Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP)

VDM25000 / AIM Solution

Converteam's current Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) solution consists of a multi-phase Advanced Induction Motor (AIM) supplied from its complementary Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) (VDM25000) converter. The key features of this solution include:

• high power density
• high efficiency
• direct connection to medium voltages (no transformers)
• low noise & vibration
• water cooling
• high shock withstand
• redundancy
• low through-life cost and maintenance.

This type of system, which has had the advantage of exhaustive testing at Land-Based Test  Sites in both the UK & the USA,  is now at sea in the Royal Navy's Type 45 Destroyers, is being installed in the US Navy's DDG 1000 class and is being built for the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy.

PWM MV7000 Converter & Induction Motor Solution

Recent developments in IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) components have opened up new opportunities in power conversion. The use of press-pack IGBTs has helped design more efficient converters. Converteam has adopted this press-pack technology for the MV7000 medium voltage PWM converters. In combination with induction motors, these converters significantly enhance electric propulsion in terms of efficiency, ease of maintenance and low noise & vibration levels. Elimination of harmonic filtering and a powerful encoderless controller further optimizes the total power & propulsion plant.

For lower powered applications, Converteam's MV3000 range of PWM converters can be applied in transformer fed or active front end configurations with compact induction motors to give power dense, low noise solutions. Such solutions can also be applied to hybrid applications.

Podded Solutions

POD propulsion offers significant advantages in efficiency, reliability, space-saving since the system has been designed to require a minimum number of mechanical parts and provide excellent manoeuvrability which is essential for navigation in  confined waters, and during the the embarkation / disembarkation phases. Due to these advantages, the French Navy has selected this solution for its "Bâtiments de Projection et de Commandement" vessels: the Mistral and Tonnerre LHDs. A third ship of this class has recently been ordered.
A new POD solution is being designed to integrate the state-of-the-art development in power and control electronics and hydrodynamics to offer customers and optimal high-performance pod system.

SD7000 Solution: Mature and Proven Technology

An extensive range of ship types, in particular cruise ships, chemical tankers, auxiliary ships and research vessels bear out the efficiency of the synchronous drive solution. The combination of synchronous motors and synchroconverters has been widely adopted as illustrated by several references accumulated over many years. This solution is very well adapted to ships with high power requirements with twin shafts or single shaft tandem motors arrangements.

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