Ship to shore power for landing craft
FDB Electrical Ltd has recently completed a new contract to supply their FDB19/STS special-purpose power supply units for use by Royal Marines landing craft such as the RM rapid-response/patrol boat. The current order comes after FDB first supplied equipment for this application as long ago as 2004. Typically RM landing craft were used to patrol the harbour approaches at Weymouth and Portland during the 2012 Olympic sailing events.
The FDB19/STS is a specially configured version of the standard FDB19 Heavy Duty Adjustable RCCB designed to be mounted on offshore pontoons that are supplied from shore based transformers. Once moored, landing craft can plug into the FDB19 and recharge on-board batteries and ancillary equipment. Housed in GRP enclosures with glazed panel to provide sight of the various LED status indicators, the equipment comprises a 60A, 16KA MCCB feeding an electro/mechanically interlocked socket outlet. Electrical protection is provided by means of an EFU15 multi-function RCD and Emguard Earth Continuity Monitor; both manufactured in-house by FDB’s relay division. External Test and Reset buttons facilitate ease of operation and testing.
The standard FDB19 series combines a variable sensitivity and time delay RCD, together with a triple pole MCCB (minimum 15KA) to provide overcurrent and short circuit protection housed in an IP65 zinc coated steel enclosure. The installation of these units is recommended to overcome inherent earth leakage or inrush currents and achieve the optimum level of protection without the inconvenience of spurious tripping. It has numerous applications throughout industry from construction sites, mines and quarries, to the protection of stage lighting systems where thyristor spikes can trip conventional RCD’s.
A feature of the standard FDB19 is its non-fail safe operation, ideal for primary breaker installations or those that are unmanned or prone to supply interruption. A fail-safe version requiring reset of MCCB on restoration of a supply interruption is also available.Further information on FDB products and services may be found at: www.fdb.uk.com and at www.fdbonline.co.uk.
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