Design of a reliable and coordinated protection strategy for zonal shipboard power systems

The reliable performance of the shipboard power system (SPS) is essential for the safe and efficient operation of marine vessels. SPSs are subject to various types of electrical faults that can cause equipment failure, system downtime, and even catastrophic events. One effective way to provide redundancy and fault tolerance in the event of a fault or failure is through the use of zonal configuration. However, the protection of such systems is a challenging task due to their complex topology and the potential for multiple sources of fault. Therefore, it is imperative to protect the SPS with zonal configuration from various types of fault to ensure its continuous operation. This article presents a comprehensive coordinated protection strategy for a hybrid AC/DC SPS with the zonal configuration by using the available protective equipment. The proposed strategy consists of fault current limiting, grounding, fault detection, and faulty section isolation, and provides both primary and backup protections for all SPS equipment, including generator, busbar, line, input and output feeders, loads, propulsion motors, and DC system. Also, it does not require a comprehensive communication infrastructure and training dataset. The selective and reliable performance of the proposed protection strategy is verified through several case studies under various fault scenarios in the ETAP environment. The article provides valuable insights into the selection and implementation of appropriate protection measures for the SPS with ring configuration which are useful for the designers, operators, and maintenance personnel, improving the reliability and safety of these critical and autonomous systems.