leader in fluid-handling solutions for critical applications, has introduced the Colfax Fluid Handling Smart Technology CM-1000 Series. The CM-1000 is an intelligent sea water cooling system controller designed to maximize shipboard pumping efficiency while lowering operating and maintenance costs and maximizing uptime.
The result: a greener, sustainable solution with energy savings up to 80%, maintenance savings up to 50%, safe operation, short-term return-on-investment and long term savings for total ownership, Colfax said.
CM-1000 can be applied to either new vessel construction or through retrofitting existing sea water cooling systems. Designed to work effectively with both 2 x 100% and 3 x 50% pumping configurations, the CM-1000 offers:
- Variable Speed Operation that adjusts and lowers motor and pump speed, providing energy savings between 40 and 80% and reducing the loads to provide longer equipment life and minimize maintenance; this replaces the traditional system design that features continuously-running pumps at full speed for worst-case conditions (32 C sea water, full load of all equipment, plus a bypass control)
- Condition Monitoring that detects potential wear and/or fault conditions such as bearing damage, misalignment or coupling damage, mechanical seal damage and dry running, to help to prevent catastrophic breakdown
- Operation Monitoring that extends mean time between failures (MTBF) by avoiding partload and overload operation to decrease bearing load and cavitation occurrences and to provide safe operation and consistent pump performance
“Our Smart Technology CM-1000 Series provides ship owners and ship builders significant energy and maintenance savings, increased uptime and enhanced productivity,” said Karl-Johan Brinck, Vice President, Commercial Marine, Colfax Fluid Handling.
“Immediate fuel savings can be achieved through the system’s intelligent operation, measuring freshwater cooling water temperatures, automatically adjusting the speed for sea water-cooling electric motors and pumps accordingly, and operating them at only the speed required to deliver optimal cooling,” said Christian Martin, Director, Product Management, Commercial Marine, Colfax Fluid Handling. “For example, lowering revolution speed by 20 percent is designed to reduce flow by 20 percent and effectively cut energy consumption by 50 percent. Reduced fuel use means a greener, more sustainable vessel. Reducing overall loads enhances the life of equipment; that means reduced maintenance and an enhanced return on equipment investment.”
The CM-1000 Series uses only the energy necessary to provide exactly the right cooling performance with precisely the right flow of sea cooling water to ensure a constant temperature level of fresh cooling water.
“This means that there is no overcapacity and no need for bypass control, and no wasted energy,” Martin added.
In parallel, the CM-1000 provides constant and reliable cooling to all shipboard consumers of energy, such as the main engine, generator and auxiliary equipment, even at sea water temperatures up to 32C. As temperature conditions change on the freshwater side, the system reacts by varying the speed of the electric motors of sea water pumps accordingly, using only the speed – and energy – required to provide optimal cooling conditions. This effectively reduces hydraulic loads and enhances the lifetime of the motors, pumps and related equipment through reduced usage and wear.
The CM-1000 Series uses sensors to monitor equipment and the operation conditions of each specific pump. Then the CM-1000 exchanges data through an Ethernet and provides real-time information and status indicators to the control room. Warning and alert alarms can be delivered both visually and audibly, allowing crew to make necessary system adjustments or to service components only when necessary, freeing them to concentrate on other tasks.
Maintenance-savings through Colfax Fluid Handling Smart Technology for Commercial Marine Applications may be best realized through its continuous monitoring that helps to ensure the highest levels of uptime.
“Simple and inexpensive parts such as a ball bearing may be easily replaced when stocked on board, but if a worn-out bearing goes undetected, a pump’s impeller and volute casing may be damaged, or the pump shaft may crack,” Martin said. “None of these are inexpensive repairs, and these are parts usually not carried in a ship’s store. It can be a nightmare if an essential pump goes out of service while a ship is at sea, costing tens of thousands of dollars per day in downtime. Colfax Fluid Handling CM-1000 Smart Technology for Commercial Marine Applications works to prevent such occurrences, providing long-term ROI.”