IEEE PROCEEDINGS 2015 1 The Marine Vessel’s Electrical Power System: From its Birth to Present Day Espen Skjong1;2;3, Egil Rødskar3, Marta Molinas1, Tor Arne Johansen1;2 and Joseph Cunningham4 Abstract—The evolution of the use of electricity in marine propulsion into the picture. Also in this period, research on air vessels is presented and discussed in this article in a historical independent propulsion (AIP) for submarines has been started perspective. The historical account starts with its first commercial and ended with the first submarine with AIP in the period use in the form of light bulbs in the SS Columbia in 1880 for illumination purposes, going through the use in hybrid that followed the end of the war. Nuclear powered vessels propulsion systems with steam turbines and diesel engines and emerged in the end of the 50s and the first passenger liner to transitioning to our days with the first case of electric marine use alternating current was inaugurated in 1960 (SS Canberra), vessel entirely based on the use of batteries in 2015. Electricity 70 years after the invention of the alternating current motor. use is discussed not only in the light of its many benefits but also In the period 1956-1985, the power electronics revolution of the challenges introduced after the emergence of the marine vessel electrical power system. The impact of new conversion triggered by the disruptive solid-state technology, marked the technologies like power electronics, battery energy storage and point of departure towards a new era for marine vessels; the the dc power system on the trajectory of this development is era of the all-electric ships (AES). As a result of that, Queen thoroughly discussed. The article guides the reader through the Elizabeth II was inaugurated in 1987 with the first diesel- different stages of this development influenced by the different electric integrated propulsion system. And in the last two forms electricity took in the marine vessel, with emphasis on how electricity was used has impacted the marine vessel power system decades of the present time, the marine vessel community has development. witnessed the development of the first vessels having LNG as fuel. In January 2015, marking the milestone of the era of the Index Terms—Marine vessel electrical power system, propul- sion system, steam turbine, diesel-electric propulsion, variable all-electric ship, the world’s first purely battery-driven car and speed drives, power electronics passenger ferry Ampere has been placed in use (commissioned October 2014) and is being regularly operated in Norway. In what follows, a comprehensive account is made of the different I. INTRODUCTION stages of the marine vessel’s development and the impact the Figure 1 indicates and guides the reader through the stages use of electricity has had in its evolution. of development of the marine vessel electrical power system as treated in this paper. The impact of new inventions and II. THE BIRTH OF THE MARINE VESSEL POWER GRID disruptive technologies as well as the impact of disruptive In the late 1830s the German inventor Moritz Hermann events in society such as wars, is discussed. Starting with von Jacobi (Yakobi [1]) invented a simplistic dc motor and the earliest records of a commercially available shipboard conducted a couple of experiments with small boats able to electrical system which dates back to the 1880 with the carry about a dozen passengers with electric propulsion. The onboard dc system at the SS Columbia, inventions such as electric motor in his last experiment (about 1kW) was powered the AC induction motor and the diesel engine have triggered by a battery consisting of 69 Grove cells resulting in a speed new research and developments towards the end of the 19 of about 4 km/h. Due to the early motor design, which carried century and the beginning of the 20th. In this period, the many imperfections, the invention was not adopted and used initial steps were given in research related to submarines, in any practical applications and was soon forgotten [1], [2], batteries, steam turbines and diesel engines. The two more [3]. important developments before WWI were the first diesel- Commercially available electric systems first appeared on electric vessel (Vandal) in 1903 and the first naval vessel with ships during the early 1870s in the form of gun firing circuits electric propulsion in 1912 (USS Jupiter). During the period powered by battery cells. Electric call bells appeared on luxury of rising tension that preceded WWI the first cargo vessels passenger liners about the same time. The development of with turbo-electric propulsion were conceived and developed electric arc lamps by Charles Brush, Edwin Weston, Elihu in USA and UK. The outbreak of WWII stimulated new Thomson, Hiram Maxim, and others for the illumination of developments that brought the T2-tanker with turbo-electric streets and large public spaces in the mid/late 1870s was par- alleled by the installation of electric arc searchlights on ships. 1 Department of Control Engineering, Norwegian University of Science Powered by steam driven generators, the primary function of and Technology 2 Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems such lights was to illuminate marauding attack boats and also 3 Ulstein Power & Control AS to blind enemy gun crews during close engagements for some 4 Engineering History author, consultant, and adjunct instructor of the early lamps were as bright as 11,000 candlepower. Most Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], joscunning- systems were direct current but alternating current systems [email protected] were also employed [4], [5]. 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Time-line with the historical highlights of the Marine Vessel’s Power System Development. In the mid-1878 Thomas Edison (1847-1931) developed `Q]VCCV` an incandescent electric light bulb for the consumer market. However, there were no commercial electrical system for V:I .:` generating and distributing electricity to end users. Edison Q1CV`^_ knew that for the light bulb to achieve commercial success, he %`G1JV^_ had to build an electric distribution system using direct current VC HQ%]C1J$ (dc), and his idea was a central power station with a system of electrical conduction radiating out of it, reaching multiple end users. After a successful demonstration in 1879, staged VVR 7J:R QJRVJV` 1$. 1J$7 VI on his property in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he had ]%I] IQ installed a lighting system to illuminate some of the houses and imaginary streets powered by a dynamo in his laboratory, Fig. 2. Simplified drawing of the propulsion and lighting system installed in he met skepticism from invited business leaders and potential SS Columbia, based on written description [7], [8], [9]. investors. They were all reluctant to invest in the low-voltage dc system without more proof of the system’s commercial viability [6]. Among the attendees was the president of the on several circuits and powered by four belt-driven 6kW Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, Henry Villard, dynamos (with small internal resistance and large bipolar who, after the demonstration, immediately saw the benefits magnets [11]), see figure 3b, connected to the steam-engine of the technological advancement demonstrated by Edison.