The Royal Australian Navy will use an innovative new data analytics system to improve fleet efficiency and capability as part of a new collaboration with GE and CSIRO’s Data61.
The Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, said the GE LM2500 gas turbines that power the Adelaide and Anzac class frigates will be fitted with new sensors and coupled with advanced algorithms that will improve operational effectiveness and reduce operating costs.
“The collaboration between Defence, GE and Data61 would see the collection and analysis of gas turbine data to better understand the stresses placed on engines at sea,” Minister Payne said.
According to the press release, techniques such as machine learning and advanced algorithms will be used to predict future failures and reduce fuel burn. In addition, data visualisation tools will be used to represent the engine performance.
The data analysis is expected to highlight areas where operational efficiencies can be achieved such as improved reliability of performance, increased uptime due to enhanced understanding of component durability and functionality, reduced fuel consumption and lower maintenance costs.
Data will be captured initially from two Royal Australian Navy vessels, which will then be used to help improve and manage the performance GE marine gas turbines used more broadly across the fleet.
Adrian Turner, CEO of CSIRO’s Data61 added, “this partnership is a great example of how insights from data can be used to transform existing industries like defence, where cost savings from operational efficiencies can provide significant economic gains as well as serving the national benefit.
“CSIRO’s Data61 and GE are both focused on the global opportunity to securely connect industrial equipment to the network globally.
"This project reinforces Data61’s and Australia’s strength in cyber physical systems, and in creating new value at the intersection of digital and domain, through the use of trusted data analytics,” Mr. Turner said.
GE marine gas turbines are used by the RAN and 34 other navies worldwide including the United States, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea – providing a proven and established installation base. Globally, more than 1,450 GE gas turbines have logged more than 15 million hours on 600 naval ships.
Data collection will commence at the end of 2017. The long-term aim of the project is to boost functionality and effectiveness of the current fleet, as well as optimise the design, production and support of future vessels.
Featured image of HMAS Canberra (LHD 02) at berth prior to commissioning by Hpeterswald licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
