HTS Technology Driven Shipboard Power Distribution Architecture – Cryogenics

A radial architecture for the power distribution network was investigated to take full advantage of the HTS cable technology in achieving high efficiency, stability, and resiliency. HTS cable performance being sensitive to the operating temperature, the resiliency of the cryogenic system in supporting the electrical distribution network is critical. Using the thermal network models, it was shown that supporting the radial distribution is not onerous on the cryogenic system. The combined electrical and cryogenic thermal aspects were studied using the thermal network models. A subsystem of 25% of the electric ship was modeled to map the cryogenic temperature profile of the power distribution system both in the normal operation and in the contingency involving a failure of one of the cables. In the case of a failure of one of the cables, other cables in the system need to support higher than normal operating current to mitigate the failure and continue serving the loads. The nominal cryogenic system studies were effective in satisfactorily supporting the increased current with a manageable temperature increase of 2-3K compared to the normal operation. It was concluded that cryogenics is not a hindrance to the radial distribution concept.