Power Quality Assessment in Shipboard Microgrids under Unbalanced and Harmonic AC Bus Voltage

Power quality (PQ) is becoming more and more critical issue in shipboard microgrid systems (SMG). Especially, the impact of voltage unbalance combined with harmonic distortions on the SMG behavior has not been fully investigated. In this paper, simple power quality assessment models and a series of controlled experiments are proposed and carried out in a real ship under sea-going conditions. The ship experimental results are presented and discussed considering non-linear bow thruster load and high power ballast pump loads under unbalanced and harmonic voltage conditions. In addition, the analysis of bow thruster current harmonic surges during the ballast pump start-up is presented. Furthermore, the voltage/current distortions of working generator, bow thruster and pump loads are analyzed. The paper provides a valuable analysis for coping with PQ issues in the SMG.