Why are Transformer and Alternator Ratings

in kVA on Ships?
July 25, 2011 By Sriram Balasubramanian Leave a Comment
On ships, not only transformers, but also generators, protection devices etc., are mostly rated in
kVA. A motor does mechanical work and thus has mechanical output expressed in kW. A
transformer is a static device, which does not perform any mechanical work. But the main
functions are stepping down and stepping up of voltage ratings. Invariably, while stepping
up/down the voltage, it also steps down/up the current inversely.
Thus the rating of a transformer can only be expressed as a product of Volts and Amperes (V *A)

Amps Rating
The current flowing through the transformer can vary in power factor, from zero PF lead (pure
capacitive load) to zero PF lag (Pure inductive load) and is decided by the load connected to the
secondary. The conductor of the transformer winding is rated for a particular current beyond
which it will exceed the temperature for which its insulation is rated irrespective of the load
power factor.
Voltage Rating

The maximum voltage which the primary winding can be subjected to, has also a maximum
limit. If the applied voltage to the primary winding exceeds the maximum rated value, then this
will cause magnetic saturation of the core leading to distorted output with higher iron losses.
Thus considering both the above ratings, it is usual for transformers to be rated in VA. It can
further be understood as product of voltage (V) and Current (A). But this does not mean that one
can apply a lower voltage and pass a higher current through the transformer contributing to the
rated VA value. The VA value is bounded individually by the rated voltage and rated current.
All electrical equipments in connection with generation, transmission, distribution of a.c. power
such as alternators, transformers, switch gear, cables etc are rated on k VA basis.
We know that
Cos = kW/ k VA.
Or
k VA = kW/ Cos .
It is evident from the above equation that the larger the Power factor, the smaller is the k VA
requirement of the machinery. Therefore at low power factors, the K VA rating of the equipment
has to be made more, making the equipment larger and expensive.
Thus k VA rating is so important and it is assigned at the design stage itself.

Read more: http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/marine-electrical/why-are-transformer-andalternator-ratings-in-kva-on-ships/#ixzz27VReCERk

Reasons for Using High Voltage Systems On

board Ships
July 24, 2011 By Sriram Balasubramanian Leave a Comment
We all know about the voltages used on board a ship. It is usually a 3phase, 60Hz, 440 Volts
supply being generated and distributed on board. Every day the owners and designers aim for
bigger ships for more profitability. As the ship size increases, there is a need to install more
powerful engines and other machineries.
This increase in size of machineries and other equipment demands more electrical power and
thus it is required to use higher voltages on board a ship.

Any Voltage used on board a ship if less than 1kV (1000 V) then it is called as LV (Low Voltage)
system and any voltage above 1kV is termed as High Voltage.
Typical Marine HV systems operate usually at 3.3kV or 6.6kV. Passenger Liners like QE2
operate at 10kV.

Why High Voltage?

Let us assume a ship generating 8MW of power at 440V, from 4 diesel generating sets of 2MW,
0.8 power factors each.
Each generator feeder cable and circuit breaker has to handle a full-load current of:
I = 2 * 106/ (3 * 440 * 0.8)
I = 3280.4 Amps i.e. Approximately 3300 Amps.
The protection devices like circuit breaker should be rated at approximately 90kA for each
feeder cable.
Let us now calculate the same if the generated voltage is 6600Volts.
I = 2 * 106 / (3 * 6600 * 0.8)
I = 218.69 Amps, Approximately 220 Amps. Thus the protection devices can be rated as low as 9
k Amps.
Also Power Loss = I2 * r.
Where I is the current carried by the conductor,

R is the resistance of the conductor.

Thus power loss varies square of the current carried by the conductor. If the supply voltage is
440V, then the current carried by the conductor is 0.002P, and if the voltage is raised to 6600V,
then the current carried for the same power is (1.515 *( 10^-4)) * P
Thus it implies that the power loss is reduced by a greater extent if the voltage is stepped up.
Thus it is always efficient to transmit power at a higher voltage.
Conversely, the power loss can be reduced by reducing the resistance of the conductor.
r = * l/a.
Thus by increasing the cross-sectional area of the conductor (diameter), the resistance of the
conductor can be reduced and thus the power loss. But this involves huge increase in cost and
heavy cables with supports. Thus this idea was not used to reduce the power loss during
transmission and utilization.

Also a motor (let us assume a bow thruster), may be of a smaller size if it designed to operate on
6600 Volts. For the same power, the motor would be of a smaller size if it is designed for
6600Volts when compared to 440Volts.
Thus these are the major reasons why recent ships have shifted towards high voltage systems.

Read more: http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/marine-electrical/reasons-for-using-highvoltage-systems-on-board-ships/#ixzz27VTQQiuy

How I Have Repaired My CellPhone

Charger- By Beh
1

Working at home
Home Work
Current Trans former
Blackberry enterprise servers

Jestine Yong | September 19, 2012 | 92 CommentsMore

Input is 220 volt/50hz AC output is 4.9 vDC

The problem with my cellphone charger was that it had stop charging the battery of my cellphone. I have
decided to fix it on my own with the help of Jestine Yong Power Supply repair book- TROUBLE
SHOOTING AND REPAIRING SWITCH MODE POWER SUPPLIES.

The charger cover was opened and Im confident that it can be repaired. The first thing I have checked
was the output voltage with a voltmeter. It reads zero volt which mean there was a serious problem in the
charger. It was quite difficult to open the cover because the charger design does not have any screw. I left
no choice and had to use a hammer together with a knife to force it open.

After opening the cover I could cleary see that this charger design was a double sided circuit board. The
top parts were all conventional parts like bridge rectifires, filter caps, optoisolator ic ,mosfet, transformer,
and shottky diode and the bottom circuit were all SMD components such as resistors and transistors.

I began to check on the conventional components first and I found a resistor with the value of 10 ohm 1
watt was completely open and this low ohm resistor acts like a fuse. Beside the fuse, one of the four

bridge rectifiers diode was shorted and the part number was 1N4007. I did checked on other parts like
capacitors, transformer, Mosfet, schottky diodes and etc were all good.

I believe the shorted rectifier (diode) drained too much current causing the low ohm resistor to open
circuit thus preventing more components to burn. After replaced the two components, the charger started
to work again. The cover was sealed with the help of glue. The cost of repair was only USD 0.5 cents! A
new normal charger would cost USD10.00 and the original one is more expensive-USD50.00 probably. I
hope this article can be helpful to those who wants to repair their own cellphone charger.

Mr Behzad
Iran
Note: Please do not attempt to perform the repair work if you do not know about electrical safety.
If you have any interesting repair article that you want to share to others please do email me.
I encourage you to leave your comments on the post, as well as share the post with anyone you feel may
benefit from it using the social media buttons below-thanks.

How to Install Electronic Circuits on Ship?

May 17, 2011 By Anish 1 Comment
With increase in modern technology and automation in ships machinery and operations,
electronic circuits like printed circuit board or PCB along with signal transducer and
transmission system are popularly used onboard. Since these are very small and vital circuits
they require proper location and precaution for their installation.
What is Printed Circuit Board or PCB?
In ships, electronic system PCB plate or board is commonly used as it is compact in size and
easy to replace.
PCB is an electrical interconnection of different electronic components using tracks, signal
traces, conductive pathways etc., and the whole circuit is supported mechanically on a small
board.

It is very important to properly locate the installation of electronic components as they are prone
to damage if there is excessive change in the surroundings.
Important points to be kept in mind while installing electronic system:

The electronic circuits get affected by change in temperature or heat so component like
transmitter should be installed in a place with good ventilation and with no gas or steam
leakage.

Cable connecting the electronic component must be installed over perforated plates for
good ventilation and should not lie on the hot surface.

The cable used must have proper insulation.

Circuits like PCB have more chance of getting damaged when exposed to high
temperature. Therefore, they are installed in Engine control room (ECR) and air
conditioning is provided in the control room to maintain the temperature of electronic and
electrical components.

While installing the electronic component, drier or silica gel packets are used in the
control box to avoid condensation of moisture over the circuit.

With moisture over the circuit due to humidity in the atmosphere, the electronic
component will behave erratic.

The box or cabinet used to install electronic circuit must be properly secured with the
surroundings to avoid vibration.

Vibration will cause loose or breaking of contacts.

All the components are to be tightly fitted in the cabinet as else loose fitting may lead to
vibration and hence breaking of contacts and components.

Electronic circuits component cable should not be in the vicinity of 440 v high tension
cable.

440 v cable produce electromagnetic field which will interact with the signal of the
electronic circuit and lead to wrong input or output.

Read more: http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/proceduresmaintenance/how-to-installelectronic-circuits-on-ship/#ixzz27VZ786v8

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About

Container Refrigeration Unit
October 28, 2010 By Anish 1 Comment
A reefer container is an enclosed unit used for transporting temperature sensitive cargo. The
container requires external power supply for its operation. The article describes everything you
ever wanted to know about container refrigeration units.
When reefer containers are loaded in ships, the power supply is provided from the power
generated from the D.G sets of the vessel. Some important points about container refrigeration
are:
- Container Refrigeration unit is fitted in front of the container and it serves as container front
wall.
- Some units are dual voltage, designed to operate on 190/230 or 380/460 volts A.C, 3 phase, 5060 hertz power.
- Operating control power is provided by single phase transformer which steps down the A.C
supply power source to 24 volts, 1 phase control power.

Understanding the Basic Sections of Refer Unit

1. Compressor Section
- Consist of compressor (with H.P switch) and power cable storage compartment. Power
transformer may be an option where the ship supply differs.
- It also contain modulating and suction solenoid valve (for controlling the quantity of gas flow).
- Safety fittings in the section are- moisture liquid indicator, pressure relief valve, filter drier etc.
- Safety of the system is further enhanced by electronic monitoring with the help of following
sensors- Compressor suction and discharge sensor, supply air temperature sensor, supply
recorder sensor, ambient sensor.
2. Condenser Section
- The condenser section contains condenser fan and its motor, an air cooled condenser coil and
condenser saturation sensor.
- For air cooled condenser air is normally pulled from bottom and discharged horizontally
through centre of the unit.
- Some units consists of water cooled condenser /receiver. This unit is expensive.
3.Evaporator Section
- This section contains temperature sensing bulb, return recorder bulb sensor and a thermostatic
expansion valve (for flow of refrigerant and maintenance of inside temperature).
- Assembly consist of evaporator coil and heater, drain pan and heater, defrost and heat
transmission switches.

- The evaporator fan circulates air throughout the container by pulling air in top of refrigeration
unit and directing air through evaporator coil where its either heated or cooled and is then
discharged out at the bottom of refrigeration unit into the container.
4. Fresh air Make up Vent
- Purpose of this vent is to provide ventilation for commodities that requires fresh air circulation
and must be closed when transporting frozen foods.
- Air exchange depends upon static pressure differential which will vary depending upon how
container is loaded.
Safety and Operating Precaution
An injury, no matter how small, should never go unattended. Always obtain first aid or medical
attention immediately.
a) Always wear safety gloves and glasses while working on any unit and also when charging
refrigerant.
b) Keep hand, tools, and clothing clear from evaporator and condenser fan.
c) No work should be performed on any unit until all circuit breaker and start stop switches are
turned off and power supply disconnected.
d) Do not bypass any electrical safety device.
e) When performing arc welding on unit or condenser, disconnect all wire harness connection
from the module in control box. Do Not remove wire harness from the module unless you are
grounded to unit frame with a static safe wrist strap.
f) In case of electrical fire, open circuit switch and extinguish it with CO2 extinguisher.

Read more: http://www.marineinsight.com/tech/auxiliary-machinery/refrigeration-airconditioning/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-container-refrigerationunit/#ixzz27VZmLwDL

Understanding Capacity Control in Ships

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration System
April 12, 2012 By Anish Leave a Comment

Ships air conditioning and refrigeration system helps in lowering room temperature and in
keeping perishable food items and refrigerated cargo at desirable temperature.
As discussed in our article about basics of refrigeration plant Construction and Working of
Ships Refrigeration plant on ships, the reefer and air conditioning systems are installed to handle
fluctuating loads i.e. they are responsible for maintaining low temperature of several rooms or
cargo holds at the same time.

The efficiency of the refer plant depends on its ability to maintain different rooms or holds at
different temperature.
What is Capacity Control?
Capacity control of a refrigeration plant can be defined as a system which controls the output of
the plant as per the load in demand. As the load (temperature) of one room is achieved, there will
be no more need of the refrigerant for cooling. Hence, the solenoid valve supplying refrigerant to
that room will shut. This functionality is called capacity control.
The refrigeration compressor consists of different units working in parallel to cope up with the
load. As the load decreases, the capacity control system cut off one or more units (depending
upon the load) and maintains the efficiency of the plant by reducing stresses on different parts.
Components and Working of Capacity control system
1. Compressor lube oil pump supply
2. Capacity control valve
3. Capacity control regulating valve
4. Un-loader assembly

The compressor lube oil pump supplies oil to all the bearings and one connection is provided to
the capacity control valve.
The capacity control valve is provided with high pressure oil from the compressor lube oil
supply pump. This valve has several grooves bored in to its periphery and connected to the unloader mechanism of different units.

A spring piston is provided which controls the spreading of high pressure oil supply in to the
bore chamber. The spring piston is pressed by the oil supplied through an orifice which pushes
the piston and aligns the un-loader holes, supplying high pressure oil to the un-loader unit.
The un-loader assembly comprises of a un-loader piston held by a spring. The un-loader piston
is connected to a rotating cam ring having lifting pins attached to th suction valve. The lifting
pins always act on the suction valve i.e. un-loading the unit at stop condition.

When the bores on control valve aligns with the un loader bores, oil will pass and press the unloader piston rotating the cam and releasing the un loader pins from the suction valve.
The capacity control regulating valve is responsible to control the pressure (opening and
closing of capacity control valve ports with un-loader ports). Its one end is connected to the
crankcase and other end to capacity control valve.

As the pressure in the crankcase drops due to reduction in load, oil in capacity control valve is
drained into the crank case leading to closing of un-loader ports, lifting of the suction valve, and
cutting of the cylinder unit.

Read more: http://www.marineinsight.com/marine/marine-news/headline/understandingcapacity-control-in-ships-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-system/#ixzz27Va5W15l

What are the Safety Devices on the

Refrigeration System of a Ship?
March 4, 2011 By KaranC 1 Comment
A reefer system is the back bone of ships carrying refrigerated cargo. A malfunction of any of the
components of the system can lead to degradation and wastage of perishable and cold storage
cargo including provision for a ship. It is therefore important to maintain and run the
refrigeration plant properly to avoid any breakdowns.
In this article we will learn about the safety feature of the refrigeration plant. Before that, you
must read the construction and working of the ships refrigeration plant.
To have an efficient and hassle free operation of a ships refrigeration plant and its components, a
good maintenance schedule and safety systems are adopted.
A safety system includes alarm, cut offs, and trips which safeguards the machinery and its parts
from getting damage.
The main safeties adopted for refrigeration plants are

Low Pressure or LP cut off: This is a compressor safety which cut off the compressor in
the event of pressure drop in the suction line. The pressure of the suction line is
continuously sensed by the control unit and when it goes below the set value, which
means the room is properly cooled, the LP cut out will auto trip the compressor. When the
pressure rises, indicating there is flow of refrigerant in the line due to increase in room
temperature, the LP switch will start the compressor.

High pressure or HP cut out: As the name suggests, the high pressure cut out activates
and trips the compressor when the discharge side pressure increases above the limit
value. The HP cut out is not auto reset and has to be done manually. The reason behind it
is to manually attend the fault which is leading to rise in pressure, else this situation can
lead to overloading of compressor parts and may damage the same

Oil differential cut out: This safety is again for compressor as it is the only machinery in
the circuit having rotational parts which requires continuous lubrication. In the event of
low supply or no supply of lube oil to the bearing, the differential pressure will increase
and activates a trip signal to safeguard the bearing and crankshaft.

Relief valves: Relief valves are fitted in discharge side of compressor and will lift and
safeguard the compressor in the event of over pressure. One relief valve is also fitted in
the condenser refrigerant line to avoid damage to the condenser if there is high pressure
in the discharge line.

Solenoid valves: Master solenoid valve is fitted in the common or main line after the
condenser discharge. It closes when compressor stops or trips to avoid over flow of
refrigerant in to evaporator. All holds or rooms are fitted with individual solenoid valve
which control the flow of refrigerant to that room.

Oil heater: Oil heater is provided for the compressor crank case oil and prevents
compressor from getting excessively cold which may effect the lubrication of the parts.

You may also like to read-What are the Periodic Safety Routines that Should be Carried Out on a
Ship?

Read more: http://www.marineinsight.com/misc/marine-safety/what-are-the-safety-devices-onthe-refrigeration-system-of-a-ship/#ixzz27VaOJq17