Main Switch Board (MSB) Safeties, Protection

and Maintenance
May 2, 2014 3:47 am | 3 Comments | Firoz

1. Main Switch Board or MSB to be installed on a raised platform.

2. The location where Switch Board or MSB is installed should have good ventilation, illumination and
affected by minimum vibration.
3. No water or oil pipes should pass above the Switch Board or MSB.
4. There should be adequate space around allowing comfortable operation ans maintenance.
5. The operating floor space in front and behind the Switch Board or MSB should be covered with anti
skid, insulated rubber mats with a minimum thickness of 15 mm.
6. Panel doors should be in locked position.
7. Door opening mechanism should be interlocked with power supply.
8. The enclosure should be drip proof.
9. MSB should be dead front type. (i.e. All the live conductor should pass behind MSB)
10. Every equipment onboard must be properly earthed. Also MSB must be properly earthed.
11. Every incoming and outgoing feed must be protected by a switch fuse or circuit breaker.
12. Insulation resistance should not be less than 1 Mega Ohm in any case. Insulation Resistance (IR) to be
checked and records are maintained.
13. All meters must be calibrated periodically and records are maintained.
14. All the meters, switches, fuses, push button, indicating lamps, etc. should be in working condition and
identified with individual name plate or tag.
15. All the interlocks must be in working condition.
16. Operating switch gear, tools such as circuit breaker handle, fuse puller, lamp grip, etc. must be readily
available and to be used.
17. Red tag / name plate indicating high voltage and danger sign should be fitted
18. Appropriate ready to use fire extinguishers should be positioned nearby. (CO 2and DCP)
19. Charts indicating drill procedures in case of electric shocks must be displayed near MSB.
20. Wiring diagram laminated or framed indicating supply system must be displayed nearby.
21. All the appropriate spares should be properly preserved and protected, individually packed and
identified, and should be readily available for use.
22. Earth fault indication should be fitted and displayed in front panel.
23. 24 volt battery supply emergency light should be provided near MSB.
Construction of a Main Switch Board (MSB) used
in Ships
May 24, 2014 10:44 pm | Leave a Comment | Firoz

A main switch board is an integrated assembly of switching controls, regulator equipment, measuring
instruments, indicators and protective devices, and is a necessary apparatus for efficient centralized control of
the electrical systems and power operated equipment in ships.

This main switch board distributes electrical power to the electrical loads in various locations in the ship.
Should a fault occur at a place, an appropriate protective device in the switchboard will operate to disconnect
the faulted circuit. One or more generators are operated and controlled, depending on the size of load, from this
main switch board, and supply the power to the feeder circuits through the respective feeder panels.

Construction

A dead front type switch board have no live parts on the front of the panel. Each frame work is rigidly
constructed of steel angles for vibration resistance and to which a door type panel or panels of 2.3 mm thick
sheet steel are hinged at one side with the other side latched for securing it or them in place.

Where inspection or servicing of the internal parts is required, turn each knob latch 90 degrees anticlockwise to
unfasten, then the panel is opened and held open by means of a metal bar. Internal devices (instrument
transformers, relays, etc.) are so mounted that they are resistant to vibration and impact, yet easily replaceable
from the front or back of the switch board.

Insulating material used is mostly laminated-phenolic and special attention is paid to the configuration for
temperature and moisture stability,trouble-free operation and safety.

Operation of Circuit Breakers on Main Switch

Board in Ships
May 24, 2014 11:31 pm | Leave a Comment | Firoz

All Air Circuit Breakers (ACB) can be operated either electrically or manually. There are two operation
methods available.

Electrical Operation

The electrical operation of an air circuit breaker is initiated by an automatic control signal produced in the
main switch board or by manual operation of the corresponding one of breaker control switches; these control
switches are located on the synchro panel of the switch board and marked “ACB CONTROL”. Pull the breaker
 control switch knob towards you and turn it clockwise to close the breaker, or anticlockwise to open the
breaker. As soon as the knob is released, it returns to the central position and is locked in this position.

Manual Operation

Direct manual operation of the air circuit breaker is recommended only for inspection and maintenance. Pull
the manual control lever of the breaker towards you to close and press the trip button in the breaker front to
open.

Molded Case Circuit Breakers (MCCB)

All other circuit breakers used for distribution and load circuit protection purposes are molded case circuit
breakers. These breakers are automatically tripped, should overload or short circuit develop in their load
circuits; the re-establishment of connection can be made easily and safely without need for replacement of
elements such as fuses.

Whether you’re looking into purchasing a new yacht, or refitting an existing vessel, you may be
wondering about the benefits of marine switchboards. In recent years, marine switchboards have
become much more popular as a way to control the distribution of electricity.
A high-quality marine switchboard allows clean, properly-distributed power all throughout your
vessel. In this article, we’ll talk more about the basics of marine switchboards, and the benefits of a
professionally-installed, high-quality marine switchboard.
 
What Is A Marine Switchboard?
Smaller boats may use an electrical junction box to distribute power from the engines, batteries, and
generators. However, this is impractical for larger boats, which often integrate multiple generators
and motors, and require much higher electrical currents.
This is what marine switchboards are for. You can think of a marine switchboard as the “nerve
center” of all electrical power systems on-board a vessel. The system is designed to take in all of the
power generated from the motors, generators, and other sources, and distribute it to the rest of the
ship, as required.
Usually, marine switchboards are located in the engine control room, or somewhere else on a ship
that is within the center of distribution. They must be accessible in case of fire or flooding, so they’re
usually installed farther away from the main machinery spaces in the vessel.
 
What Are The Benefits Of A Marine Switchboard?
The benefits of choosing a high-quality, professionally-installed marine switchboard from Fine Line
Marine Electric are numerous. Here are just a few of them.
 Enhanced electrical safety – A marine switchboard is responsible for controlling power
distribution throughout your entire vessel. Because of this, a switchboard must be chosen that
incorporates standard safety features, such as overcurrent relays (OCR), short circuit protection
fuses, and circuit breakers.A properly-installed marine switchboard ensures that your vessel is free
of any electrical errors. This is very important if your boat is at sea, and far away from repair
services.
  
 Reliable performance – A marine switchboard is designed to offer perpetual, 100% reliable
performance. Though no electrical system is truly foolproof, today’s modern marine switchboards
use intelligent system monitoring to provide clean, proper-voltage and amperage power to all of the
most critical on-board ship systems.
 
 User-friendly monitoring – Older marine switchboards are often quite hard to use,
especially with modern yacht software monitoring packages. Modern switchboards, however, offer
user-friendly monitoring solutions that can be integrated with yacht control systems.By providing a
better monitoring solution, yacht captains and owners can spot potential electrical malfunctions
quickly, before they become crises. They can also ensure proper operation of all electrical systems,
and an effective distribution of power.
 
 Redundancy – Marine switchboards integrate multiple redundant power distribution boxes
and electrical components. With automatic shutdowns in case of short circuits, and highly redundant
circuitry, most modern marine switchboards are highly redundant. In the rare event that one
component fails, backup systems quickly begin functioning, to ensure no interruption of power
delivery

Marine Electrical Panels, Switchboards & Generators

You know this much - that to supply power to any system you need
something that generates power. You got it!! Generators. What are the
basic things you need to know about generators on ship?
Ship Switchboards Sections – Low Voltage and High Voltage Configurations

The main (or generator) switchboards are usually distributed or split in two, three, or four sections, in
order to obtain the redundancy requirements of the vessel.

According to rules and regulations for electric propulsion, one shall tolerate the consequences of one
section failing, e.g. due to a short circuit.

For strictest redundancy requirements, one shall also tolerate failure due to fire or flooding, meaning
that water and fireproof dividers must be used to segregate the sections. Configuration of Split
Switchboard on Ship Electrical System In a two-split configuration, with equally shared generator
capacity and load on both sides, the maximum single failure scenario will hence be to loose 50% of
generator capacity and loads.
In order to avoid a high installation costs, the system will often be split in three of four, which reduces
the required additional installations. Also, change-over switches which ensures that a generator or a
load can be connected to two switchboard sections will have similar cost reducing effects, e.g. for
azimuth thruster

In propulsion mode, the switchboards are normally connected together, which gives the best flexibility
in configuration of the power generation plant. The load transients are distributed on a large number of
diesel generators, and the most optimal number of units can be connected to the network.

Another possibility is to sail with independent switchboard parts supplying two or more independent
networks. In this case the ship is often assumed to be virtually blackout proof, which could be attractive
in congested waters. In this operating mode one network including it’s connected propulsion units is lost
if one switchboard section fails, the other, however, remaining operable.

In practice, there are also other considerations to be made in order to obtain such independence,
especially all auxiliaries, such as lubrication, cooling, and ventilation must be made independent. Also,
loss of propulsion or station keeping power on one part of the system, will through control systems also
have impact on the remaining parts, as the total power or thrust tends to be kept the same, e.g. for
dynamic positioning.

Electrical Installation on DP Vessels The normal operation in DP vessels, in particular for class 3
operations, is to split the network in order to be tolerant to failure of one section. However, rules and
regulations now allows for operation with closed tie breakers, if the protection circuits are designed to
detect and isolate faulty parts without tripping the healthy parts. The NMD rules (Norwegian Maritime
Directorate) has one of the more stricter practicing of these rules and will normally not accept
connected networks in class 3 operations.

Why using High Voltage on Ship System As the installed power increases, the normal load currents and
the short circuit currents will increase. With the physical limitations on handling the thermal and
mechanical stresses in bus bars and the switching capacity of the switchgear, it will be advantageous or
necessary to increase the system voltage and hence reduce the current levels. Medium voltage has
become a necessity to handle the increasing power demand in many applications.

Using the IEC voltage levels the following alternatives are most common selected for the main
distribution system, with application guidelines from NORSOK [64]:

– 11kV: Medium voltage generation and distribution. Should be used when total installed generator
capacity exceeds 20MW. Should be used for motors from 400kW and above. – 6.6kV: Medium voltage
generation and distribution. Should be used when total installed generator capacity is between 4-
20MW. Should be used for motors from 300kW and above. – 690V: Low voltage generation and
distribution. Should be used when total installed generator capacity is below 4MW. Should be used for
consumers below 400kW and as primary voltage for converters for drilling motors. – For utility
distribution lower voltage is used, e.g. 400/230V.

A few comments to using High Voltage on Ship are necessary; – Where a major part of the load consists
of variable speed drives with no contribution to the short circuit level, there will normally not be any
problems to utilize each voltage level to significantly higher generator capacities. For optimizing the
installation, one should in each case calculate load and fault currents and select the right solution. – In
ships, low voltage (690V) motors are normally used for much higher power levels than 300kW. In each
case, one must consider the load current, and starting characteristics for the drive, including alternative
starting methods together with a comparison on overall costs. – 440V distribution is quite common in
ship installations. A lot of ship equipment is available only in 440V, which means that it might be difficult
to avoid this voltage level in ship applications.

In US, or where the ANSI standard applies, several additional voltage levels are recognized, such as:
120V, 208V, 230V, 240V, 380V, 450V, 480V, 600V, 690V, 2400V, 3300V, 4160V, 6600V, 11000V, and
13800V. 3300V is also a commonly used system voltage in IEC applications, even though not recognized.
Since the load current and fault current determine the limitation of the equipment, the actual power
limits for each system voltage may deviate from these recommendations. This particularly applies to
systems where a major part of the load is converter loads and does not contribute to short circuit
power. Since these do not contribute to short circuit currents in the distribution system, it often allows
increasing the power limits for the different voltage levels.

Safety Regulations to Work With Ship Electrical System Safety is an issue of concern when yards and ship
owners changes from low to higher voltages, often leading to a misunderstanding effort to keep voltages
as low as possible. In the context of safety, it should be regarded that medium voltage switchboards is
designed to prevent personnel to get contact with conductors, even in maintenance of the switchgears.

The normal and fault currents are similarly smaller, giving less forces on the conductors and cables
during e.g. short circuit. Although short circuits inside the switchboards are extremely rare, arc-proof
design (IEC 60298-3) is available and will prevent person injury and limit the equipment damages if
worst case should occur.

High Voltage Circuit breakers on Ship Circuit breakers are used for connecting and disconnecting
generator or load units to the switchboards, or different parts of the switchboards together. Various
circuit breaker technologies are applied. Air insulated units are the traditional solution, but today rarely
applied except at low voltage levels. In the commonly used SF6 and vacuum breaker technologies, the
current interruption takes place in an enclosed chamber, where the first one is filled with SF6 gas, which
has higher insulation strength than air, and the vacuum breaker is evacuated by air.

These designs give compact and long term reliable solutions for medium voltages. One should consider
that vacuum breakers may chop the current and can cause overvoltage spikes when breaking an
inductive loads with high di/dt that may require installation of overvoltage limiters.
For smaller powers, fused contactors are a cost and space beneficial alternative to the circuit breaker,
and are available in air (low voltage), SF6 or vacuum insulated types. The problem with switching spikes
is less with fused contactors since current interruption is softer (lower di/dt

All about Main Switchboard on ship

The central section of the main switchboard is used for the control of the main generators.

The switchgear cubicles on either side of the generator panels are used for essential services and
flanking these are the grouped motor starter panels.

Handles for opening the doors on switchboard cubicles are usually linked (or interlocked) to an isolating-
switch. This ensures that supplies to components in the cubicle are switched off before the door can be
opened. Fused isolators are isolating switches that incorporate fuses. The action of opening the switch
isolates the fuses so that they can be replaced safely. Fused isolators can also be interlocked with the
cubicle door handle. Motor starters frequently incorporate this arrangement.

One type of interlocked fused isolator can be completely withdrawn and removed to ensure complete
safety when carrying out maintenance on equipment.

Maintenance on fused isolators consists of periodically checking the operating mechanism. Contacts
must be inspected for damage and lightly greased with an electrical lubricant. The interlock mechanism
(if fitted) should also be examined for correct and safe operation. A separate section switches the three
phase 220V a.c. low power and lighting services. Check your own switchboard and particularly note the
controls and instruments on the generator panels; the link to the emergency switchboard; steering gear
supplies (duplicated); other essential services to the engine-r oom; navigation equipment supplies and
section boar d feeders.

Note the alarms and insulation resistance (earth fault) monitors on both the 440 V and the 220V
sections. Lighting transformers may be located inside the main switchboard or, more likely, will be
separately mounted nearby. The main generator supply cables are connected directly to their respective
circuit-breakers. Short copper bars from each generator circuit breaker connect it to the three ships bus-
bars which run through the length of the switchboard.

The ship bus-bars maybe seen if the rear doors of the switchboard cubicle are opened, but they may be
in a special enclosed busbar duct acting as an internal fire barrier.

Take care when opening doors on switchboards, live parts are exposed you are in danger 

/
The ship’s electrical diagrams will include drawings of the front, and perhaps the rear, of the main
switchboard showing the asfitted equipment. The electrical distribution diagrams will follow the physical
arrangement of the main switchboard layout. You should study the electrical circuit and layout diagrams
for your ship to identify, locate and appreciate the role of each key component in the scheme.

Efficient fault-finding on a ship distribution network can only be achieved by a thorough understanding
of the scheme and its normal operation.

Switchboard instruments and controls for particular functions are grouped together.

For example, the generator synchronising panel has all the instruments, relays and switches necessary
for generator paralleling.

Each generator panel has all the instruments, relays, switches, controls and status lamps necessary for
control of the generators.

The instruments on panels of outgoing circuits are usually limited to an ammeter, status lamps, function
switches (e.g. manual/off/auto) and push buttons.

Low power control and instrument wiring is of relatively small cross-section, with multi coloured plastic
insulation which is clearly identified against the larger main power cables.

The instrumentation and control wiring is supplied from fuses which are located behind the appropriate
panel. Green and yellow striped earth wiring from instruments and panel doors etc., is connected to a
common copper earth-bonding bar running the length of the switchboard at its rear. This earth bar is
electrically bonded to the ship’s steel hull

All about Ship Main Switchboard

Ship distribution system The main elements of a marine distribution system are the main and
emergency switchboards, power panels / boards, motor controllers, lighting and small power panels /
boards.

The system is generally designed such that under all normal conditions of operation, power is
distributed from the main switchboard.

The distribution system is designed to keep cable costs to a minimum by distributing supply to power
panels located close to the user services.

The main switchboard is generally located near the centre of the distribution system and this is normally
the main engine room or machinery control room.
These locations are normally below the ship’s waterline or below the uppermost continuous deck of the
ship i.e. the bulkhead or main deck.

Consequently, in the event of a fire or flooding it is likely that the main generators and switchboard
would be disabled.

Protective system for main Switchboard For shipboard installations specific protective systems are
required to shut down all ventilation systems and all fuel oil systems in the event of a fire.

When motor auxiliaries are grouped together and supplied from a Motor Control Centre (MCC) or a
grouped distribution panel, this can best be achieved by providing the MCC supply feeder’s circuit
breaker with an under-voltage tripping device and connecting this to the ventilation or fuel system’s:
trip unit.

When grouped MCCs or grouped distribution panels are not used, separate cables must be installed for
each motor controller; this leads to increased cable costs and increases the system’s susceptibility to
failure