A Review of DC Shipboard MicrogridsPart I Power Architectures Energy Storage and Power Converters

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 37, NO.
5, MAY 2022 5155
A Review of DC Shipboard Microgrids—Part I:

Power Architectures, Energy Storage, and Power
Converters
Luona Xu , Student Member, IEEE, Josep M. Guerrero , Fellow, IEEE, Abderezak Lashab , Member, IEEE,
Baoze Wei , Member, IEEE, Najmeh Bazmohammadi , Member, IEEE, Juan C. Vasquez , Senior Member, IEEE,
and Abdullah Abusorrah , Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—Integrated power systems are popular in the ship- I. INTRODUCTION

building industry. DC shipboard microgrids (dc-SMGs) have many
HE MODERN maritime industry has developed for almost
advantages compared with ac ones in terms of system efficiency,
operation flexibility, component size, and fault protection per-
formance. Being in the exploring stage, dc-SMGs have several
T two decades. In this process, shipboard power systems
(SPSs) are evolving to overcome the challenges of optimal
potential configurations with different system architectures and use of energy sources and minimizing the environmental im-
voltage levels. In a dc-SMG, functional blocks integrated include
power generation modules (PGMs), propulsion system, high power
pacts, particularly concerning pollutants and greenhouse gas
loads, and pulsed loads specifically in naval ships. In modern ships, emissions [1]. Increasing vessel developments are aiming to
the PGMs include not only generators and fuel cells but also offer superior energy efficiency by means of deploying tech-
energy storage systems (ESSs), which cooperate with generators to nologies for improving propulsive efficiency, equipping hybrid
improve the overall efficiency and reliability. High power electric power generation systems with energy storage systems (ESSs)
converters are vital interfaces between the functional blocks and the
dc distribution system. Rectifiers for generators take the tasks of dc
to optimize performance, and adopting smart and lightweight
bus voltage regulation and power sharing. Inverters for propulsion materials to enhance switching performance and improve power
motors are responsible for the motor drive in different operating density [2]–[4]. In this context, the integrated power system
conditions. Bidirectional dc/dc converters for ESSs are used to (IPS) is presented, which provides power to all-electric loads
provide supply-demand balance and voltage fluctuation mitigation. via a number of power sources. By incorporating electrical
This article makes a comprehensive review of power architecture,
functional blocks including electrical machines and energy storage,
propulsion techniques, IPS could provide an efficient, flexible,
as well as power converters in dc shipboard power systems. and environment-friendly power supply. Furthermore, the devel-
opment of energy storage unit materials makes all-electric ships
Index Terms—DC shipboard microgrid, energy storage, power (AESs) possible, with huge advantages in operational efficiency
conversion, power generation, power system configuration.
and costs [5], [6]. In recent years, some companies, e.g., Rolls-
Royce marine and Kongsberg, proposed the idea of an unmanned
autonomous ship that permits reducing the risk of human error
on board, which has been the main cause of accidents at sea.
The unmanned ships require advances in not only autonomous
Manuscript received June 10, 2021; revised August 31, 2021; accepted ships, but also digitalization and communication technologies
October 31, 2021. Date of publication November 16, 2021; date of current
version January 19, 2022. This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific
such as cloud technology, blockchain technology, augmented
Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia under Grant RG-49- reality, and smart speakers. It is predicted that the future trend
135-40. The work of Luona Xu, Josep M. Guerrero, Abderezak Lashab, Baoze of the maritime industry might be more risk-informed and
Wei, Najmeh Bazmohammadi, and Josep M. Guerrero was supported by the
Villum Investigator under Grant 25920 from The Villum Fonden. Recommended
data-based, and these are the main challenges in building smart
for publication by Associate Editor J. Liu. (Corresponding author: Josep M. ships. Besides in commercial ship applications, IPS also gains
Guerrero.) popularity in naval vessels [7]. Except in the case of charging at
Luona Xu, Josep M. Guerrero, Abderezak Lashab, Baoze Wei, Na-
jmeh Bazmohammadi, and Juan C. Vasquez are with the Center of Re-
the dock, also named cold ironing, the SPS operates in islanded
search on Microgrids, AAU Energy, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Den- mode most of the time, and this is the reason why it is also
mark (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; defined as a shipboard microgrid (SMG).
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]).
Abdullah Abusorrah is with the Center of Research Excellence in Renewable
The electrification of SPS experiences the changes between
Energy and Power Systems, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineer- ac and dc systems. The SPSs in their infancy are dc distribution
ing, Faculty of Engineering, K. A. CARE Energy Research and Innovation networks without advanced power electronics. With the need
Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: aabu-
[email protected]).
for ac propulsion motors, the ac SPSs emerged and became
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at popular. In ac SPSs, both generators and propulsion motors
https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2021.3128417. are directly connected to the ac bus through breakers, and the
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2021.3128417
service loads are integrated through 50/60 Hz transformers [8].
0885-8993 © 2021 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
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5156 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 37, NO. 5, MAY 2022
Fig. 1. Overview of a typical dc-SMG.
Therefore, the voltage and frequency control of generators, the rectifiers, inverters, and dc/dc converters, as the interfaces
which supports the ac bus, is vital for the system operation. In between functional blocks and the dc network are controlled
recent decades, the development of power electronics concerns properly to ensure the system operate steadily. On the other
about fuels and the demands on compact SPSs drive the progress hand, regulations and standards on SPSs are immature. Even
of shipboard generation systems, and research focuses switch to though there are some recommendations and rules enacted by
the full electrification of dc ships. Compared with ac distribution, IEEE and International Maritime Organization [13], dc-SMG as
the dc SPS presents a dc bus, and the shipboard power compo- an emerging technology still requires a suitable standardization
nents connect through power converters as the interface to the dc when being deployed in the shipbuilding industry.
bus. This configuration allows the use of high-speed gas turbines In comparison, there are many differences between dc-SMGs
and high-speed generators, and makes it possible to regulate and general dc MGs. The load profile in dc-SMGs, of which an
the generator speed without frequency issues [9]. Therefore, the example is shown in Fig. 1, is more unpredictable than terrestrial
volume and size of SPS, as well as the fuel consumption of dc MGs due to the variable and harsh operation conditions; on
generators can be reduced [10]. Besides, the dc-SMGs simplify the contrary, the generated power in terrestrial dc MGs with
the generator connection without the need of synchronization of high penetration of renewable energy sources may fluctuate
phase angle and frequency. Another advantage of dc-SMGs is re- depending on the weather conditions. These differences lead
placing the bulky 50/60 Hz transformers by compact solid-state to different requirement on ESS in each application. Further-
transformers, which further improve the power density [11]. more, the specific structure of dc-SMGs brings the challenge in
Though with these benefits, the dc-SMGs have the challenge grounding system design.
in protection system design. Lacking of zero crossing of the This article aims at providing and making a summary of
current, dc breakers with the capability of disconnecting large current solutions on above challenges. The rest of this article is
current are more complex than ac breakers. organized as follows. Section II provides the review on dc-SMG
Assuring the quality of service (QoS) in SMGs is more configuration, including the bus architecture, voltage level, and
difficult than that in terrestrial microgrids (MGs) [12]. Being system configuration. Section III presents functional blocks in
islanded, a dc-SMG is endowed with limited power which dc-SMGs. In Section IV, the general information of power
is mainly generated by synchronous generators and fuel cells converters and their adoption into dc-SMG are studied. Finally,
(FCs) as the power generation modules (PGMs) to feed the Section V concludes this article.
entire system. In the load side, the electric propulsion system
accounts for around 80% of the total power demand with large
fluctuations, which is one of the main causes of SPS instability
issues. Besides, dedicated loads in ships such as thrusters and
radar may bring the voltage oscillation as well. Therefore, the II. POWER ARCHITECTURES OF DC-SMGS
dc-SMGs are weak and the magnitude of perturbations might be Power demand in a ship is usually up to megawatt (MW)-
high. To improve the QoS, modern ships are usually equipped class, which cannot be met by low-voltage SPSs. Furthermore,
with ESS as backup of PGMs to suppress the voltage oscillation. different types of ships have various power supply requirements
An overview of SPS is shown in Fig. 1. All the functional in terms of reliability, energy density, flexibility, etc. Therefore,
blocks in both generation side and load side are arranged in it is necessary to study the bus architecture and voltage levels,
radial, zonal, or ring architecture. Power converters, including as well as system configuration of SPSs.
XU et al.: REVIEW OF DC SHIPBOARD MICROGRIDS—PART I 5157
TABLE I
RECOMMENDED MVDC VOLTAGE CLASSES (KV)
A. Bus Architecture and Voltage Levels

For dc networks, there are two types of dc bus architectures:
unipolar and bipolar bus topology [14], [15]. In unipolar sys-
tems, all the elements are connected to a two-wire, i.e., positive
and negative, dc bus through converters. The unipolar system
is simple, but it cannot provide redundancy and is weak to
Fig. 2. IPS based on radial distribution.
defend even a single fault [14]. On the other hand, the bipolar
configuration has three wires, i.e., positive, negative, and neutral
ones. Compared with the unipolar system, the bipolar one has the
while two dc buses supply the onboard service loads for higher
advantages of higher power capacity, increased reliability, lower
reliability.
transmission losses due to lower current in the return wire, and
The radial scheme has the advantages of being simple
flexibility in the connections between loads and distributed gen-
and cost-efficient. Furthermore, since it has been used in the
eration [15]. However, since the bipolar architecture can provide
traditional mechanically driven ships and ac ships, it is easier
different voltage levels, unequal distribution of loads may result
and more practical to redesign the system from the traditional
in voltage unbalance, which requires a voltage balancer circuit
ones to modern dc alternatives [10]. For example, the cruise
to stabilize the dc bus voltage. Nevertheless, most of the existing
ship “Royal Princess” is designed as MVdc AES using a radial
dc-SMGs deploy bipolar architecture.
distribution network [10]. However, this solution becomes bulky
Up to now, there is no existing standard specifically for
when the number of loads increases and is not flexible when a
dc-SMGs determining the dc voltage levels. The system voltage
fault occurs in dc bus [17].
should be determined by the cost, desired generator and propul-
2) Zonal Distribution: Zonal distribution is another potential
sion motor drive voltage, converter design, load requirements,
configuration according to IEEE Std. 1709-2010 [16]. This
cable and bus-bar rating, and the fault energy [16]. Practically,
configuration has become the U.S. navy standard [18]. As shown
voltage levels of the distribution system vary depending on
in Fig. 3 [19], in zonal network, the shipboard loads are divided
the power level and the types of vessels. For example, a large
into n zones, each of which is fed by two connections from
liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker may utilize a 6.6–11 kV
the buses and managed independently. The zonal distribution is
medium-voltage distribution system, while an offshore supply
typically arranged in the port and starboard sides along with the
vessel may utilize a 480 or 690 V low-voltage system. Generally,
ship, and these two buses are connected at the stern and bow
low-voltage dc (LVdc) systems are lower than 1 kV, with power
[20]. This design enables redundant feedings for loads from two
system capacity in the range of 1–20 MW, while medium-voltage
longitudinal dc buses. Each load center has connections with
dc (MVdc) systems are higher than 1 kV, with 20–100 MW.
both the port and starboard buses, and when a fault occurs in one
Recommended MVdc voltage levels for SMG are shown in
side, vital loads within the zones will autonomously shift their
Table I, with ±10% dc bus voltage tolerance.
power sources to the healthy opposite bus [21]. In naval vessels,
specific high power loads like radars are set independently as
B. System Architecture
the only equipment in one zone [16]. Currently, few cases are
1) Radial Distribution: Radial distribution is a conventional using zonal architecture, while most study works are based on
architecture that is recommended by IEEE Std. 1709-2010 and notional models [19].
has been applied to SMGs. The system configuration is de- There are many benefits in zonal networks. The survivability
picted in Fig. 2. Generally, two dc buses distribute the power to can be greatly enhanced for marine loads by feeding power from
consumers. Power sources, including generators and ESSs, are both port and starboard side dc buses. Upon sensing loss of the
distributed symmetrically and feed each dc bus. The port and primary power source, the vital loads can switch to the alternative
starboard propellers are powered via two dc buses separately, one automatically or manually. The longitudinal bus architecture
TABLE II
COMPARISON OF RADIAL, ZONAL, AND RING DISTRIBUTION
loads. The ring architecture is more like a transition between the

radial and zonal ones, and is rarely used in SMGs.
A qualitative comparison on radial, zonal, and ring distribu-
tion architecture and the key performances are shown in Table II
from the aspects of typical bus schemes, key performances of
reliability, survivability, reconfigurability, and complexity. The
Fig. 3. IPS based on zonal distribution. radial scheme requires least breaker and its structure is the sim-
plest, while correspondingly, the reliability, survivability, and
reconfigurability are worst. Zonal scheme has the best perfor-
mance in these three performance items, while the price is high
system complexity and large numbers of breakers, especially for
big ships. Ring scheme has the medium level in these comparison
items. From these comparison, it can be concluded that radial
scheme is can be used for small ships with few components, such
as short-distance ferries, and the cases in which requirement on
system reliability is not very high. While for large ships with
high requirement on system reliability and survivability, such
as vessels, cruises, and cargoes, zonal and ring schemes may
preferable for better personal and good safety. Up to now, the
radial scheme is mostly used in practical cases, since current
electric ships are refitted from old ships, keeping the radial
scheme still popular.
III. FUNCTIONAL BLOCKS IN SHIPS

Fig. 4. IPS based on ring distribution. From the perspective of functionality, as mentioned in Sec-
tion II, power devices in dc ships generally include PGMs, ESSs,
propulsion systems, and loads. Detailed information about these
blocks is described in the following.
allows isolating faults with the minimum affected areas using
coordinated protection systems via a communication network.
Besides, partitioning of the loads from bow to stern along the A. Power Generation Modules
ship reduces the cable needed, and thus lowers the cost and Power generation components in ships are required to be
impact from the cables. Further information for designing the efficient and environment-friendly. Presently, the main sources
zonal distribution system is accessible in IEEE Std. 1826-2012. in ships are diesel generators, while deploying FCs for marine
3) Ring Distribution: In few cases, ring distribution is also applications is under development. Besides with the introduction
used. A typical ring-bus-based dc power architecture is depicted of energy storage techniques, AESs with increasing capacity are
in Fig. 4 [8]. In ring distribution, the bus-tie switches connecting just around the corner.
dc buses keep closed in normal operation, making the dc bus a 1) Generators: Generally, the marine generation module in
loop. Similar to the zonal architecture, the ring configuration dc power system consists of prime movers, generators, and
has higher survivability and reconfigurability than radial ones. rectifiers. Usually, the prime mover, known as a combustion
When a single fault occurs in dc bus, ring distribution enables engine, is fueled with diesel or heavy fuel oil [22]. While in
the fault isolated by disconnecting the nearest circuit breakers military ships and some auxiliary generator sets in commercial
and keeps the rest parts working as normal. However, different vessels, the prime movers can be gas turbines for their reliability,
from zonal distribution, each load center in ring distribution has efficiency, high energy density, and wide speed range [23].
only one link to the bus, which is susceptible to faults in vital Some industrial products of diesel engines and gas turbines
TABLE III 2) Fuel Cells: Functionally, FCs work as power sources

EXISTING CASES OF MARINE GENERATOR
without greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of burning fuels,
FCs have various techniques including alkaline fuel cell (AFC),
proton exchange membrane FC (PEMFC), direct methanol FC,
and solid oxide FC (SOFC) to transfer chemical energy to
electric energy [25]. The dc output of FCs is converted to the
required voltage through dc/dc converters to fit the dc-SMGs.
In high-power applications, SOFC is appealing due to its high-
power density and high efficiency up to 85% [26]. The fuel in FC
can be methanol, diesel, hydrogen, LNG, and so on. Different
technologies might have specific requirements. For instance,
AFC requires hydrogen with high purity, while SOFC can use
various fuels including methanol, diesel, hydrogen, and LNG.
FCs have the advantage of a long lifetime, which is attractive
in marine applications. For instance, a Siemens–Westinghouse
CHP-100 SOFC achieved a lifetime of 30 000 h and up to 70
000 h in lab test [25]. However, the slow dynamic response
is the main barrier of using FCs in SMGs due to their slow
internal electrochemical and thermodynamic responses [27].
Therefore, hybrid ESS (HESS) combining FCs and other energy
storage units is a good option to achieve fast-response operation.
The main requirement for this hybrid system is efficient and
intelligent power management between the two systems. To
implement FCs in SMGs, studies on efficiency, load change
behavior, and fuel flexibility are needed.
Up to now, there are more than 20 FC projects in the mar-
itime sector, with capacity ranging from tens to more than
320 kW. For example, the FC project “SchiBZ” in 2016, the
Oel-Waerme-Institut gGmbH, and four other institutions enabled
the transformation of diesel fuel and water to a fuel gas with
Fig. 5. Simplified generation module in (a) MVac distribution with gearbox high hydrogen content, integrating into FC systems to generate
interfacing prime mover and (b) MVdc distribution. electricity [28]. The world’s first liquid hydrogen FC (3.2 MW)
cruise ship is scheduled by 2023 for Norway’s fjords [29]. ABB
presents FC solutions that based on hydrogen PEMFC for marine
from Wärtsilä, MAN, GE, and Rolls Royce are presented in use, and the system can be fully hydrogen-electric or integrated
[24]. Of particular interest to the U.S. Navy is developing a as part of a hybrid SPS [30].
fuel-efficient, power-dense marine gas turbine rating of about
10 MW [20]. With the shipboard electrical power demand tend
to continuously increase from tens of MW and in some cases B. Energy Storage System
even greater than 100 MW are expected to be developed in the In order to facilitate a more economical and reliable operation
future [21]. in marine vessels, energy storage techniques are necessary and
The optimal machine type mainly depends on the power and have been widely applied in ships. The ESS can bring five
speed requirements of the marine application. Generally, two benefits: spinning reserve, peak shaving, network resilience and
types of generators can be employed in the marine applications, stability, shaft generator load transfer, and harbor operation.
namely the wound-rotor synchronous machine (WRSM) and Due to the large inertia of the generation system, fast dynam-
the permanent-magnet synchronous machine (PMSM). The ex- ics cannot be regulated by the prime mover of genset, while
isting cases of marine generators are represented in Table III. ESS can quickly meet the load demands and to flatten the
Compared with that in ac systems, the integration of gensets vessel’s total load profile by coordinating with genset via an
in dc systems do not require gearboxes and low-frequency energy management algorithm [31], [32]. In case the generation
transformers anymore, and the alternator is directly driven by system fails, or during the short period of fault isolation of
the prime mover being able to operate at variable speed. The the uninterruptible parts, ESS can supply as a backup power
comparison structure is shown in Fig. 5. source. Moreover, for naval ships, voltage instability caused by
The output of generators is converted by rectifiers from ac to pulsed loads with a considerable high-power ramp rate can be
dc to fit in the SMGs. The converter power rating matches with suppressed by high-power density ESS.
the genset. In high power applications, the scalable modular ESSs in SMG can be based on a host of technologies including
converters are popular. The rectifier types suitable for maritime battery, ultra-capacitor (UC), flywheel, and superconductors.
applications will be clarified in Section IV. The choice of ESS technology depends on the requirements
Fig. 7. Structure of the flywheel ESS.
is relatively low, while batteries have benefits in energy density.

Consequently, HESS combining UCs and batteries not only can
meet the long-term load demand but also reduce peak power
stresses on the battery packs, and it is particularly suitable to
satisfy peak power demand in military ships for pulsed loads
Fig. 6. Simplified configurations of (a) centralized and (b) distributed BESS. and transient load variations.
To manage the hybrid UC and BESS in MVdc SMG, different
control strategies are studied. In [43], a PI controller based
on power range, power density, charge/discharge time, cost, energy storage management system is designed to generate
etc. The batteries and UCs are integrated into the dc-SMGs instantaneous storage reference according to the bus voltage and
with the interface of dc/dc converters, while the flywheels and load demand, and power references of batteries and UCs sepa-
superconductors are connected through ac/dc converters. Note rated by a low-pass filter are sent to dc/dc converter controller
that, the broad operation range of marine applications has a big to regulate the power exchange. Another fuzzy logic controller
impact on the performance of ESS, and the optimum location of presented in [44]–[46] regulates the instantaneous power flow
the ESS within the ship plays an important role in its stability to improve the system efficiency.
[33]. To improve the ESS performance, strategies for sizing and 3) Flywheel Energy Storage System: Since ships operate in
siting of ESS is studied as well [34], [35]. various operating conditions and the network power quality
1) Battery Energy Storage System: Due to the scalability in changes frequently in a wide range, fast response high-power
batteries, the battery ESS (BESS) is popular in SMG for high- ESS is required. Flywheel ESS (FESS) can not only meet this
power and long-term demands. Normally, lithium-ion (Li-ion) requirement but also has the advantages of high energy effi-
battery is a good option due to its high energy density, low self- ciency, low maintenance, long lifetime, and being environment
discharge rate, and long lifetime. friendly without chemical hazards. FESS combined with UCs
A BESS can be integrated into the dc-SMG distribution can provide power for military ships requiring power in less than
through a bidirectional converter. Conventionally, batteries are 10 µs [47]. However, it cannot be ignored that FESS has the
integrated by arranging multiple battery cells in series and drawback of high self-discharge rates [48]. The most common
parallel to build a storage unit in a matrix. A centralized battery applications of FESS are for uninterruptible power supplies and
management system is used to monitor battery cell parameters power quality improvement [47]. Currently, FESS is becoming
such as state of charge (SoC), temperature, and voltage, and widely applied in various applications including the marine
manage the power flow. However, this centralized configuration industry [49]. Typically, FESS is a kind of electric supply device
has problems in voltage sharing, over charge/discharge, and that stores energy in the form of kinetic energy in a rotating
efficiency issues. To solve the problems in centralized BESS, the flywheel connected to the shaft of an electric machine. The FESS
concept of distributed BESS is proposed in recent years, in which structure is depicted in Fig. 7, containing rotor (flywheel), shaft,
each battery cell has one converter module to switch ON/OFF and motor/generator, and power electronic interface. The amount of
regulate the output power. The simplified configurations of the stored energy depends on the form, mass, and rotation speed of
centralized and the distributed BESS are depicted in Fig. 6 [36]. the flywheel [50]. In charging mode, the flywheel speeds up and
The research topics in BESS include SoC balance among store the kinetic energy in the high-speed rotational disk; while
battery cells [37], coordination with other types of power sources in discharging mode, the stored kinetic energy will be released
[38], reliability and efficiency analysis [39], fault management by slowing down the rotating flywheel.
[40], etc. Accurate SoC estimation is a challenge for system In dc marine power system, FESS can be used for voltage
coordination, and different SoC estimation methods are sum- sag correction, power smoothing, power leveling, and voltage
marized in [41]. restoring [50]. A series voltage injection type of flywheel is
2) Ultra-Capacitor Energy Storage System: UCs fill the gap presented in [51] to correct voltage sags caused by faults and
between batteries and conventional capacitors; therefore, they pulsed loads in naval ships. Kulkarni and Santoso [52] compare
can be used as energy storage devices in ships. Due to its low the operation performance with and without FESS in an electric
internal resistance, UC has a small time constant, enabling it ship power system with pulsed loads, and the results highlight
to deliver a high charge/discharge ramp rate and resulting in the importance of FESS in maintaining system stability in the
high-power density [42]. However, the energy density in the UC event of pulsed loads.
TABLE IV
COMPARISON OF SHIPBOARD ESS [118], [119], [120], [121]
Fig. 8. Superconducting magnetic ESS.
4) Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage System: Su-

perconducting magnetic ESS (SMESS) is an attractive technol-
ogy that stores energy within the magnetic field generated by the
dc current flowing through a coil comprised of superconducting Fig. 9. Block diagram of dc-SMG with battery/UC HESS.
wire with near-zero loss of energy [53]. Similar to UC ESS
and FESS, SMESS also has the capability of frequent and
is quite new in maritime application and there are few notional
rapid charging and discharging (within milliseconds) with high
study cases.
efficiency over 95% and it is potentially suitable for the military
HESS is usually adopted to fulfill various needs in ships. The
marine system. A typical SMESS consists of a cryogenically
most commonly used HESS is the combination of batteries and
cooled superconducting coil and power conditioning system, as
UCs, which has been clarified before, providing both high energy
depicted in Fig. 8. Due to the cooling system required, the initial
density from batteries and high-power density from UCs. In [56],
cost of SMESS is relatively high, and a large amount of power
a hybrid battery/UC ESS, as shown in Fig. 9, for the propulsion
is needed to keep the coil at cryogenic temperature. Besides,
system and pulsed loads in MVdc SMG is studied, in which the
mechanical instability is another problem in SMESS [53].
batteries and UCs can support generators with high power (15
There is still a long way to go before implementing SMESS
MW) for 60 s, or individual batteries can support the propulsion
in ships before this technology becomes mature, and some
system in low speed for more than 3 h as the backup of the
research projects under development become completed. In [54],
generators. A comparative study on the optimal combination of
an HESS consisting of SMESS and Li-ion batteries in AES is
battery, UC, and flywheel is determined with the objective of
studied. SMESS is used to ensure system stability during the
minimizing the voltage and frequency fluctuations caused by
transient periods, while Li-ion batteries are implemented to deal
pulsed loads [57]. The comparison results show that the battery
with long-term energy deficiency.
and flywheel combination can achieve better performance over
5) Hybrid Energy Storage System: By analyzing features of
other combinations, while the combination of flywheel and UC
various energy storage unit types, it is obvious that there is no
will cause frequency oscillation.
perfect option being able to meet all the requirements in marine
applications. Different types of energy storage units have various
response characteristics and are suitable for compensating dif- C. Electric Propulsion System
ferent power fluctuation range [55]. A comparison of the above Electric propulsion system in ships, emerged as an efficient
four energy storage techniques applied in SPSs is presented propulsion arrangement, is a fast-growing research area driven
in Table IV. Quantitative comparison of ESSs among existing by the rapid growth in power electronics and advanced machine
commercial and notional ship cases shows that the BESS has manufacturing [58]. Having an electric motor that drives the ship
relative high energy rating, while the maximum power is smaller propeller directly, the mechanical structure can be simplified by
and response time is longer than the other techniques. On the eliminating the gearbox. Variable speed electric drive motors
contrary, the UC, FESS, and SMESS have the capability of have proven to be superior to the mechanical alternatives, espe-
providing high power in a very short time, and the efficiency cially in ice and dynamic positioning operation, which requires
are higher than BESS, but the energy rating is lower. Among high power capacity and fast and accurate torque response.
these ESS techniques, BESSs have already been widely used in Moreover, electric propulsion can achieve higher efficiency,
commercial ships, UCs and FESSs in a few cases, while SMESS lower noise, and vibration compared to the conventional engine
system. Typically, 80% of the loads in ship installations will be the stator can be higher than the WFSM for the same tempera-
electrical motors including thrusters, pumps, and other onboard ture, which increases the shear stress, making the motor more
loads [22]. compact. However, since PMSM is always excited, there is a
The propulsion motor and associated drive control system are potential safety issue if the motor cannot be disconnected from
two core parts in the propulsion system. This section focuses on either the propeller or the fault when a drive system fault occurs
the practical propulsion motors used in ships, while the inverters [63].
will be explained in Section IV. The characteristics of various Some kW-class drives using PMSM are studied in the liter-
propulsion motors and their application in both commercial and ature. Two 12 kW PMSMs in a propulsion system of an AES
demonstrative ships are presented. powered by Li-ion batteries were presented in [64]. PMSM in
1) DC Motor (Commutator Motors): The dc motors were higher power marine applications is in progress. In addition,
used in hydrodynamic survey vessels in the past. The main PMSM has been implemented in podded propulsion applications
advantage of dc motor is being capable of providing flexible and where the dimensions should be as small as possible, benefiting
efficient propulsion for ships. The flexibility of accurate torque from its high efficiency, high torque density, and compact design.
control with low ripple leads dc motor to be used in icebreakers, Siemens offers a solution in the power range from 5–23 MW
since it is necessary to have rapid control for effective operation. electric pod system SISHIP SiPOD-M/-T with high overall
Besides, the dc motor speed can be controlled relatively easy. efficiency and compact design.
However, the commutators of the dc motor wear down over the 5) Others: A range of other motor types are used in exper-
time and need maintenance. Even though brushless dc motors imental applications. A low-speed 3.6 MW high temperatures
exist, the size and weight are increased, and few are used in superconducting (HTS) SM was operated in a U.S. navy ship
marine applications [59], [60]. What is worse, the power range [65]. Siemens also aims at developing low-speed, high-torque
of dc motor is around 5 MW, which limits the use of dc motors HTS motors. The HTS motors operate at the temperature of 20–
in modern large ship propulsion. Therefore, more interest in 77 K, therefore requiring a high cost. Besides, superconducting
propulsion motors is on ac machine design. homopolar dc motor (SHDCM) which has HTS armature and
2) Induction (Asynchronous) Motors: The induction motor field coils is used for a purpose of ship propulsion. Compared
(IM) is the workhorse of the marine industry. Compared with with HTSSM, SHDCM can reduce superconductor by using
dc motor, the IM eliminates the commutators nor slip rings, magnetic materials in rotor. Therefore, the cost of SHDCM can
reducing the maintenance cost. Besides, the IM is superior in be reduced, and the mechanical robustness is enhanced than
robustness and long lifetime thanks to its simple construction. HTSSM [66]. A summary and comparison of motor types for
However, a large starting current is required if implementing ship propulsion is presented in Table V. It can be concluded that
the IM as the propulsion motor of a ship. To overcome this, a the WFSM and PMSM have good quality for ship propulsion
cycloconverter can be used, and provides a good speed control with high-power range and high efficiency, while the IM has
in the meantime. better reliability and lower cost. Superconducting technique for
In high-power marine applications, the multiphase IM propulsion motor is applied in HTSSM and SHDCM, which
emerges as well. A six-phase IM is studied in [61] and [62] can improve the efficiency and power density significantly than
to achieve higher torque and efficiency. The IM is usually conventional motor types. However, due to the need on relative
controlled as a variable speed motor fed from a constant speed low temperature of coils and armatures, the controllability and
motor. The IM for medium-speed geared propulsion/thruster reliability of HTSSM and SHDCM are weakened, and the cost
applications can achieve up to 10 MW, while for higher power is much higher than the conventional ones. These are the main
applications, synchronous motors (SMs) are preferred. obstacles need to overcome for wider implementation of HTS
3) Wound Field Synchronous Motors: The design of a SM techniques in ship propulsion motors.
is similar to that of a synchronous generator. Generally, wound In the future, there might be more new concepts for variable
field synchronous motors (WFSMs) are often a bit more efficient speed drives with high efficiency, or special design for certain
than IMs [63]. Since WFSM needs a dc power supply, which applications.
requires slip rings and brushes, the maintenance is a challenge. Podded propulsion is another type of propulsion system, in
Indeed, this issue exists in dc motor as well. The benefit of the which the electric motor is directly connected to the propeller
WFSM is that the cost of the drive motor can be reduced by shaft integrated with the thrust bearing and propeller bearing. It
using load commutated inverters via regulating the voltage and is originally designed for the icebreaking purpose, and currently
power factor [63]. Furthermore, there is no power limitation in has dominated icebreaker and cruise vessel. In the industrial
WFSM, even an output of 100 MW is possible. But practically, community, companies include ABB, Rolls Royce-Converteam,
the ship propulsion WFSMs are generally not that high, e.g., Siemens-Schottel, and SAM Electronics-Wartsila Propulsion
the Rolls-Royce’s podded propulsor developed by Kamewa and are working on podded propulsion and have their specific prod-
Alstom are available from 5 to 25 MW, the Azipod propulsion ucts.
units from ABB are up to 17 MW.
4) Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors: PMSM is suit-
able for advanced shipboard applications. Since permanent mag- D. Dedicated High-Power Loads and Pulsed Loads
nets provide flux, there is no dissipation in the rotor, resulting Besides propellers, there are some dedicated high-power loads
in a higher power density and higher efficiency in PMSM than in ships, such as the bow and stern thrusters, compressors for air
the WFSM and IM. Furthermore, the allowed flux dissipation in conditioning, heating and ventilation, etc. These loads, typically
TABLE V
COMPARISON OF SHIP PROPULSION MOTORS [122], [123], [124]
TABLE VI
COMPARISON OF RECTIFIERS AND INVERTERS
∗
represents only for rectifiers; ∗∗ represents only for inverters; otherwise, the topologies are suitable for both rectifiers and inverters.
requiring several MW of operating power, are supplied directly density constraints in maritime application is less limited than
from the dc distribution bus via dc/dc converters. While the that in aircraft power systems but higher than terrestrial dc MGs.
remaining consumers including hotel loads, communications, Besides, reliability in ships and aircrafts has super high priority.
auxiliaries, electronics, etc. are supplied by low-voltage switch- Except these differences, power converters in both maritime and
boards. other applications have requirements of high efficiency and low
Compared with commercial vessels, some special devices are cost. As high power and high voltage is the developing trend of
deployed in navy ships. The U.S. Navy is moving to electrome- future dc-SMGs, this article focuses on the power converters in
chanical devices and AESs. The electromechanical devices, this category. The summary and comparison of these converters
which require high-power pulse power, include electromagnetic are presented in Tables VI and VII. There are more power
aircraft launch system and all the electric weapons such as converters, e.g., Vienna rectifier, and hybrid modular multilevel
electromagnetic railguns, high-energy lasers, and radars. To converter (MMC), which are not discussed in this article due to
drive these devices, the stored energy should range from tens their limited availability in maritime application.
of kilojoules to several gigajoules and should be capable of
providing instantaneous power exceeding 20 gigawatts [67]. A. Rectifiers
Due to the integration of pulsed loads, coordinated control and
system stability are two crucial issues to study [68]. To meet the In dc-SMGs, all generators will be available for providing
power supply requirement of pulsed loads, coordination of large energy through rectifiers, which convert ac to dc, and take
pulsed loads and sufficient power supply with a rapid response is the responsibility of stabilizing the dc bus voltage. Therefore,
of vital importance. In addition, voltage dip at point of common rectifiers directly affect the quality of dc supply. Essentially,
coupling caused by pulsed loads should be compensated to unidirectional ac/dc conversion can realize the function since
ensure power quality and system stability. generators are only supposed to supply power to the system.
Various rectifier topologies for marine applications are avail-
able in present, which can be categorized into two-level and
IV. POWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTERS FOR DC-SMG multilevel rectifiers according to the output voltage level.
Power electronic converters are of great importance in in- 1) Two-Level Rectifier: Classical two-level voltage source
terfacing functional blocks to dc-SMGs. In this section, power converters (VSCs) are commercially available in medium-
converters in dc-SMGs including rectifiers for generators, in- voltage applications. The converter topology together with
verters for propulsion motors, and dc/dc converters for ESS three-phase generator is shown in Fig. 10, in which the switches
and dc loads are reviewed. The power converters are employed can be diode (uncontrolled), thyristor (half-controlled), and
depending on the application in hand and aimed functional- IGBT (fully-controlled), as shown in Fig. 10(a)–(c), respec-
ity. Compared to power converters in electric vehicles, aircraft tively.
power systems, and general terrestrial dc MGs, the converters a) Diode rectifier: Diode rectifiers are the most popular
in dc-SMGs require much higher voltage rating, and the power type of ac/dc conversion in SMGs, thanks to its simple, reliable,
windings, four series-connected six-pulse diode rectifiers and

choppers fed by each set of windings.
Furthermore, to enhance the output voltage control and fault
current limit capability, an ac/dc converter composed of a dc/dc
converter cascaded to a diode rectifier is a potential solution. In
[74], a 12-phase wound-field synchronous generator along with
control rectifiers (diode rectifiers with choppers) is presented for
Fig. 10. Two-level rectifiers. marine generation systems.
b) Thyristor rectifier: The thyristor rectifiers are used in
LVdc marine networks, and the research is in the process of the
extension to utilization in MVdc systems. Besides the advan-
tages in diode rectifiers, thyristor rectifiers have output voltage
control in a narrow range and fault current control capabilities,
which are suitable in breaker-less shipboard architecture [75].
However, the control circuit makes the converter construction
more complicated than diode rectifier.
To meet the high-power and high-voltage requirements,
Fig. 11. Multiphase generator with multiple six-pulse diode rectifier units: (a) thyristor rectifier is widely studied. A 12-pulse thyristor rectifier,
parallel connection of rectifiers and (b) series connection of rectifiers. in which a phase-shift transformer is used to produce two sets
of three-phase windings, is studied in [76]. In the applications
where generators are three-phase, low-frequency (60 Hz) trans-
and cost-efficient. However, the dc-side voltage or the ac-side formers are required to get several sets of windings so that the
current cannot be actively regulated by rectifiers, in which case multipulse thyristors rectifiers can be implemented. In [77], a 50
the voltage regulation of PGM is achieved by regulating the MW shipboard system adopts a 3 to 12 phase transformer and
excitation system of generators. Besides, diode rectifier may a 24-pulse thyristor controlled rectifier to convert source energy
inject current harmonics into the system, and additional filters from ac to dc distribution. In this case, the size and weight of the
are necessary to improve the power factor. low-frequency transformer are obstacles if applied in practical
Multiphase multipulse rectifier (e.g., 12-pulse, 18-pulse, and ships. Furthermore, an extra device of reactive power generator
24-pulse) depending on the voltage and power requirements of is required when the thyristor rectifier is supplied by a PMSM
the system are preferred as an interface of the three-phase ac or an induction generator [78]. If so, the diode rectifier can also
generators, by parallel or series connecting multiple six-pulse satisfy the voltage conversion needs, which makes it unnecessary
diode rectifier units, as shown in Fig. 11(a) and (b), respec- to implement the thyristor rectifier.
tively [24], [69]. The benefits of this multipulse rectifier are: c) IGBT rectifier: The semiconductor switches in IGBT
1) reducing the voltage or current stress on switching devices, rectifiers are IGBTs with freewheeling diodes. With controllable
allowing the utilization of present semiconductor technologies switches, IGBT rectifier is able to generate a controllable dc
efficiently while reducing the input current harmonics; 2) achiev- voltage, which is preferable in stabilizing the dc bus voltage in
ing medium voltage in a scalable way, which adds flexibility in SMGs. Besides, improved dynamic performance, extended op-
determining voltage class of generators; and 3) providing better erating range, and ride-through capability can be achieved. How-
fault tolerance by bypassing the faulty unit or faulty winding and ever, the adoption of active semiconductor devices increases
operating in a derate mode. However, the fault performance in the cost and control complexity. Furthermore, the bidirectional
an uncontrolled diode rectifier is limited. For a series multipulse power flow regulation capability brought by IGBT rectifier is
diode rectifier, when a short circuit happens in one six-pulse not desired in SMG generation set application. Thus, the active
diode rectifier unit, the other unfaulty ones cannot output power rectifier is just implemented in study cases and not widely used
as well due to the demagnetizing action of the short-circuit yet for the generator in practical marine applications at present.
current [70]. 2) Multilevel Rectifier: In order to match the high-power
There are some practical cases of marine generation system ratings, the design of power converters in SMGs is oriented
using diode rectifiers. A marine generation system in MVdc AES toward modular topologies. MMC is a promising topology in
consisting of a 21 MW synchronous generator, a three-phase high-voltage dc transmission systems, and is receiving increas-
passive diode rectifier with an output low-pass filter is presented ing attention in medium-voltage applications as well. Some
in [71]. A demonstrative program commissioned by the Italian experimental platforms of MVdc SMGs based on MMC are
Navy, named Naval Package (NP), developed a shipboard 2.15 built and tested [79], [80]. The topology of MMC rectifier is
MVA generation system in 2006, in which a dual-star alternator shown in Fig. 12. Each arm consists of cascaded submodules
with two stator three-phase windings feeding two series six- (SMs), which can be half-bridge or full-bridge. With N SMs
pulse diode rectifiers [72]. To improve the voltage controllability in each arm, the output voltage could reach 2N−1 levels. With
and fault performance, an advanced NP2 based on previous NP the modular structure, MMC has the advantages of voltage and
version is developed in [73], consisting of a permanent magnetic current scalability, high efficiency, redundancy in case of module
quadruple-star alternator with four sets of three-phase stator failure, and reduced voltage rating of single switching devices. In
Fig. 12. MMC.
addition, compared with the aforementioned rectifier topologies,

normally no output filter is needed in MMCs, which helps limit Fig. 13. Classification of inverters for propulsion motors in dc-SMGs.
short-circuit current and shorten the recovery time. However, the
modular design also leads to bulky size and weight, which is not
preferable in SMGs. A 5 MW 6–24 kV MVdc power hardware-
in-the-loop platform is built in Florida State University, which
contains four MMCs composed of 36 full-bridge SMs [81], and
further studies on fault management are taken based on this setup
[79].
3) Comparison and Analysis: Analysis on the comparison is Fig. 14. Simplified equivalent circuit of three-phase WFSM connected to LCI.
taken from the aspects of power density, converter reliability,
and efficiency. In terms of power density, two-level topologies
are more compact due to fewer semiconductor switches and dc on high power drives in marine applications, which can be
capacitors than MMC rectifier, as shown in Table VI. In terms evaluated by the key aspects mentioned in [85], including output
of reliability, the passive diode rectifier is simple in structure voltage level, fault tolerance, and efficiency.
and does not need controller, making it highly robust. On the Medium-voltage ac drives are available in a variety of arrange-
contrary, numerous switching devices and capacitors and high ments, depending on the motor types. Generally, 1) dc motors
control complexity of MMC weaken its reliability, although it require dc converters or silicon-controlled rectifiers, 2) asyn-
can achieve partial fault ride-through capability with redundant chronous motors require voltage source inverters (VSIs), 3) SMs
SMs [82]. In terms of efficiency, two-level rectifiers gener- require VSIs, current source inverters (CSIs), cycloconverters,
ally have higher operating efficiency than MMC, due to less and 4) PMSM’s require VSIs [83], [86].
switching and conduction losses. Diode rectifier has the highest Typical topologies of inverters for electric propulsion in dc-
efficiency since it has no switching losses and power losses in SMGs are shown in Fig. 13. Presently, neutral point clamped
gate driver circuit. (NPC) inverters and MMC are popular in commercial propul-
To sum up, for large ships that have high requirement of sion drive. Even though there are two-level VSIs for industrial
power capacity and have sufficient space to accommodate a high power drives, most of them are used in high-power trac-
ring or zonal power system, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, to tion applications. Furthermore, two-level VSIs cannot provide
improve its system reliability, MMC is preferred due to its high redundancy under faulty conditions. Thus, multilevel inverter
output performances. For small ships with limited space, where topologies are mainly focused here.
radial power system is usually used, diode rectifier and thyristor 1) Two-Level Inverter: Two-level inverters mainly include
rectifier are preferred to achieve better reliability and economy. two types: two-level VSI and CSI. Since the topology and
operating principles of are very similar to two-level voltage
source rectifiers mentioned in Section IV-A, this topology will
B. Inverters not be repeated here.
Inverters are a vital interface for propulsion motors, which The load-commutated inverter (LCI), as one typical topology
consume nearly 80% of the total energy in ships. Electric of CSIs, is widespread in the speed controller of SMs for large
propulsion system requires variable frequency drives in multi- ship propulsion [87], [88]. The configuration of LCI-fed drive
MW range, which features high overall efficiency, fast system system is shown in Fig. 14. The switching devices of LCI are
response, precise speed and torque control, wide speed control low cost thyristors compared with transistors. For high-power
range, soft staring, speed reversal, and regenerative braking [83]. propulsion drives, dual three-phase LCI-fed SM is suitable with
Significant challenges in designing medium-voltage drive in dc the benefit of low dominant torque harmonic components [87].
systems are in the motor-side, e.g., dv/dt, common mode voltage, To meet power quality requirements, 24- or 48-pulse configura-
harmonics, resonance, and semiconductor devices, e.g., switch- tion can be employed as well. The architecture for LCI drives
ing losses and reliability [84]. To meet the marine propulsion re- depends on the number of LCIs, dc-link connection, and the
quirements and overcome those challenges, normally multilevel number of SM phases [89]. It should be noted that LCIs for
inverters are employed. This section reviews the state-of-the-art marine propulsion in the literature are generally used in ac
Fig. 15. Three-phase three-level NPC inverter.
Fig. 16. Scheme of MMC drive.

systems, and when adopting this converter in dc systems, a
proper adjustment in converter connection should be considered.
LCI-based medium-voltage marine electric propulsion is voltage ratings, allowing a filter-less connection to the grid with
available in the industry [90]. Siemens has the product of low harmonics, fault current limitation capability, fast recovery
SINAMICS GL150 with the power range 6–85 MVA [91], and after ac or dc short-circuit faults.
it has the advantages of control redundancy and being almost Though MMC inverters are originally used in high-power grid
maintenance-free. systems, they are becoming increasingly popular in propulsion
2) Three-Level Inverter: Three-level NPC inverters are typ- drive applications. It should be noted that the benefits of MMC
ical three-level inverters and widely used in high-power drive inverter is not significant if the dc bus voltage is not high, and
applications with the power level of several MWs. The configu- filters are needed if there is only a few SMs in each arm.
ration of three-level NPC drive is shown in Fig. 15(a). Compared The operation principle of MMC for marine propulsion is
with the traditional two-level inverters, three-level NPC inverters studied in [100]. In the industrial community, Siemens develops
present advantages in terms of lower semiconductor stresses, the SINAMICS SH150 [91] and H-Compact Plus, which con-
better output voltage and current quality and reduced voltage sists of 17L full-bridge MMC topology [101], [102] for marine
peak transient at the motor terminals. While compared with other propulsion.
multilevel converter topologies, three-level NPC has a simpler 4) Comparison and Analysis: Comparison of above four
circuit structure, leading to a smaller footprint [92]. However, inverter topologies is shown in Table VI. Similar with that in
three-level NPC inverters have the drawback of an unsymmetri- rectifier section, analysis on the comparison are taken from the
cal temperature distribution of semiconductor junction resulting aspects of power density, converter reliability, and efficiency. To
from the unequal loss distribution, especially when the converter avoid repetition, the analysis on LCI and MMC inverter is simpli-
operates at low fundamental frequency [93]. fied in this section. In terms of power density, two-level inverter
The marine propulsion drive based on three-level NPC has has the highest power density, NPC and ANPC are the next, and
been produced by ABB and Siemens. ABB has ACS 6000 [94], the power density of MMC is the lowest because of its numerous
which can drive propulsion motors up to 36MW, and Siemens number of switching devices and energy storage elements. In
has SINAMICS GM150 [95], [96] for IMs and SMs. terms of reliability, similar to the analysis of rectifiers, two-level
To overcome the drawbacks of unequal loss distribution in inverters with simple power circuit and control system have
three-level NPC inverters, active NPC (ANPC) inverter is used higher reliability than MMC topology. The advantage of MMC
in some cases. In three-level ANPC, the clamping diodes in NPC is its higher control flexibility and better output performance.
are replaced by the two series IGBTs and freewheeling diodes, In terms of efficiency, NPC/ANPC has higher conduction losses
as shown in Fig. 15(b), achieving active clamping. Different and switching losses than two-level LCI due to more switches
commutations and switching states can be used to distribute [103]. Similarly, MMC inverter has even higher losses.
losses more evenly by selecting the circuit loop, and proper In summary, the principle of inverter topology selection is
active loss balancing methods are presented in [93] and [97]. similar to that of rectifiers. Large ships that require high drive
GE has developed the three-level ANPC-based marine drive power supply can choose NPC/ANPC or MMC to obtain higher
system, MV7000 [98], with the capacity up to 81 MW, suitable output power and better control performance, at the cost of
for IMs, SMs, and PMSMs. A three-level ANPC/H-bridge hy- occupying more cabin space and hardware cost. For small-power
brid inverter suitable for ship propulsion is presented in [99]. ships, it is recommended to choose a two-level inverter to
By replacing the clamp IGBT of SiC MOSFET, the switching improve the economy of the SPS.
losses can be reduced; hence, system efficiency and harmonic
performance are improved.
C. DC/DC Converters
3) Multilevel Inverter: MMC topology is a promising can-
didate for high-power propulsion, and the topology is shown in In dc-SMGs, many interfaces are requiring dc/dc converters,
Fig. 16. This configuration has the advantages of fault-tolerant including the interfaces of dc ESS sources and the connections
capability, modularity, and voltage scalability features. Further- between MVdc and LVdc buses. In low-power applications,
more, it has the benefits of reduced requirements on switch buck and boost converters are enough for converting the voltage,
Fig. 17. Input-series–output-parallel dual-active-bridge dc/dc converter. Fig. 18. Three-level NPC-based dc/dc converter.
while this section focuses on the high-power and medium-

voltage SMGs, in which both the power conversion capacity
and operation safety are required [104]–[106]. Thus, high-power
galvanic isolated dc/dc converters for dc-SMGs are presented as
follows.
1) Dual-Active Bridge DC/DC Converter: Dual-active
bridge (DAB) dc/dc converters catch much attention in
high-power applications for the merits of inherent soft-switching Fig. 19. Single-phase isolated modular multilevel dc/dc converter.
capability, galvanic isolation, high-power density, and
bidirectional power flow [107].
A typical DAB converter topology is depicted in Fig. 17, as a achieve better thermal performance in semiconductor devices
module of the whole converter configuration. It consists of two and lower losses.
full-bridge converters with dc capacitors and a high-/medium- 3) Isolated MMC DC/DC Converter: Isolated MMC dc/dc
frequency transformer. Two active H-bridge converters make converter (iM2dc), as shown in Fig. 19, is relatively a new tech-
bidirectional power flow possible. The transformer is applied nique in medium-voltage applications, which is first proposed
for voltage matching and galvanic isolation. The medium-/high- and used in HVdc power transmission systems. A typical iM2DC
frequency operation significantly reduces the size and weight of consists of cascaded SMs, as mentioned in multilevel rectifier
passive components, enabling a high-power density [108]. To section, and an isolated medium-/high-frequency transformer.
increase the power rating, input-series-output-parallel (ISOP) The advantages of iM2dc partly come from the modular scheme.
DAB can be used. However, due to the dc-link capacitors, Therefore, being the same as those in MMC rectifier, including
the DAB converter cannot completely control the fault current. flexibility in interfacing different voltage levels, fault-tolerant
In addition, for ISOP DAB in high-power applications, power ability, and easy maintenance, the transformer provides galvanic
balancing among different modules is a challenge to suppress isolation between the high-voltage side and the low-voltage
the circulating current and balance the capacitor voltage in each side. However, due to the relative low voltage of SMGs, the
module. number of SMs in MVdc systems is much less than that in HVdc
At present, the research topics of DAB mainly focus on systems, while the compact design onboard do not allow much
topology operation, the basic characteristics, expanding the redundancy equipped, therefore resulting in the deterioration
soft-switching range, redundancy design, and control methods of fault tolerance performance. In addition, the transformer
[109]. In [110], a 10 kV/380 V ISOP DAB in MVdc SMG is frequency is a tradeoff between transformer size and converter
studied in terms of ISOP balancing with parameter mismatch, switching losses. Besides, capacitor voltage balancing among
and fault state control. SMs, circulating current, and redundancy design are important
2) NPC-Based DC/DC Converter: Three-level NPC-based issues to consider in iM2dc.
dc/dc converter is another option for dc-SMGs. A typical three- The iM2dc for MVdc zonal SMGs is studied in [113], and
level NPC-based dc/dc topology is shown in the frame of Fig. 18. the operation principle and control of the 5 kV/2 kV iM2dc,
The benefits of NPC are clarified in inverter section. Even with six and three SMs in each arm of medium- and low-voltage
though three-level converter has the advantages of low switch side, respectively, are analyzed. In [114], the fault performance
voltage stress, low electromagnetic interference, and good power of an iM2dc in SMGs is studied, in which the LVdc bus voltage
quality [111], when it comes to medium-voltage high-power is 1 kV and there are four SMs in each arm, with 2.25 kV cell
applications, semiconductor switches and diodes are exposed capacitor voltage reference.
to considerable current stress. To fit the high-power rating re- A variation of iM2dc in which the BESS is integrated into
quirement in SMGs, a multiphase NPC-based dc/dc converter MVdc SMG is emerging. In the primary side of high-frequency
(4000 V/710 V) for dc-SMGs is presented in [112]. In addition, transformer, the capacitor in each SM of typical iM2dc is re-
the ANPC dc/dc converter for MVdc grid is studied in [111] to placed by battery packs, while in the secondary side, full-bridge
TABLE VII
COMPARISON OF DC/DC CONVERTERS
N in this table represents the number of modules in each modular power converter.
in LVdc systems to 1.5 and 3 kV or even higher in MVdc

systems depending on the ship type and load demands. Power
components in dc-SMGs can be arranged in radial, ring, or
zonal structure. Radial architecture is the most widely used
among these three types by borrowing from general dc MGs.
In order to actively manage the power flow and improve fault
performance, ring distribution system is studied in some cases.
Zonal distribution further ensures reliability and power supply
continuity on the basis of ring architecture, as all the low-voltage
loads are separated into several load centers, and each load center
can be fed by dc buses on both sides of the ships.
Fig. 20. iM2dc integrated with battery. Functional blocks in dc-SMGs include PGMs, ESSs, propul-
sion systems, dedicated high-power loads, and pulsed loads.
SMs are deployed, as shown in Fig. 20 [115]. This converter PGMs mainly include synchronous generators and FCs, and
provides dc active power filter function to smooth out the MVdc both of them have the problem of slow dynamics due to large
bus current via the SM capacitors in the medium-voltage side, inertia and internal electrochemical responses, respectively. To
and the BESS in the low-voltage side is responsible for providing overcome this drawback, ESSs are used to provide fast power
active power. supply and achieve transient generation-demand balance. Be-
4) Comparison and Analysis: Comparison among above sides, ESSs help to improve the generator efficiency with specific
dc/dc converters are presented in Table VII. With modular struc- optimization algorithms. ESSs with different characteristics are
ture, ISOP DAB and iM2dc can support relative high voltage reviewed, including batteries, UCs, flywheels, and supercon-
easily, and have good fault management capability. Therefore, ducting magnet. Among these, battery packs have large power
they are suitable for large ships with high power demands. capacity, while UCs, flywheels, and superconducting magnet
Especially, iM2dc achieves good performances in high-voltage ESSs have fast charging and discharging rates, which is suitable
SMGs, in which more SMs can be implemented in each arm so for compensating step power demand caused by pulsed loads.
that the power quality is improved. However, these two converter Propulsion motors in ships can be IMs, WRSMs, or PMSMs.
types require numbers of inductors, transformers, and capacitors Multiphase motors are usually used in high-power marine ap-
in the meantime, resulting in the converters being bulky and plications. Besides propulsion loads, which take nearly 80% of
the control being complex. While NPC-based dc/dc converter total power demand, there are specific high power loads, service
is simpler in structure and more efficient than ISOP DAB and loads, and pulsed loads for military ships.
iM2dc converters, but it has problems in fault tolerance. There- In order to manage functional blocks, proper controlled power
fore, NPC-based dc/dc converters suit for medium-sized and converters are vital parts of the systems. Existing rectifiers,
short voyage-distance ships of which the SMG voltage is not inverters, and dc/dc converters interfacing PGMs, propulsion
high and the fault tolerance requirement is not highly strict. motors, ESSs, and load centers in the dc-SMGs are discussed.
For rectifiers, two-level full-bridge rectifiers are common in
V. CONCLUSION relative low-power SMGs. Among them, diode rectifiers are
Presently, dc-SMGs have become one of the major research currently mostly used due to the high reliability, simple struc-
directions in the marine industry for their benefits in terms of ture, and low cost. With more controllability in semiconductor
efficiency and resiliency. This article presents an overview of switches, thyristor- and IGBT-based two-level rectifiers have
the state-of-the-art of the techniques in dc-SMGs, including the better performances in voltage regulation and power quality.
power architecture, functional blocks, and power converters. MMC rectifiers suit for high-power SMGs with relative high
Power architecture in dc-SMGs includes the dc bus configu- voltage. Inverter topologies for inductance motors can be LCI,
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 37, NO.

5, MAY 2022 5155

A Review of DC Shipboard Microgrids—Part I:

Abstract—Integrated power systems are popular in the ship- I. INTRODUCTION

Fig. 1. Overview of a typical dc-SMG.

A. Bus Architecture and Voltage Levels

loads. The ring architecture is more like a transition between the

III. FUNCTIONAL BLOCKS IN SHIPS

TABLE III 2) Fuel Cells: Functionally, FCs work as power sources

Fig. 7. Structure of the flywheel ESS.

is relatively low, while batteries have benefits in energy density.

Fig. 8. Superconducting magnetic ESS.

4) Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage System: Su-

windings, four series-connected six-pulse diode rectifiers and

Fig. 12. MMC.

addition, compared with the aforementioned rectifier topologies,

Fig. 15. Three-phase three-level NPC inverter.

Fig. 16. Scheme of MMC drive.

while this section focuses on the high-power and medium-

in LVdc systems to 1.5 and 3 kV or even higher in MVdc

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