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Ingeteam receives the validation of a project related to the optimum design of DC power distribution systems in diesel-electric vessels

03/03/2016
Ingeteam receives the validation of a project related to the optimum design of DC power distribution systems in diesel-electric vessels

On 24th February, engineers from CDTI visited Ingeteam's premises to make an on-site assessment of the results of this project which is designed to improve energy efficiency in diesel-electric vessels. Their assessment was highly satisfactory since CDTI's engineers could see that all of the objectives initially foreseen had been met. Since this visit, IMD's (Industry and Marine Drives) research and development department have successfully finished the EDSOMA R&D project, which was co-financed by CDTI through the EEA Grants programme.

During the day, the visitors attended some tests performed with the EDSOMA simulator, in which one of the operating modes of a vessel was reproduced with different power profiles associated to the propulsion loads.

The EDSOMA project is related to the optimum design of DC power distribution systems to improve the energy efficiency in diesel-electric vessels.   This concept, which has scarcely been deployed worldwide, makes it possible to optimise fuel consumption and emissions with values of approximately 25% compared to conventional solutions, especially in offshore vessels with dynamic positioning requirements and operating modes with highly-variable power demands.

Lasting two years, the activities have focused on energy modelling, hardware and software design and the validation (using a simulator in the laboratory) of a system consisting of a DC distribution grid in which several converters-inverters fed by AC loads are connected at different points in a distributed configuration.

The main results of the projects include the development of an in-house methodology for designing DC distribution systems for vessels, as well as developing and building a real technological simulator with a DC distribution grid measuring 35 metres long and with a power of 1.5 MW to which 4 power connectors of up to 0.5 MW are connected, each one connected to different points in the grid. This simulator, installed in Ingeteam Power Laboratory's power laboratory, has been used to validate the different operating modes of the electrical plant of an offshore vessel and its associated power demand profiles. These results were presented by  Ingeteam-IMD at the Electric & Hybrid Marine World Expo Congress and Exhibition held in Amsterdam, in June 2015.  


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