Fault monitoring and re-configurable control for a ship propulsion plant

Minor faults in ship propulsion and their associated automation systems can cause dramatic reduction on ships' ability to propel and manoeuvre, and effective means are needed to prevent simple faults from developing into severe failure. The paper analyses the control system for a propulsion plant on a ferry. It is shown how fault detection, isolation and subsequent reconfiguration can cope with many faults that would otherwise have serious consequences. The paper emphasizes analysis of re-configuration possibilities as a necessary tool to obtain fault tolerance, showing how sensor fusion and control system reconfiguration can be systematically approached. Detector design is also treated and parameter adaptation within fault detectors is shown to be needed to locate non-additive propulsion machinery faults. Test trials with a ferry are used to validate the principles. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.