轮机英语新教材电子Lesson 29 electricity distribution system.doc

Lesson 29 electricity distribution system An a.c .distribution system is provided from the main switchboard which is itself supplied by the alternators .The voltage at the switchboard is usually 415 but on some large installations it may be as high as 3300. Power is supplied through circuit breakers to larger auxiliaries at the high voltage. Smaller equipment may be supplied via fuses or miniature circuit breaker. Lower voltage supplies used, for instance ,for lighting at 220 volts ,are supplied by step down transformers in the distribution network. The distribution system will be three wires with insulated or earthed neutral. The insulated earth has largely been favored but earthed neutral systems have occasionally been installed. The insulated earth system can suffer from surges of high voltage as a result of switching or system faults which could damage machinery. Use of the earthed system could result in the loss of an essential service such as the steering gear as a result of an earth fault. An earth fault on the insulated system would not however break the supply and would be detected in the earth lamp display. Insulated systems have therefore been given preference since earth faults are a common occurrence on ships and a loss of supply in such situations cannot be accepted. Equipment for a.c.systems is however smaller and lighter because of the higher voltage and therefore lower currents. Miniature circuit breaker are used for currents up to about 100 A and act as a fuse and circuit breaker. The device will open on overload and also in the event of a short circuit. Unlike a fuse ,the circuit can be quickly remade by simply closing the switch. A large version of this device is known as the moulded case circuit breaker and can handle currents in excess of 10000 A. Preferential tripping an earth fault indication will also be a part of the a.c.distribution system. These two items have been mentioned previously for d.c.distribution systems. The generated