Geo Week News

May 22, 2012

Ballast water treatment update

Last month, I wrote about the ways that Harris Pye is using laser scanning to make the process of installing ballast water treatment systems more efficient and cost-effective for its customers. With roughly 60,000 ships around the world needing such systems, it represents a significant market for marine engineering firms. 

Yesterday, I came across a great demonstration video from Goltens Green Technologies, a global provider of ship repair services and a significant user of laser scanning for this same ballast water treatment application. 

Here, they show how they have taken the CAD model for the ballast water treatment system in one ship, and dropped it into the point cloud of her sister ship to look at clash detection issues and the like:

 

It’s a simple and easy to understand demonstration of the value of laser scanning. Like Harris Pye, they’re Faro Focus3D users, so it’s not like they’ve been at this for years and years, but Goltens has produced a nice video that explains their workflow and the value that laser scanning can bring to their clients. If you’ve got 12 minutes or so, it’s worth a watch:

 

They claim they need a maximum of 10 hours on board a ship to scan the engine room, collect all the information they need, and be able to do the rest of the design and engineering work back in the office. They don’t even ask people to clear out of the engine room while they’re working. 

This is an awfully happy marriage of need and technology coming together. These ballast water treatment systems are a regulated necessity for ship owners, so they’re less than keen on spending money on their purchase and installation. Those engineering firms who can deliver results the quickest and cheapest are going to find themselves with a lot of work on their hands. 

Seems like laser scanning is providing a huge leg up.

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