PREVENTIVE START-UP OF AN EMERGENCY DIESEL GENERATOR OF THE SHIP’S ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM

Abstract

The development of the method of preventive protection for the purposes of safe operation of the ship’s electric power system in emergency situations associated with malfunctions of its elements that occur during operation is considered in the paper. It has been shown that the existing devices form a command to start an emergency diesel generator at the moment when the voltage on the main switchboard busbars disappears. This circumstance causes a break in the power supply of responsible consumers of electric energy for a time equal to the start time of the emergency source. At the same time, the vessel loses control, and in most cases, the course. In this regard, it has been paid special attention in the paper to the development of a method for the preventive start of an emergency diesel generator, in which the launch command is formed before the vessel is de-energized, but with a real threat of this event. The conditions under which the preventive start of an emergency diesel generator should be carried out are formulated. Within the framework of the proposed approach, the energy state of the entire ship’s electric power system is predicted in the case of a decrease in its generating capacity, and, if necessary, a command to start an emergency source of electric energy is formed. At the same time, the most dangerous situation develops at a time when, in case of a failure of the generator unit of the main power plant, preventive unloading of the network turns out to be ineffective. It has been shown that there are emergency modes of vessel operation, such as flooding or fire in the room of diesel generators, in which the probability of simultaneous failure of all main electricity sources at once is especially high. The application of the proposed method of preventive start-up of an emergency power source will allow, in case of failure of at least one of the generator units of the main power plant operating in parallel, flooding or fire on the ship, to carry out structural adaptation of the system in advance to the malfunction that has arisen and go into a partially operational state, bypassing the emergency situation. At the same time, the interruption in the power supply of responsible consumers ensuring the safety of the vessel operation will either be significantly reduced or it will not happen at all. A functional diagram of a simple device implementing the proposed approach in practice is presented. A brief description of his work is given.