Medium Voltage Direct Current (MVDC) Disconnect Switch Design for Shipboard In-Line Distribution Protection

Hepburn and Sons LLC proposes to design a family of medium voltage direct current (MVDC) disconnect switches, while teaming with the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM). Shipboard MVDC distribution does not exist in the U.S. Navy fleet, but there is significant advantage. The protection of such a system is of critical importance to the feasibility of the system design as well as to the safety of personnel. The team proposes an innovative virtual prototyping process approach to developing the appropriate DC disconnect design to meet the U.S. Navy’s needs. Virtual prototyping is a modeling and simulation approach while incorporating multi-objective design optimization. Existing Navy protection systems can detect and locate single line to ground faults on a given phase, but a second ground fault on a separate phase causes a line-to-line fault which trips breakers and removes power from downstream loads. Isolating an initial single ground fault can mitigate the risk of double faults and loss of power to mission critical equipment.