Integration and study of hardware in the loop diesel generator with a hybrid energy storage module for naval applications

The US Navy is presently developing a number of new advanced electrical loads for deployment upon future vessels. Many of these loads will require high power supplied in a transient manner for successful operation. The transient nature brings about unique challenges to the shipboard power system that have not been previously faced. Traditional power generation sources alone, such as diesel and gas powered engine/generators, will likely not be sufficient to meet these demands and still maintain the power quality requirements required for deployment. To overcome these challenges, distributed generation sources, such as electrochemical energy storage systems for example, may be required to augment the traditional generation. Active control and monitoring will be critical in maximizing the power and energy capabilities of each distributed source. An energy storage system that utilizes multiple storage technologies is typically referred to as a Hybrid Energy Storage Module (HESM). It has been previously shown that both active and passive HESM topologies, utilizing power dense ultra-capacitors and energy dense lithium-ion batteries, can be very beneficial in meeting the power and energy requirements of transiently operated loads. It has also been shown that integration of a HESM with a gasoline generator can improve the generator's power quality, keeping it within the bounds of MIL-STD-1399B when high power transient loads are sourced. In order to evaluate the integration of a HESM with a more representative Navy power source, hardware in the loop (HIL) modeling is being integrated with an existing HESM to replace the gasoline generator with a diesel engine - generator. This paper will discuss the HESM constructed, the HIL engine - generator model, and the results obtained when the two are integrated to source high power transient loads.