Shipboard Power Conversion System to Meet MIL-STD-1399 Limits for Pulsed Power Loads

This paper presents a novel system-level solution to meet the new requirements for pulsed power loads on shipboard power systems introduced in the 2018 revision of MIL-STD-1399 section 300, part 1. As the number of pulsed loads increases onboard modern ships, the AC distribution bus may be susceptible to voltage and frequency sags due to the slow response of the synchronous generators used as sources. The revised standard addressed this issue by setting strict pulsed power deviation limits. In this paper these limits are met by connecting the pulsed load to a grid-connected inverter’s DC bus, which is regulated by an energy storage system, in order to smooth out the AC bus power pulse, thus reducing the stress on the shipboard power distribution system and generators. Definitions and limits introduced by the new MIL-STD-1399-300 are presented in this paper in detail. The proposed control system is demonstrated with time-domain simulation results obtained with a physics-based model which includes the pulsed load profile in the military standard. The functionality of the control system is also experimentally demonstrated on a laboratory prototype.