Pneumatic Control Systems on Ships

April 30, 2016 2:47 pm | Leave a Comment | Frozee

What are the advantages and disadvantages of both electrical and pneumatic
control systems on ships ?

Electrical Control System

Advantages
1. No air compressor and associated machinery required.
2. High efficiency since there is no leakages.
3. Instantaneous response.
4. Very little affected by normal temperature variations.
5. Very accurate.
6. Electric cables are cheap and easy to lay.
Disadvantages
1. The system require uninterrupted power supply with no voltage fluctuations.
2. Standby batteries required in case of power failure.
3. There is risk of fire due to overheating. Expensive intrinsically safe / explosion proof equipment
may be required.
4. Moisture may cause damage to the system.
5. Damage readily occurs in the event of a fire.
Pneumatic Control System
Advantages
1. Not affected by ship’s power supply variations for short term.
2. No heat generated and hence no risk of fire.
3. Actuators are cheaper and accurate than electric systems.
4. Simple control air piping system.
Disadvantages
1. Require air compressor and associated systems.
2. A clean, dry and oil free supply of good quality air is essential for satisfactory operation of the
system.
3. Good quality air require driers, filters with drains, etc. which increases maintenance.
4. May have transmission lags in large systems.
What is meant by ‘fail safe’ and ‘fail set’ in a pneumatic control systems ?

On failure of control air supply, the pneumatic actuator may be arranged to move to a position that allows the
plant to continue to operate safely, in other words, fully opened or fully closed. This is known as fail safe. For
example, in the case of a jacket cooling water system, on failure of control air, the actuator opens fully to allow
jacket water to the cooler without bypass. On the other hand a fuel oil control valve for boiler closes
completely on such a failure. This ensures safety of the plant.

In some other systems, control air supply failure locks the position of valve at that time of failure. This is
called fail set. The advantage of this system is that the plant gets stable and have time for normal shutdown or
can wait for reestablishment of control air supply for some time. Example for such a system is boiler water
level control.
Explain two step control action, ratio control and proportional plus integral
control with applications on ships ?

Two step control action is the simplest form of control, in that it assumes one or two preset positions, a switch
is ON or OFF or in the case of a valve it is OPEN or CLOSE. For example, a pressure switch controlling the
starting air compressor is an acceptable form of control since there can be fairly large deviation between
measured value and desired value. Another example is hydrophore pumps which cut in and cut off with the
hydrophore pressure.

Ratio control is one in which one variable is kept at a fixed ratio to another variable. Ratio control is found in
boiler combustion control system where the ratio between the air-fuel must be controlled to ensure good
combustion. The air flow is controlled by dampers to match the fuel flow.

In a proportional plus integral controller, the proportional element acts if there is any deviation between the
output (measured value) and the desired value, but the action results in a permanent difference between the
measured and desired value (called offset). The integral element removes this difference or offset. For more
details on the basics of proportional, integral and derivative control, please click on the links below.

Proportional, Integral and Derivative actions basic principles

More about PID Controllers
Application of the proportional-integral control is the water level control system for boiler on ships, which
maintains desired water level always without offset.

What is the effect of a leaking proportional bellows or measurement bellows in

pneumatic control systems ?

When proportional bellows start leaking, its ability to introduce the negative feedback is reduced. This results
in increased gain of the controller and control valve starts moving to the extreme positions causing instability.

When measurement bellows leak, it prevent the flapper from moving towards the nozzle, and the desired or set
value is changed, again causing hunting of the system.
Troubleshooting Alarm Monitoring and Control
System on ships
February 6, 2016 4:22 am | Leave a Comment | Frozee

Faults in Alarm Monitoring and Control System

The alarm monitoring and control system on the ship may give false alarms and incorrect data printouts. These
faults could be:

1. Localized to a particular area of engine operation or

2. General to the engine room
When the alarms are specific to a certain area of the engine room it would be suspected that the following
faults could be present

 Cable fault: If the cable connecting the sensors with the control room were damaged, the
resulting short/open circuits could generate false alarms
 Control card/panel fault: The alarms could be grouped within a certain alarm or monitoring
panel, and there could be a defect within this panel.
 External interference: Machinery could be operating in the suspect area, which is poorly
screened, and the resulting interference could be transmitted via the instrument cables to the
monitoring panels.
When the alarms are general to the whole engine room, then the main supply to the alarm and monitoring
panel would be checked for:

 Earth faults: A combination of earth faults could affect the earth potential and hence the reading
of the instrumentation.
 Supply voltage level: The monitoring circuit would use low 24V supply, and this would need to be
at the correct level without any voltage ripple present.
The following action should be taken to ensure continued safe operation of the vessel if the defects with alarm
monitoring and control system were general to the engine room.

 The problem with intermittent alarms and incorrect printouts would be that the engineer on duty
would be unable to rely on the information given to him by the remote instrumentation and
alarm panel. Hence a greater use would need to be taken of the local readings from pressure
gauges and thermometers.
 This would mean that the UMS operation would be stopped and watch-keeping practices with a
manned engine room would be commenced. The watch keepers would be instructed to
complete a full manual log of the various operational parameters of pressure, temperature and
the various tank levels. This manual log would be taken every watch period of four hours.
 The engineering staff would be divided between the various watch duties, ensuring that all
watch keepers were certified and had the appropriate duty and rest periods assigned to them.
 Any machinery units requiring manual control would have their operation explained to all
engineers, and a procedural checklist compiled for the operation of all such machinery.
Troubleshooting Alarm Monitoring and Control System
The possible faults stated earlier would be the earth fault or supply irregularity. The earth fault could be
identified by observing the 24V distribution panel that would have an earth detection unit fitted. If an earth
fault was indicated on this panel then

 A positive earth would be traced by disconnecting the supply fuses in turn to parts of the engine
room to identify the problem area
 A negative earth would require that each instrument have its earth wire disconnected and left
disconnected until the fault is traced. This would mean the loss of many of the instruments
within the engine room and could only be carried out when watch keeping duties were active.
Each wire would be marked to ensure correct replacement.
 The supply irregularity could be identified by using an oscilloscope, which would show both the
level of voltage present and if any supply ripple was present. A simple AVO meter would also
indicate correct voltage levels. The earth fault would be rectified by locating the cable/insulation
defect and then replacing the cable, or repairing the defect by re-insulating the damaged
area. The supply irregularity would be rectified by replacing the charging unit of the 24V DC
supply, and/or replacing any defective batteries.