Rotork actuators for naval base

At HMNB Portsmouth, electric actuators operate penstocks that allow movement of the ships from the sea to the transitional locks and dry docks.

A series of A-range actuators had reached the end of their operational life after many years of service in a challenging environment and required replacement. BAE Systems were keen to retain all the benefits of electric actuators, so IQ3 actuators were chosen. These had to be specially adapted by Rotork to overcome problems around confined spaces and difficult access. IQ3 actuators and IS gearboxes were mechanically adapted with a solution which meant that both actuator and gearbox could be manually operated without entering the confined space. Special hand auto levers and through-drive mechanisms for the actuator and gearbox were designed to offer a solution to limit the need for confined space access.

By upgrading to IQ3 actuators, BAE Systems were able to use the Rotork Remote Hand Station (RHS). The existing local control panels provided limited information and feedback but by exchanging these for RHS units live positional feedback and diagnostics are available, as well as the ability to reconfigure the actuators remotely without having to enter the confined spaces that they are situated in.

Actuators within the IQ range are watertight, offering ingress protection to IP66/68 at 20m for 10 days.

Rotork have an existing service agreement in place and were perfectly suited for this project, with a proven record of reliability with BAE Systems.

By Jake Frith