The 2023 article on the ACCX300-L’s approach to serviceability, looked at how Accelleron’s next-generation turbochargers make servicing easier than ever. The new service concept for the ACCX300-L was designed to give shipowners and operators greater flexibility over turbocharger maintenance while helping to reduce overall maintenance costs.
The principle is straightforward. The ACCX300-L’s rotating components are contained within a cartridge that can be exchanged as a complete unit. Rather than disassembling the turbocharger and removing each rotating component individually, the cartridge can be removed and swapped with a replacement unit in a short period of time.
Image 1: ACCX300-L cartridge - Removable as one complete unit
This means operators have the flexibility to choose to carry out an overhaul during a dry-dock or to do so during a port call, where operators have greater flexibility to align maintenance with vessel schedules and make fuller use of component life.
Image 2: Port stay maintenance enables component lifetime to be maximized and reduces the number of service events (Representative of a vessel operating 5500 operating hours a year)
A lifecycle approach on your terms
The flexibility in maintenance means operators can, if they choose, look beyond the next overhaul and consider maintenance across the turbocharger’s operating life. This simply means considering each service intervention as part of that longer journey and choosing how and when to manage it to get the most value from the turbocharger over its lifecycle.
Taking this approach does not have to mean more work. Instead, it gives operators more choice over how maintenance is managed, how involved they want to be, and how much of the available lifecycle value they want to realize.
At one end of the spectrum, operators can continue to manage servicing much as they do today, carrying out maintenance when it best fits their established approach. The ACCX300-L can still be serviced in the traditional way during drydocking if an operator does not want to use an exchange cartridge.
For operators who want to take a more active lifecycle approach, the exchangeable cartridge provides additional options for how an intervention is carried out. Turbo Insights, included as standard with the ACCX300-L to provide visibility into turbocharger health also makes it easier for operators to sign up for the data-enabled Turbo MarineCare service agreement. Operators can also decide on investing in their own exchange cartridge or having access to Accelleron’s pool of exchange cartridges as part of a Turbo MarineCare service agreement.
More than a maintenance event
Re-imagining the maintenance concept does not mean prescribing when or where an operator should service a turbocharger. Different vessels and operations will continue to call for different approaches.
What changes is the number of choices available throughout that lifecycle. The exchangeable cartridge changes how an intervention can be carried out. Equipment data adds context to decisions about when attention is needed. Operators can manage this lifecycle within their own organization or, where resources and capacity are limited, draw on Accelleron’s support through a Turbo MarineCare service agreement, where the responsibility and administrative burden is transferred to Accelleron.
Looked at individually, these are separate elements of the ACCX300-L service concept. Looked at together, they create something more useful: the ability to treat turbocharger maintenance as a lifecycle to maximize its value, rather than simply an overhaul to be scheduled.