Transferring electrical power for subsea applications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9553522-B2
Application number	US-201414322502-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 2, 2014
Priority date	Jul 3, 2013
Publication date	Jan 24, 2017
Grant date	Jan 24, 2017

Abstract

A method for transferring electrical power in the sea includes generating AC power, guiding, at least partially underwater, the AC power through a cable from a first end of the cable to a second end of the cable, and changing a frequency of the AC power guided through the cable based on a value of power consumption of a load connected to the second end of the cable.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for transferring electrical power in the sea, the method comprising:
generating AC power;
guiding, at least partially underwater, the AC power through a cable from a first end of the cable to a second end of the cable; and
changing a frequency of the AC power guided through the cable based on a value of power consumption of a load connected to the second end of the cable, the changing comprising changing the frequency from a previous frequency at a previous value of power consumption to a changed frequency at a changed value of power consumption, wherein the previous frequency is selected based on a length of the cable between the first end of the cable and the second end of the cable,
wherein the changed frequency is based on calculating a plurality of voltage ratios between a first voltage and a second voltage based on different test frequencies and based on at least the previous value of power consumption and the changed value of power consumption, and
wherein the first voltage represents a voltage of the generated AC power or a voltage at the first end of the cable, and the second voltage represents or is indicative of a potential difference between the second end of the cable and a reference potential.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the frequency of the AC power is changed by a topside converter located above the sea level, and wherein the load is a subsea load located below the sea level.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the previous value is smaller than the changed value, and wherein the previous frequency is greater than the changed frequency.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
changing the first voltage based on the power consumption of the load connected to the second end of the cable.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first voltage is changed from a previous first voltage at the previous value of power consumption to a changed first voltage at the changed value of power consumption, wherein the previous first voltage is smaller than the changed first voltage.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein changing the frequency comprises:
selecting the previous frequency and the changed frequency such that the respective calculated voltage ratio changes, from a situation of the previous value of power consumption to the changed value of power consumption, less than a ratio threshold.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein an absolute value of the ratio threshold is 0.5.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
calculating a plurality of input currents for a plurality of test frequencies, the input current representing a respective current of the generated AC power supplied to the first end of the cable,
for each test frequency, considering at least the previous value of power consumption of the load, wherein the previous frequency, the changed frequency, or the previous frequency and the changed frequency, are selected from the plurality of test frequencies for which the input current is within a range according to a rating of the cable.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein an absolute value of the ratio threshold is 0.4.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein an absolute value of the ratio threshold is 0.3.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein an absolute value of the ratio threshold is 0.2.

12. The method of claim 4 , further comprising,
in case of a trip of a load connected to the second end of the cable, regulating down the first voltage to damp out transients.

13. The method of claim 4 , wherein the previous first voltage is predetermined and the second voltage is calculated for a given power consumption of the load based on a model of the cable, the model including a plurality of PI elements, wherein the second end of the cable is between 1000 m and 4000 m below sea level, wherein the cable has a length between 100 km and 1000 km, and wherein the voltage at the cable is between 80 kV and 100 kV.

14. The method of claim 4 , wherein changing the first voltage comprises:
selecting the previous first voltage and the changed first voltage such that the respective calculated voltage ratio changes, from a situation of the previous value to the changed value of power consumption, less than a ratio threshold.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
calculating a plurality of input currents for a plurality of test frequencies, the input current representing a respective current of the generated AC power supplied to the first end of the cable,
for each test frequency, considering at least the previous value of power consumption of the load, wherein the previous frequency, the changed frequency, or the previous frequency and the changed frequency, are selected from the plurality of test frequencies for which the input current is within a range according to a rating of the cable.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transforming a voltage of the AC power to a higher voltage and supplying the transformed voltage to the first end of the cable; and
transforming the AC power guided through the cable at the second end of the cable and supplying the transformed AC power to a load.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the previous frequency of the AC power is between 10 Hz and 300 Hz.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transforming a voltage of the AC power to a higher voltage and supplying the transformed voltage to the first end of the cable.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transforming the AC power guided through the cable at the second end of the cable and supplying the transformed AC power to a load.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the previous frequency of the AC power is between 50 Hz and 150 Hz, and wherein between 80% and 100% of the length of the cable is disposed underwater.

21. A method for transferring electrical power in the sea, the method comprising:
generating AC power;
guiding, at least partially underwater, the AC power through a cable from a first end of the cable to a second end of the cable; and
changing a frequency of the AC power guided through the cable based on a value of power consumption of a load connected to the second end of the cable, the changing comprising changing the frequency from a previous frequency at a previous value of power consumption to a changed frequency at a changed value of power consumption, wherein the previous frequency is selected based on a length of the cable between the first end of the cable and the second end of the cable,
wherein a frequency between resonance peaks according to a calculated voltage ratio curve is selected as the previous frequency.

22. An arrangement for transferring electrical power in the sea, the arrangement comprising:
a power supply for generating AC power;
a cable for guiding, at least partially underwater, the AC power through the cable from a first end of the cable to a second end of the cable; and
a converter for changing a frequency of the AC power guided through the cable based on a value of power consumption of a load connected to the second end of the cable, the converter being configured to change the frequency from a previous frequency at a previous value of power consumption to a changed frequency at a changed value of power consumption, wherein the previous frequency is selected based on a length of the cable between the first end of the cable and the second end of the cable,
wherein the changed frequency is based on calculating a plurality of voltage ratios be

Assignees

• Boe Ove
• Haugan Espen
• Siemens Ag

Inventors

• Boe Ove
• Haugan Espen

Classifications

• H02J3/18 Primary

  Arrangements for adjusting, eliminating or compensating reactive power in networks · CPC title

• H02M5/12

  for conversion of voltage or current amplitude only · CPC title

• H02M5/27

  for conversion of frequency · CPC title

• H02J3/34

  Arrangements for transfer of electric power between networks of substantially different frequency · CPC title

• H02M5/16 Primary

  for conversion of frequency · CPC title