After ships dock into a port they typically keep their engines running. Although the propulsion system does not need any power, other equipment such as pumps, generators and ventilation systems need to continue operating to support life on the ship. In many ships this mode of operation is inefficient, which means that pollution per ton of fuel is typically quite high.
Some ports have started implementing Onshore Power Supply systems, which enable ships to connect to a power source while docked in the port. The ship can then shut down its engines. As the onshore power could be produced by renewable sources, it replaces an inefficient, polluting operation with a clean alternative. This reduces carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide emissions.
Monitoring of Onshore Power Supply
One of the ports in Abu Dhabi recently installed Onshore Power Supply systems to support ships in 10 berths. Each of these OPS systems is fitted with a power converter that regulates the power to the requirements of the ship, such as the voltage level. To monitor the performance of these systems remotely, and to enable tracking the supply of power to the ships, we delivered an IoT solution built on our BACE IoT Platform. This solution covers the data pipeline between the OPS systems on one end, and the BACE API and BACE Webhooks in the Cloud on the other end.
Highlights
This solution was implemented without the need for any presence of an Evalan technician on site. Our customer installed the BACE IoT Gateway in one of the control cabinets in less than 15 minutes, and the rest was handled by Evalan remotely. This consisted of configuring and commissioning. Including testing and confirming that the information delivered through the IoT system matched the readings on site, the entire process was completed in less than three days. The system was switched on and has operated uninterrupted since that time, with 100% performance. The data that is collected and transmitted can be viewed in an App, and supports various use cases.
IoT is an enabler of sustainability
Projects that contribute to sustainability improvements fit Evalan’s company objectives. This project is one of our success stories in that regard.
