Condition monitoring of gearboxes on a hopper dredger

On a big hopper dredger, IHC Merwede received the order for continuous monitoring of the two propulsion gearboxes, by means of vibration measurements.

One of the two gearboxes recently failed, which had caused an expensive downtime. By investigating the problem, it was found out that some internal bearings had a quality problem. Because of the long delivery time of these bearings, the other gearbox is still running with the old ones and therefore the condition of both gearboxes is monitored continuously. Together with expert partner Pruftechnik, IHC supplied the instruments enabling 24 hours monitoring a day. Daily the chief engineer of the hopper dredger sends the measured data to IHC Technical Services where it is being analyzed. Every two weeks a report is generated stating the condition of the machines and if necessary maintenance advise will be given.