Baker Hughes, a GE Company (NYSE: BHGE) announced an agreement with Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) to co-develop VitalyX*, a real-time lubricant monitoring system. VitalyX can be deployed in multiple industries using large machinery, and the advanced cloud-based system is designed to detect and measure key lubricant properties in real-time while simultaneously converting the data into actionable insights. ENOC, which will not only co-develop but has also signed the first order for VitalyX, announced the project with BHGE leaders at BHGE’s Annual Meeting in Florence.
Lubrication oil is the lifeblood of many machines and assets, and it not only protects those assets but also can be used to determine the overall health of a system. Real-time monitoring of lubricants also helps safeguard end users’ and operators’ equipment by offering a new level of predictive maintenance, thus enhancing efficiency, reducing downtime and improving asset’s lifetime. Without continuous monitoring, catastrophic failures due to fluid issues are a reality; for example, the cumulative cost of a top drive gearbox failure due to fluid loss can be up to $1 million dollars.
VitalyX’s advanced cloud-based solution can measure key lubricant chemical and physical properties in real time across an operator’s fleet while simultaneously converting the data into alerts and alarms to identify potential issues. The user-friendly dashboard can show fleet-wide data down to the individual asset level and stored either in a shared cloud or locally.
“Digitization is playing an integral role in in driving the transformation of the energy sector, and has contributed significantly to enhancing operational efficiency,” said Saif Al Falasi, ENOC Group CEO. “We believe that our agreement with BHGE – will play a key role in revolutionizing lubricant quality testing and physical asset management. We at ENOC are pleased to have been able to work with BHGE on the development of this innovation and look forward to developing many other projects in the near future.”
“Our joint focus on lubricant monitoring is a critical and essential element towards making industries safer and more efficient,” said Diarmaid Mulholland, CEO of BHGE’s Measurement & Sensing business. “Our co-development of VitalyX with ENOC not only ensures we deliver technology that works in real-world extreme conditions but also has proven experience in the field. This technology is a prime example of the Industrial Internet of Things in action – hardware and software working seamlessly together, taking sensor data to deliver new insights we could never achieve before. We are excited for this journey with ENOC and many more customers to come.”
VitalyX–a lubricating oil monitoring platform that persists in real-time, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It doesn’t stop after simple oil testing, but goes above and beyond to enable important and uninterrupted trend analyses to identify subtle changes in performance. VitalyX uses enhanced algorithms and machine learning to create a picture of a machine’s health and prevent asset loss.
VitalyX provides:
Holistic views of the entire fleet that clearly identifies alerts and alarms displaying where potential problems may exist
Drill-downs to get a deeper understanding from a system level of individual assets and their performance
Intuitive charts broadcasting live data from each asset, and historical information to provide trend analysis and context
Dashboards that are fully customizable by the user to set an indicating alarm and alert threshold levels
Condition-Based Monitoring: Understanding Asset Health
Traditional maintenance involves interventions based upon time or cycles of use. Often this is either ineffective and inefficient.
Condition based monitoring requires accurate insights into the current state of the assets.
VitalyX is designed to give you that accurate and detailed insight.
Lubrication Oil Remaining Life – Optimize Oil Life Cycles
For lubrication oil to be truly effective, it needs to go through a ‘breaking-in’ period. Too often, operators replace or modify the oil before it reaches this stage
VitalyX uses machining learning to predict the useful life of a lubrication oil, which not only pushes out service intervals, but ensures that the oil performance is optimized
Real-Time Data – Seamless Live Data
The VitalyX system connects sensors deployed within each asset to a cloud based interactive dashboard
The intuitive dashboard gives a clear view into potential issues that may occur in any asset, with simple and configurable alarms and alerts
Topaz Embraces IoT with BHGE’s VitalyX Lubricant Monitoring System
May 8, 2019 – Topaz Energy and Marine (“Topaz”), a leading offshore marine logistics company, has signed a long-term agreement and placed an order with Baker Hughes, a GE company (NYSE: BHGE) to collaborate on deploying BHGE’s lubricant condition monitoring system, VitalyX, enhancing the maintenance and upkeep of Topaz’s fleet of vessels and helping to significantly increase field time for each vessel. VitalyX is expected to be deployed on the entire module carrying vessel (MCV) fleet for Topaz in late 2019 and is the largest single collaboration with the technology since being first unveiled at BHGE’s Annual Meeting in January.
Utilising the Internet of Things (IoT) by combining the latest sensor hardware with condition monitoring software, the real-time data produced from VitalyX will provide Topaz with vital technical information on the condition of its vessels and the maintenance required to achieve optimal performance. Specifically, sensors will be deployed in key equipment onboard, such as the engine, thrusters and genset which will monitor the lube oil for contaminants, such as metal particles and soot.
The system also monitors for the presence of water, salt water, glycol, fuel dilution, TBN and TAN index, assisting in predicting equipment failures and improving the life cycle of the lube oil. VitalyX further improves on Topaz’s ability to predict and prevent breakdowns before they happen, helping to minimise costs and better plan condition-based maintenance for more efficient dry-docking. This is the first collaboration between the two companies and is a direct example of Topaz driving digitisation in the offshore vessel sector. Today’s agreement will aim to optimise Topaz’s collaboration with BHGE in other areas to drive value for its customers and stakeholders.
Recognised as a leader in the transformation of the offshore sector, Topaz received the Intelligence Data Innovation Award in November 2018 at the Lloyd’s List South Asia, Middle East & Africa Awards for Maritime Intelligence, recognising the company’s implementation of data analytics and digital technologies across the sector.
Rene Kofod-Olsen, CEO of Topaz Energy and Marine said:
“This agreement with BHGE marks a significant step towards Topaz’s mission of being a strong global partner not only for our customers but also for our suppliers. Through trials with innovative solutions such as VitalyX, we have created long-term partnerships with leading companies such as BHGE, and are now positioned at the forefront of digital innovation as we relentlessly look for ways to enhance our customers’ experience. Our collaboration with BHGE exemplifies our ongoing strategy of being a leading offshore marine logistics provider. We look forward to working with BHGE on a collaborative basis to continually improve our progressive and agile fleet of vessels.”
Martin Helweg, COO of Topaz Energy and Marine said:
“Digitalisation and smart technologies offer a vast range of opportunities for the shipping industry across all sectors and disciplines. Topaz began its digital journey four years ago and has moved from vision and strategy into implementation and execution. Most OSV operators are still in the initial stages of their digital journey, but we now have the equipment and the right skillset in place and have begun to reap the rewards of this transformation. We look forward to incorporating more innovative services with leading companies such as BHGE and seeing how digitalisation will help our industry develop attractive propositions for our customers.”
石油圈
