Permanent Magnet Moving Coil: Principle of Working When a current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field, it experiences a force

and tends to move in the direction as per Flemings left hand rule. Fleming left hand rule:

If the first and the second finger and the thumb of the left hand are held so that they are at right angle to each other, then the thumb shows the direction of the force on the conductor, the first finger points towards the direction of the magnetic field and the second finger shows the direction of the current in the wire. Construction: A coil of thin wire is mounted on an aluminum frame (spindle) positioned between the poles of a U shaped permanent magnet which is made up of magnetic alloys like alnico. The coil is pivoted on the jewelled bearing and thus the coil is free to rotate. The current is fed to the coil through spiral springs which are two in numbers. The coil which carries a current, which is to be measured, moves in a strong magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet and a pointer is attached to the spindle which shows the measured value.

Working: When a current flow through the coil, it generates a magnetic field which is proportional to the current in case of an ammeter. The deflecting torque is produced by the electromagnetic action of the current in the coil and the magnetic field.

The controlling torque is provided by two phosphorous bronze flat coiled helical springs. These springs serve as a flexible connection to the coil conductors. Damping is caused by the eddy current set up in the aluminum coil which prevents the oscillation of the coil. Applications: The PMMC has a variety of uses onboard ship. It can be used as:

1)

Ammeter:

When PMMC is used as an ammeter, except for a very small current range, the moving coil is connected across a suitable low resistance shunt, so that only small part of the main current flows through the coil.

The shunt consists of a number of thin plates made up of alloy metal, which is usually magnetic and has a low temperature coefficient of resistance, fixed between two massive blocks of copper. A resistor of same alloy is also placed in series with the coil to reduce errors due to temperature variation. 2) Voltmeter:

When PMMC is used as a voltmeter, the coil is connected in series with high resistance. Rest of the function is same as above. The same moving coil can be used as an ammeter or voltmeter with an interchange of above arrangement 3) Galvanometer:

Galvanometer is used to measure small value of current along with its direction and strength. It is mainly used onboard to detect and compare different circuits in a system. 5) Ohm Meter:

The ohm meter is used to measure resistance of the electric circuit by applying a voltage to a resistance with the help of battery. A galvanometer is used to determine the flow of current through the resistance. The galvanometer scale is marked in ohms and as the resistance varies, since the voltage is fixed, the current through the meter will also vary. Advantages: - The PMMC consumes less power and has great accuracy. - It has uniformly divided scale and can cover arc of 270 degree. - The PMMC has a high torque to weight ratio. - It can be modified as ammeter or voltmeter with suitable resistance. - It has efficient damping characteristics and is not affected by stray magnetic field. - It produces no losses due to hysteresis. Disadvantage: - The moving coil instrument can only be used on D.C supply as the reversal of current produces reversal of torque on the coil. - Its very delicate and sometimes uses ac circuit with a rectifier. - Its costly as compared to moving coil iron instruments. - It may show error due to loss of magnetism of permanent magnet. Steps to Minimize the Risk of an Electrical Shock On board 1) Start with the first round of the day; check all electrical motors, wiring, and switches, for abnormal sounds, variation in temperatures, and loose connections. 2) Ensure that all electrical connections are inside the panel box so that no one can touch them accidently. 3) In accommodation area multiple socket plugs shouldnt be used.

4) Turn off the breaker before starting any work on an electrical system. 5) Use ply card and notice board as much as possible to inform others about the ongoing work to avoid accidental starts.

6) Double check the electrical tools like portable drills for any loose wires before attempting any job. 7) Always wear protective clothing, rubber gloves, rubber knee pads and safety shoes to avoid risk of shock. 8) Use electrically insulated handle tools for working or checking electrical system. 9) Before working, remove jewellery wrist band and other conductive items.

10) When working or removing multiple wires, tape off all but the one wire you are working on. 11) Try as much as possible not to work on live system and even if you do so be a professional and work carefully with full concentration. 12) During working in group or pair, organise a tool box meeting and discuss the procedure, risk and hazards of the job in hand. 13) If you dont know about the system, ask for assistance. Dont work without knowing it. 14) Always think about your own safety and safety of fellow persons while carrying out any electrical work. Insulation Resistance: Insulation resistance (I.R) is a critical parameter as its directly related to personal safety, safety of machinery and power reliability. The I.R value of an electric devise changes with aging, mechanical and electrical stresses, temperature, contamination, atmosphere, humidity etc. It is therefore important for the engineers to identify this detection to avoid any accidents on board due to electric shock.

Megger or Ohmmeter: Megger is a portable instrument which is used to measure insulation resistance of the electrical machinery or system. It can be battery operated or mechanically operated (hand crank dc generator) and gives direct reading in ohms. For this reason it is also called as ohm meter. Onboard ship, different systems are present with large voltage ratings and therefore Megger comes in the range of 100V to 5000V.

Construction : The important construction features of Megger consist of following parts:

1) Control and Deflecting coil: They are normally mounted at right angle to each other and connected parallel to the generator. The polarities are such that the torque produced by them is in opposite direction. 2) Permanent Magnet: Permanent magnet with north and south poles to produce magnetic effect for deflection of pointer. 3) Pointer and scale: A pointer is attached to the coils and end of the pointer floats on a scale which is in the range from zero to infinity. The unit for this is ohms. 4) D.C generator or battery connection: Testing voltage is supplied by hand operated D.C generator for manual operated Megger and a battery and electronic voltage charger for automatic type Megger. 5) Pressure coil and current coil: Provided for preventing damage to the instrument in case of low external source resistance. Working: The voltage for testing is supplied by a hand generator incorporated in the instrument or by battery or electronic voltage charger. It is usually 250V or 500V and is smaller in size. - A test volt of 500V D.C is suitable for testing ships equipment operating at 440V A.C. Test voltage of 1000V to 5000V is used onboard for high voltage system onboard. - The current carrying coil (deflecting coil) is connected in series and carries the current taken by the circuit under test. The pressure coil (control coil) is connected across the circuit. - Current limiting resistor CCR and PCR are connected in series with pressure and current coil to prevent damage in case of low resistance in external source. - In hand generator, the armature is moving in the field of permanent magnet or vice versa, to generate a test voltage by electromagnetic induction effect.

- With an increase of potential voltage across the external circuit, the deflection of the pointer increases; and with an increase of current, the deflection of pointer decrease so the resultant torque on the movement is directly proportional to the potential difference and inversely proportional to the resistance. - When the external circuit is open, torque due to voltage coil will be maximum and the pointer will read infinity. When there is short circuit the pointer will read 0. Construction and Working The preferential trip circuit consists of an electromagnetic coil and a dashpot arrangement to provide some delay to disconnect the non-essential circuits. Along with this, there is also an alarm system provided, which functions as soon as an overload is detected and trips start operating. There are some mechanical linkages also in the circuit which instantaneously operates the circuit and completes the circuit for preferential trips. The dashpot arrangement consists of a small piston with a small orifice and which is placed inside a small cylinder assembly. This piston moves up against the fluid silicon and the time delay is governed by the orifice in the piston. Working of Preferential Trip

The current passes through the electromagnetic coil and the linkages are kept from contacting using a spring arrangement. As soon as the current value increases the limit, the electromagnetic coil pulls the linkage up against the spring force and operates the instantaneous circuit and the alarm system. The lower linkage completes the circuit for the preferential trip circuit.

The current passes through the coil in the preferential trip circuit which pulls the piston in the dashpot arrangement. The movement of this piston is governed by the diameter of the orifice and the time delay made by the same. The preferential trip operates at 5, 10 and 15 seconds and the load is removed accordingly. If the overload still persists, then an audible and visual alarm is sounded. Relay has to be kept operational and healthy at all times, else at the time of fault if it relay does not operate properly, the whole system may suffer loss of power or damage. The most common application of relays is for overload and short circuit protection.

A ship engineer or electrical officer has to make sure that relay is efficiently in operation and all the maintenance is carried out on the same as per schedule or as per continuous monitoring. If during inspection, the relay is found out to be defective it must be replaced immediately with a spare one. A simple electromagnetic Relay is shown in the below diagram and it will get activated when the magnetic effect of the iron core is sufficiently increased by the excess or high current in the coil which will attract the iron armature held against the spring force to trip the circuit.

A brief maintenance for relay is given as follows

Checks to be carried out on relay contacts for damage due to arcing. Polish the contact with emery paper to remove rust and deposits. Check the closing linkage for free movement. Check the continuity of the contacts with multimeter. There are arc chutes provided to quench the arcing. Check for burnout of the same. Check the tension of the spring. Open circuit and short circuit test to be performed on the coil by multimeter. Check the continuity of the trip circuit by multimeter. Check tightness of the supply terminals.

The Important safety devices fitted on main switch board are:

Circuit breakers: A circuit breaker is an auto shut down device which activates during an abnormality in the electrical circuit. Especially during overloading or short circuit, the circuit breaker opens the supplied circuit from MSB and thus protects the same. Different circuit breakers are strategically installed at various locations. Fuses: Fuses are mainly used for short circuit protection and comes in various ratings. If the current passing through the circuit exceeds the safe value, the fuse material melts and isolates the MSB from the default system. Normally fuses are used with 1.5 times of full load current.

Over current relay: OCR is used mainly on the local panel and MSB for protection from high current. They are installed where a low power signal is a controller. Normally relays are set equivalent to full load current with time delay.

Dead front panel: It is another safety device provided on the Main switch board individual panels wherein you cannot open the panel until the power of that panel is switched off. The following are the effects of single phasing: 1) Due to single phasing the current in the remaining two phases increases and it is approximately 2.4 times the normal current value. 2) Single Phasing reduces the speed of the motor. 3) The motor becomes noisy and starts vibrating due to uneven torque produced in the motor. 4) If the motor is arranged for standby and automatic starting then the motor will not start, and if the overload relay provided fails to function then the motor may burn. 5) The windings will melt due to overheating and can give a fatal shock to the personnel. 6) It may cause overloading of the generator. Causes of Single Phasing

Single Phasing is usually caused when:1) One of the three back up fuses blows (or fuse wire melts). 2) One of the contactor for motor is open circuited.

3) Single phasing might also be caused due to wrong setting of the protection devices provided on the motor. 4) Contactors are coated due to oxidation hence not conducting. 5) Relay contacts may be damage or broken. How to Protect Motor from Damage Due to Single Phasing? All motors above 500 KW are to be provided with protection devices or equipments to prevent any damage due to single phasing. The rule stated above does not apply to motors of the steering gear system installed on the ship. Only on the detection of the single phasing an alarm will be sounded; however, the motor will not stop as it is essential for safety or propulsion of the ship. The most commonly used protection devices for single phasing are:1) Electromagnetic Overload Device

In this device all the three phases of the motor are fitted with an overload relay. If there is any increase in the value of the current then this relay activates automatically and the motor trips. This device works on the principle of electromagnetic effect produced due to the current. As the current value increases, the electromagnet in the coil also increases which pulls the relay and activates the trip relay and the motor is stopped. The time delay is provided in this system because during starting the motor draws a lot of current which can trip the motor. 2) Thermistors

Thermistors are small thermal devices which are used together with an electromagnetic overload relay. The thermistors are inserted in the three windings of the motor. Any increase in the current will cause heating in the windings, which is detected by the thermistors that send signals to the amplifier. The amplifier is connected to electromagnetic relay. As soon as a signal is received from thermistor about overheating, this amplifier increases the current value in the coil of electromagnetic relay which activates the trip and the motor stops or trips. 3) Bi-metal strip

In this method the bi metallic strip is placed in such a way that it detects the overheating in the circuit. As soon as overheating is detected, this bimetallic strip tries to expand due to two different metal used and because they have different coefficient of expansion. The strip tries to bend towards the metal having high coefficient of expansion and finally completes the trip circuit and the motor trips.

How to find out an Earth Fault? The seriousness of the action to be taken on an Earth Fault depends on the part of the electrical system it affects. Conventional ships which operate on 3 Phase, 440V, have earth fault indicators installed on all three phases. Any earth fault on a 440V system is considered to be a serious trouble and immediate action is required to identify the faulty circuit. Any earth fault on 220V or any low voltage lighting circuit can be considered as important but need not require immediate attention. However, attention should be paid at the next earliest opportunity.

Finding Earth Fault on 440V circuit Whenever there is an earth fault alarm, immediately inform to electrical officer (if he is on board). First action is to check the trueness of the alarm. Usually there will be a test button which when pressed, resets the alarm and rechecks the condition of the earth fault. If the ship is having IAS (Integrated Automation System), check on the computer in the list of events after which the alarm has activated. If IAS facility is not available, there is only one option of isolating each and every machinery in the 440 V circuit and check whether the earth fault indication returns back to normal.

Isolation of all machinery, which operates on 440V, is not always possible. Certain critical equipment like steering gear and lubricating oil pumps cannot be isolated for when the ship is underway. However changeover can be done from running machinery to the standby one and thus the earth fault can be found.

Finding Earth Fault on 220V Circuit Finding an Earth Fault on a 220V circuit is comparatively difficult than a 440V circuit. The main reason being the lighting circuits found all round the vessel. However, any earth fault alarm with respect to a 220V circuit is usually treated as important but not an emergency. When a 220V earth fault alarm sounds, as said earlier, the trueness of the alarm is checked by pressing the test button and then investigation can be started on each and every 220V circuit.

Example: Earth Fault alarm sounds on a 220V panel 1. 2. 3. 4. Check the trueness of the alarm. Isolate the complete Group start panel for a lighting division one by one. Check the Earth Fault indicator for status (still faulty or normal). If faulty, then put on the breaker which is put off earlier and isolate other group start panel for lighting circuit. 5. Once the group start panel is identified, then individual lighting switches are turned off one by one and checked for the alarm condition. 6. When any switch when turned off and thus the condition becomes normal, then this lighting circuit is marked and then inspection is done on the particular light for abnormalities.

Ingress of moisture is most common reason for an earth fault.

Alternate Idea: Instead of turning off breakers one by one for the lighting circuit, I followed a method where I turned off all lighting circuit of a particular doubted area. This method helps usually when there are two or more earth faults in 220V lighting circuit. By turning off all the breakers of a particular area, then switching on the breaker one by one will eliminate multiple earth faults. When I turned off lighting switches one by one, it was difficult for me to identify multiple earth faults. Once the particular faulty circuit is spotted, then we have to further break them into individual dividable pieces and check them for earth faults. For this as usual, we use megger against earth. By removing fuse of the two phase lines, each line can be tested and the fault pinned down. The ships generator 3 phase AC supply can be connected to the AC induction motor via a starter or any other arrangement like auto transformer to improve the torque and current characteristics. 3 phase induction motors are used in almost all machinery system of the ship such as crane motor, propulsion motor, blower motor, sea water pump motor, and even small synchronous motor.

Construction The main body of the Induction Motor comprises of two major parts:

Stator Stator is made up of number of stampings in which different slots are cut to receive 3 phase winding circuit which is connected to 3 phase AC supply. The three phase windings are arranged in such a manner in the slots that they produce a rotating magnetic field after AC supply is given to them. Usually, windings are kept at different pitch circle with 30 % overlap to each other. The windings are wound for a definite number of poles depending upon the speed requirement, as speed is inversely proportional to the number of poles, given by the formula: Ns= 120f/p Where Ns= synchronous speed

f = Frequency p = no. of poles

Rotor Rotor consists of cylindrical laminated core with parallel slots that carry conductor bars. Conductors are heavy copper or aluminium bars which fits in each slots. These conductors are brazed to the short circuiting end rings. The slots are not exactly made parallel to the axis of the shaft but are slotted a little skewed for the following reason:

They reduces magnetic hum or noise They avoid stalling of motor.

Principle and working When 3 phase supply is given to the motor, the resulting current generates a magnetic flux . Due to the switching sequence of 3 phase current in R, Y and B, the generated flux rotates around the rotor conductor.

According to Faradays law which states that an emf induced in any closed circuit is due to the rate of change of magnetic flux through the circuit. Emf is induced in the Copper bar and due to this, current flows in the rotor. The direction of rotor can be given by Lenz law which states that the direction of induced current will be in the opposite of the motion causing it Here the relative velocity between the rotating flux and static rotor conductor is the cause of current generation; hence the rotor will rotate in the same direction to reduce the cause i.e. the relative velocity, thus rotating the rotor of the induction motor. Power generation On board Shipboard power is generated using a prime mover and an alternator working together. For this an alternating current generator is used on board. The generator works on the principle that when a magnetic field around a conductor varies, a current is induced in the conductor. The generator consists of a stationary set of conductors wound in coils on an iron core. This is known as the stator. A rotating magnet called the rotor turns inside this stator producing magnetic field. This field cuts across the conductor, generating an induced EMF or electromagnetic force as the mechanical input causes the rotor to turn. The magnetic field is generated by induction (in a brushless alternator) and by a rotor winding energized by DC current through slip rings and brushes. Few points to be noted about power on board are :

AC, 3 phase power is preferred over DC as it gives more power for the same size. 3 phases is preferred over single phase as it draws more power and in the event of failure of one phase, other 2 can still work.

Power Distribution on board The Power Distributed on board a ship needs to be supplied efficiently throughout the ship. For this the power distribution system of the ship is used. A shipboard distribution system consists of different component for distribution and safe operation of the system. They are:

Ship Generator consisting of prime mover and alternator Main switch board which is a metal enclosure taking power from the diesel generator and supplying it to different machinery. Bus Bars which acts as a carrier and allow transfer of load from one point to another. Circuit breakers which act as a switch and in unsafe condition can be tripped to avoid breakdown and accidents. Fuses as safety device for machinery. Transformers to step up or step down the voltage. When supply is to be given to the lighting system a step down transformer is used in the distribution system. In a power distribution system, the voltage at which the system works is usually 440v. There are some large installations where the voltage is as high as 6600v. Power is supplied through circuit breakers to large auxiliary machinery at high voltage. For smaller supply fuse and miniature circuit breakers are used. The distribution system is three wires and can be neutrally insulated or earthed. Insulated system is more preferred as compare to earthed system because during an earth fault essential machinery such as steering gear can be lost.

Emergency Power In case of the failure of the main power generation system on the ship, an emergency power system or a standby system is also present. The emergency power supply ensures that the essential machinery and system continues to operate the ship. Emergency power can be supplied by batteries or an emergency generator or even both systems can be used. Rating of the emergency power supply should be made in such a way that it provides supply to the essential systems of the ship such as a) Steering gear system

b) Emergency bilge and fire p/p c) Watertight doors.

d) Fire fighting system. e) Ships navigation lights and emergency lights.

f)

Communication and alarm system.

Emergency generator is normally located outside the machinery space of the ship. This is done mainly to avoid those emergency situations wherein access to the engine room is not possible. A switch board in the emergency generator room supplies power to different essential machinery.

Following Points are to be considered while Carrying Out Maintenance on Alternators: Before starting any maintenance work on the alternator, all safety precaution should be taken and the alternator should be shut and locked down. Also, post notice and ply cards on relevant places and alternator heater to be isolated.

Clean the alternator ventilation passage and air filter. Check the Insulation resistance of stator and rotor winding. Air gap between stator and rotor to be checked and maintained between 1.5 to 2 mm. Slip rings to be checked for even wear down to be renewed if required. Carbon brushes to be clean and checked for free movement. The brush contacting pressure to be checked by spring balance. Automatic Voltage Regulator to be checked and cleaned off oil and dust. The lube oil level of pedestal bearing to be maintained and renewed as per planned maintenance. A vacuum cleaner can be used to remove dust accumulated in the inner parts of alternator.

The terminal box cover gasket to be checked for proper oil and water tightness. All the connection in the terminal box to be tightened properly. Cable gland to be checked for integrity. Forced Ventilation around alternator must be maintained all the time. Check heater for proper operation. The foundation bolts of the alternator to be checked for tightness. The batteries can be charged with the help of dc power supply; however presently there are no ships working on dc supply system and thus it is required to change the ac power into dc to charge the batteries. A simple circuit used for battery charging is shown below:-

For converting ac into dc several components are required as shown in the circuit diagram above. First of all the ac is stepped down to the required voltage and then the AC is converted to DC with the help of rectifier system which changes sinusoidal wave of ac to dc system. The only problem in the above circuit is that there is no arrangement provided for maintaining the charge, and the usage of same circuit will lead to overcharging and reduction of the battery life. In order to avoid this, a slight modification is done in the same circuit and an arrangement is provided to maintain the charges at the terminals. Also an arrangement to connect automatically to low voltage dc system is provided in case of a power failure. In normal circumstances the battery is charged using the full charge circuit and once the battery is fully charged, the charges on the battery are maintained by the trickle charge circuit.

As it can be seen in the diagram, the batteries are in standby mode with the charging switches C closed and the load switches L open. The positions of these switches are held with the help of an electromagnetic coil against the spring tension. The electromagnetic coil gets its supply from the main power source available on the ship. As soon as there is a loss of main power, the electromagnetic coil loses its power and the batteries are connected to load switch L which gets disconnected from the charging switch C. Once the power is available from the main system, the batteries are connected back to the charging circuit again manually. Also there is a test switch provided to test the system as a part of the routine checks. 1) Providing proper ventilation inside the compartment. 2) By preventing any source of ignition. Moreover, the ventilation is provided with the help of ventilation fans. The ventilation arrangement should be such that there is no accumulation of hydrogen in the space. The hydrogen is lighter than air and thus tends to accumulate in the top of the compartment. The fans should be of non sparking type and should not produce any static charge. Also, the ventilation ducts should be below the battery level which would help in forcing the gases out. The motor used should be of a standardized approved type so that there is no chance of spark from the motor. The tools used for maintenance should be rubberized coating to prevent any chance of short circuiting by mistake. The coating would also prevent any kind of spark generation when the tool falls on the floor. The paint used in the battery room and materials for ducting should be corrosion resistant. No metal jugs should be used for filling distilled water inside the batteries.

Other precautions include preventing usage of naked lamps and avoiding smoking in the battery room. The battery should not be placed in the emergency switchboard room for there are chances of sparking due to arcing of the circuit breakers.

Maintenance carried out on battery. 1) The batteries should be maintained in fully charged condition and this is done by the charging circuit. 2) The state of charge can be seen with the help of hydrometer. A sample is taken in this instrument and the condition of specific gravity is checked. For a fully charged lead acid battery the specific gravity is 1.280 at 15 deg. Centigrade. Please make a note that there is no change in specific gravity in alkaline batteries during charging and discharging. This test is only for lead acid batteries. 3) Top up the batteries with distilled water as there is a loss of water during charging. 4) The battery terminals should be kept clean and should be smeared with petroleum jelly.