State of the art in electric propulsion –

viewpoint on redundancy

Sami Kanerva Jan-Fredrik Hansen

Marine & Turbocharging Marine Systems
ABB Oy ABB AS
Helsinki, Finland Billingstad, Norway
sami.kanerva@fi.abb.com jan-fredrik.hansen@no.abb.com

Abstract— Available solutions for redundancy in electric
propulsion are outlined, emphasizing their benefits and
drawbacks. Two different state-of-the art solutions of redundant
electric propulsion are presented. The first example is a cruise
ship with two azimuthal thrusters, both of which are equipped
with 18 to 21 MW dual-stator synchronous motors and driven
by two voltage source inverters (VSI) in a redundant
configuration. The phase shift between the stator windings in
each motor is 30 degrees, and the motors can also operate with
only one stator system in case that another system is lost. The
second example is LNG carriers, where one propeller is driven
through a gearbox by two 12 to 15 MW dual-stator synchronous
motors. The motors are supplied by VSI-type frequency
converters with double inverter units and supply units, allowing
each motor to operate in half power mode in case of a fault in
any of these modules. The both configurations provide 75%
redundancy in case of the most common single faults without
notably increasing the cost and complexity of the system.
hand, too simple configuration would increase the risk of total
loss of propulsion.
Another feature to be aware of in modern design of marine
power systems is the tendency to increase the number of
crossovers, changeovers etc. This means that a lot of
dependencies are introduced in the system which in some
cases may be hidden, and hence reduce the total availability,
see Fig. 1.
This article will focus on transportation vessels where
redundancy in the electric propulsion design ensures a safe
and reliable operation for the intended purpose, however
keeping the complexity of the system at a minimum.
Examples on typical configurations are presented,
concentrating on two large application areas, namely cruise
ships and LNG carriers.

I. INTRODUCTION
From the ship operator’s point of view, redundancy is part
of the performance. Any sudden faults at open sea should
never prohibit further operation, since it would set the crew
and passengers in danger and result in costly service actions.
Certain level of redundancy is nowadays required by
authorities and classification societies, but also shipowners are
increasingly asking for redundant solutions in order to
increase reliability and availability. The redundancy
requirements vary from ship type to ship type, from full 100%
redundancy, meaning full normal operation in case of any
single failure (typically for Dynamic Positioning operated
vessels and standby vessels) to 50% redundancy where
operation at a reduced power level is acceptable in case of
single failures (typically for transportation vessels).
The level of redundancy is usually a trade-off between
availability and simplicity. High availability requires higher Figure 1. Illustration of the system complexity.
redundancy level, that is, more installed components, higher
complexity and higher cost. Also the failure rate would
probably increase with more installed equipment. On the other

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 II. ELECTRIC PROPULSION IN TRANSPORTATION VESSELS
A. Cruise ships
Electric propulsion is nowadays applied on practically all
cruise ships without exceptions, because it is by far the most
economical approach to combine the requirements of high
hotel load and variation in the load profile. As the cruising
business has boomed and vessels have increased in size and
passenger capacity, the requirements for comfort, safety and
availability have gained notable importance. Azimuthal
thrusters are popular in the high-end cruisers, since they
provide improved efficiency and maneuverability, low noise
and vibration levels, and flexibility in the engine room design.
Most of the cruise ships are configured for two propellers,
mostly because of redundancy and feasible power limits of
electric drives. Dual-stator motors supplied by parallel
frequency converters are commonly utilized at the highest
power ratings, because the maximum current ratings of
frequency converters are typically much lower than those of
electric motors. In addition, such solutions provide
redundancy and reduce harmonics in the electric system.
B. LNG carriers
Electric propulsion in oil & gas transportation vessels is
mostly applied for vessels with special requirements for
operation profile, ice going capabilities or which have the
possibility to utilize gas as fuel.
The increasing focus on environmental conditions and
safety gives all the players in the marine market more pressure
to develop new solutions. Electric Propulsion is an attractive
solution in this respect, and in 2003 this system was
introduced for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Carriers, and has
more or less become a standard for these vessels. The main
motivation for the change was the increased efficiency and
hence reduced fuel costs, and as the usage of Natural Gas as
fuel on these ships are almost 100% the emissions are very
low compared to traditional Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) fueled
ships.
Most of the LNG Carriers with electric propulsion are
utilizing the single propeller configuration as the conventional
ships. The electric part is split into two separate systems
giving a 50% redundancy on this part. Further redundancy is
implemented in some key equipment as described in coming
sections and examples.
C. Drive technology
At present state, a typical propulsion drive above 10 MW
comprises a synchronous motor fed by a frequency converter.
Several new solutions have been lately presented on
superconducting and permanent magnet technology, although
commercial shipbuilding still prefers traditional synchronous
motors because of the efficiency, power factor, reliability and
experience on previous references. At lower powers, the most
competitive solution is generally an induction or permanent
magnet motor.
The frequency converters for propulsion drives have
undergone a transition from cycloconverter or load-
commutated inverter (LCI) to voltage-source inverter (VSI).
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This has resulted in significant dimensioning benefits for the
power plants, since VSI-based drives can operate at high
power factor and low harmonic distortion regardless of the
load conditions. On the other hand, the classic converter types
were typically configured for dual-stator motors with inherent
redundancy. The first VSI-drives did not have this feature, but
recently also redundant configurations have been developed
[1].
High-power propulsion drives commonly utilize medium
voltage frequency converters based on three-level VSI
topology. The rated voltage is typically between 3 and 6 kV
and the rated current accordingly up to 4…5 kA. The power
semiconductors in the inverter units are normally either high-
voltage insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) or integrated
gate commutated thyristors (IGCT), which both have their
benefits. IGBT is a well-known component in low voltage
applications, and is also largely available for medium voltage.
IGCT is an improved version from widely used gate turn-off
thyristor (GTO) with low switching losses and high reliability.
III. REDUNDANCY IN ELECTRIC PROPULSION
A. Level of redundancy
Redundancy of a generic system can be understood as
having a full-scale spare system available in case of
unexpected faults. In normal operation, the redundant system
may be operating idle in parallel with the main system, or the
systems may share the load equally. This approach is
beneficial, when the reserve power is needed without
interruptions and the number of parallel systems is high. It is
also possible that the spare system is normally not running at
all and only taken into service when needed. This approach is
advantageous, when the systems have been designed for
optimal performance at full load and process shutdown is
allowed in case of faults.
Although the full-scale redundancy may beneficial in
certain applications, it is often not an economical solution
because of over-dimensioning. If the process utilizes only one
main system, a spare system doubles the initial cost and
footprint requirements of the system. The level of total spare
capacity can be reduced by multiple parallel systems, for
instance four parallel systems with one redundant system only
requires 25% over-dimensioning.
In terms of initial cost and footprint, partial redundancy is
an economically viable alternative. Especially in propulsion, it
is generally not feasible to install spare capacity onboard and,
on the other hand, full power is not necessarily needed from
the propulsion train at all conditions. The level of redundancy
in such systems is expressed as the percentage of available
power versus the total rated power in case of a single fault. For
example, two or four parallel systems have 50% or 75%
redundancy against single faults, respectively.
B. Fault tolerance
As the redundancy is a measure of available capacity after
a fault, it also needs to be considered, how the systems handle
the faults at the time they occur. At the highest level of fault
tolerance, operation will continue without interruptions
regardless of the fault. For partially redundant systems, the
faulty system will be disconnected and the application will
automatically continue at lower capacity.
A slightly lower level of fault tolerance can be identified in
cases, where an interruption is allowed for a short period after
the fault. Typically, the automatic protection will shut down
the application and possibly disconnect the faulty system,
before the remaining systems can be started again. In
improved configurations, the whole process may be
automated.
C. Redundant drive configurations
The following chapters describe the basic configurations,
which are used for gaining redundancy in the propulsion
systems. The solutions not only provide different levels of
redundancy and fault tolerance, but also affect on the system
cost and complexity. The actual systems often combine
several solutions and are specifically engineered to meet the
requirements and optimize the balance between system cost
and productivity.
1) Drive train
A simple propulsion system with only one drive train, as
illustrated in Fig. 2, is extremely vulnerable in fault situations.
When there are two propulsion trains in parallel, half of the
rated power is available regardless of any fault in the system.
Such configurations provide high level of redundancy and
fault tolerance, but the system cost is high.
2) Propulsion motor
The cost of redundancy can be reduced by coupling two
motors into a single shaft. Fig. 3 presents a configuration,
where the motors are mounted directly to the shaft. Another
configuration, shown in Fig. 4, utilizes a reduction gearbox,
when the motors are smaller in size and can be mounted side
by side. The both configurations are capable of running the
shaft with only one motor in case of a fault in the other drive
system.
Figure 2. Simple propulsion system with one drive train.
Figure 3. Two motors on single shaft.
Figure 4. Two motors coupled through a gearbox.
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3) Frequency converter
Due to the power ratings of frequency converters, high-
power drives typically utilize two or more converters in
parallel. The principle is presented in Fig. 5. However, this
configuration has relatively low level of redundancy and fault
tolerance, because the converters are hard coupled to the same
stator winding. Fig. 6 presents a redundant configuration, in
which the two converters supply a dual-stator motor.
4) Drive components
At the lowest level, only the most critical components of
the drives are redundant. Such components typically include
data links, control boards, shaft encoders, excitation units, DC
links or even whole inverter units. The level of redundancy
and fault tolerance in the whole systems is strongly dependent
on the number of redundant components and is usually
specifically agreed on case-by-case basis.
IV. EXAMPLE 1: CRUISE SHIP
A. Overview of the propulsion system
Typical characteristics of the cruise ships are alternating
speed profile, high hotel load, low noise and vibration, and
strict requirements on safety and availability. Especially with
increasing vessel size, diesel-electric propulsion system can
usually provide the most economical solution to fit these
characteristics. Such system allows for high flexibility in the
electric plant and machinery layout and enables high level of
redundancy in all parts of the propulsion system.
Figure 7 presents a modern propulsion system for large
cruise vessels. The electric plant with 11 kV main
switchboards is powered by four diesel generators, and there
are two separate drive trains with propellers. Each of the drive
trains comprises two parallel frequency converters with drive
transformers, auxiliary devices and excitation units, supplying
Azipod® propulsion units with dual-stator synchronous
motors.
The system layout features high level of redundancy in all
parts of the propulsion system. In two-propeller configuration,
at least 50% of the rated power/torque is available after a fault
in the main switchboard, electric motor or the propulsion unit
itself. After a single fault in any other part of the system, at
least 75% of the rated power/torque is retained.
Figure 5. Two parallel converters supplying a single-winding motor.
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Figure 6. Two parallel converters supplying a double-winding motor.
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Figure 7. Propulsion system of a cruise vessel with two propellers.
B. Azipod® with synchronous motor
Azipod® is an azimuthal thruster, where the propulsion
motor and propeller are located outside the hull and can be
steered freely in any direction. Benefits of this solution are
low vibration and noise levels, high efficiency, excellent
steering capability, and flexibility in the design and layout of
the plant. The propulsion motor is a dual-stator synchronous
machine with brushless excitation system. Typical propulsion
power for a single Azipod® is around 20 MW in large cruise
ships.
The synchronous motor has two stator windings with 30
degree phase shift. The basic concept is similar to the motors
used with cycloconverter, but the motor is specifically
designed for VSI supply. Due to the pulsed voltage supply, the
stator insulation must withstand higher voltage stress and the
common mode voltages on the shaft must be mitigated.
The phase-shifted configuration with two separate stator
windings provides redundancy and fault tolerance, because the
motor can also operate with one stator winding. Due to the
winding layout, the stator systems reside in separate slots
providing isolation and low mutual coupling between the
systems. In addition, certain harmonic components are
cancelled in the air gap because of the phase shift between the
stator systems. This results in substantial reduction in the
torque ripple, noise, and also the motor losses [2], [3].
C. Frequency converters
Each motor is supplied by two independent frequency
converters in redundant configuration. Both converters have
their own rectifier and inverter units, intermediate circuits,
control boards, supply transformers, excitation units, cooling
systems and other auxiliary devices. They also run their
internal control systems independently, being only connected
through the outer control. The rectifier units are typically
passive type because of the efficiency, and there are
accordingly separate braking resistors for the emergency crash
stops.
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The frequency converters operate normally in master-
follower mode, where the master receives a speed reference
from the upper control and creates the torque reference for the
follower. In case of any fault in one of the converters, the
system will automatically continue with one converter as the
faulty converter is switched off. Because of electrical
isolation, service actions can be performed on one converter
while the other is still operating. When the converter is
switched back into operation, the system will continue with
the full available power without interruptions in the
propulsion.
V. EXAMPLE 2: LNG CARRIER
A. Overview of the propulsion system
Traditionally the LNG Carriers have been propelled by
steam-turbine propulsion system consisting of single fixed
pitch propeller, gear box, steam turbine and a dual boiler
system. The LNG Carriers are carrying liquid gas at a
temperature of -163oC in insulated cargo tanks. The
temperature is kept cold by the insulation level and natural
boiling. This means that a certain amount of the boil-of gas is
taken from the cargo tanks and used for powering the ship
propulsion system via the steam plant. Additional HFO has
been required as supplement to provide enough propulsion
power for the required service speed of 19,5knots.
The steam-turbine propulsion system provided the
required reliability and maintenance level for this type of
vessels. However, the efficiency of the propulsion plant is
much lower (approx. 30%) compared to combustion engine
propulsion systems (approx 45 to 50%). With the introduction
of Dual-Fuel four stroke combustion engines in the early
2000, new ways for more efficient propulsion system were
opened. Combined with electrical propulsion plant the Dual-
Fuel Electric Propulsion (DFEP) has become more or less
standard for newbuilding of LNG Carriers of the size less than
200 000 cbm. Since 2003, about 50 LNG carriers have been
delivered or ordered with electric propulsion.
Most of these ships have been ordered with a configuration
of single fixed pitch propeller powered by two electric motors
via a twin input/single output reduction gearbox, as shown in
Fig. 8. This configuration provides redundancy in the
electrical part, but using basically the same mechanical single
shaft-line configuration as for the traditional steam ships. A
few of the vessels have been ordered as twin shaft-line
propellers, however still with a reduction gearbox at each
shaft-line. This is due to arrangements and cost considerations
by the building yards, although the electrical system and
equipment is identical in both cases.
Typically four or five Dual Fuel engines are powering the
electrical plant, which consist of two 6,6kV main
switchboards and two 6,6kV cargo switchboards. The
propeller is powered via the electric drive system comprising
four propulsion transformers, two frequency converters and
two synchronous propulsion motors.
Besides the efficiency gain, which was the main
motivating factor for changing the system, also the other
known benefits of electric propulsion are present:

Figure 8. Propulsion system of an LNG carrier.
• High efficiency also in the lower power range, for
example when sailing at reduced speed.
• Redundancy in the electrical power, distribution and
propulsion plant. A minimum of two split on the
electrical side gives a reliability and availability at
least on the same level as the traditional steam turbine.
• Increased maneuverability and crash stop
performance. This is ensured by the excellent torque
characteristics of variable speed electric drive
systems.
B. Gearbox and synchronous motors
The LNG shipping industry is very familiar with using
gearbox solution in combination with steam turbines. Hence,
the use of a reduction gear box (twin input/single output) was
a natural choice, when electric propulsion was chosen for the
single propeller vessels. Also the initial cost and arrangement
solutions were better than compared to other possible
configurations, such as tandem motors etc. For the twin
propeller arrangements the use of gearbox was not the first
choice in the early stage but considering cost and arrangement
benefits this solution was also applied for this system.
This means that the motor and drive configuration is
practically the same for the both configurations. The
propulsion requirement for LNG Carriers is in the range of 25
to 30MW. In this power range, it is natural to have two
propulsion motors rated about 12 to 15MW each. This gives
automatically 2 x 50% total electric redundancy, which is a
minimum requirement for this type of vessels. Hence for any
single failure, at least 50% propeller torque would be available
from the electrical propulsion system.
The propulsion motors are of standard synchronous
design, which provides the highest efficiency and lowest
weight to power ratio at this power level among the available
designs today. The motor speed is around 675 rpm, which
allows the construction yards to use gear box with single stage
design. The motor has two stator windings, basically because
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of the power level that requires double inverter units in the
frequency converter. The double winding does not provide
any special design compared to single winding, only taking 6
phases out to the terminal box instead of 3. Hence, the motor
can be operated with a single winding in case of faults in the
power supply or in the other winding.
This provides additional redundancy on the motor side, as
75% of the total power/torque is available for certain faults
without increasing the complexity of the propulsion motor
fabrication and system design.
C. Frequency converters
In principle there is one frequency converter per
propulsion motor. However, each converter consists of several
input and output modules in order to match the required
propulsion power. This gives some possibility to implement a
certain level of redundancy without increasing the complexity
and cost. For these ships, each converter consists of double
rectifier modules and double inverter modules. The applied
redundancy is implemented in a way that it is possible to
operate the converter system in half power mode for the
following cases:
• One propulsion transformer or related circuit breaker
is out of operation.
• Failure in one rectifier module
• Single failure in one inverter module
In all these cases, the converter will trip and restart in half
power mode. For the failures on the input side, half power will
be available for the converter and operation can continue with
both motor windings. If the failure is on the output side, the
fault will be isolated from the motor by opening the related
output isolator, and the operation can continue with half motor
torque.
VI. CONCLUSION
State of the art in electric propulsion was presented from
the viewpoint of redundancy. Emphasis of the presentation
was on commercially successful solutions applied on
passenger and transportation vessels. After reviewing the basic
redundant configurations, examples of the propulsion systems
were presented for cruise ships and LNG carriers.
A typical propulsion system of a large cruise ship provides
redundancy in all components, from the engines to the
propellers. The azimuthal thrusters are powered by dual-stator
synchronous motors, which in turn are supplied by two
independent frequency converters in redundant configuration.
The system provides minimum 50% redundancy in terms of
available propulsion capacity against the most severe faults in
the system, and the most common single faults only cause
25% loss of the available capacity without even shutting down
the system in between.
The electric propulsion system of a single propeller LNG
carrier uses a gearbox for two medium-speed synchronous
motor drives. The motors have two stator windings, which are
supplied by frequency converters with several input and
output modules. The drive system from the power plant to the
gearbox provides 50% to 75% redundancy against faults,
although shutdown of one converter may be required for a
short period of time.
Both of the presented solutions provide high level of
redundancy and reliability for applications that require high
availability and safety. The solutions have been tailored to
meet the specific requirements in an economical manner, and
without notably increasing the system complexity.
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REFERENCES
[1] H. Burzanowska, P. Sario, C. Stulz, “Redundant Drive with Direct
Torque Control (DTC) and Dual-Star Synchronous Machine,
Simulations and Verifications,” EPE 2007 – 12th European Conference
on Power Electronics and Applications, Aalborg, Denmark, 2–5
September 2007.
[2] Khan K.S., Arshad W.M., Kanerva S., “On Performance Figures of
Multiphase Machines,” ICEM’08, Vilamoura, Portugal, 6–9 September
2008.
[3] Kanerva S., Toivanen O., Sario P., Arshad W.M., “Experimental Study
on Dual-Stator Synchronous Motor with Redundant Voltage Source
Inverter (VSI) Drive,” ICEM’08, Vilamoura, Portugal, 6–9 September
2008.