Diving deeper into hydraulics: key knowledge for a systems integrator

As a shipbuilder, Damen Naval’s traditional areas of expertise are design and engineering. A crucial part of this, however, is systems integration; Damen Naval designs ships into which it installs a carefully selected and fit-for-purpose suite of equipment manufactured by a wide range of suppliers and subcontractors. Therefore, in order to make the best design and engineering choices, Damen’s teams must keep their knowledge about ship systems and technologies as up-to-date as possible. It was precisely for this reason that twelve people from Damen Naval’s Marine & Propulsion (M&P) team signed up for a hydraulics course with technical education organisation ROVC.

The focus of M&P team is the design and integration of all kinds of mechanical systems that need to be installed on board of the vessel. “This includes the propulsion systems like the main engines, generators, gearbox, shaft and propellor, etc.,” explains Marine Systems Engineer Vincent Spaas. “But also the marine systems like cooling water, fuel, lubrication oil, HVAC, firefighting systems, hydraulics, starting and working air, breathing air for firefighting and diving, etc.”

Looking at how hydraulic systems are used in the M&P team’s work, Vincent says that this is mainly for lifting and hoisting equipment. “Cranes for lifting containers on and off the ship, for putting small boats in the water, or for the opening and closing of hatches,” continues Vincent. “Slipway catch mechanisms for mission and rescue boats are also powered by hydraulics. It all depends on the project and what the client wants.”

The course consisted of ten theoretical sessions that focused on hydraulic systems and components in general. “Because it is such a proven technique, there are not really any revolutionary new inventions within the field of hydraulics. It’s more a case of the equipment getting better and better, more and more precise,” says Vincent. “So with every session, we learnt about components, diving deeper into the details.”

The course concluded with a practical session “to learn about the behaviour of different components and different setups, putting the theory that we learned into practice” and an exam. “The exam was optional. For us, the primary aim of the course was to learn as much as we could about the practicalities of hydraulics from the teacher. Learning how to use hydraulics in our day-to-day work,” adds Vincent. “For example, we don’t design hydraulic systems at Damen Naval – we buy them from suppliers instead. Therefore it is important that we can look at and fully understand the information we get from our hydraulics suppliers and ask critical questions. This is why this course was so useful: it gave us a deeper knowledge of the components we use, helping us to better integrate them into our ships.”