Marine Equipment Technology » time

Choosing genset generator

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:54:53 +0000

How to choose genset generators according to your needs? Lets discuss it more further in this articles. The first thing you should consider usually is the price, unless you have unlimited budget. Either its for your factory/industry, nor just for your back up power at your home, price is one of many things to consider before you choose the correct generators.

Below are things to consider:
1. Generator Type
After a time, deciding goals now to move for this type of diesel generator type. Ideally, most likely there are four types of diesel generators are available which are Stand By (Most Popular), Portable Diesel Generator, Tailor Mounted or Towable and Power Take Off which is the best type of available types of diesel generators. Type of generator also falls in the category of different power output which you can choose according to your optimal needs.

2. Power Output
Output power is another factors that come out after selecting the type of diesel generator. You may need to calculate your optimal power output rated through a whole load of sites. This step is the action to be taken that can also maximize the fees affect the amount of labor standards higher output possible with expensive fees, would also consume enough fuel optimal given the power but reciprocates you to save precious fuel and money. While Equipped Diesel Power Generator output started at least from, 15kW with various types of benefit that can also allow for a 25-49kW, 50-99kW and 100 kW even if you have the most competitive demands.

3. Budget Limit
The last one is the price or your budget, estimate your budget to choose generator that allow you to have a diesel power plants in accordance with your power source. In general, Diesel Powered Portable Generators in the form starting from $ 600 to 1.499 and $ 1.500 to 2499 on the other facts including the standby system and Power Take Off on average starting from $ 2.500 – $ 20,000 accessories and other additional features can also expand the costs the truth. The price could be vary, please check with nearby store in your country/city.

Yacht Economical Sailboat for Blue water Sailing

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:04:41 +0000

Whether used for ocean cruising or family vacations, the Yacht is a sturdy, easy to sail pocket cruiser.
The low topsides, narrow beam and 27-foot length of the Yacht, Vega certainly do not fit the image of a typical ocean-going yacht. Nevertheless several Vegas have successfully circumnavigated the globe. Dozens, perhaps hundreds more have crossed at least one ocean, and one Vega, The Berzerk, sailed through 40-foot seas to Antarctica. Designed after Swedish FolkBoats
Designed in Sweden by Per Brohall in 1964, the fiberglass-hulled Albin Vega is modeled after the narrow-beamed Nordic folkboat. Like the folkboat, the Vega was built to be a sturdy, simple, economical, and easy-to-sail family boat.

Design Features
• Solid Fiberglass hull, with cored fiberglass decks and coach roof for lightness.
• Relatively shallow draft at just under four feet.
• Keel about half the length of the water line for stability, and reduced drag.
• Hull and deck caulked and bolted every 5 inches for a strong, water-tight seal.
• Though topsides are lower than most modern cruisers, the cockpit remains dry and comfortable even in high seas.
Below Deck
Though compact, the Vega has nearly six feet to headroom in the main cabin. There is a small galley with an icebox, sink, and cooktop. A removable table fits between the main cabin settees for dining or charting, and the two settees also serve as 6 foot bunks. The V-berth sleeps two comfortably. With only eight feet of beam, the boat would feel cramped with four adults aboard for any extended period of time, but is well-suited to a small family,

The Sailing Rig
This Yacht is sloop rigged, and can be easily single-handed. The sail area is somewhat conservative for inland waters, but excellent for off-shore. Though the boat doesn’t point exceptionally high, it handles beautifully off the wind, is well balanced, and heels at a comfortable angle even in heavy winds.

Despite it’s popularity, the Vega does have a few issues:
• Random Reversing: The prop is located aft of the rudder, making backing up a bit of a challenge. Many owners have found creative ways to compensate for this quirky flaw.
• Deck Compression below the mast: The Vega’s mast is stepped on the cabin roof, and supported by a beam below deck. Some Vegas have experience sagging of the support beam. Several owners have beefed up the bulkhead and support beam over the years, eliminating the problem, but potential buyers should check the support carefully.
• Weakness of the Rudder Post:The rudder is attached to the aft end of the keel rather than a skeg–normally this is a very solid way to support a rudder, but some Vegas have had problems with the rudder post. Again, this problem has often been corrected by previous owners. To test the rudder, hold the tiller still, and try to move the rudder. If it flexes, it probably needs to be rebuilt.

World War II Navy Submarine

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:03:56 +0000

maritime museum based in the Baltimore Inner Harbor, have an opportunity to tour the U.S. Navy submarine that fired the final torpedoes and sank the last two Japanese ships in World War II.
The U.S.S. Torsk, commissioned in the last days of the war, now stands guard next to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The historic naval submarine, with its fiercely-painted bow, offers maritime history buffs the chance to see for themselves what it would have been like serving on the cramped 1940s-era vessel, where the only way to pass someone in a corridor was to turn sideways.
In fact, visitors to the Torsk may encounter former seamen who once served in the crews of the Torsk and other Navy fleet submarines. These submarine crew members, all volunteers who underwent incredibly arduous testing before they were accepted, represented a tiny fraction of Navy enlistment, but were responsible for sinking more than half of the Japanese tonnage destroyed during World War II, according to the Navy.
The U.S.S. Torsk, one of two surviving Tench Class submarines, was built and launched at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard within the last six months of 1944, and was commissioned on Dec. 16, 1944, as the Battle of the Bulge raged in the Ardennes.
The U.S. Navy named its World War II submarines after fish and swimming mammals; the Torsk got its name from a type of pale yellow-and-white codfish found in great numbers in the North Atlantic ocean.

Initially deployed to the Pacific, where it operated from Pearl Harbor, the Torsk accomplished two patrols off Japan during early and mid-1945, operating with three other U.S. Navy submarines. By this time in the war, there were few targets left to attack, and although the submarines contacted two small Japanese ships, they did not sink them.
It was while patrolling in the Sea of Japan on Aug. 12, 1945 that the Torsk saw her first war action, firing two torpedoes at a small freighter but failing to sink the ship. The next day, the Torsk finally sank her first vessel, a small cargo ship named the Kaiho Maru.
And on Aug. 14, 1945, she sank two more small coastal defense ships, making the Torsk the last combat vessel to fire torpedoes and sink ships in World War II. The order to cease fire was issued to all U.S. forces on Aug. 15, 1945.
After World War II ended, the U.S.S. Torsk returned to the United States and was assigned as a submarine training ship at the U.S. Navy’s Submarine School in New London, Conn. There, she made dives several times each day as she trained enlisted men and officers for submarine duty.
In late 1955, the Torsk was modified to allow her to participate in testing of the Regulus missile, a radio-controlled pilotless aircraft that could carry either nuclear or conventional armament. The submarine didn’t carry the missile; instead, she carried radio equipment to control the missile, and was positioned along its flight path so that she could control the missile while it was in the area.
The Torsk also played a role in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, during which she participated in the blockade off Cuba and sent boarding parties to inspect Soviet merchant ships. She was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for her work in the crisis.
The submarine was decommissioned in 1968, and moved to Baltimore to serve as a museum and memorial in 1972.
Today, the U.S.S. Torsk is berthed in the Baltimore Inner Harbor, surrounded by Baltimore hotels, shops, restaurants and other attractions, including the historic Coast Guard Cutter Taney, historic Chesapeake Lightship, also a part of Historic Ships in Baltimore.
Visitors to the Torsk can look in on the torpedo rooms, the navigation station, crew mess and berthing areas, and the engine room, and can get a feel for the very cramped quarters in which 80 men spent weeks at a time. When a former submarine crew member is onboard to answer questions, visitors can hear first-hand what it was like to serve on a vessel like the Torsk.
Historic Ships executive director Christopher Rowsom said in an email interview that the Torsk Volunteer Association is on board every Saturday morning working on maintenance and restoration projects, and members are happy to answer questions.

The Biggest Boat

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:01:57 +0000

Have you ever seen the big boat in the world? Passenger Boat or Cruise ship?
New boats are constantly being built, and boat makers are constantly pushing the envelope of size. For the time being, though, the largest seafaring vessel by size ever built is the MV Mont (formerly the Knock Nevis). At a massive 458.45 meters (that’s 1504.10 feet), the boat is over a quarter mile long; it is 68.8 meters (225.72 feet) wide. The MV Mont’s gross tonnage is 260,941 tons, and its capacity is 564,763 deadweight tonnage. This is the highest deadweight tonnage of any boat in history. The boat was built in Japan in 1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries.
It was so large, with a 24.6 meter (80.7 feet) draught, that it couldn’t pass through many of the world’s major shipping passages: the Nevis could not sail through the Suez Canal, the English Channel, or the Panama canal. The ship was capable of a sixteen knot speed, powered by steam propulsion. The ship has been renamed the MV Mont by its current owners, who have deliberately beached the ship and intend to junk it.
Though the Knock Nevis is the largest ship by size, it is not the largest ever by gross tonnage. That honor belonged to members of the Batillus class, four of which were built (Batillus, Bellamya, Pierre Guillamat, and Prairial). Prairial, the last remaining ship in the class, was scrapped in 2003. Ships in this class had around 275,000 tons in gross tonnage.
With the Knock Nevis scheduled for decommissioning, the largest active ship is now the Emma Maersk. The Emma Maersk, a Danish ship, is a container ship with a length of 397 meters (1,302 feet). Its deadweight tonnage is 156,907 tons, and is sailed by a crew of just 13 (though it has a capacity of 30). It is capable of travelling at a speedy 25.5 knots.
The largest cruise ship is the Oasis of the Seas, a cruise ship in the Oasis class. The Oasis of the Seas was finished in 2008; it is 360 meters (1,181 feet) long, 60.5 meters (198 feet) wide at its widest point, and has sixteen passenger decks. The Oasis of the Seas has a capacity of 5400 passengers, with a total capacity of 6296 people.
Another ship in the Oasis class, the Allure of the Seas, is currently under construction. The ships are built by STX Europe, the makers of the previous largest cruise ship (Independence of the Seas), in Finland. The Oasis of the Seas holds another record: most expensive commercial ship, at 1.24 billion dollars. The boat features Central Park, a tropical garden; a rising bar, and seven different neighborhoods.

Solar Panels on Boats

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:00:24 +0000

Advantages of solar panels on boats include their ease of use, lack of maintenance, and longevity (some types last 20 years or more). Disadvantages include difficulties finding places to mount a large array, their weight (depending on the type chosen), and their bulk. In addition, large solar panel arrays require extensive electrical wiring and a solar regulator to prevent excess current from overcharging the boat’s batteries.
Solar panels produce DC electricity, so boats that require household-type AC electricity to run microwaves, stoves, or other systems (such as marine air conditioners and heaters) would need either generators or inverters to convert their solar-generated DC power into AC.
Rigid Solar Panels Feature Long Life Spans
In considering whether to add solar power to a vessel, boaters can choose between two main types of solar panels: rigid crystalline panels and flexible panels.
Rigid panels such as those produced by Kyocera Solar Energy, BP Solar International Inc., and Sharp Electronics Corp. are standard equipment in shore-based solar panel arrays. These solar panels generally are made of heavy glass and aluminum; because they are so large, bulky, and inflexible, they can be difficult to mount and to stow. Most boaters mount them permanently on a fixed structure such as a deck or a cabintop.

However, rigid solar panels require no maintenance beyond occasionally checking the electrical connections for corrosion, and they have a very long lifespan — warranties typically run two decades or more. In addition, they are less expensive than newer types of flexible solar panels, and they are more effective in bright sun conditions.
Flexible Solar Panel Benefits: Light Weight, Stowability
Development of flexible “thin-film” solar panels, such as those produced by PowerFilm Inc., has accelerated in the past five years, and the larger sizes now offer electricity generation that’s comparable to rigid solar panels in an extremely lightweight, easily stowed package (PowerFilm’s largest panel weighs just 2.6 pounds and will fit folded into a bag just three inches high by one foot square).
Flexible panels also are more effective in cloudy conditions than crystalline panels. However, convenience comes at a price: they are up to twice as expensive as rigid panels for the same output, and they wear out far faster. Warranties for thin-film solar panels generally only cover two to five years.
Solar Panels Measured in Watts
Manufacturers report solar panel size in watts and amps, which can be confusing for those who aren’t used to the terminology. For example, a large Kyocera 65 panel (one that measures 30 inches by 26 inches and weighs in at more than 13 pounds) is rated at 65 watts and 3.75 amps, and retails for under $400.
In practice, this large solar panel might produce about 3 amps of 12-volt electricity per hour for five to eight hours on a typical sunny day. This is enough to power a laptop computer for up to four hours to run navigation software, or to run four halogen lights all evening. Two of these panels could run a very small, extremely well-insulated marine refrigerator, although more typical marine refrigerators likely would require three or four of these panels to stay cool.
PowerFilm’s largest foldable solar panel, which measures 60 inches by 42 inches, is rated at 60 watts and 3.6 amps — about the same output. It weighs 2.6 pounds and retails for about $700.
This explanation from boater advocacy group BoatUS illustrates how to determine solar needs on a boat.
Marine Solar Panels: A Do-It-Yourself Project?
It’s certainly possible for a handy boat owner to install and wire solar panels. The first step is to determine whether to purchase flexible solar panels (which can be thrown over a bimini cover or rolled out on deck) or rigid solar panels. If the choice is rigid panels, then the boat owner will need to devise a mounting system.
Most systems also require a solar controller. The solar controller, which may not be necessary for tiny “trickle charge” solar panels but is needed for any array larger than about 10 watts, will moderate the electrical current produced by the solar panels so that the batteries do not become overcharged.
All in all, solar panel installations can be complex and costly. However, once the installation is complete, boaters can enjoy green, silent, simple electrical power, in some cases for two decades or more.
On smaller boats that spend significant time away from the dock, solar panels can produce most or all the energy needed to run the vessel’s systems. On larger boats, an extensive collection of panels can reduce or even eliminate the need to run the engine or generator. In addition, adding such energy-saving devices as LED lights can help make the solar panel system even more effective in meeting the vessel’s energy needs.