Improving the Reliability of the Cooling Water System of a Marine Diesel Engine: A Case Study of Caterpillar C32 Diesel Engine

Abstract

Abstract: The reliability of a Caterpillar C32 12V marine diesel engine was analyzed in this research using Weibull distribution. The analysis was done with a view to improving the reliability of cooling water system of a marine diesel engine. Weibull parameters such as the Mean Time to Failure (MTTF), Mean Time between Failure (MTBF), Availability, Failure Density of the diesel engine were determined. Data were collected from the maintenance record of a Nigerian Navy Ship logbook for a period of four (4) years. The data were sorted and classified based on sequence of failure and failure time. With this data, key parameters that determine the reliability of the engine were calculated with value of MTBF as 1,279.65hrs, failure rate as ૠ. ૡ × ૚૙ି૝ and operational availability as 0.719. The reliability of the engine was ultimately calculated and was obtained as 95%. The results of the study revealed that the calculated value of failure rate is within the empirical failure rate with the result calculated on the basis of the Weibull distribution for the diesel engine. It is therefore recommended that further studies be carried out to determine the intervals for preventive replacement of the subsystem parts and further study should consider a different method other than Weibull distribution to determine the reliability of the cooling system. Keywords: Diesel engine, Failure rate, Maintenance, Reliability, Weibull distribution