Authors: Hans Niessink, IMTECH and Bjrn von Ubisch, Candies Shipbuilders, L.L.C.

Diesel Electric Systems for Offshore Vessels

-Harmonic distortion

1. Introduction and Summary

This paper discusses the various types of diesel electric systems and components applicable to the offshore industry and gives a couple of examples how the diesel electric system can be integrated with other systems onboard. The various aspects of diesel electric propulsion are discussed as well as some of the pit-falls when designing a diesel electric system. The paper also gives an overview of some typical diesel electric offshore vessels, like diving support vessels, drilling rigs and supply vessels. We will address these points. A diesel electric system for a new build vessel compared to a conventional diesel direct system may result in a cost increase from 2 % to 20 %. A completely integrated electric vessel eventually may cost less One of the major advantages with a diesel electric system is less diesels to maintain the diesels are operating at their design optimum power. The many prime movers are, in the case of an integrated electrical system, all replaced by reliable electrical motors.

2. Diesel electric propulsion

Why would one want to change a time proven simple system like diesel propulsion and introduce complex parts in a vital power-train? This paper would like to give some basic info Modern ships fulfill more tasks, more deepwater technology is required. Vessels make longer trips, more power is installed. Fuel prices are a concern. Diesel electric vessels with an integrated power management system bring the following:

Efficiency:
A well laid out Diesel Direct propulsion system, working on full power, in a vessel sailing only from A to B is more efficient than DieselElectric, and has a better fuel economy. Diesel Electric propulsion is not the solution for all ships, but if the operational philosophy of your vessel is not requiring full power of your main engines for all the time,(variable load demands) and you have auxiliary engines for other operations, you may want to look at a diesel electric integrated vessel.

Fuel:
A diesel generator is most efficient when working under full load. At part load specific fuel-consumption rises, and the diesel may suffer from black sludge.

Pros
-lower Total Cost of Ownership -lower fuel consumption (especially on part load) -better maneuverability (Dynamic Positioning) -less diesels required -space saving, no long inconvenient drive shaft -easy lay-out of machine room -improved redundancy (no loss of hire) -smooth running, low noise -environmentally friendly

Contras:
-More equipment -More expensive -Complex for crew.

supported and exactly in-line with the main diesels. No transmission-gear, clutch, thrustblocks No Rudders, steering gear, (when azimuth thrusters are used) A drive replaces the CPP(controllable pitch propeller) or the direct diesel driven FPP No tunnel thrusters aft, if azimuthing thrusters aft are used

A cluster of diesel generator sets is also easier to locate in the engine room.

G.air = flow-rate through engine P.z = maximum cylinder-pressure

= air / fuel ratio be = specific fuel consumption.

4. Electric System layout Voltage.

440 V - 480 V - 690 V - 3.3 kV 6.6 kV 9 kV 11 kV etc Each case will require a study for optimum layout, starting with the load balance, the power required, availability of generator sets and transformers, and the power the drive itself can handle. A very practical approach would also look at the short-circuit current of the main switchboard. The main switchboard must always have at least two sections according the rules and regulations. The short man bus tie breaker will have to be able to break the circuit current. This breaker may be a limiting factor when selecting the proper voltage; if it is commercially available and if a class approval is available. If the currents become too large, the voltage will have to rise to the next level.
Page 2 of 9

Simultaneity: Dynamic positioning (station keeping) will normally not require full power of the Main diesel generator sets. Full speed at transit for propulsion normally requires the highest load from the diesel generators. You can install less auxiliary diesel power when you can use the power of the main diesel generator sets for other purposes as well.

3. Lay-out of the vessel.

No long drive shaft through the whole ship which would normally interfere with space for tanks and equipment, and which has to be

5. Drives or Frequency

Converters
A drive or a frequency converter, is a heavy duty electric speed control of an AC electric motor. A drive controls the flow of power to the motor. (torque and speed) It consists mainly out of three sections: a) The front end: (converter) takes AC (Alternating Current) power out of the main grid, and converts it to pulses of DC (Direct Current). b) the Mid, DC section: temporarily buffer of DC Power c) The rear end, (inverter) builds it up to any required AC (Alternating Current with variable frequency) again for the electric motor.

At full power the effect is bigger than at low power. A 24- pulse system is smoother, but more expensive than a 6-pulse, and it is not always necessary.

A drive minimizes the voltage drop which occurs when an electric motor comes online. This effect is especially noticeable in smaller networks like the network of a vessel.

Active Front End drives. (AFE)

An AFE has actively switching electronic systems at the front, at the intake. The way this front end drains power from the grid greatly reduces the ripple effect. Advantages of an Active drive: Much less harmonic distortion, Power-factor improvement, Power feed-back capability into ships network. A large splitting transformer is not required.

Pulse drives.
The passive diode bridge at the front end of a pulse drive takes power out of the ships network by slicing the incoming sinus in a fixed number of pulses. Per cycle 6-12-18-24. The pulsating surge however creates power grid pollution. The sinus of the main grid shows ripple effects. This is called harmonic distortion. The power surge is the same in per cycle, but the more pulses, the smoother the effect. This is comparable to a ride on a 500 cc motorbike with one cylinder, two cylinders, or four cylinders. More cylinders, less vibration.

6. FEEDBACK systems
An electric A-synchronous motor, when under braking conditions, can generate power.
Page 3 of 9

Certain active front end converters can inject this power back in to the network. This should be carefully calculated, (power demand, load balance) otherwise other problems might be introduced. (Voltage variations) The normal way to burn off this power is by air or water-cooled resistor-banks, simply wasting it in the form of heat.

7. The effects of Harmonic

W: VA: VAr:

Watt, Real Power Apparent Power Reactive power

Distortion, and its mitigation.

The power-peaks will heat up and age the insulation of transformers etc. The power peaks will also cause extra heat losses in all electric equipment. This will result in power overload of electronic equipment. Electromagnetic interference will affect sensitive instruments and can cause false readings of sensors. Counter measures are: Filters, (active or passive) Sizing of the equipment. Splitting the network into a dirty grid / clean grid Most of the heavy duty equipment on board is indifferent about harmonics. The large propulsion motors or pump motors will not notice. It is the electronic equipment in ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), radars and other smaller electronic devices which will be affected by the harmonic distortions. A rotating converter (electromotor driving a generator) can be used to create a clean grid from a dirty one. (This device is frequently used for the electronics of the ROV) Careful power demand calculations are necessary. Future expansions may become difficult.

Power factor is the ratio of Active Power (W) to the Apparent Power (VA). The apparent power can be greater than the real power. A distribution system that is designed to handle the higher currents caused by loads with low power factor will cost more than a distribution system that delivers the same useful energy to loads with a power factor closer to 1. Active front end drives can improve the power factor and thus reduce certain components.

8. Economical 24 Pulse

systems.
Due to the economy of large series, industrial 12 pulse systems are becoming less expensive. If you can trick two 12- pulse systems into firing out of phase, the grid will see it as a 24 pulse system. This will require two transformers which have special windings causing the phase shifting. This results in a system with Total Harmonic Distortion figures according to the class rules.

Power factor

Page 4 of 9

9. Diving Support Vessel

The Stena Seaspread type of vessel was one of the first integrated diesel electric vessels. Four were built. One was taken over by the UK Royal Navy and the other three are still around in the oil industry. The concept of the vessel was transporting Oil field supplies and Diving Support.

Main distribution voltage was 6 kV, AC 60 Hz. The main power consumers are as follows: Main centre screw 4 x 1,100 kW Azimuth thrusters 2 x 1,100 kW Tunnel thrusters 2 x 1,100 kW Fire pumps 4 x 1,100 kW The original philosophy behind this was to use one type of electrical motor for all consumers on board. In practice it did not work out so well as the speed requirements for the motors were different. All motors were 6 kV, 60 Hz, asynchronous, squirrel cage, constant speed: Centre screw 885 rpm Azimuthing thrusters 885 rpm Tunnel thrusters 1,180rpm Fire pumps 1,760 rpm Total installed power is 5 x 2,250 kW = 12,600 kW about 17,000 HP, in two separate engine rooms. Power consumption in the different operational modes was estimated to, according the original electrical balance: Transit, free sailing 5,440 kW Fire fighting 8,911 kW Discharge at rig 6,303 kW DP and diving 4,692 kW

When acting as a Diving Support Vessel this type of vessel will spend the majority of the time on station. A dual redundant Dynamic Positioning system was installed. These vessels has a power plant forward, consisting of five diesel generators and is fitted out with two tunnel thrusters forward, one centre screw with rudder aft and two azimuthing thrusters aft. The vessels also has a firefighting system with a total of four electrically driven fire pumps. The centre screw was driven by four electrical motors via a gear box. The thrusters all had one electrical motor each as prime mover.

The advantage with an electric power plant is that the electrical consumers can be fed from one central power plant. This power plant can be sized to maximum simultaneous power demand. This power demand is less than the total installed power of all pumps propellers, thrusters cranes etc. The various power consumers on board can be located at the most logical position and are not restricted to a certain location because of a diesel engine as prime mover. All that connects the consumer with the energy source is an electrical cable. The power-plant is in this case concentrated forward where all the exhaust uptakes and ventilation trunking can be worked away in the deckhouse and will not obstruct the aft deck. Real Estate on these types of vessels

Page 5 of 9

is of premium and should be as obstacle free as possible. This vessel was designed in 1978 and delivered in 1980. 10. Constant Speed thrusters

12. Well Stimulation Vessel

A well stimulation vessel is a vessel that either hooks up directly to a subsea completion or is via hoses and a fixed or mobile drilling rig directly connected to the oil well. The example given here is a vessel with a subsea coiled tubing unit onboard that hooks up to the well and do all the logging and well stimulation directly, without the intermediary drilling rig.

with Controllable Pitch

Today the constant speed/variable pitch thruster will be changed to the variable speed/fixed pitch type of thruster. The same type of asynchronous squirrel cage motor will be used but with a drive (frequency converter) for controlling the speed instead of the direct on-line feed. The voltage of the motor will determined by the output voltage of the frequency converter. A constant speed thruster motor requires a variable pitch thruster. When the thruster is started up and running with zero pitch, about 25 % of the nominal power is consumed. A dynamically positioned vessel will very often have thrusters with less thrust demand than 25 %. This has to do with the redundancy requirements. The DP-operator on the Bridge prefers to have all thrusters up and running, in case something will happen. The requirement is to maintain heading and position for as long as possible, whatever happens.

This particular ship has the following main power consumers: Thrusters Deep water deployment system ROV system Well stimulation pumps The total installed power is 4 x 2,350 kW, total 9.4 MW. Thrusters, the deployment system and the various well stimulation pumps plus various transfer pumps are all speed controlled via frequency converters. The main distribution system is depicted below:

11. Cooling systems Traditionally, in the past, the diving support vessels were DC vessels with 600 V main distribution voltage. The rectifiers and the electrical motors were all air-cooled. This resulted in huge air ducts for cooling air, supply and exhaust. The DC motors also require certain maintenance. The asynchronous squirrel cage motor can very easy be totally enclosed and made water cooled. The modern frequency converters are also water-cooled. This results in a very compact installation with a minimum of air cooling requirements.
Page 6 of 9

The main distribution voltage is 690 V, 60 Hz, AC. In order to save money and space the frequency converters have been split up in three groups. Each group has a rectifier that is feeding a DC bus. From this bus the consumers are fed. Each DC consumers has a converter converting the DC to AC with variable frequency. There are three groups: DC Link 1 of main propulsion motor PS (tandem motor) Steering motors for azimuthing thrusters PS Various well stimulation pumps located aft (on line pumps) DC Link 2: of main propulsion motor SB (tandem motor) Steering motors for azimuthing thruster SB Various well stimulation pumps located aft (back-up pumps) DC Link 3: Deep Water deployment system Various transfer pumps for the well stimulation system located forward There are also three frequency converter panels for the propulsion: azimuthing thruster SB azimuthing thruster PS Retractable thruster forward There are also two tunnel thrusters forward as a backup for the retractable thruster forward. The tunnel thrusters are of constant speed type. The philosophy behind this is that the backup tunnel thrusters will not be used very much and the constant speed installation is cheaper than the variable speed installation. This vessel will have a dual redundant Dynamic positioning system. The four main diesel generators are located in one engine room forward with the auxiliary systems split up SB and PS. The vessel will receive no hydrocarbons onboard and is only attached to the well with an umbilical for the chemicals and power/data transfer, also with

a quick disconnect. The hoisting wire is disconnected after landing of the subsea coiled tubing unit. Power consumption during the various operations is expected to be: Transit 6.0 MW Landing the Tool 4.5 MW Acidicing 4.1 MW Acidicing and squall 7.2 MW

13. Semi Submersible Drilling

Rig
A typical semi submersible drilling vessel looks something like this:

In this case the power plant is located in the deck box forward and the various consumers are distributed around the unit.

One of the large consumers is the thrusters, located in the far ends of the pontoons.

Page 7 of 9

14. Supply Vessels

Diesel electric supply vessels have certain advantages over conventional diesel direct supply vessels.

The feeder cables to the thrusters will have a considerable length. There are certain advantages to select a high distribution voltage, 9 or 11 kV and to have the frequency converters as close to the thrusters as possible. This will save considerable amount of money and weight due to lighter and smaller power cables. The AC distribution system is in this case an obvious advantage compared to the traditional DC system. In this case the main distribution switchboard is split up in three and the distribution system and all auxiliary systems are laid out according DP equipment class 3. The electrical distribution system is in the form of a ring line system, which implies that during normal operation, the bus tie breakers are closed. Certain Classification Societies have some difficulties with this, while other Classification Societies accept to operate under DP equipment Class 3 with closed bus tie breakers. In case of worst possible failure, you will then have 2/ 3 of the installed power available instead of the installed power. This saves weight and money. Weight savings have high priority on a semi sub.

Traditional Gulf Coast Supply vessels have the engine room aft and the uptakes for the exhaust and the engine room ventilation is often combined with smoke stacks half way down the aft deck. A diesel electric arrangement gives the freedom to locate the engine room where it is less obstructive, considering the main function of the vessel.

The engine room is all the way forward, and the thruster room all the way aft. The centre square part of the hull is for the various cargo tanks. There are three diesel generators. One of the diesel generators can be connected to either SB or PS of the switchboard. Normal operation is with two diesel generators. This type of ship is safer than the traditional Gulf supply vessel as the machinery ventilation can be located high up and access to below deck spaces are all forward and well protected. The engine room can also be placed forward with diesel direct propulsion. In this case there will be long shaft lines passing through the hull, from the engine room forward to the thrusters aft and the shaft lines will reduce cargo space. The advantage of diesel electric propulsion for a supply vessel is: Less total power installed Reduced Fuel consumption when maneuvering, waiting on the rig to get ready for cargo operations and when on

Page 8 of 9

DP and discharging cargo and back loading cargo Fewer restrictions in the arrangement of cargo spaces.

15. Conclusion
Diesel Electric system need not be more expensive than conventional diesel direct applications. Integrated diesel electric systems for offshore vessels of various types are more economical and cheaper than the conventional diesel direct approach. More or less all large Offshore support vessels are today diesel electric. The best approach to an integrated cost effective diesel electric system is to spend time and effort to engineer the system properly at the beginning of the project, prior to ordering components.

Page 9 of 9