Sunday 14 December 2014

Power Distribution in Marine Electrical Services

Marine electrical services are a lot more complicated than they look and even more important to smooth sailing. It may seem as marine services are pre-determined factors in ships that one does not have to think much about but actually, a lot of research and effort has to go into each of the machine’s construction and execution. A ship is run almost completely on electric power generation and thus, it is imperative that it carries with it a power generation plant which is able to provide enough electricity to run the entire ship. Thus, a shipboard power generation system is extremely important and so are marine electrical services.

Introduction
The tricky thing about electricity is that it is supposed to be distributed to all parts f a vehicle without too much loss. However, it is inevitable that some of it is ultimately lost when it travels from one place to the other. It is not like a city’s power transmission system that has huge lines. A shipboard electric supply system is supposed to be short and simple and thus, is a lot easier to discuss. The article will go on to discuss how the electric supply runs and a little bit of each thing will be touched to make people understand the complexity of this deceptively simple system.

Main Bus Bar
The main bus bar is mostly located on the switch board and the velocity and capability of the ship’s electric supply system will greatly affect it. Its rating basically will depend on three major things. Firstly, the manufacturer will have to consider the type of ship the main bus bar is on; is the ship a yacht or a high power cargo ship? Secondly, one will need to consider the critical machinery on the ship if it is a cargo ship; one does not want to do anything to ruin the stock being handled. Lastly, the machinery that is required for a normal ship service is considered as well. Depending on these three things, the main bus bar will get a specific rating.

Distribution Boards
This is another critical element in marine services and is required for a smooth sail across waters. Not all machines on board and all devices that works on electricity are supposed to be connected with the main switch board as that may overload it. Most of these machines are attached to distribution systems that are set up all across the ship in different places. The distribution boards supply the relevant energy needed to start the smaller motors. It is also a better protection system as a small fault in  the system will not affect everything on the ship but only things the distribution was powering.

Emergency Switch Board
As the name suggests, this thing has been made specifically for any emergencies and unforeseen issues that may occur at any given time. It supplies power to goods or devices one will desperately need in times of peril and trouble. It is mostly located on the uppermost deck where it is easily accessible by the top most officials and it is also very simple to protect it from fires and flooding that usually occur and start in the lower desks alone. In normal times, the main switch board provides the emergency switch board with all the powers required for running smoothly. When the main switch fails due to an emergency situation, the generators will automatically start on their own and it will supply electricity to the emergency switchboard that is already connected to the ship’s auxiliaries.

Thus, it has been established how important it is to get the right kind on marine services in order to make sure that the ship is fully functional when it sets out. 

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