Investigation of allocation of fault current limiters in a shipboard power system

Generally, a fault current limiter (FCL) is an impedance component that is used to install in an electrical power system for preventing fault currents from exceeding fault clearance capacity of circuit breakers, or increasing the power quality and reliability of its power system. Since there are currently no practical examples of installing fault current limiters to suppress fault currents on a shipboard power system which may have become the preferred design for future ships to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, this motivates us to investigate the feasibility of applying the FCL into a shipboard power system and to find a proper allocation to install FCL with a corresponding impedance value. To verify the feasibility of the proposed strategy for allocating the FCL, the IEEE 30-bus system is first studied and the method is then implemented into a 500 ton guided-missile patrol vessel and a 2700 ton oceanographic research vessel with electric propulsion. Hopefully, the results can be used as a reference for engineers to design a shipboard power system in the future.