Browsing by Subject "Power Electronics"
Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Advance Three Phase Power Factor Correction Schemes for Utility Interface of Power Electronic Systems(2014-07-30) Albader, MesaadModern power electronic systems operate with different voltage and/or frequency rating such as Adjustable speed drive, Micro Grid, Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) and High Voltage DC Transmission Systems. To match power electronic systems with the mains supply, DC link converters are used. The first stage of the DC link converter is the AC/DC conversion (rectifier). The rectifier type utility interface has substantial harmonics result in poor power quality due to low power factor and high harmonic distortion. Power Factor Correction (PFC) schemes are effective methods to mitigate harmonics and address this issue. In this thesis, analyses of three approaches for high power density rectifiers are developed. In the first study, modular three phase boost rectifiers operating in DCM are coupled in order to increase the power density. Major drawback of this rectifier is the high currents ripple in both the source and the DC link sides which require large EMI filter size -could be larger than the rectifier component size- and large DC filter capacitor size. This thesis proposes coupling modular three phase boost DCM rectifiers, the currents in both source and DC link sides are interleaved and consequently the currents ripple dramatically decreased results in small component size of the EMI filter and the DC filter capacitor leading to high power density rectification. Also, optimization of the number of the rectifier modules to achieve maximum power density is presented. Moreover, the switching function of each rectifier employs harmonic injection technique to reduce the low order harmonics. And, the DC output voltage is varied with the load power such that the operation is at the boundary between CCM and DCM to achieve maximum power density tracking. In the Second study, a resonant three phase single switch PFC is presented to overcome the high 5th and 7th order current harmonics drawback in the conventional single switch three phase PFC circuits. The input current has low THD for each individual low order harmonics with high current ripple at the switching frequency. Interleaving the input current by coupling modular rectifiers is also presented to reduce the input current ripple. System equations and modes of operation is analyzed and derived to design the circuit parameters, switching frequency and duty ratio for the desired output voltage and load power. In the Third study, an advancement of existing modular T-connected single phase PFCs by means of replacing the low frequency transformer with medium frequency electronic phase shifter to reduce the size and weight of the system. The approach has higher power density compared with the Y, delta and T-connected single phase PFC modules. The study examines the 3 to 2 phase conversion, system harmonics, switching technique for the AC chopper and the power flow of the system.Item Automated Synthesis Tool for Design Optimization of Power Electronic Converters(2013-01-09) Mirjafari, MehranDesigners of power electronic converters usually face the challenge of having multiple performance indices that must be simultaneously optimized, such as maximizing efficiency while minimizing mass or maximizing reliability while minimizing cost. The experienced engineer applies his or her judgment to reduce the number of possible designs to a manageable number of feasible designs for which to prototype and test; thus, the optimality of this design-space reduction is directly dependent upon the experience, and expertise and biases of the designer. The practitioner is familiar with tradeoff analysis; however, simple tradeoff studies can become difficult or even intractable if multiple metrics are considered. Hence a scientific and systematic approach is needed. In this dissertation, a multi-objective optimization framework is presented as a design tool. Optimization of power electronic converters is certainly not a new subject. However, when limited to off-the-shelf components, the resulting system is really optimized only over the set of commercially available components, which may represent only a subset of the design space; the reachable space limited by available components and technologies. While this approach is suited to cost-reduce an existing design, it offers little insight into design possibilities for greenfield projects. Instead, this work uses the Technology Characterization Methods (TCM) to broaden the reachable design space by considering fundamental component attributes. The result is the specification for the components that create the optimal design rather than an evaluation of an apriori selected set of candidate components. A unique outcome of this approach is that new technology development vectors may emerge to develop optimized components for the optimized power converter. The approach presented in this work uses a mathematical descriptive language to abstract the characteristics and attributes of the components used in a power electronic converter in a way suitable for multi-objective and constrained optimization methods. This dissertation will use Technology Characterization Methods (TCM) to bridge the gap between high-level performance attributes and low-level design attributes where direct relationship between these two does not currently exist. The loss and size models for inductors, capacitors, IGBTs, MOSFETs and heat sinks will be used to form objective functions for the multi-objective optimization problem. A single phase IGBT-based inverter is optimized for efficiency and volume based on the component models derived using TCM. Comparing the obtained designs to a design, which can be made from commercial off-the-shelf components, shows that converter design can be optimized beyond what is possible from using only off-the-shelf components. A module-integrated photovoltaic inverter is also optimized for efficiency, volume and reliability. An actual converter is constructed using commercial off-the-shelf components. The converter design is chosen as close as possible to a point obtained by optimization. Experimental results show that the converter modeling is accurate. A new approach for evaluation of efficiency in photovoltaic converter is also proposed and the front-end portion of a photovoltaic converter is optimized for this efficiency, as well as reliability and volume.Item Design considerations for DC-DC converters in fuel cell systems(2009-05-15) Palma Fanjul, Leonardo ManuelRapidly rising fossil fuel costs along with increased environmental awareness has encouraged the development of alternative energy sources. Such sources include fuel cells, wind, solar and ocean tide power. Among them, fuel cells have received increased interest in the recent years. This is mainly due to their high efficiency, modularity, and simple construction. However, due to their low output voltage and wide variation from no load to full load, a power electronics converter is required to interface the fuel cell with its loads. This dissertation focuses on developing a set of considerations that will assist designers of the power electronics converter in the design and optimization of the system. These design considerations are obtained analytically and verified experimentally and allow obtaining an efficient and stable fuel cell ? power converter system. In addition to the design guidelines this dissertation presents new power converter topologies that do not require the use of transformers to achieve a large voltage gain. Further a new modular fuel cell power converter system that divides the fuel cell stack to optimize power generation is proposed. It is shown by means of mathematical analysis and experimental prototypes that the proposed solutions contribute to the reduction of size and cost of the power converter as well to increase the efficiency of the system.Item Development and application of an advanced switched reluctance generator drive(2009-05-15) Asadi, PeymanThis dissertation contains the results of research conducted on the design and control characterization of a Switched Reluctance Generator (SRG) for maximum output power. The SRG is an attractive solution to the increasing worldwide demand of electrical energy. It is low cost with a rugged structure, operates with high efficiency over a wide speed range, and is fault tolerant. In many applications, size and weight are the main criteria in selecting the generator. Hence, in design and control of the generator, system designers always strive for increasing power density, or in other words, maximizing the output power for a given size. Despite the extensive research on the motoring operation of the Switched Reluctance Machine, only a few publications have investigated the generating mode of operation of this machine. Results and algorithms from this research can be referenced for better utilizing the SRG in many applications. As the first stage to output power maximization, design parameters and control variables affecting the average output power of the SRG are identified through a systematic approach. The optimal values for maximizing the output power are found through an analytical approach and iterative simulations. The results are then verified experimentally. After finding the optimal values for control variables, a controller is designed. This controller is model dependent. If the model used for design is not accurate or the machine parameters are deviated from the designed values, the machine will not generate the maximum output power. Therefore, a self-tuning algorithm, based on a local search method, is proposed and experimentally tested. It works effectively and does not need extra hardware or rigorous calculations. The attempts to benefit from the SRG may look tantalizing, but it poses a challenge as well. Output power maximization can lead to an oversized SRG converter and its output filter, which will reduce the overall power density of the motor drive. The last piece of this dissertation analyzes the effect of a commutation algorithm on the output filter, reducing its size with active control of phase currents, and proposing a novel control algorithm that was investigated through experiments over all of the speed range.Item Investigation of Multi-Frequency Power Transmission and System(2012-10-19) Barazarte Conte, RonaldThis dissertation presents a new power system transmission concept based on frequency selectivity named Multi-Frequency Power System (MFPS). This system allows for selective power transmission among terminals in an interconnected system, and is enabled by power electronic technology. The dissertation starts with a presentation of some of the challenges faced by modern power systems, and includes a description of various power system technologies developed in an attempt to solve them. Then, our proposed solution is presented as an alternative to electric power transmission, and the fundamental concepts are explained. A version of the MFPS is developed, which has relevance to the problem of renewable sources integration. This AC DC Power System is further explored, and the topology of the system and the converters is presented, as well as the control techniques used in its operation. The dissertation also presents a performance study of the AC DC system, which was done in Simulink, and it demonstrates the robustness of the system under various dynamic and fault conditions. Finally, a summary of the work is given in the last section of the dissertation. The contributions of our research to the state of technology are discussed. These contributions include: the demonstration of power selectivity based on frequency identification, the development of a novel transmission system and a AC DC integrated implementation of it, and the development of a control and converter that enables selective power transmission. Also, some of the most relevant future research initiatives related to this topic are presented.Item Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Port DC-DC Current Source Converter for High Power Applications(2011-08-08) Yancey, Billy FerrallWith the ever-growing developments of sustainable energy sources such as fuel cells, photovoltaics, and other distributed generation, the need for a reliable power conversion system that interfaces these sources is in great demand. In order to provide the highest degree of flexibility in a truly distributed network, it is desired to not only interface multiple sources, but to also interface multiple loads. Modern multi-port converters use high frequency transformers to deliver the different power levels, which add to the size and complexity of the system. The different topological variations of the proposed multi-port dc-dc converter have the potential to solve these problems. This thesis proposes a unique dc-dc current source converter for multi-port power conversion. The presented work will explain the proposed multi-port dc-dc converter's operating characteristics, control algorithms, design and a proof of application. The converter will be evaluated to determine its functionality and applicability. Also, it will be shown that our converter has advantages over modern multi-port converters in its ease of scalability from kW to MW, low cost, high power density and adaption to countless combinations of multiple sources. Finally we will present modeling and simulation of the proposed converter using the PSIM software. This research will show that this new converter topology is unstable without feedback control. If the operating point is moved, one of the source ports of the multiport converter becomes unstable and dies off supplying very little or no power to the load while the remaining source port supplies all of the power the load demands. In order to prevent this and add stability to the converter a simple yet unique control method was implemented. This control method allowed for the load power demanded to be shared between the two sources as well as regulate the load voltage about its desired value.Item Power Conditioning for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles(2014-07-25) Farhangi, BabakPlugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) propel from the electric energy stored in the batteries and gasoline stored in the fuel tank. PHEVs and Electric Vehicles (EVs) connect to external sources to charge the batteries. Moreover, PHEVs can supply stand-alone loads and inject power to the grid. Such functionalities have been defined as Vehicle to House (V2H) and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) and promoted by national and international policies such as the Energy Independency and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, enacted by the United States Congress. Exchanging energy between the vehicle and external sources is performed by the vehicular power conditioner (VPC). This dissertation proposes a design procedure for VPCs. The research mainly focuses on the VPC?s power converter design. A conceptual design approach is proposed to select the proper power converter topologies according to the determined power conditioning needs. The related standards and previous works are reviewed to determine the design guidelines. A set of specifications are introduced for a three port onboard VPC. This VPC is a reference for designs, simulations and experiments. The reference VPC is implemented with a modular three-stage isolated topology that utilizes voltage source ac-dc converters as the power conditioning stages. The multiport extension of this topology extends the vehicular power conditioning concept into a novel vehicular integrated power system. All the vehicle?s electric sources and loads can exchange energy in the described multiport integrated power system. Novel design methods are proposed for the power converter, filters, magnetic circuit and control of the VPC. The practical challenges of the VPC development are analyzed. The major contributions of this dissertation include a pioneer grounding scheme for VPC considering the vehicular standards, a novel modeling approach for the Snubberless Dual Active Bridge (DAB) commutation, an innovative integrated ac inductor, and a new experimental modeling method for multiwinding transformers. The contributions are supported by analyses, simulations, and practical experiments.