SubscribeInstrumentation specialist Lee-Dickens, Northamptonshire, UK, announce that they have been chosen to design and manufacture a new Salinometer for Rolls-Royce plc for use in the next generation of Royal Navy Nuclear powered attack submarines, known as The Astute Class, being manufactured by BAE.
Rolls-Royce has selected Lee-Dickens, to design and manufacture a new onboard Salinometer to test the quality of water used as primary coolant for a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) power plant. An onboard Salinometer is necessary as water may be taken on board anywhere in the world and an extremely accurate and reliable measurement is essential to ensure the absence of elements in the water.
The new Salinometer has been designed with the same size footprint as the previous model to satisfy any retrofit requirement. The new product is also backwardly compatible with the original termination block, but the rest of the product has been updated to comply with the latest Naval Engineering Standard NES 501, Def Stan 59-41 EMC (below decks) and NES 1004 for submarine environments, including respective shock and vibration levels.
The Salinometer consists of a purpose-built ruggedised housing containing the Panel Electronic Circuit (PEC), which is designed and manufactured by Lee-Dickens. A Crompton meter on the front provides a visual ph reading. There are a number test buttons including a basic circuit test and an alarm test. The alarm would activate if the ph level ever exceeded a pre-set value. Because there are long periods between usage there is an internal heater to prevent condensation.
As part of the design Lee-Dickens is to produce a new external sensor that sits in the pipeline. The sensor is extremely sensitive making measurements in units of micro siemens and therefore it is very important to be able to clean and maintain the probe. For this reason there was a need to gain easy access to the probe. Lee-Dickens therefore incorporated into the design a special mechanical device that allows the probe to be extracted from the pipe but at the same time still manages to maintain a sealed pipe with up to 15-bar pressure.
Lee-Dickens has initially manufactured three Salinometers with the first tested by Rolls-Royce in the fourth quarter of 2004.
“Lee-Dickens has been sourcing and constructing military equipments for many years including the capability to undertake mechanical design and manufacturing. This is perfect for the Salinometer project, which requires a purpose built PCB and a new sensor probe design. Lee-Dickens is also a GS3001 and ISO 9000 approved supplier, essential for a contract such as this.” said Gyles Dickens, Divisional Director Lee-Dickens.
