A DC distribution demonstrator incorporating Active Impedance Estimation for marine applications

A small scale laboratory demonstrator has been constructed to represent a zonal DC distribution system as proposed for future naval vessels. This paper describes how the demonstrator has been used to validate a proposed fault location strategy - Active Impedance Estimation (AIE) - under experimental conditions. The practical processing algorithms required to reduce the effect of noise and the background supply harmonics are presented. The experimental results validate the AIE approach and confirm its robustness and accuracy.