Marine Engineering Undergraduates’ Practical Skill Development: an Analysis of Engine Parameters by a Hybrid Marine Engine Simulator

Diesel engines are widely used for industrial applications and predominantly in maritime transportation as a propulsion source for ships and power generation. Accurate handling of propulsor onboard has become vital to meet a high degree of operationality of a vessel and effective functioning of the machine. This paper describes an approach for analyzing parameters simulated by a Hybrid Marine Engine Simulator (HMES), which has been established as a skill development tool for engine room watchkeepers onboard ships. The design is based on a microcontroller-based platform that can create simulated operational disturbances for the main engine and makes opportunities to rehearse remedial actions for situations. Further, hands-on experience on starting – loading – unloading a medium speed 4-stroke diesel engine and respondents for emergencies, are facilitated through the system by providing separate consoles for respondence in simulation and general operation of the main engine. Moreover, the developed model can simulate possible main engine malfunctions based on operational parameters. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the engine response to failures without having to invite them to a real engine and develop fault identification skills by following an accurate analysis of data.