THE APPLICATION OF DRIVES AND GENERATOR TECHNOLOGY TO A MODERN CONTAINER SHIP

B Clegg, H R Griffiths, Brush Electrical Machines Ltd, UK.

D J Hall, FKI Industrial Drives Ltd, UK.

P J Tavner FKI Engineering Group, UK.

INTRODUCTION In 1996 P&O Containers (now P&O Nedlloyd) planned to build a fleet of large Post-Panamax container ships to operate between the Far East and Europe. These ships, of 80,942 gross tonnage, have accommodation for 6700 containers, over 700 of which can be refrigerated containers (reefers) - representing a substantial load on the ship's electrical supply. The ships are each propelled by a single 90,000 hp (65 MW), 100 rev/min diesel engine, the largest in service at the time of commissioning. An essential part of the design of these ships was that they should be able to operate with low manning levels and be capable of cruising at sea with very low operating costs. Both these requirements had an important impact on the design of the electrical power systems of the ships. Four of these ships are now in service. One is shown in Figure 1. These ships are each designed with a 6.6 kV, 60 Hz main distribution system. During cruising at sea, up to 3.5 MW of electrical power is extracted from the ships' main diesel engine/propeller shaft via a salient pole shaft generator fitted to the main propeller shaft. Four dieselengine driven, 3.6 MW generators are also installed to operate when power is not available from the Shaft Generator System, in port or during slow-speed manoeuvring. Automatic no-break transfer between the generators is provided.

The output of the shaft generator itself is at a low variable frequency, determined by the shaft speed. The output to the 6.6kV system is changed up to a constant 60 Hz by a variable input frequency synchroconverter. The power system is supervised and controlled by a Power Management System employing a dedicated microprocessor controller. This paper describes the design of the rotating machine and variable speed drive components of this power system configuration. The following parts of the system are described in detail: The power system. The shaft generator. The variable frequency converter and its associated synchronous condenser. The Control System. POWER SYSTEM A medium-voltage system was selected to restrict the fault level and to minimise voltage drops in the long cable runs to power equipment in the forward part of the ship, the length of the hull being 300m. Each ship is equipped with a 2.6MW electric bow thruster, driven by a squirrel cage induction motor, and 1.8MVA transformers in the bow supply local consumers and the reefer containers in the forward part of the ship. The main power system arrangement is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1: P&O NEDLLOYD ROTTERDAM at sea fully laden.

Diesel Diesel Generator Generator G G

Shaft G Generator Synchronous G Condenser

Diesel Diesel Generator Generator G G

6.6kV 60Hz

Bow Thruster

Main 440V Distribution Reefer Forward Figure 2: One-line Diagram of Main Power System

THE SHAFT GENERATOR Generator design. The design of the generator was restrained by the arrangement of rotor poles around the hub. The specification required the full 3.5MW output to be available throughout the normal operating shaft speed range of 80-110 rev/min, with reduced output, as determined by the design of the system components, in the range 60-80 rev/min. A compromise was made to determine the number of poles and the resulting output frequency range. A 3phase 28-pole generator design, operating at 800 volts, was selected. This gave a frequency output range of 1425.7Hz. Rotor construction. Owing to the rigorous approval procedures for the design and manufacture of propeller shafts of this power rating and duty, no additional work was permitted on the finish-machined shaft. A 5-metrelong section of the shaft was sent to the generator manufacturer works and the main rotor hub and the s complete slipring assembly, mounted on a hoop, were shrunk onto the shaft. Poles were then bolted to the hub and the rotor circuit connections completed. Excitation system Due to the low operating speeds of the generator, a static excitation system, with its power supply derived from the generator output, was required for this application. Owing to the wide range of generator output frequency, the control and protection devices had to be specially designed, no suitable standard units being available.

Reactive power considerations The reactive power required for the system comprises the output vars required to meet the ship system load s together with the var requirements of the converter system. A synchronous condenser, designed as a 4-pole salient pole brushless machine, was used to generate the total var requirements. This machine was fitted with a brushless exciter and conventional AVR, identical to those on the diesel generators supplied for these ships. The output characteristic of the system is therefore identical to that of the diesel sets enabling parallel operation of the generators in any combination, using quadrature current droop control. The current transformer used for parallel operation senses the system load current only; whereas the current transformers used for protection sense the total output current from the machine. The excitation system is powered from a permanent magnet pilot exciter fitted to the shaft. This enables unassisted voltage build-up and ensures the continuity of excitation power in order to give shortcircuit current maintenance under fault conditions. Harmonics Even though the selected 24-pulse converter configuration cancelled much of the harmonic waveform content, the total harmonic voltage distortion would have exceeded the specified limit of 8% unless additional measures were introduced. A tuned filter was therefore provided comprising 2 limbs tuned to minimise the expected 23rd and 25th harmonics. This filter is only switched into circuit after the system output has stabilised at full nominal 60Hz frequency.

Shaft Generator Main Engine 65.88MW 60-110 rev/min

G
Static Excitation 14 - 25.7 Hz

24 PULSE FREQUENCY CONVERTER

Synchronous Condenser 4MVA Pony Motor

M

6.6kV 60Hz System 6.6kV Circuit Breaker

Input DC Link Output Rectifier Inductors Inverter 60Hz

6.6kV Output Transformer

Shaft generator system output: 3.5MW 80 - 110 rev/min reducing linearly in range 60 - 80rev/min. 0.8 power factor.

Harmonic Filter

Figure 3: Block diagram of Shaft Generator System

CONVERTER SYSTEM Variable Frequency Converter The converter is based upon a standard forced aircooled unit used in industrial variable speed drives and marine propulsion drives. A typical industrial application is described in Carpenter et al (1). In this application it is configured as a 24-pulse synchroconverter. A major difference in this application is that the input bridge is subject to low frequency and hence this is the limiting device as regards variable frequency derating, rather than the output bridge. All bridges are constructed using conventional phase control grade thyristors, double side cooled. The input rectifier is fired with minimum delay angle under steady state conditions to present the shaft generator with the highest possible power factor. During a sudden load rejection, or in the unlikely event of excitation system failure, the shaft generator voltage will rise very rapidly and remain at a high level until the control system regains control or a protection device operates to trip the system. For this reason the converter devices have a higher than usual voltage margin. In such circumstances the input rectifier pulses may be suppressed to achieve rapid control of the d.c. link voltage. System Starting For a conventional variable speed drive application the driven machine, in this case the synchronous condenser, would be started by pulsing the current in the d.c. link using the input rectifier bridges. This process would continue until the synchronous condenser generated sufficient voltage to naturally commutate the output bridge. The low input frequency at minimum engine

speed made this method unattractive due to long current dead times. Since a black start facility was not required the synchronous condenser was accelerated, to a speed where natural commutation is possible, by means of a low-voltage pony motor powered from the ship diesel s generators. The pony motor is a 6-pole induction motor. Its full speed corresponds to about 2/3 of the 60Hz synchronous speed of the 4-pole synchronous condenser. When the pony motor reaches a low slip speed it is tripped off and the synchronous condenser is accelerated by the converter system to achieve synchronism with the diesel generators. This starting method also eliminates the need for rotor position feedback during starting. A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) in the converter control panel is programmed to carry out all of these sequencing, switching and control functions. Converter System Control The power circuit comprises four power loops in two pairs, each pair feeding a double wound transformer. The transformer windings are phase shifted to obtain 24pulse operation. The transformers were carefully designed so as to balance the winding impedances. To minimise the possibilities of harmonics less than the 23rd in the final output, the d.c. voltages and currents of the four loops are balanced under closed loop control. A frequency control outer loop provides a common current demand to four inner current controls with an accuracy in the order of 1%. Power sharing when running in parallel with the diesel generators is achieved by providing a controlled droop in the frequency servo. This ensures inherent load sharing independent of the power management system.

Control of the system frequency is achieved by raise and lower signals identical to the diesel governor controls. Accurate frequency control is carried out by the power management system. In the event of a shutdown of one loop of a pair the corresponding loop is also shutdown and the system runs as a 12-pulse unit at reduced output. This necessitates switching off the harmonic filter, which is tuned for operation in a 24-pulse system. Under these conditions the system output harmonics will exceed the specified limits, and the ship staff will determine s whether to continue operating in this mode or to transfer generation to the diesel generators. CONTROL SYSTEM Power Management A microprocessor-based Power Management System, as described in Thornton-Jones (2), carries out control and monitoring functions for the complete power system. In addition to the usual set management, including the starting and stopping of generators as system power requirements vary, and load shedding functions, the system also includes additional features specifically developed for use with the shaft generator system. Derating at low speeds. As part of the set management calculations, used for starting/stopping generators as load conditions change, the capacity of the system is derived from the ratings of the connected generators. In the case of the shaft generator system the available power from the shaft generator depends upon the speed of the shaft. Owing to the limits imposed by the magnetic circuits, the generator voltage, and hence the power output capacity, reduces linearly with speed below 80 rev/min down to the minimum operating speed (60 rev/min). A speed signal, derived by measuring the frequency of the shaft generator output voltage, is used to calculate the power capacity of the system. Reactive power capacity. The net reactive capacity of the shaft generator system available to the power system is calculated from the output of the synchronous condenser, reduced by the reactive power taken by the converter system. Also included in this calculation is the contribution from the harmonic filter, when connected, which is predominantly capacitative, effectively adding to the reactive power capacity. Derating under fault conditions. In the event of a minor fault in the generator cooling system, indicated by failure of airflow at the output of one of the air/water heat exchanger cooling fans, continued operation is possible at a reduced output. An input to the power management system from the airflow detector circuit

reduces the shaft generator system rating in the capacity calculation under these circumstances. Transfer between generators An automatic transfer system operates if the shaft generator is operating and the main engine is instructed to operate below the minimum speed of 60 rev/min. The main engine is prevented from operating below this speed whilst the shaft generator output is connected to the power system. On detecting the shaft speed falling to near this limit, the Power Management System automatically starts and connects one of the diesel generators, transfers the load from the shaft generator to the diesel generator and then disconnects and deenergises the shaft generator. This then allows the main engine governor to reduce the shaft speed. This operation is fully automatic without need for action by the ship staff on the bridge. s SYSTEM TESTING The main components of the shaft generator system from one of the ships, including the shaft generator, the synchronous condenser, converter, transformers, harmonic filter, and associated power and control components, were assembled onto a test bed at the manufacturer works before despatch to the shipyard. s They were connected together to enable a combined test of the complete system to be carried out. Detailed measurements were taken without the pressures that would be present under trials conditions at the shipyard or at sea. The shaft generator was driven by a variablespeed d.c. drive motor with a gearbox to give a suitable range of shaft speeds for the tests. Since the section of propeller shaft fitted with the generator rotor did not have any bearing surfaces, stub shafts were manufactured and outboard test bearings were used to support the 48 tonne rotor assembly during these tests. Load testing. It was possible to verify operation under steady state and transient load conditions, up to the limits imposed by the test bed supplies and the drive motor characteristics. Tests of the starting sequence of the synchronous condenser when the system is put into operation were carried out including the energising and stabilisation of the output 6.6kV voltage. These tests also gave the opportunity to check the operation of the control and protection functions over the complete shaft speed range. Harmonics. Measurements of output waveform distortion were also taken to verify the operation of the harmonic filter at various load levels. The results of these tests showed the levels to be within the specified 8%. This was later confirmed during the ships sea trials.

Figure 4: Combined test of shaft generator system at manufacturer works. s

CONCLUSION 2. This interesting project gave the opportunity to use equipment and designs based on proven technologies in a different configuration to their normal applications. Satisfactory results of factory tests and experience gained in service on the ships, which have now been in revenue-earning service for about a year, have proved the soundness of the design of the complete system and its components in this application. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance given by Mr D. J. J. den Ouden of P&O Nedlloyd Fleet Management, Rotterdam, in the preparation of this paper. The paper is published with the permission of the Directors of FKI Engineering and Brush Electrical Machines Ltd. REFERENCES 1. Carpenter M.J., Wade A.R., Williams P.N., Moulding R.J., 1991, A 4MW Variable Speed Drive for a Research and Development Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel, IEE Publication 341, 321-325 Thornton-Jones R., 1998, Case Study, Power Management Systems, IEE Vacation School Electrical Generator Applications, 9/1-9/13