Showing papers by "Burak Ozpineci published in 2008"

AC vs. DC distribution: A loss comparison

Abstract: Environmentally friendly technologies such as photovoltaics and fuel cells are DC sources. In the current power infrastructure, this necessitates converting the power supplied by these devices into AC for transmission and distribution which adds losses and complexity. The amount of DC loads in our buildings is ever-increasing with computers, monitors, and other electronics entering our workplaces and homes. This forces another conversion of the AC power to DC, adding further losses and complexity. This paper proposes the use of a DC distribution system. In this study, an equivalent AC and DC distribution system are compared in terms of efficiency.

Impact of SiC Devices on Hybrid Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Abstract: The application of SiC devices (as battery interface, motor controller, etc.) in a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) will benefit from their high-temperature capability, high-power density, and high efficiency. Moreover, the light weight and small volume will affect the whole power train system in a HEV, and thus performance and cost. In this work, the performance of HEVs is analyzed using PSAT (powertrain system analysis tool, vehicle simulation software). Power loss models of a SiC inverter are incorporated into PSAT powertrain models in order to study the impact of SiC devices on HEVs. Two types of HEVs are considered. One is the 2004 Toyota Prius HEV, the other is a plug-in HEV (PHEV), whose powertrain architecture is the same as that of the 2004 Toyota Prius HEV. The vehicle-level benefits from the introduction of the SiC devices are demonstrated by simulations. Not only the power loss in the motor controller but also those in other components in the vehicle powertrain are reduced. As a result, the system efficiency is improved and the vehicles consume less energy and emit less harmful gases. It also makes it possible to improve the system compactness with simplified thermal management system. For the PHEV, the benefits are more distinct. Especially, the size of battery bank can be reduced for optimum design.

Reduced Switching-Frequency Active Harmonic Elimination for Multilevel Converters

Abstract: This paper presents a reduced switching-frequency active-harmonic-elimination method (RAHEM) to eliminate any number of specific order harmonics of multilevel converters. First, resultant theory is applied to transcendental equations to eliminate low-order harmonics and to determine switching angles for a fundamental frequency-switching scheme. Next, based on the number of harmonics to be eliminated, Newton climbing method is applied to transcendental equations to eliminate high-order harmonics and to determine switching angles for the fundamental frequency-switching scheme. Third, the magnitudes and phases of the residual lower order harmonics are computed, generated, and subtracted from the original voltage waveform to eliminate these low-order harmonics. Compared to the active-harmonic-elimination method (AHEM), which generates square waves to cancel high-order harmonics, RAHEM has lower switching frequency. The simulation results show that the method can effectively eliminate all the specific harmonics, and a low total harmonic distortion (THD) near sine wave is produced. An experimental 11-level H-bridge multilevel converter with a field-programmable gate-array controller is employed to experimentally validate the method. The experimental results show that RAHEM does effectively eliminate any number of specific harmonics, and the output voltage waveform has low switching frequency and low THD.

Hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter with PWM control method

Abstract: A hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter with PWM method is presented in this paper. It consists of a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and H-bridge in series with each inverter leg. It can use only a single DC power source to supply a standard 3-leg inverter along with three full H-bridges supplied by capacitors. Multilevel carrier- based PWM method is used to produce a five-level phase voltage. The inverter can be used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV). A simulation model based on PSIM and MATLAB/SIMULINK is developed. An experimental 5 kW prototype inverter is built and tested. The results experimentally validate the proposed PWM hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter.

AC vs. DC distribution: Maximum transfer capability

Abstract: Many studies comparing AC and DC systems have focused on efficiency, stability, and controllability, but have not compared the maximum transfer capability In this paper, the maximum transfer capability of an AC system and two DC systems, one with two lines and another with three, is determined through the continuation power flow method and compared The results reveal that significant gains can be achieved by moving to a DC system with three lines

Fundamental frequency modulated multilevel inverter for three-phase stand-alone photovoltaic application

Abstract: This paper presents a fundamental frequency modulated multilevel inverter scheme for use with a three-phase stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) system. The system consists of four series connected PV arrays, a five-level diode-clamped multilevel inverter (DCMLI) generating fundamental modulation staircase three-phase output voltages, and a three-phase induction motor as the load. In order to validate the proposed concept, simulation studies and experimental measurements, done using a small-scale laboratory prototype, are also presented. The results show the feasibility of the fundamental switching application in three- phase stand-alone PV power systems.

Comparison of fundamental frequency and PWM methods applied on a hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter

Abstract: This paper presents a hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter for electric vehicles (EV) / hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and utility interface applications. The inverter consists of a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and H-bridge in series with each inverter leg. It can use only a single DC power source to supply a standard 3-leg inverter along with three full H-bridges supplied by capacitors or batteries. Both fundamental frequency and high switching frequency PWM methods are used for the hybrid multilevel inverter. An experimental 5 kW prototype inverter is built and tested. The above two switching control methods are validated and compared experimentally.

Real-time selective harmonic minimization in cascaded multilevel inverters with varying DC sources

Abstract: A new approach for selective harmonic elimination in a 7-level cascaded multilevel inverter with separate DC sources will be presented. As opposed to previous research in this area, the DC sources feeding the multilevel inverter are considered to be varying in time. This method uses genetic algorithms to obtain switching angles offline for different DC source values and uses neural networks to determine the switching angles that correspond to the real-time values of the DC sources. This implies that each one of the DC sources of this topology can have different values at any time but the output fundamental voltage will stay constant and the harmonic will still meet the specifications. The paper gives details on the approach used, together with simulation and experimental results.

Hybrid multilevel inverter with single DC source

Abstract: A hybrid multilevel inverter model based on PSIM and MATLAB/SIMULINK is presented in this paper. It consists of a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and H-bridge in series with each inverter leg. The inverter can be used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV). The co-simulation model is employed in order to take full advantage of different power electronics simulation software. Specifically, the main circuit model is developed using PSIM, and the control model is developed using MATLAB/SIMULINK. An experimental 5-level hybrid inverter is tested, which is controlled by multilevel carrier-based PWM signals. The simulation yields a good estimation for the test results of the inverter.

SiC-Based Power Converters

Abstract: The advantages that silicon carbide (SiC) based power electronic devices offer are being realized by using prototype or experimental devices in many different power applications ranging from medium voltage to high voltage or for high temperature or high switching frequency applications. The main advantages of using SiC-based devices are reduced thermal management requirements and smaller passive components which result in higher power density. An overview of the SiC research effort at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and The University of Tennessee (UT) is presented in this paper.