Comparison of ship power systems from an optimal economic operation point of view

For many years, the predominant concept on board ships was to have separate propulsion and generator engines. However, more recently, the adoption of hybrid installations with shaft generators, is becoming increasingly common. In this paper, a case study is presented where measurements from actual equipment are used to compare the propulsion and power plants of a typical ship to a hybrid one. Also, a new algorithm for electrical load distribution is introduced and examined in this case.