Patent ID: 12242997

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A system is disclosed for streamlining the bunker delivery process in the maritime industry. The system provides a bunker delivery platform to improve efficiency and to build transparency into the bunker delivery process. The platform allows for stakeholders in the bunker delivery process, such as the Barge Master of the bunker barge, or supplying marine vessel, and the Chief Engineer of the receiving marine vessel, to monitor and verify, among other things, the quantity and/or quality of the fuel in real time during the delivery process. A dashboard with data indicating key characteristics of the process, is made available to each of the stakeholders so that they can verify the process with respect to a preestablished contract stating certain criteria which have to be met. The data presented in the dashboard may come directly from various sensors in a measurement apparatus operably connected to the bunker line through which the fuel is delivered, the sensors being configured to measure parameters such as the mass flow rate of the fuel as it transits through the bunker line, the temperature of the fuel, the density of the fuel, parameters related to the chemical content of the fuel, for example the Sulphur content, the pressure in the bunker line, differential pressure across a part of the bunker line and so on. The system includes a monitoring unit, which is a custom hardware component comprising a processor and a memory, configured to collect the measurement data from the sensors in the measurement apparatus. The monitoring unit also runs custom software to provide access to the measurement data by authorized users on the supplying marine vessel and on the receiving marine vessel.

Instead of, or as well as, showing measurement data in the dashboard, the system may comprise other types of data capture devices than simply the measurement apparatus. Any other type of data useful in substantiating or otherwise authenticating the contractual or regulatory requirements may be used. For example, the system may comprise a memory or have access to a database in which data relative to the delivery session may be stored, like a name of the vessel, the type of fuel being delivered, etc. The data capture device may be a GPS device or an AIS system, used for automatically tracking vessel positions, for providing global coordinates of the position of the vessel or it may be a timer for providing date and/or time information of the delivery session. According to an embodiment, the data capture device may be a video capture device for capturing video data of all or part of a process or process step during the delivery session. For example, the sampling process involves collecting three small bottles of the fuel by collecting small drops of the fuel at certain times during the delivery session. The video capture device may be configured to provide a video stream of the sampling process, the video data being received by the monitoring unit and transmitted via the point-to-point wireless communications link. By including the video feed in the electronic record for display in the dashboard, it can then be properly verified that the sampling process was carried out according to the regulatory procedure.

Embodiments of the system described herein include a private local area wireless network, built around a wireless router which is preferably on the supplying marine vessel. The monitoring unit and the router are interconnected via a physical local area network connection and the router is also connected to a wireless access point which is configured to implement a point-to-point bi-directional wireless communication link to a corresponding client wireless router on the receiving marine vessel, preferably in direct line of site with the wireless access point on the supplying marine vessel. Authorized users having mobile communications devices on the receiving vessel can therefore access the monitoring unit via this private local area wireless network using a web browser for example. The system may also produce an electronic Bunker Delivery Note as well as other documents required for auditing the delivery process. The Bunker Delivery Note may be made available to the Chief Engineer via the private local area network. When both parties agree that the electronic documents correspond to the quantity and quality of the delivered fuel, they can each provide their electronic signatures via the portal, indicating that the delivery process has been verified. Details of the contract may be stored in the system so that the parties can perform the verification. These details may include a bunker delivery sampling procedures form, handling procedures form, ullages report for initial pre-delivery measurements, bunker analysis report, safety checklists, the amount of fuel expected, and so on. After delivery, further electronic documents may be produced, such as a bunker delivery receipt, an ullage report and a statement of facts.

The system provides the advantage that electronic documents can be automatically generated, based on real-time in-line measurements received from different sensors in the measurement apparatus while the fuel is being delivered. Errors which may occur due to manual data entry are thus avoided. The documents can be exchanged back and forth between the supplying vessel and the receiving vessel over the private wireless network for cross verification. Electronic documents can also readily be signed to indicate a party's approval.

Users have access, via a client portal, using secure, permissioned, URL access to the information and metrics regarding the bunker delivery via a real-time interactive bunker management dashboard. Users can view current and historical bunker delivery information, including electronic Bunker Delivery Notes, mass flowmeter measurement data, barge audit records and reports, operational timelines and metrics regarding the delivery process such as mass flowmeter profiles, for example. Thanks to the system of the invention, current and historical bunker delivery information may be viewed by authorized users in any global location.

According to an embodiment, access to a wide area network may also be provided by connecting a gateway device to the router having access to a satellite connection for example. In this embodiment, an electronic invoice for the delivery may be sent directly to the customer based on the electronic bunker delivery note. In this embodiment, the monitoring unit is further configured to upload the measurements to the cloud via the gateway device so that they may be consulted by other authorized parties in other locations. The system thus provides automatic, real-time reporting to other stakeholders in the bunkering process apart from the barge master of the delivery vessel and the Chief Engineer of the receiving vessel, such as port authorities, customs authorities, and so on.

Referring toFIG.1, a bunkering session is illustrated100, in which bunker fuel is transferred from a storage tank103of a supplying marine vessel, a bunker barge102, through a bunker line108to one or more fuel tanks106of a receiving vessel105. Bunker barges are usually smaller, and shorter in height, than the receiving vessel and so the bunker barge may have a crane to lift the bunker line high enough to allow the bunker line to be connected to the receiving vessel's bunkering manifold.

FIG.2shows a schematic representation of a Coriolis mass flowmeter221, which may be inserted into the bunker line208, and which may be used to measure the flow rate of fluid, the bunker fuel, as it passes through the bunker line. A magnet and coil assembly, located at a certain part of the mass flowmeter, is driven by an electrical signal223, which causes a part of the mass flowmeter to vibrate, or oscillate, during operation. The way the different parts of the flowmeter oscillate depends on the mass flow rate of the fluid travelling through the mass flowmeter. At least two further magnet and coil assemblies are placed on the mass flowmeter at different locations along the flow of the fluid to operate as sensors. The vibrations of these parts of the flowmeter cause the sensors to provide electrical signals which are out of phase with one another. The sensors produce sinusoidal signals224a,224brepresenting the motion of the corresponding part of the mass flowmeter, caused by the flow of the fluid through the mass flowmeter. By comparing the phase of the signals produced by the sensors the mass flow rate of the fluid flowing through the meter can be determined. The mass flowmeter usually operates along with a transmitter/controller222to drive the mass flowmeter and to receive the sensor signals and process them. The transmitter/controller, usually called simply a transmitter, may output such parameters225as mass and volume flow, net product content or flow, temperature, density or concentration, for example.

Coriolis mass flowmeters use the Coriolis principle to measure the mass flow rate (kilograms per hour) and density directly. Such mass flowmeters can be configured to display mass flow rate, volumetric flow rate, or a combination of both. Some mass flowmeters may also present the temperature of the liquid or liquid mixture being measured. The flow rate can be calculated from the phase difference between the signals received from the different sensors. Density can be calculated from the frequency of the signal from the sensors.

FIG.3shows a schematic representation of a part of a system390for monitoring and verifying a delivery process during which a fluid is delivered, via a bunker line308, from a supplying marine vessel to a receiving marine vessel, as described herein.FIG.3shows a part of the bunker line308through which the fluid is delivered. The system comprises a data capture device, which in this case is a measurement apparatus320, engaged in some way with the bunker line to allow for certain parameters related to the delivery process to be measured. As shown inFIG.3, the measurement apparatus may comprise a mass flowmeter321. The mass flowmeter may be a Coriolis mass flowmeter inserted into the bunker line so that the mass flowmeter can measure the mass flow rate of the fluid as it travels through the bunker line. According to other embodiments, the measurement apparatus may have different types of sensors to allow it to measure different parameters. For example, a temperature sensor may engage with the bunker line by probing into the flow of the fluid in the bunker line. Other sensors are possible, for example, a timer, one or more pressure sensors to measure the pressure of the fluid in the bunker line or to measure a pressure difference along a part of the bunker line, a rheometer to measure viscosity of the fluid or one or more from a number of different chemical sensors to detect such things as a percentage water content in the fluid; a percentage sediment content in the fluid; a percentage Sulphur content in the fluid; or a percentage ash content in the fluid, and so on.

InFIG.3, the mass flowmeter is shown in combination with its transmitter322, which provides the electrical signals323to cause the oscillations in the mass flowmeter and which receives the electrical signals324a,324bfrom the sensors in the mass flowmeter, allowing the mass flow rate of the fluid through the bunker line to be calculated and for the density of the fluid to be calculated. Preferably, the mass flowmeter is located at the supplying marine vessel.

The system further comprises a monitoring unit330, which is connected to the measurement apparatus so that the monitoring unit can receive the measured parameters325as they are measured. According to an embodiment, the monitoring unit comprises330at least one memory332for storing the measured parameters and at least one processor331to process the measured parameters. The parameters may be measured at different time intervals during the delivery process and fed to the monitoring unit. The processor may be configured to generate an electronic record comprising at least one parameter from the received set of measured parameters. The electronic record may otherwise, or in addition, comprise a datum derived or otherwise calculated from one or more of the measured parameters. According to a particular embodiment, especially when the measurement apparatus comprises a Coriolis mass flowmeter, the measurement apparatus further comprises a flow computer (not shown inFIG.3) adapted to receive the parameter measurements from the mass flowmeter and to treat them. Mass flowmeter manufacturers sometimes provide the mass flowmeter and flow computer together as a unit in order to improve metrology performance and to reduce measurement uncertainty thus ensuring compliance with measurement contracts. Such units are usually certified by a Weights and Measures authority or by a port authority or other similar metrology authority responsible for ensuring that the units comply with industry-accepted metrology requirements. In such embodiments, the monitoring unit collects the measurement parameters from the mass flowmeter in read-only mode, thus ensuring that the data received by the monitoring unit meets the compliances certified by the relevant authority. In other embodiments, without a flow computer, the monitoring unit reads the measurement parameters directly from the mass flowmeter and it is the combination of mass flowmeter and monitoring unit which is certified by the relevant authority.

The processor of the monitoring unit is further configured to generate a network-accessible dashboard, accessible, preferably using a web browser, to the first and second users having access to the private local area network, the dashboard being configured to present the electronic record to the first and second users and to accept an electronic signature of each of the first and second users to indicate, respectively, whether the first and second users have each positively verified the electronic record with respect to said preestablished contractual terms, the delivery process being verified when both the first and second users have provided their electronic signatures.

According to an embodiment, as well as feeding the measurement data from the mass flowmeter to the monitoring unit, a printer305may be used on the supplying vessel to print a bunker delivery receipt. This is shown inFIG.3, where after the bunkering process has been completed, a switch307can be actioned to switch the measurement apparatus output to go to the printer. Embodiments also exist without the printer and the switch.

The monitoring unit is connected, via a physical communications network cable, to a wireless router310on the supplying marine vessel, or barge. Users on the barge can thus connect to the monitoring unit using a web browser to view the measurement results using a mobile communications device such as a telephone or a tablet computer315for example. According to an embodiment, the monitoring unit is configured to run a software application to present the measurement data, or other data derived or otherwise calculated from the measurement data, in a dashboard accessible by web browser. In embodiments where the data capture device is a video capture device, the monitoring unit is configured to present all or part of video content captured during at least a part of a process during the delivery session in the dashboard accessible via a web browser. Similarly, when the data capture device captures data from a memory or from a database, the monitoring unit is configured to present the captured data in the dashboard.

According to the embodiment, the system further comprises an antenna, connected by a physical communications network cable to the wireless router and configured as a wireless access point340to provide a point-to-point wireless communications link to a corresponding further transceiver on the receiving vessel, the further transceiver being configured as a client device to the access point. Preferably, the placement of the access point and the client on their respective vessels is chosen to provide for line-of-sight communication between the barge and the receiving vessel via the point-to-point communications link.FIG.3shows the system up to the wireless access point. The client device and the receiving vessel are not shown. The further transceiver may also have an antenna and may provide wireless connection to one or more computers or mobile devices on the vessel. In another embodiment, the further transceiver may be part of a mobile communications device such as a smartphone or a tablet computer or other mobile communications device.

The point-to-point communications network is preferably a private network. The network thus created, including wireless devices on the receiving vessel and wireless devices on the barge and the monitoring unit, can be said to be an Intranet.

The system400, as it is deployed over the barge402and the receiving vessel405according to one embodiment, is schematically represented inFIG.4.FIG.4shows the barge and its system components402, graphically represented by a box, in point-to-point wireless communication499with the receiving vessel405. The receiving vessel has the antenna445configured as a router which is a client of the access point on the barge. Authorized users on the receiving vessel can then connect to the network using their mobile communications devices425.

According to another embodiment, shown inFIG.5, the receiving vessel505further comprises a further router546, connected to the further antenna545, allowing users525on the receiving vessel to connect to the network599.

According to an embodiment, there is no antenna on the receiving vessel and the point-to-point communications link is completed using a transceiver of a mobile communications device used on the vessel.

FIG.6illustrates an example of a system600in which an embodiment of the invention may be deployed. On the barge602, there is a data capture device. In this case, the data capture device is a measurement apparatus620, which measures a set of parameters related to the delivery process by engaging with the bunker line608through which the fuel delivery takes place. The measurement data is read off and stored by the monitoring unit630. The monitoring unit is also configured to run an application to produce a network-accessible dashboard in which the measurements are presented. The dashboard may be accessible using a web browser, over the private wireless communications network. The monitoring device is configured such that the thus-generated dashboard accepts inputs from authorized users, preferably in the form of an electronic signature of the user to indicate that the user has verified that the measurements or parameters presented in the dashboard meet with the requirements stated in a set of preestablished contractual terms relating to the delivery process.

In embodiments in which the data capture device is a video capture device, the monitoring unit is configured to treat the captured video data of all or part of a process used during the delivery session to allow it to be displayed in the dashboard.

Using embodiments described herein, it is possible for both the Barge Master and the Chief Engineer of the receiving vessel to monitor one or more characteristics of the bunkering session in real time as the bunker fuel is being delivered thanks to the point-to-point private wireless network699and the dashboard created by the monitoring unit630. The system may comprise different sensors allowing for various different characteristics to be monitored, including: the viscosity of the delivered fuel; its density; its temperature; its mass; its flow rate; the percentage water content in the delivered fuel; the percentage sediment content; the percentage Sulphur content; the percentage ash content; and the time taken to pump the delivered fuel or the times during which the pumping took place. In a preferred embodiment, the system comprises pressure sensors to measure differential pressure over the flowmeter, which is useful to compensate a measurement when entrained gas is included in the bunker fuel. Using the measured parameters and characteristics an electronic bunker delivery note (BDN) may be generated and populated automatically. Other documents or certificates relating to the bunker session may also be generated and populated using measured values. The generated electronic documents may be electronically signed by the Barge Master and then transmitted wirelessly to the Chief Engineer of the receiving vessel, who can then countersign the documents and send copies back to the Bunker Master. According to an embodiment, the documents may be sent to the cloud.

FIG.7illustrates an embodiment which comprises a gateway device750, connected via a physical local area network cable to the router710on the barge, for example a Sigma Cluster. In this embodiment, the monitoring unit730can store its measurements, or other data for monitoring the delivery process, in the cloud760, where it is accessible to authorized users wherever their location provides them with access to the cloud, for example using satellite technology or 4G communications technology. Whenever the vessel is in a location where access to the cloud is available, it can upload its measurement data and or/receive software modifications or settings modifications from the cloud. The measurement data, video data, invoicing data, or any other data used for verifying the delivery process, may also thus be made available to clients or other stakeholders in the delivery process, preferably via a dashboard accessible via a web browser. The data capture device, or measurement apparatus, is shown720as well as the monitoring unit730, wireless router710and wireless access point740for building the point-to-point private bidirectional wireless link to the vessel.

According to an embodiment, the processor of the monitoring unit is configured to dismantle the private network when the bunkering process is completed.