A new approach for balanced power distribution in energy sources with minimal fuel consumption on diesel-electric vessels

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a new approach to minimize the fuel consumption of diesel-electric vessels using marine diesel generators as their energy source. The suggested method provides equal power distribution between the identical generators, taking into account the optimum fuel consumption resulting from electrical energy generation on board. The proposed approach was applied to a diesel-electric vessel model equipped with four 1900 kW generators and tested for power requirements between 380–6840 kW. Then, the power distribution and fuel consumption behaviors of the generators were examined. To verify the results of the study, the suggested method was compared with the genetic algorithm methodology. The results show that although the power distribution behavior between energy sources is different in both methods, they tend to meet the same power demand with almost similar fuel consumption. In addition, less fuel consumption could be achieved with the proposed approach for power needs in the range of 1520–1900 kW, 3230–3610 kW, and 4560–5320 kW. This means that, thanks to the proposed approach, both the fuel consumption of the generators and the problems that may occur due to the unbalanced power distribution of the electrical system can be minimized.

KEYWORDS:

• Electric vessel
• marine generator
• power distribution
• fuel saving
• system reliability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).