Enhanced real-time emulator for naval propulsion: Application to an electric boat powered by a PEM fuel cell

In this paper, real-time emulation and simulation studies of an electric boat propulsion chain-based PEM fuel cell power source system are proposed. The system consists of three subsystems: the first is a PEM fuel cell emulated by a controlled power source, associated with a boost DC/DC converter that maintains a constant DC bus voltage; the second is a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) connected to a controlled voltage source inverter (VSI), which serves as the electrical propulsion motor; the third is a DC machine connected to a DC/DC H-bridge converter, which is controlled to reproduce the hydrodynamic behavior of the propeller and the ship. A supercapacitor bench is connected to the DC machine by the DC/DC H-bridge in order to provide the power of the propeller emulation machine and drive. This configuration allows the emulated propeller to work in the 4 possible quadrants. The effectiveness of the proposed real-time emulator, in terms of DC grid stability and operation across all four hydrodynamic quadrants of the propeller, is verified by simulation and experimental results. • Real-time emulation method for electric ship propulsion chain developed • Propeller emulator uses controlled machines with supercapacitor energy support • Accurate modeling of propulsion behavior in all operating conditions enabled • Four-quadrant hydrodynamic operation of the propeller fully emulated.