Catch of the day!

When Scotland-based marine electrical services business NU-Design needed help with a special project – to design a marine switchboard for a distribution and motor control centre (MCC) to be installed in new Scottish trawler, the Endeavour V – the company’s engineers contacted Rittal UK.

Mark Guest, product manager for Power Distribution Systems at Rittal UK, takes up the story:

The Endeavor V is a Bureau Veritas +1A1 fishing vessel, was designed by Macduff Shipyards, while the hull of the boat was built at Finomar shipyard, Szczecin, Poland. The MCC panels feed out to all the electric motors onboard the vessel, and the main switchboard feeds out to both the 415V distribution boards and the 415/230V transformers, which in turn feeds into the applications on board the commercial vessel.

For this project, the requirements were very specific, in terms of the control centre specifications and operation. They had to be fully compliant with marine regulations, as well as sized and configured to fit within a small, onboard switch room.

Deadline pressure

Another added pressure was that the project needed to be completed within a very specific timeframe, because the switchboard could only be installed while the Endeavour V was being built on land. Once the build was completed, that window of opportunity would be closed.

After receiving the brief, Rittal’s engineering team created an initial design for the switchboard, using Rittal’s own configuration software. After an initial review with the client, the design was then reconfigured into an L-shape, so that it could be positioned into a tight corner in the Endeavour V’s switch room.

To achieve the full build within the project time frame, the installation and commissioning were completed by specialist electricians from R.D. Downies, a marine electrical and engineering company based in Fraserburgh, Scotland.

Specialist supplier to maritime industry

Rittal is proud to be a long-time specialist supplier to the maritime industry. Due to its long-standing relationship with the maritime industry, both the Ri4Power and the RiLine60 busbar systems have been benchmarked against the latest requirements from the marine specification authorities, including Lloyds and DNV.

However, for this project, Rittal’s engineers needed to abide by further rules for the busbar’s design, including fault-rating certification and ensuring the copper busbar met a minimum cross-sectional area. In addition, the power distribution and motor-control sections needed to be separated within the L-shaped switchboard to provide clarity for the operator and for easier routine maintenance.

Maritime switchboards are different from land-based switchgear, the main difference being that they are powered by generators. This particular trawler’s switchboard required two generators, as well as an onshore mains supply connection to be used at full capacity of power usage of circa 500 amps.

Once the busbar system had been installed, with a bus-coupler and a special connection for the on-shore mains connection, Rittal's engineering team had to develop a system that would accommodate the outgoing cable connections. Given that space was at such a premium in the switchboard, it had to be methodically thought through with precision.

Several key requirements in the design

Once the final design was completed, it included the capability for close power monitoring of the generators, a set of synchronising controls and other highly specific marine option requirements, such as clear labelling of controls, circuit feeders, interlocking of components, handrails, high IP-ratings and an easy-to-follow maintenance guide.

Pete Buchan, electrical design engineer at NU-Design, comments: “Rittal was selected because of the marine-type approval, availability of stock and the ease of construction for the modular assembly.”

After the success of the Endeavour V, a second switchboard is now under construction for another fishing trawler for NU-Design.