Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 58 No. 2 (June 2021)
1Approach and Perspective for Remote Monitoring/Controland IoT Applications in Engine & Energy Division

YOSHIMI OKAZAKI*1OSAMU NAKAKITA*2

MASAKI TAGUCHI*3

HIROYUKI SUZUKI*4

TOMOHIRO OHNO*5

In 2018, in addition to our well-established remote monitoring services for private power
generation facilities using the internet via VPN, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine &Turbocharger, Ltd. (MHIET) started new services for marine engines including ship-to-shore
communications using cellular telecommunications and ship-to-ship communications in thesub-GHz band. We have thus promoted the use of IoT applications. With this background, we are
currently developing a simple, low-cost monitoring system that can provide various services
through cloud servers for customers of marine engines, customers that we were unable to reachout to until now. Also under development is an automatic remote control system for customers ofprivate power generation facilities in response to electricity system reform.

|1. Introduction
In recent years, widely-available cloud services, global use of cellular communications andreduced prices have made the use of data communications ubiquitous. A wide variety of products
are now IoT-enabled. Along with this trend, cellular communication menus for IoT and network
services called “low-power wide-area (LPWA)” have also become available. While high-speed
large-capacity 5G is often the center of attention, building an environment that enables low-pricewireless communications for minimized amounts of data is under way. In order for IoT to beapplied at a low cost, it is necessary to minimize the amount of data by allowing the edge devices
to perform processing such as computation. Our challenge therefore is how to upload the necessary
information to servers while minimizing the amount of data.
When it comes to the situation surrounding private power generation facilities in Japan, thesupply and demand balancing market and the capacity market will be successively introduced from2021, as part of electricity system reform promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry. This necessitates connecting power transmission and distribution system operators withresources (such as generators, batteries, private power generators and power demand facilities) toenable power demand to be remotely controlled according to requests. Figure 1 presents thebusiness operators expected to take part in the supply and demand balancing market(1). The aim of
this market is to reduce the electricity cost in Japan by creating a mechanism to maintain thebalance between supply and demand through coordinated utilization of many resources. Ensuring
both security and a low cost is the key, especially in terms of successful tertiary balancing power
operations for which a simple online system via the internet without dedicated lines is used.
This report presents our approach to the aforementioned issues, including how to reduce
costs by employing LPWA networks and improving edge computing processing for data
*1

Chief Staff Manager, Engine Technology Development Department, Engine & Energy Division, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries*2

Deputy Director, Engine Technology Development Department, Engine & Energy Division, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries*3

Engine Engineering Department, Engine & Energy Division, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine & Turbocharger, Ltd.

*4

Engine Technology Development Department, Engine & Energy Division, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine &*5

Chief Staff Manager, Engine Service Department, Engine & Energy Division, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine &Engine & Turbocharger, Ltd.
Engine & Turbocharger, Ltd.

Turbocharger, Ltd.
Turbocharger, Ltd.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 58 No. 2 (June 2021)
2minimization, as well as ensuring security using a closed network connection.

Figure 1 Business operators expected to take part in the supply and demand balancing
market|2. Remote monitoring systems
2.1

For continuous power diesel/gas engine generators

MHIET started providing services using remote monitoring technology in the late 1990s,
after developing a remote monitoring system to help customers with their operations by collecting
data on the operating conditions of continuous power diesel engine generators via telephone lines.
The Remote Monitoring Center was then opened within the premises of our factory in Sagamihara
City, Japan. The internet-based remote monitoring system (i.e., GEMS: the global engine
monitoring system or KU remote monitoring system) was launched in the market, and currently
remotely monitors more than 450 generator engines. In the GEMS, KU remote monitoring system,a variety of data regarding operating conditions are regularly sent to servers from the control panelon the engine generator. For some types of engines, real-time monitoring is also possible. We arealso working on predictive diagnostics by making use of the obtained data. In the event of anemergency, cause analysis is performed using these technologies, allowing us to promptly takenecessary measures and help customers to quickly recover their facilities. Other ongoing projects
include data analysis-based prediction of abnormalities and the prevention of their occurrence.

2.2
(1)

For marine engines
Energy-saving operation promotion system “Smart Cruising Assist”(2)For marine engines, MHIET released in 2015 “Smart Cruising Assist” (SCA), which canmainly (1) realize energy-saving ship operation, (2) manage ship operating conditions, (3)indicate when to inspect for maintenance and (4) estimate fuel consumption, and we later
succeeded in making SCA IoT-enabled. The products “SCA.net” and “SCA.920” were released
in 2019 after practical trial use.
Figure 2 illustrates how the “SCA.net” system works. In “SCA.net,” cellularcommunications are used and data can be viewed through the internet via cloud servers. As afuture plan, data will be aggregated on MHIET’s service platform through cooperation betweenservers.
In recent years, the sub-GHz band is being widely used for various services and purposes.
“SCA.920” is a system using frequencies in this band for short-range wireless communications
and the available functions include: (1) remote monitoring of the engine’s operating conditions
from a distant area within the ship, (2) sending of instructions at sea to a fleet of ships several
hundred meters away and (3) the mother ship’s management of the locations of its

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 58 No. 2 (June 2021)
3

accompanying ships. It therefore becomes possible to transmit data through wirelesscommunications even beyond the range of cellular communications, thus improving customer
usability (Figure 3).

Figure 2

SCA.net system diagram

Figure 3

SCA.920 application examples(2)

Simple, low-cost remote monitoring system
For applications that do not require as advanced functionality as that offered by SCA, weare developing a simple, low-cost remote monitoring system using an LPWA network. The aimof this system is to improve customer usability by providing various services that are enabled
by connecting a customer’s smartphone with our engine via MHIET’s service platform at a lowcost. Figure 4 presents the overall concept of the system. The controller installed near theengine collects data such as GPS location information and engine speeds and performs a varietyof computing processing tasks, before sending indexed data to servers where the data arecollated with a variety of measurement data stored therein and the relevant indicators arecalculated. In this manner, the amount of data transmitted from the engine-side equipment toMitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 58 No. 2 (June 2021)
4

the servers can be reduced significantly. This system can provide the following
information/services at a low cost: (1) total travel distance based on GPS data, (2) estimated
fuel consumption, (3) estimated period until maintenance, (4) engine status check and (5) online
management of information such as pre-operation inspection records. We can thus help reduce
the workload of customers in terms of ship/engine management.

Figure 4

A conceptual diagram of the simple, low-cost remote monitoring system|3. Remote control systems
Lastly described is the IoT application for Japanese supply-and-demand balancing markets,
which we have been taking on since 2016. The recent promotion of the adoption of renewableenergy, especially by means of solar photovoltaic power generation, has been increasing theimportance of balancing power. Against this backdrop, a supply and demand balancing market willcommence in 2021 for tertiary balancing power (2) operation. In 2019, in order to take on thechallenges of electricity system reform, MHIET participated in the demonstration project for theconstruction of a virtual power plant (VPP) that utilizes demand-side energy resources, thus
proceeding with the demonstration of viable tertiary balancing power operation. In this supply anddemand balancing market, balancing power (ΔkW) from the selected resources (such as generatorsand power demand facilities) of the seller called the aggregator is offered to the market and isprovided to general transmission system operators (TSO), that is, the buyers. The actual flow ofcommands from TSO through the aggregator to the resources is connected by a simple online
system and power demand is balanced by automatic remote control.
On the other hand, our products supplied to each customer, which serve as the resources inthis context, may vary depending on the site or each engine, in terms of their different
specifications for communications to receive commands and operational restrictions. As a result,each installation requires a different system to be built and the cost inevitably increases as a result.
To convert/control such differences and enable the reception of commands from TSO, we aredeveloping a resource control server (Figure 5). With this system, the resource control server canhandle different specifications, thereby making it relatively easy for customers to register theirfacilities in the supply and demand balancing market and offer balancing power. Automatic remotecontrol of this system necessitates ensuring a high level of security. For this purpose, we haveadopted communications via a closed wireless network and security software with whitelist-based
access control. The established server is compliant with the “Cybersecurity Guidelines forERAB”*1. Figure 6 shows the configuration of the cloud-based DR control system.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 58 No. 2 (June 2021)
5Figure 5 Resource control server

Figure 6Configuration of cloud-based DR control system|4. Conclusion
We have been engaged in the development of remote monitoring technology for about 30years. By making use of the recent widely-available cloud servers and wireless communications
suitable for IoT applications, we have enhanced the added value of continuous power diesel/gas
engines and marine engines. In addition to the simple monitoring system using the new IoTtechnologies, this report presents our remote control system for the supply and demand balancing
market and the capacity market. We will proceed with the development of edge sensors thatcollect/analyze data regarding various conditions of continuous power diesel/gas engine generatorsand marine engines and the construction of digital twin technologies. By further improving theenergy-saving operation of our products and reducing the downtime through predictive analysis, wewill continue to dedicate ourselves to maximizing the value that we can offer to our customers.
*1*2

Guidelines of cybersecurity measures that should be taken by any business operators participating in
the energy resource aggregation business (ERAB(*2))
ERAB (energy resource aggregation business): a business in which virtual power plants and demand
response are used to offer customers (such as electricity transmission/distribution system operators,electricity retailers, consumers and renewable power generation operators) a variety of services
including the prevention of imbalances in balancing power, electricity price reduction and theprevention of output suppression.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 58 No. 2 (June 2021)
6References
(1)

(2)

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, #43 Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy,Electricity and Gas Industry Committee, Subcommittee on Basic Electricity and Gas Policies, WG for
Reviewing System Document 4-1
https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/enecho/denryoku_gas/denryoku_gas/seido_kento/pdf/043_04_01.pdf
Smart Cruising Assist Contributes to Fuel-Efficient Operation for Ships, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Technical Review Vol.56 No.2 (2019)