NAMA = ILYASA FASTABIQ AHSAN

NIM = 40040418060009

Matakuliah = Listrik Kapal

Dosen = Mohd.Ridwan, ST, MT

Marine Electrical Distribution

Function of ship's electrical distribution system is to safely convey the generated electrical power to every
item of consumer equipment.

 Advantages of AC distribution:
 high power to weight ratio
 transformers can step up and step down AC voltages
 3∅ AC is efficiently converted into rotary mechanical power
Majority  of the ships have 3∅ AC 3 wire 440V insulated neutral system.Neutral point of star connected
generator is not earthed to ship's hull.High voltage ships have neutral point earthed to ship's hull through
a resistor or an earthing transformer.60Hz is most common power frequency adopted.Higher frequency
means that motors and generators runs at higher speed with a consequent reduction in size for a given
power ratio.

General Distribution Scheme:

Circuit breakers and switches are means of controlling the flow of electric current.Fuses and relays
protects the distribution system. Electrical load is divided into essential and non essential services.Most
essential services are fed via an emergency switchboard and others via main switchboard.
Emergency Power:

Many vessels regain their power system after a blackout using an emergency generator and
switchboard.Emergency power source supply all essential services for safety in an emergency.
 emergency source must be independently driven and shall have an independent fuel source
 shall be started automatically in the event of a power failure
 shall connect to ESB in less than 45seconds
 shall work when ship is at a list of 22.5° either sides or 10°trim fwd or aft  
Location of emergency power source:
 emergency source of power is located in such a way that a fire in machinery space will not
interfere with supply,control and distribution of emergency electrical power
 space containing emergency power source shall not be contiguous to the boundaries of
machinery space
 emergency switchboard is to be installed as near as practical to emergency source of electrical
power
Starting arrangements of emergency generator sets:
 shall be capable of starting in cold condition at a temperature of 0°Celsius.If lower temperature
can be encountered then heating arrangements must be operational
 flash point of fuel used must be more than 43°celsius
 EG sets should have starting devices with stored energy capability of 3 consecutive starts
 in addition another source of energy is to be provided for an additional 3 starts within 30minutes.
 stored energy for starting EG sets are always maintained as - electrical system is maintained
from ESB , if started by air then dedicated compressor and reservoir are provided.Starting, charging and
energy storing device are to be same room.
Air circuit breaker of EG to emergency switchboard is interlocked with bus coupler from main switch
board.When power from MSB is lost, ABT[ automatic bus transfer] will connect EG to ESB.This would
occur only when MSB is clear of all loads.This ABT also called as bustie which prevents paralleling of EG
with main generators.
Emergency generator should have fuel for 18hrs.
Periodic testing of emergency generator:

Emergency generator may be used for short period such as routine testing and dead ship start up.
Weekly testing shall be carried out during drills which include simulation of loss of main power.
Start equipment may provide a test switch button to interrupt the normal power supply from
MSB.Emergency generator should be run upto its rated speed for a short time.
Shore Supply or Cold Ironing:

Shore supply or cold ironing is

required so that major overhauling of ship's generator and primemover is possible at drydock.Moreover
cooling system of prime mover cannot be run so easily.
Cold ironing was the term used with olden days coal fired engine.When ships arrives at port,engines were
not required and they will cool down and eventually turn cold.
Cold ironing also avoids air pollution and reduces fuel consumption at dock.
Shore supply switch on MSB is interlocked with generator supply breakers.So it cannot be switched ON
when power is available on MSB or ESB.Generator breakers will not close if shore supply breaker is ON
and alive.

Isolated and Earthed Neutral System:

Isolated or insulated neutral system is one that is totally electrically insulated from earth[ship's hull].

In an insulated neutral system if one earth fault occurs, no earth fault current will flow.With such a sytem
an electric motor serving an essential equipment can be kept running until stoppage for repair.
But if there occurs two earth fault and second earth fault occurs in another circuit, large fault current flow
occurs which will be equivalent to a short circuit and protective devices would operate.

In tankers it is not advised to  have earthed neutral system.An earth fault current occurring could circulate
in ship's hull within the hazardous zone which may cause an explosion of flammable cargo.
 *Earth fault in earthed neutral system

Earthed neutral system has supply neutral point connected to earth.HV systems >1000V are usually
earthed to ships hull via a neutral earthing resistor [NER] or through a high impedance transformer.Ohmic
value of earthed resistor is usually chosen so as to limit the earth fault current not to go more than the full
load current rating of generator.

If a single earth fault occurs in earthed neutral sytem, fault current passes through NER. An earth fault
relay and CT is fixed in this case to monitor the fault current and to trip the faulty circuit.

Earth Fault Monitoring System:

Earth fault indication by set of lamps -

 If there is an earth fault, when the test button is pushed lamp will not glow for the faulty phase as
there is no potential difference across it
 In each phase current will flow without hindrance.In phase having earth fault current will take an
easier path than through the resistance.Both ends of the lamp will be in ground potential

 Instrument type earth fault indicator:

 Instrument applies a small DC voltage into the distribution system.The resulting current being
measured to indicate insulation resistance of the system.
 Instrument permits a maximum earth monitoring current of only 1mA and indicates IR directly in
KΩ.It gives both visual and audible alarm.
 E/F Indicator-instrument type

In HV system earth fault indicator can just be an ammeter measuring neutral current via a current
transformer.

Protection in an earthed system can also be

provided using current transformer[CT].If motor is healthy, phasor sum of current measured by CT is
zero.If an earth fault occurs in motor,phasor sum of current will not be zero.Current monitored by E/F
relay trips the contactor in starter to isolate the faulty motor circuit.
Earth Fault Detection and Clearance:

 Suppose an earth fault occurred in 220V lighting d.b, earth fault monitor for lighting d.b indicate
the presence of earth fault.
 Switches A,B,C are one by one switched OFF and ON to find the circuit of fault
presence.Suppose earth fault is at B.
 Circuit B supplies to a lighting distribution board where earth fault indicator is not present.Here IR
tester is used to find E/F location.

  At distribution fuse board, fuse pair no 1 is removed to isolate load.IR tester is used between B
and hull.If IR is healthy the connect between A and hull.If found healthy fuse pair can be put back.Now
circuit no2 fuses are removed and thereby checking is carried out.
 If circuit no2 is found unhealthy,then fault has located.In his case circuit no.2  fuses are removed,
switches are opened, lamps are removed to split the circuit into different conductors which are isolated.
 Now IR test is carried out on each individual conductors to pinpoint the E/F.
 MCB

Distribution Circuit Breakers:

MCB- Miniature Circuit Breakers [5-100A]

 Limited breaking capacity.

 Commonly used in final distribution boards instead of fuses
 Has thermal over current protection and short circuit protection

MCCB-Moulded Case Circuit Breakers [50-1500A]

 MCCB

 Lower breaking capacity compared to main breakers

 Has adjustable thermal over current trip,adjustable magnetic over current trip,short circuit
protection,under voltage trip, back up fuses.
 Transformers Onboard Ship:

Laminated steel core transformers are used.They are generally air cooled and mounted in sheet steel
enclosures close to main switch board.Transformer on 3∅ system are generally interconnected by a delta-
delta circuit configuration.
440V-220V Transformers are △-△ configuration

Power Distribution
The function of a ship’s electrical distribution system is to safely convey electrical power to every item of
equipment connected to it. The most obvious element in the system is the main switchboard. The main
board supplies bulk power to motor starter groups (often part of the main board), section boards and
distribution boards. Transformers interconnect the HV and LV distribution sections of the system. Circuit
breakers and fuses strategically placed troughout the system automatically disconnects a faulty circuit
within the network. The main switchboard is placed in the engine controlroom and from there
engineroom staf monitor and control the generation and distribution of electrical power. It is very
important that every engineer has a profound knowledge of the electrical distribution of the ship’s
power. The only way to aquire this knowledge is to study the ship’s power diagrams. Almost all
oceangoing ships have an A.C. distribution system in preference to a direct current D.C. system. Usally a
ship’s electrical distribution scheme follows shore pratice. This allows normal industrial equipment to be
used after being adapted and certified where and if necessary, so it can withstand the conditions on
board of a ship (e.g. vibration, freezing and tropical temperatures, humidity, the salty atmosphere, etc.
encountered in various parts of the ship). Most ships have a 3-phase A.C., 3-wire, 440V insulated-neutral
system. This means that the neutral point of star connected-generators is not earthed to the ship’s hull.
Ship’s with very large electrical loads have generators operating at high voltages (HV) of 3.3KV, 6.6KV,
and even 11KV. By using these high voltages we can reduce the size of cables and equipment. High
voltage systems are becoming more common as ship size and complexity increase. The frequency of an
A.C. power system can be 50 Hz or 60Hz. The 4 most common power frequency adopted for use on
board ships is 60Hz. This higher frequency means that generators and motors run at higher speeds with
a consequent reduction in size for a given power rating. Lighting and low power single-phase supplies
usually operate at 220 V. This voltage is derived from a step down transformer connected to the 440 V
system.

Grounding systems in shipboard electrical networks.

In electrical engineeering, the ground means reference in electrical circuits from which other voltages
are measured. The earth point means a solid connection to the earth, which due to its massive section
and mass has almost no resistance for electrical current. If the reference for your voltage measurements
is the earth the earth becomes your ground. By absense of the earth on board of a ship, the ship’s hull
can be used as a substitute for the earth. Depending on the construction of the electrical networks they
may ar may not be connected to earth potential. In general we can have solidly grounded, reactance
grounded, resistance grounded and isolated networks. In isolated networks there is the challenge to
detect earth faults. Ships distribution systems are typically isolated in low voltage systems (¿1000V AC)
and high resistance grounded in high voltage systems. High resistance grounding ensures the trip action

in case of an earth fault and prevents short circuit faults in the network. High resistance grounding can
therefore not guarantee continuity of service.
Electrical faults

There are three different kind of electrical faults

Earth fault

An earth fault is caused by loss of insulation allowing the current to flow to earth potential. Causes of
earth faults are typically breakdown or wear of insulation. The majority of earth faults occur within
electrical equipment due to an insulation failure or a loose wire, wich allows a live conductor to come
into contact with its earthed metal enclosure. To protect against the dangers of electric shock and fire
that may result from earth faults, the metal enclosures and other non-current carrying metal parts of
electrical equipment must be earthed. The earthing connector connects the metal enclosure to earth
(the schip’s hull) to prevent it from attaining a 6 dangerous voltage with respect to earth. Such earth
bonding of equipment ensures that its voltage in reference to earth always remains at zero.

Open circuit fault

An open circuit fault occurs when a phase conductor is completely or even partialy interupted. Causes of
open circuit faults are bad connections or a break in the wire. Open circuit faults when intermittent can
cause flashes. Open circuit faults when not completely open (bad connection) can cause a lot of heat
and are a fire hazzard. Open circuits in three phase circuits can cause motors to run on only two phases
and create a motor overload.

Short circuit fault

Short circuit faults occurs where two different phase conductors are connected together. This can be
caused by double break loss of insulation, human error or another abnormal situation. A large amount
of current is released in a short circuit, often accompanied by an explosion.

Significance of Earth Faults

If a single earth fault occurs on the live line of an earthed distribution system it would be the equivalent
to a schort-circuit fault across the generator trough the schip’s hull. The resulting large current would
immediatly cause the line protective device (fuse or circuit breaker ) to trip out the faulty circuit. The
faulted electric equipment would be immediately isolated from the supply and so rendered safe.
However, the loss of power supply, could create a hazardous situation, especialy if the equipment was
classed essential(ABS part 4 chapter 8 table 1 and 2), e.g. steering gear. The large fault current could also
cause arcing damage at the fault location. In contrast a single earth fault occuring on one line of an
insulated distribution system will not cause any protective trip to operate and the system would
continue to function normally. This is the important point: equipment continues to operate with a single
earth fault as it does not provide a closed circuit so no earth fault current will flow. More important is
that if a second earth fault occurs on another line of the insulated system, the two faults together would
be equivalent to a short- circuit fault (via the ship’s hull) and the resulting large current would operate
protection devices and cause disconnection of perhaps essential services creating a risk to the safety of
the ship. An insulated distribution system therefore requires two earth faults on two 7 different lines to
cause an earth fault current to flow. In contrast, an earthed distribution system requires only one earth
fault to cause an earth fault current to flow. An insulated system is, therefore more effective than an
earthed system in maintenance continuity of supply to essential services. Hence its adoption for most
marine electrical systems. Note: Double-pole switches with fuses in both lines are necessary in an
insulated single-phase circuit.

An Electric Power System’s Reliability

Reliability of an electric system is obtained by sectioning of the distribution system and providing
multiple power sources, by providing an emergency power system, subsectioning of the circuits, the
choice of the earthing system and the selectivity of the protections.

Sectioning of the distribution system and providing multiple power sources

Providing multiple transformators can protect certain users against particular problems. An example can
be computer systems wich are sensitive to harmonics.

Emergency power systems

Two independant high to low voltage power stations, emergency generators, UPS, independant
emergency lighting a.o. have to be placed in well protected area’s enabling them to function in case of
an emergency and or accident.

Sectioning of circuits

Essential equipment can take there power from the main or emergency switchboard. This way a fault
wich affects a secondary circuit doesn’t influence a circuit with high priority. Sectioning of circuits is
done as demanded by The Rules and the demands of exploitation, providing at least two power sources
for all essential equipment.

Selectivity

If a fault occurs at any point in an electrical distribution circuit, it is essential that it does not interrupt
the supply to essential services. This obvious 8 requirement leads to the necessity of rapidly isolating the
defective section without depriving the other users of electrical energy; this is in fact the principle of
selective tripping. The protective element (circuit breaker or fuses) wich is placed immediately up-
stream from the part of the circuit where the fault has occured, and this alone element, must then

operate; the other protecting elements must not trip. Conventional selectivity processes (overcurrent
and time lag) fullfil these requirements to a more or less satisfactory degree.
Overcurrent Selectivity

This makes use of protective equipment operating instantaneously (rapid circuit breakers or fuses). The
selectivity is based on the fact that the shortcircuit current decreases with increasing distance from the
power source. It is thus especially for low voltages where the connecting impedances are not negligible.
Time lag selectivity

This can make complete selectivity by delaying the tripping of each circuitbreaker for durations all the
higher as the circuit-breaker is nearer the source of energy.