Study on converter topologies for capacitive pulse forming network and energy storage units in electric ship

Abstract

This paper addresses the study on converter topologies for capacitive pulse forming network and energy storage units in electric ships. The purpose of the study is to explore the power electronic converter topology, which has the least influence on the ship power system. The capacitive pulse forming network (PFN) is used for such applications as energizing pulse power loads. After discharge, the capacitor in the pulse forming network must be re-charged. The charging of bulk capacitors through the power electronic converter requires large instantaneous currents, resulting in a voltage drop in the Medium Voltage DC (MVDC) bus. The voltage drop can be compensated by releasing energy from the capacitive energy storage. The capacitor in the energy storage unit is also recharged after discharging the energy and suitable controlled converter must be selected to avoid any large instantaneous current from the MVDC bus. The extensive simulation study in MATLAB is carried out to select a suitable power electronic converter.