Optimization to Limit the Effects of Underloaded Generator Sets in Stand-Alone Hybrid Ship Grids

Abstract

For the safety of the supply, diesel generator (DG) sets are used in various stand-alone power systems using variable-speed generators. The stand-alone hybrid grid system presented in this article, with a wind generator and a diesel generator, but also the system of a ship’s network, serves as an example. To ensure the safety of the ship’s exploitation, the parallel operation of two stand-alone power supplies is required. In parallel operation with the required symmetrical active power load (regardless of the load size), the internal combustion engine of the DG set is often underloaded. This leads to deterioration of its technical properties and, consequently, to a negative impact on the environment. This article presents an analysis of the stand-alone hybrid power system of a ship’s grid consisting of a DG with a speed and voltage regulator and a shaft generator of variable speed—a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG). The possibility of controlling the active and reactive power distribution between the DG and shaft generator (SG) was also studied. Control over the mechatronic SG–DG system limits the harmful influence of the DG on the environment and, most of all, improves the technical qualities of the engine of the DG system, which is often underloaded. Analytic studies of the system were performed, and simulation results of the mechatronic model are presented.