Improving Shipboard Maintenance Practices Using Non- Intrusive Load Monitoring

Field studies have demonstrated that it is possible to evaluate the state of many shipboard systems by analyzing the power drawn by electromechanical actuators (Cox et al. 2006; Cox et al. 2007; DeNucci et al. 2005; Mitchell et al. 2006; Ramsey et al. 2005). One device that can perform such an analysis is the non-intrusive load monitor (NILM). This paper focuses on specific field studies conducted aboard two US Coast Guard Medium Endurance Cutters and at the U.S. Navy’s DDG-51 Land-Based Engineering Site (LBES). The field tests demonstrate that the NILM, which relies only on electrical measurements, can automatically detect many existing and impeding failures. Many of these faults can be detected simply by examining the operating schedules of the appropriate electrical loads.