Success Stories
Read about some of the GasTOPS technology application success stories.
US Navy EA-6B
GasTOPS Filter Debris Analysis Diagnoses EA6B Prowler Aircraft Bearing Failures to avoid Class-A Mishaps
- In the late 1990’s, the EA-6B Pratt & Whitney J52-P-408 turbojet engines were experiencing one in-flight shutdown per month. The root cause of the failures were traced to #4½ roller bearing failure.
- Failures were not detected by traditional monitoring techniques.
- GasTOPS worked closely with the US Navy and scientists from JOAP-TSC to develop and qualify an automated, field-deployable filter debris analysis (FDA) technique to identify early indication of the #4 1/2 bearing failure.
- In the first six months, FDA using the GasTOPS FilterCHECK 300 instrument successfully diagnosed six #4½ bearing failures (verified by engine tear down).
- The US Navy J-52 program has achieved 95% success rate for hits (with no misses or escapes) on oil wetted components since employing GasTOPS FDA.
- FDA technology has been credited with keeping this invaluable aircraft operational and functional during the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.
Cruise Lines
MetalSCAN Monitoring gives Early Warning on Azipod Failures; Avoids Costly Dry Dock
- Several cruise lines were experiencing bearing failure on their 360-degree podded propulsion systems (Azipods).
- Traditional monitoring methods were not detecting the azipod failures with early warning.
- Emergency dry dock for unplanned maintenance can be very costly- upwards of a million US dollars per day.
- GasTOPS worked closely with the cruise lines to develop an application of on-line debris monitoring.
- MetalSCAN Monitoring is shown to provide early indication and fault progression monitoring, as much as 9 months early warning before failure. This allows for planned, scheduled maintenance and reduced cost.
- This method is now being utilized by 90% of world wide operators of cruise liner ships with podded propulsion.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
BNSF Avoids Failures, Costs with Fluid Monitoring Program & Expert System 
- BNSF fleet of 6000 locomotive engines, processed 1000 oil samples/day; data was manually entered and evaluated.
- BNSF wanted to automate the collection, processing, and analysis of their fluid program data to improve the accuracy and consistency of data interpretation.
- GasTOPS automated the data entry process, upgraded lab instruments and methods, and implemented a rule-based expert system that provides automated maintenance recommendations to the 50 way stations.
- From this service, BNSF realized significant technical and financial benefits including:
- Reduced locomotive shutdowns from 20 per month to 10 per month
- Extended GE engine oil changes from 122 days to 184 days
- Significantly reduced catastrophic failures
- Provided improved maintenance recommendations by pinpointing the source of the equipment problems
- Improved sampling compliance by 95%
- Demonstrated program payback in less than 1-year
- Reduced the strain on a demanding schedule through automated analysis and recommendations
