Improving Electric Power Stability and Efficiency Using an Integrated Control System for Refrigerated Containers

Abstract

In this study, a method is proposed to minimize electrical load fluctuations and improve the efficiency of engine generator operation by managing refrigerated ship containers through an integrated control system. The proposed system actively controls the electrical load by assigning operational priorities based on cargo temperature deviations to existing independently operated refrigerated containers, ensuring that they operate only within the available power of the engine generator. As a result, the average specific fuel oil consumption can be reduced. A 70 h simulation of the refrigerated containers, a power system, and an integrated control system demonstrated in MATLAB/Simulink 2021b that the magnitude of electrical load fluctuations decreases from 37.6% to 9.6% of the engine generator’s rated power compared with the conventional operation of refrigerated containers. In addition, a 1.88% fuel saving is realized.