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Following a joint program by Sweden's Rederi AB Transatlantic, Transas AB, and Emerson Process Management to develop an onboard solution for better control of marine fuel consumption, Rederi AB Transatlantic has installed Emerson’s Micro Motion® Coriolis mass flowmeters on several ships in its fleet. The standard solution uses a compact Micro Motion F100-Series Coriolis sensor with a Model 1700 transmitter to provide mass-based measurement of fuel oil.

Using the MODBUS communications protocol, the mass flowmeter sends data to a fuel efficiency control system supplied by Transas AB in Sweden. This system, also called a Conning unit, collects information from the flowmeter and other onboard systems to help the crew optimize the operation of the ship. Tighter control and management of fuel burned improves engine efficiency, delivering fuel savings and reducing emissions.

Emerson also supplied its Mobrey MCU 901 Universal Transmitter Controllers and Indicators to show the actual flow for local reading in the engine room or control room.

According to Leif Holmberg, superintendent at Rederi AB Transatlantic, "The Coriolis mass flowmeter and Conning unit have been installed and running for over a year on the M/V Ortviken, and a slightly shorter time on the M/V Transpaper. The installations have reduced our fuel costs by approximately 2 per cent over a 12 month period for each vessel. These savings in fuel have provided a return on our total investment of just two months.”

“Based on these successes, we will be investing in further installations onboard other ships in our fleet,” continued Holmberg. “We are also working to develop the fuel efficiency system to be even more effective in saving fuel by using additional information that other systems onboard can provide.”

Micro Motion F-Series Coriolis meters are designed to provide mass flow, volume flow, and density measurement in applications that require a compact, drainable design.

Making a comparison with mechanical meters, Emerson said "Coriolis meters deliver high-accuracy direct mass, density and temperature measurement as compared with mechanical meters that measure volume flow only and have to be read manually. The Coriolis mass measurement can be directly correlated to cost and energy content of fuel, and the measurements are unaffected by changes to the flow profile and variable fuel properties such as density or viscosity."

"Micro Motion Coriolis meters are ideally suited to marine fuel measurement applications, providing extremely high accuracy and wide rangeability. They are easy to install between the Booster Module and engine, and because there are no moving parts, they also offer savings from reducing replacement or maintenance requirements when compared to volumetric flow measurement devices," Emerson added.

Emerson's unique MVD Direct Connect™ architecture is said to further simplify installation and reduce cost and complexity through direct integration into a MODBUS host. Digital and analog communications deliver the data directly to the control room or bridge, enabling close control. This complete solution also provides access to all Micro Motion instrument variables, including embedded diagnostics and full sensor configuration.

Micro Motion devices are suitable for a range of measurement installations on cruise and ferry ships, merchant ships (including container vessels and tankers), navy ships and special purpose vessels such as ice breakers.