A Stability-Aimed PMS for Shipboard Zonal DC Microgrids: The C-HIL Tests on Real-Time Platform

In future vessels, high reliability and flexibility in loads supply will be the main drivers in the power system design. To these aims, the zonal DC distribution is the most promising technology, as it enables the suitable and safe transfer of onboard power. Conversely, the large exploitation of filtered DC converters opens challenges, such as system stability. As large bandwidth controls on converters can reduce the stability margin of DC grids, the centralized Power Management System (PMS) can be programmed to supervise the stability status. In this paper, the Weighted Bandwidth Method (WBM) is implemented to configure the PMS when unstable conditions are foreseen. The smart PMS can tune the control gains in order to constantly ensure the stable operation of power distribution, regardless the system configuration. The capability of the reconfiguration algorithm is verified by performing a C-HIL test on a real-time platform.