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2015 - Medium Voltage Multilevel Converters For Ship Electric Propulsion Drives
2015 - Medium Voltage Multilevel Converters For Ship Electric Propulsion Drives
Abstract—An increasing number of ships are being integrated increases complexity and total cost of the ship power
with electric propulsion systems and a significant proportion of distribution system. Consequently, there is a growing interest
these require variable frequency drives in the multi-megawatt on MVAC solutions for marine power systems particularly
range. At such large power, medium voltage AC (MVAC) drive above 6MW in size. Reduced copper losses and simplification
offers numerous advantages over low voltage AC (LVAC) of the distribution cabling are some of the advantages attained
solution. This paper examines the state-of-the art MV drives and with MVAC ship power systems. Reduced load current
their development trends for marine applications. Further, a enables the use of smaller conductor size for the same power
review is carried out on multilevel converter (MLC) topologies rating. Therefore, MVAC distribution systems have become
suitable for high power ship propulsion drives. A variety of
an attractive solution to electrical power distribution in both
topologies are evaluated for marine applications based their
commercial and naval vessels [5].
specific requirements. From the review, it is concluded that
hybrid solution seems the most attractive option for the specified Power electronics and variable frequency drives (VFDs) are
application. key components of the electric propulsion system. The
majority of vessels have installed power capacity of less than
Keywords—Marine electric propulsion; Medium voltage; Multi- 10MW with individual drives rated at less than 3MW [4].
level converter; Variable frequency drives Systems of such size are traditionally designed using LVAC,
typically 690V. The success of LV marine systems is partly
I. INTRODUCTION due to the availability of LV power semiconductor devices and
Traditional mechanically coupled ship propulsion maturity of the technology developed for land based industrial
mechanisms are gradually being displaced by all electric or applications.
hybrid-electric drive systems. Systems featuring electric drives Marine propulsion systems of installed capacity greater
for ships are evolving technology and they are customized to than 15MW benefit greatly from MV distribution systems and
meet demands in order to obtain high performance and cost the motor drives designed for medium voltage (eliminating the
effective solution. Not only do electric drives help improve the use of step down transformers). High power MVAC drives
fuel efficiency, but they also improve dynamic response, have already been well established in heavy industries and in
reliability and reduce the space requirements on the vessel. A other areas such as wind energy conversion [6], [7]. In the
typical marine electrical power system consists of prime marine industry, however, the adoption of MVAC systems
movers, generators, transformers, distribution cables, power over LVAC system has taken a longer time for both technical
converters, electrical machines and energy storage systems and non-technical reasons. Comparison between LV and MV
[1]. Typically, power generation and distribution systems are drives in terms of cost and other performance metrics have
developed with fixed frequency 60Hz 3-phase systems. been reported in the literature [7], [8], and [9]. According to
Voltage levels of the distribution system vary depending on these comparisons, the use of MV converters in electric ship
the power level and the types of vessels [2]. For example, a propulsion is often more expensive, costlier to maintain and
large liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker may utilize a 6.6- has lower reliability mainly due to the immaturity of the
11kV medium voltage AC distribution system, while an technology. Therefore, for a fair evaluation, one must consider
offshore supply vessel may utilize a 480V or 690V LVAC various MV converter topologies and compare against marine
system [3], [4]. requirements and system performances.
With the increase in electric power demand on vessels, LV In general, the MVAC power conversion system is
AC distribution systems are reaching their limits. The core considered to extend from 2.3kV to 13.8kV. Presently, 6.6kV
issue is contending with high currents. Installation cost systems appear to be particularly popular. Traditional two-
increases as high currents require larger conductors and level converters are not capable of meeting this voltage level.
frequently necessitates the use of parallel cables. This Therefore, multi-level converter (MLC) topologies capable of
System specifications
Manufacturer
Voltage and Power level Drive topology
• Diode clamped VSI – Voltage Source Inverter (3-level or 5-level
[10] Power range: 3 – 36 MW
ACS 6000 output waveform)
ABB Output voltage: 3.0 – 3.3 kV
• Diodes: 6/12/24-pulse rectifier or IGCT: 6/12/18-pulse active rectifier
• Type of motor: Induction, synchronous and/or PMSM
[13] Power range: 0.2–20 MVA • PWM current source with Symmetrical SGCT
Allen Power Flex 7000
Voltage 4.16, 6.6kV • 18-Pulse and Transformerless Active Front End (AFE) Recti¿er
Bradley
MV7000
[14] Power range: 3 – 81 MW • Load side inverter 3-level NPC VSI; IGBTs
General
Input voltage: 3 to 10 kV • Line side converter DFE 12 to 36-pulse / AFE IGBT 6-pulse
Electric
Output voltage up to 10 kV
• 3-level inverter (PWM) in NPC topology with IGCT or HV- IGBTs
SINAMICS GM150 Power range: 10–27 MW
• 12-pulse or optional 24-pulse diode rectifier without regenerative
[15] Voltage: 3.3 kV
feedback
• Motor type Induction and synchronous motors
Siemens Power range: up to 13.3
MVA • Line side: diode rectifier; 36-pulse rectifier
SINAMICS GH150
Input voltage: 0.9 - 2.4 kV • Motor side: Modular multi-level topology with LV IGBTs
Output voltage: 4.0 - 7.2 kV • Drive two-quadrant operation
Fig.2. Topology configurations: Single phase of a 5-level (a) NPC (b) Cascaded H-bridge (c) Hybrid Topology (2L inverter cascaded with H-bridge cells) and
(d) Modular Multilevel Converter with half bridge modules
converters DC-balancing is not a problem since it depends on modulation techniques and control complexity for the selected
the isolated power sources. Hybrid topology (2-level with H- MLCs.
bridge cells) with single DC-source usually requires additional
control methods to regulate the H-bridge cell capacitor B. Basis of Comparison
voltages and then balance the voltages between them. In
MMC topology, the DC-bus balance of each sub module can The circuit configurations of the 5-level NPC VSC, the 5-
be obtained by applying a proper control algorithm [30]. level CHB VSC, 5-level Hybrid and 5-level MMC are
illustrated in Fig. 2. It can be seen that all the MV converter
5) Modulation and Control solutions have the same voltage levels. For illustration purpose
6.6 kV, 7MW propulsion motor drive application, using the
Particularly for high power MV drives, reducing the commercial HV IGBT modules is used to conduct the
switching frequency while maintaining a reasonable power topology comparison. Basic converter data and total
quality is an important requirement and it has become a main component count for the selected MV MLCs are given in
challenge for the drive manufactures. Moreover, significant Table III and Table IV respectively. The comparison shows
efforts have been proposed to enhance the performance of that 5-level hybrid topology needs the least number of power
MLCs by harmonic elimination methods with pre-calculated semiconductor devices. However, consideration should be
switching functions and using new control strategies [31]. given to the semiconductor utilization factor to minimize the
However, selecting an appropriate modulation scheme is very high share of costs in MV drive systems. The minimum DC
much a trade-off between switching frequency and harmonic link voltage necessary to obtain an output line to line voltage
distortions. Table II, summarizes the most commonly used of 6.6kV can be calculated from (1). To determine the nominal
DC link voltage of the converter, a voltage reserve of 6% is
assumed as shown in (2), which is considered for dynamic MV Drive System 5-level 5-level 5-level 5-level
processes and filter voltage drops. Table V summarizes the Topologies NPC CHB Hybrid MMC
Total device count 64 30 29 80
possibilities of the power semiconductors for the converter
specifications given in Table III.
TABLE V. POWER SEMICONDUCTOR SPECIFICATIONS [26], [28]-[29]
V. CONCLUSIONS
TABLE IV. COMPONENT COUNT OF MV MLCS [27], [29]
In this paper, the current trends in MLC technology for
MV Drive System 5-level 5-level 5-level 5-level MV high power ship propulsion drives are studied and
Topologies NPC CHB Hybrid MMC
discussed. Several promising MLC topologies are reviewed
Main switches 24 24 24 48
with regards to complexity of control, reliability, availability
DC bus capacitors 4 6 2 2 and technological maturity. However, other evaluation criteria
Clamping diodes 36 0 0 0 considering drive system cost, efficiency, semiconductor loss
Floating capacitors 0 0 3 24 distribution and output waveform quality have not been
Inductors 0 0 0 6 considered as part of this study. This review shows that,
hybrid cascade topology can offer comparative advantages [17] Wärtsilä (2014), “Wärtsilä MV Power Drive” Available:
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