Studying ship electric energy systems

with shaft generator

J. Prousalidis(1), I.K. Hatzilau(2), P. Michalopoulos(3), I. Pavlou(1), D. Muthumuni(4)
(1)
National Technical University, School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Greece
(2)
Hellenic Naval Academy, Dept of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Greece
(3)
Hellenic Navy, Greece
(4)
Manitoba HVDC Center, Canada

Abstract--This contribution aims primarily at making a discussion on the shaft generator systems installed onboard highlighting their advantages
and disadvantages focusing on that they can possibly be a hybrid alternative to “Full Electric Propulsion” concept. On the other hand, an
investigation via simulations is made of the conditions of the ship electric network operation at different modes of operation of a representative
shaft generator system.

Index Terms--marine vehicles, diesel driven generators, power electronics

I. INTRODUCTION1 Furthermore, the discussion is enriched by a comparison

The extensive electrification of all systems on shipboard
installations is a rather appealing, if not unavoidable,
perspective. This process seems, up-to-date, more
significant and rapid in the warship domain following up
the successful integration of main electric propulsion
schemes along with automation and weapon systems. It is
widely accepted that this would not be able but for the
evolution of power electronic devices. On the other hand,
the relevant progress in the commercial ship sector is not
on a parallel line, nor at the same rate despite several
encouraging application figures, due to several reasons.
between the shaft-gen systems and the wind-park
generator systems, as they both seem to have some
common points and possibly it is worth interchanging
application experiences to one another. On the other hand,
the paper makes an investigation of the conditions of the
ship electric network operation at different modes of
operation of the shaft generator system. Thus, via
simulations in the industry standard simulation tool
PSCAD/EMTDC environment some characteristic study
cases in steady and transient state are analysed.
II. MAIN SHAFT GENERATOR CONFIGURATION

However, an interesting alternative combining both the
electrification trends based on power electronics along
with the conventional main propulsion diesel engines as
described above, is installing shaft generators coupled with
the main engine [1-8]. Shaft generators have been
exploited for long, in both commercial and warship
applications, as they can produce significant amounts of
electric energy (for instance in certain cases, one shaft
generator can cover the energy demands of the entire ship
without associating with generator sets) taking advantage
of the main propulsion engine rotation.
This contribution aims at a twofold target. On the one
hand to make a thorough discussion on the shaft systems
installed onboard highlighting their advantages and
disadvantages seeking if they can possibly be considered a
hybrid alternative to “Full Electric Propulsion” concept.
1 to a fixed pitch one) providing the varying speed
The authors wish to thank the European Union and the Greek
Ministry of Education for the financial support within the
“Operational Programme for Education and Initial
Vocational Training - EPEAEK”-project. The Project is co-
funded by the European Social Fund (75%) and National
Resources (25%).
As already mentioned, the shaft generator (SG) is driven
by the main ship engine rotating the ship propeller, see
Fig. 1. As the main engine rotates at a variable speed
range, the frequency output of the SG is not constant. In
most configurations, this problem is resolved by a DC
link, i.e. a power electronic device comprising a rectifier in
series to an inverter, which transforms the electric power
output of the SG into a one of constant frequency.
In former decades when power electronics had not been
developed, several other solutions to the non-constant
electric frequency problem have been applied, such as:
• the variable rotation speed was stabilized by
rather complicated (and therefore expensive)
gearboxes,
• the main engine speed was kept constant while
the ship propeller being a variable pitch one (but
also having significant increased cost with respect
option to the ship,
• the non-constant frequency of the SG used to
supply an independent electric system comprising
loads non-sensitive to frequency variations, e.g.
AC motors driving thrusters.

0-7803-9259-0/05/$20.00 ©2005 IEEE. 156

 Main engine
SG
R DCL TH
ACL
AVR RC
Reactive power supply route
Effective power supply route
where
SG : Shaft generator RC : Rotary condenser
R : Rectifier AVR : Automatic voltage regulator
DCL : DC reactor ACL : AC reactor
TH : Inverter ACB : Air circuit breaker
Fig.1 Typical shaft generator scheme
Nevertheless, due to the presence of the DC link, the SG
can supply the ship electric system only with active power.
Therefore, the system reactive power demands are covered
by a reactive compensator (or synchronous condenser), i.e.
a synchronous machine working at almost zero (0) power
factor and producing only reactive power. In this way, the
associated synchronous condenser, which slightly
increases the installation and operation cost acts as voltage
regulator for the entire system keeping the voltage
downstream the SG unit almost constant. Hence, the
combination of the SG and the condenser, behaves as an
ordinary generator supplying the system with energy via
the circuit breaker ACB, see Fig. 1. Furthermore, in case
of short circuits, this condenser also acts as a source
supplying the short circuit with fault current and
permitting, thus, the fault tracing by the protection
scheme. Moreover, the condenser covers the reactive
losses due to harmonic distortion of both voltage and
current waveforms provoked by the power electronic
devices of the DC link. This harmonic distortion is a
significant problem, which can be partially resolved by
filters such as DCL reactor coil on the DC side and ACL
coil on the AC side of the inverter, see Fig. 1.
It is worth noting that an interesting option of these
systems is that they can also be constructed so that:
• The shaft generator could act as a regenerative brake,
braking on the one hand the main propulsion engine
(e.g. in case of a “crash-stop”) and provide a means of
bypassing the huge amount of the related energy to
electric consumers or battery systems.
• The shaft generator, in case of total main engine
failure can work as an emergency electric propulsion
motor getting safely the ship to port. This operation is
often called Power-Take-In (PTI) mode, in contrast to
the typical Power-Take-Off (PTO) operation of the
shaft generator system. In this PTI-mode, the
propeller is decoupled from the main engine and is
driven by the shaft gen-system, which, in this case, is
supplied by the main ship diesel gen-sets.
III. ADVANTAGEOUS PROPERTIES OF SHAFT
GENERATORS VS FULL ELECTRIC
PROPULSION
As already mentioned, shaft generator systems have been
ACB exploited for long (more than three decades in AC
systems), even in the non-power electronic devices era.
This exploitation, especially in the commercial ship
application has been due to certain reasons related to
appealing economic profits, some of which are enumerated
in the following:
• Electric Energy is produced based mainly on fuels,
less expensive than diesel, i.e. heavy fuel oil or
natural gas. In both cases, a shaft generator system
can be coupled to the main engine.
• The SG-system requirements for volume are fairly
small as they can easily be installed in the main
engine room.
• Fairly low investment cost referring to all three,
installation, operation and maintenance.
• High reliability and long life cycle due to reliable
electrical components of the SG system.
• The noise level of shaft generators is proven to be
fairly lower than those of conventional gen-sets [2,3].
On the other hand, especially in the past, some
disadvantages of SG systems have been noticed, most of
which, though, have been eventually overcome. More
specifically:
• The constant electric frequency has been resolved by
the power electronics of the DC link. Furthermore,
due to power electronics, the SG can fix the frequency
despite load changes acting as an infinite bus.
However, in most cases, the SG’s are adjusted so that
they have a quasi- frequency droop working, in a
similar manner to conventional generators. In this
way, parallel operation between SG’s and
conventional gensets can be easily accomplished, too.
• In former applications, the SG’s could not operate in
port. However, nowadays, the propeller can be easily
decoupled from the main engine allowing the
operation of SG’s.
• Operation of SG requires extra loading of the main
engine, which has to be taken into account at the
selection of propulsion system rating. In any case,
that the extra installation cost, is easily compensated
by the low maintenance and especially low electric
energy production cost in contrast to the one of the
diesel generator sets [3-5,8].
• The AC/DC/AC conversion at the DC link provokes
harmonic power quality problems to the entire electric
energy system, i.e. harmonic distortion to voltage and
current waveforms and increased associated reactive
losses. However, like in all power electronic
applications, this problem can be resolved by
introducing certain alternative harmonic quality
improving measures, i.e. installing harmonic filters,
157
 applying sophisticated switching techniques or using
less harmonic-polluting power electronic bridge
topologies.
On the other hand, the current trends in new buildings,
especially in the warship domain are towards the “All
Electric Ship”, the extensive electrification of all systems
onboard, starting from the main propulsion system.
However, despite the significant progress steps in naval
ships, neither “Integrated Full Electric Propulsion” nor
“All Electric Ship” schemes have been promoted in the
commercial ship sector, due to several reasons, such as:
• The investment interest is focused on absolute
economic solutions (short-term profit), while there are
know-how restrictions in shipyard industries
concerning modern electrified systems.
• There is a significant progress in the evolution of
propulsion diesel engines resulting in high
performance and efficiency as they work with non-
refined crude–oil with low pollution indices (NOx,
SOx etc). This is conjunction with the reluctance to
invest in new–technology based on electric energy
produced by diesel gen-sets of relevant high operation
cost.
From this point of view, shaft generator systems can be
considered an interesting alternative hybrid solution, as :
• They operate with non-expensive heavy fuel oil
providing huge amounts of energy. It is worth noting,
that the SG can, in general be designed to meet all
electric demands onboard.
• They save space from the electric power generation
plant room requirements. On the contrary, the main
engineering room dimensions are slightly increased
• They contribute to the electric system stability being
capable of providing:
¾ constant frequency due to power electronics DC
link
¾ constant voltage due to power electronics of the
synchronous condenser AVR
¾ two completely independent mechanisms
adjusting the production of active and reactive
power production (as they are produce by two
distinct machines)
IV. SHAFT VS WIND GENERATORS
The main features of shaft generator systems as described
above, i.e. the variable speed of its prime mover, make it
resemble to a significant extent the inland wind park
generator systems, as the one presented in Fig. 2.
Therefore, it is interesting to seek and highlight the
common points as well as differences of the two systems
as it is possible to exchange common experiences between
two at-first-sight independent research domains.
Definitely their common denominator is the non-expensive
electric energy produced due to exploitation of existing
mechanical energy already available.
158
DC f
drive n
ASG
unit
Fig.2 Typical Wind-Generator configuration
Furthermore, in either case the prime mover’s variable
speed is not reflected to the system electric frequency due
to the DC link intervention. However, an extra source of
reactive power is required in both cases. In wind-
generators, this reactive power demand is covered by
either the grid they are connected to, or by static capacitor
banks. In ships, shaft generator reactive power is
produced by the synchronous machine. The latter is also
used for supplying short-circuit faults and ascertaining the
line commutation of the power electronic inverter of the
DC link. In all cases, the power electronic converters of
the DC link are responsible for power harmonic distortion
problems.
Regarding a significant difference, the wind generator
electric power has a rather limited penetration of up to
30% to the interconnected network. On the contrary, shaft
generators are, in most cases, designed to cover the whole
power demands onboard (regardless the conventional
diesel gen-sets). Moreover, in ship cases, a shaft generator
can be designed to act as an infinite bus, but also as a huge
generator with some non-zero frequency droop. This
apparent frequency droop is set by the power electronic
converters by sensing the DC link current.
It is worth noting that in both cases, several variations of
the main configuration schemes considered for this
comparison exist. Hence, the shaft driven generator can
be either synchronous or inductive of more generic or
more specific design (e.g. permanent magnet, wound type
etc), while in wind-parks the asynchronous generators are
most often met. Furthermore, instead of AC/DC/AC
conversion in the DC link, a cyclo-converter can be used
depending on the power rating and the economical issues
of the production unit.
V. STUDY CASES
In this section, an analysis of certain representative (both
in steady- and transient-state) operating conditions is made
in attempt to explain in a more figurative manner the
operation of shaft generator systems. This analysis is
performed via simulations in the industry standard
simulation tool PSCAD/EMTDC environment. For all
case studies presented in the following, an actual shaft
generator system has been considered, see Table I. The
main configuration set-up is the one shown in Fig. 1, while
the corresponding schematic in PSCAD environment is
presented in Fig. 3.
 Exciter (SCRX)
RMS
1.0 Vref Vabc 3 Phase
Ef If

Ef If VT
A A
SynCond

B B
Te

C C
Tm
w Tm
0.0

S /H
A 0.0
in out 1 = Ctrl
D

hold
D D D
+

Vs1
B 0.01
+

S2M
F

Ctrl 1 3 6

FP1

FP3

FP5
2 2 2
DIST

Va

Vb
Vref0 Vref
Exciter_(AC1A) 4 6 2
VT D D D
3 Phase

FP4

FP6

FP2
Ef0 IT 3 RMS
2 2 2
Ef If
EF

IF

Ef0 Ef If VT 3
IT A A Isg A A
w HG
w1
1.0 Vsg 0.001
B B B B
Te
Vsgb 0.001
C C C C

0.1

0.1

0.1
Tm
0.001
w Tm Tm0
B

A
Power
Q

P
out in
ENAB

S/H
hold

Qsg Psg

0.1

0.1

0.1
0.1

0.1

0.1

Fig.3 Representation of shaft generator scheme in PSCAD environment

159
 TABLE I Another interesting issue at steady-state operation is the
SHAFT GENERATOR SYSTEM TECHNICAL DATA
investigation of harmonic distortion to both voltage and
Main Diesel Engine
Number of cycles: Two stroke current under typical loading conditions. In this case
Number of cylinders: 12 study, with a 6-pulse PWM (Pulse Width Modulated)
Gear box efficiency: 0.98 inverter based on VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator)
Rated frequency: 60 Hz technique, the voltage harmonic spectrum is depicted in
Engine rating: 10MW Fig.6. The total harmonic distortion (THD) of the line-to-
Shaft Generator Rotary Condenser
line voltage waveform is estimated at 27.7% of the
(synchronous) (synchronous) fundamental, with the 5th harmonic being the predominant
VSG= 0.480 kV VRC= 0.470 kV component. As expected, the so-called “triplens”, i.e. 3rd,
ISG= 1.443 kA IRC= 1.290 kA 9th etc are mutually eliminated in line-to-line voltages. The
fSG= 47.7 – 69.5 Hz fRC= 60 Hz
P= 16 (number of poles) P= 6 (number of poles)
corresponding current harmonic spectrum is shown in Fig.
7, while its THD is equal to approximately 53.5 % of the
fundamental. The predominant harmonic in the line
A Steady-State operation current spectrum is the 5th component followed by the 7th
one, while the “triplens” are forced to zero due to the
At steady state operation, i.e. few cycles after simulation unearthed wye-connections of all machine and loads.
starting, i.e. approximately after 2s, see Fig. 4, the shaft
generator system provides active power P via the generator
through the DC link and reactive power Q via the
synchronous condenser. Active power production besides
meeting the active power demands of the entire plant
covers all shaft system energy dissipation including power V - FFT (Shaft Generator)
electronics (inverter and rectifier), filters, cooling 120%
100%

Amplitude (%)
100%
equipment, excitation winding losses, control circuits and
80%
of course synchronous condenser active losses.
60%

40%
Shaft Generator Effective Power 20,45%
14,50%
Psg 20% 4,50%2,70%2,50%
9,10% 7,27%
0.70 1,36% 1,36% 1% 1,05% 0,72%
0%
0.60
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
0.50

0.40
0.30
(MW)

0.20
0.10 Fig.6 Line-to-line Voltage spectrum analysis(values in %
0.00
w.r.t fundamental component)
-0.10
t (sec) 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 .
.
.
I - FFT (Shaft Generator)
Fig.4 Active Power production (by shaft generator)
120%
100%
Similarly, the reactive power produced by the condenser 100%

covers at steady–state, i.e. after few cycles of operation,

Amplitude (%)

80%

namely 2s in Fig. 5, the reactive power demands of the 60%

load and any reactive losses including inverter (both 40% 32% 30%
fundamental and harmonic ones), cooling equipment, 22% 21%
20%
excitation winding losses, control circuits and of course 5% 6,50% 3,50% 5,20% 2,40% 5% 2,20% 3%

the condenser itself reactive losses. 0%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Shaft Generator Reactive Power

Qsg
0.300
0.250 Fig.7 Line Current spectrum analysis (values in % w.r.t
0.200
0.150
fundamental component)
0.100
(MVAr)

0.050
Finally, it is worth noting that due to the dc link in case of
0.000
-0.050 abrupt change of loading conditions or in case of
-0.100 fluctuations in main engine rotation speed, no change in
t (sec) 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 .
electric frequency occurs. From this point of view, the
.
. shaft generator system resembles an infinite bus often met
in continental grids.
Fig. 5 Reactive Power production (by condenser)

160
B. Short-Circuit case VI. CONCLUSIONS

As already mentioned, in short circuit conditions, the fault
current is supplied by the condenser acting a synchronous
generator under short-circuit. Thus, the current supplied to
the short circuit occurring at 2.5s, see Fig.8, is almost
equal to the current component fed by the condenser see
Fig. 9. On the contrary, the shaft generator along with the
dc link behaves like a current source with its current being
almost constant current, indifferent to if there is a fault or
not, see Fig. 10. Actually in Fig. 10, an increase of about
25% is noticed, which is considered fairly small for short-
circuit cases.
Ibra
Circuit Breaker Current
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
(kA)
This paper makes an in-depth discussion on the shaft
systems installed onboard highlighting their advantages
and disadvantages seeking if they can possibly be
considered a hybrid alternative to “Full Electric
Propulsion” concept. Furthermore, the discussion is
enriched by a comparison between the shaft-generator
systems and the wind-park generator systems, as they both
seem to have some common points and possibly it is worth
interchanging application experiences to one another. On
the other hand, the paper makes an investigation of the
conditions of the ship electric network operation at
different modes of operation of the shaft generator system.
Thus, via simulations in the PSCAD/EMTDC simulation
tool, some characteristic study cases in steady and
transient state are analysed.

-2.0
-4.0
-6.0 VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
-8.0
t (sec) .
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
. The authors wish to thank executives and engineers from
.
HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES CO. and MAN B&W
Fig.8 Fault current in short-circuit conditions for providing them with useful information on technical
issues of shaft generator systems installed onboard.
Synchronous Condenser Current

8.0
Icon VIII. REFERENCES
6.0
4.0 Periodicals:
2.0 [1] S. Nishikata, A. Odaka, Y. Koishikawa, T. Kataoka,
0.0 “Performance Analysis of Shaft Generator Systems”,
(kA)

-2.0 Electrical Engineering in Japan, Vol. 131, No. 3, pp. 70-

-4.0
79, 2000.
-6.0
[2] D.A. Cooper,”Exhaust emissions from ships at berth”,
-8.0
t (sec) 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 . Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 37, Issue27, September
.
. 2003.

Fig.9 Condenser current in short-circuit (almost equal to Technical Reports:

the fault current) [3] HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES CO., LTD, «Shaft
Generator System, Instruction Manual», FUJI ELECTRIC
CO., LTD, 1995.
Shaft Generator Current [4] MAN B&W, «Shaft Generators Power Take Off from
1.25
Isg the Main Engine», 2004.
1.00 [5] TAIYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD, «Instruction Manual
0.75
0.50
for Shaft Generator System», 1992.
0.25
0.00 Books:
(kA)

-0.25
[6] Manitoba HVDC Research Center,” PSCAD
-0.50
-0.75 v4.1User’s Manual”, July 2004.
-1.00 Papers from Conference Proceedings (Published):
-1.25
t (sec) .
[7] B. Clegg, H.R. Griffiths, D.J. Hall, P.N. Tavner, “The
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
.
.
Application of Drives and Generator Technology to a
modern Container Ship”, Proceedings of 9th International
Conference on Electric Machines and Drives, IEE, pp.
Fig.10 Shaft generator current in short-circuit (almost 312-316,1999.
equal to steady-state current)
Dissertations:
[8] I. Pavlou “Analysis of a Ship Electric Power Plant with
Shaft Generator” National Technical University of Athens,
Diploma Thesis (in greek), 2005.

161
IX. BIOGRAPHIES
Dr. J. Prousalidis (M’94) (Electrical
Engineer from NTUA/1991, PhD from
NTUA/1997). Currently, he is Assistant
Professor at the Naval Architecture and
Marine Engineering Department of
National Technical University of Athens,
dealing with electric energy systems and
electric propulsion schemes on shipboard
focusing on electric power quality
problems and analysis of transients.
Prof. Dr. Ing. I.K. Hatzilau (Electrical
& Mechanical Engineer from
NTUA/1965, Dr. Ing. from University of
Stuttgart/1969). After few years in the
industry, he joined the Academic Staff of
HNA where he has been for 28 years
(Dept. of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science). He is also
representative of HN in NATO
AC/141(NG/6)SG/4 dealing with electric
systems in warships.
162
Lt Panayiotis Michalopoulos HN (MSc
Electrical Engineering, MSc Computer
Science from the NPS Monterey CA /
2002) is a Lieutenant of the Hellenic
Navy currently serving as a Chief
Engineer aboard the HS PROMETHEUS.
I. Pavlou, (Naval Architect and Marine
Engineer from NTUA 2005) is a research
engineer dealing with marine electrical
engineering issues focusing on problems
with shaft generators.
Dr. D. Muthumuni, (PhD from
University of Manitoba) is a Simulation
Research Engineer with the Manitoba
HVDC Research Centre in Canada. His
research interests are in the areas of
electric machines and transformer
modeling for transient simulations and
modeling of wind power systems.