An impact study of DC protection techniques for shipboard power systems

DC faults can have a detrimental impact on the ship performance. DC protection should allow for high speed and highly sensitive detection of faults enhancing reliability in the supply of power. DC fault protection geared towards a lower voltage system has not been studied and analyzed rigorously. The research goal of this work has been to develop a method in which the system can detect a DC fault and perform suppression of the fault and return to normal operating conditions once the fault is removed. The use of power electronics and DC fault detection methods are employed to determine how to best protect the system's stability and longevity.; The research work findings have demonstrated that using zero-crossing logic on the AC side of the system is beneficial in fault detection. Different grounding schemes can create different effects, whereas some grounding schemes can help protect the system during a disturbance.