Resistors protect world's first electric trimaran

A Cressall Resistors product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 22, 2003

On the world's first triple-hulled ship to put to sea under electric propulsion, power system safety is assured with help from Cressall Resistors.

On the world's first triple-hulled ship to put to sea under electric propulsion, power system safety is assured with help from Cressall Resistors.

In the event of an earth fault, the company's neutral earthing resistors (NERs) will provide vital protection to the 2MW generators that power the research vessel RV Triton.

The 90m trimaran was designed and built for QinetiQ, Europe's largest science and technology research organisation, by VT Group, whose subsidiary VT Controls developed the revolutionary propulsion system.

Custom-built resistor units were specified by VT Controls to ensure that, in the event of an earth fault, the current through the generators is limited to a predictable, safe level.

The two NERs supplied by Cressall are rated for a current of 10A over a 10s period.

Neutral earthing resistors are designed for consistent performance regardless of ambient temperature or product age.

Crucially for maritime applications like the RV Triton, they take up little space in comparison with alternative fault protection methods such as earthing reactors.

With a top speed of 20 knots and a range of 3000 nautical miles, the RV Triton is powered by a pair of 2MW, 6600V diesel generators supplying a 3.5MW motor which turns the principal thrust shaft in the central hull.

Supplementary generators supply two 350kW motors that drive the side-steering thrusters.

With the research vessel having successfully completed a rigorous 24-month test period involving both the British and US navies, the trimaran concept is now being promoted by QinetiQ (formerly the Defence Evaluation Research Agency) as a contender for the Royal Navy's "future surface combatant" warship design.

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