For existing ships, owners have to develop a plan for improving efficiency. To meet the requirements from the so-called SEEMP (Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan), Heinzmann has developed FuelMACS for fuel consumption monitoring, available both as an integrated part of the maritime automation sy[ds_preview]stem SeaMACS or as a stand-alone application. Processing, calculation and presentation of data in the FuelMACS system is performed on a computer-based operator station. For a stand-alone FuelMACS system, this is done on a dedicated computer located where suitable (i.e. engine control room, bridge). Monitoring of necessary data is performed by distributed I/O modules located as close to the process as possible. The I/O modules are connected to the computer with a data communication bus (i.e. Ethernet). Heinzmann’s dual-fuel applications can easily be integrated with the FuelMACS in order to monitor both gas and diesel consumption. The system can also be extended by separate displays showing selected fuel performance indicators. This can be an option if the computer is located in the engine control room but the operators at the bridge also need instant data presented.
The modularisation of the functions is built up according to what kind of performance indicators the shipowner wants and what kind of instrumentation is needed.
The four main function blocks include: fuel consumption, vessel performance, engine performance, and hull performance.
FuelMACS will export data and the staff on-shore will be able to perform long-term trending and analysis of each vessel’s behaviour, and will also be able to perform comparison between different vessels. The shipowner will then see the effect of the measures he implements to reduce fuel consumption.
