Mitigating Power Fluctuations in Electric Ship Propulsion With Hybrid Energy Storage System: Design and Analysis

Shipboard electric propulsion systems experience large power and torque fluctuations on their drive shaft due to propeller rotational motion and waves. This paper explores new solutions to address these fluctuations by integrating a hybrid energy storage system (HESS) and exploring energy management (EM) strategies. The HESS combines battery packs with ultracapacitor banks. Two strategies for real-time EM of HESS are considered: one splits the power demand such that high- and low-frequency power fluctuations are compensated by ultracapacitors and batteries, respectively; another considers the HESS as a single entity and designs an EM strategy to coordinate the operations of the ultracapacitors and batteries. For both strategies, model predictive control is used to address power tracking and energy saving under various operating constraints. To quantitatively analyze the performance of HESS and its associated controls, a propeller and ship dynamic model, which captures the underlying physical behavior, is established to support the control development and system optimization. Power fluctuation mitigation and HESS loss minimization, the main objectives, are evaluated in different sea conditions. Simulation results show that the coordination within HESS provides substantial benefits in terms of reducing fluctuations and losses.