Due to the continuously increasing demand on switched-mode power converters (i.e., dc–dc, dc–ac, ac–dc, and ac–ac) that can achieve high efficiency at high switching frequency, soft-switching techniques have received much attention in the area of power converter applications over recent years. This article provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art soft-switching techniques used to achieve the zero-voltage switching and zero-current switching supplied by power switching devices. First, the auxiliary-circuit-based and nonauxiliary-circuit-based techniques that perform soft switching are systematically classified according to power converter. Next, soft-switching techniques for each power converter are comprehensively classified and reviewed in detail. Unlike the existing review papers that only categorize the soft-switching techniques used in dc choppers and inverters, this article offers further helpful categorization for all types of power converters. Further, it provides the merits, demerits, and suitable applications for each soft-switching technique. Finally, it suggests future research issues for soft-switching techniques in power converters.

A State-of-the-Art Review on Soft-Switching Techniques for DC–DC, DC–AC, AC–DC, and AC–AC Power Converters

In the current scenario, power electronic device-based induction heating (IH) technologies are widely employed in domestic cooking, industrial melting and medical applications. These IH applications are designed using different converter topologies, modulation and control techniques. This review article mainly focuses on the modelling of half-bridge series resonant inverter, electrical and thermal model of IH load. This review also analyses the performance of the converter topologies based on the power conversion stages, switching frequency, power rating, power density, control range, modulation techniques, load handling capacity and efficiency. Moreover, this paper provides insight into the future of IH application, with respect to the adaptation of wide band-gap power semiconductor materials, multi-output topologies, variable-frequency control schemes with minimum losses and filters designed to improve source-side power factor. With the identified research gap in the literature, an attempt has also been made to develop a new hybrid modulation technique, to achieve a wide range of power control with high efficiency. A 100 W full-bridge inverter prototype is realised both in simulation and hardware, with various modulation schemes using a PIC16F877A microcontroller. The results are compared with existing techniques and the comparisons reveal that the proposed scheme is highly viable and effective for the rendered applications.

Induction Heating in Domestic Cooking and Industrial Melting Applications: A Systematic Review on Modelling, Converter Topologies and Control Schemes

Operation control, energy management, and power quality enhancement for a cluster of isolated microgrids

Assessment of charging technologies, infrastructure and charging station recommendation schemes of electric vehicles: A review

This paper proposes an economical-environmental-technical dispatch (EETD) model for adjusted IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 57-bus systems, including thermal and high penetration of renewable energy sources (RESs). Total fuel costs, emissions level, power losses, voltage deviation, and voltage stability are the five objectives addressed in this work. A large set of equality and inequality constraints are included in the problem formulation. Metaheuristic optimization approaches-Coronavirus herd immunity optimizer (CHIO), salp swarm algorithm (SSA), and ant lion optimizer (ALO)-are used to identify the optimal cost of generation, emissions, voltage deviation, losses, and voltage stability solutions. Several scenarios are reviewed to validate the problem-solving competency of the defined optimisation model. Numerous scenarios are studied to verify the proficiency of the optimisation model in problem-solving. The multi-objective problem is converted into a normalized one-objective issue through a weighted sum-approach utilizing the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Additionally, the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is presented for identifying the optimal value of Pareto alternatives. Ultimately, the results achieved reveal that the proposed CHIO performs the other approaches in the EETD problem-solving.

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Economical-Environmental-Technical Operation of Power Networks with High Penetration of Renewable Energy Systems Using Multi-Objective Coronavirus Herd Immunity Algorithm

In the modern world, the systems getting smarter leads to a rapid increase in the usage of electricity, thereby increasing the load on the grids. The utilities are forced to meet the demand and are under stress during the peak hours due to the shortfall in power generation. The abovesaid deficit signifies the explicit need for a strategy that reduces the peak demand by rescheduling the load pattern, as well as reduces the stress on grids. Demand-side management (DSM) uses several algorithms for proper reallocation of loads, collectively known as demand response (DR). DR strategies effectively culminate in monetary benefits for customers and the utilities using dynamic pricing (DP) and incentive-based procedures. This study attempts to analyze the DP schemes of DR such as time-of-use (TOU) and real-time pricing (RTP) for different load scenarios in a smart grid (SG). Centralized and distributed algorithms are used to analyze the price-based DR problem using RTP. A techno-economic analysis was performed by using particle swarm optimization (PSO) and the strawberry (SBY) optimization algorithms used in handling the DP strategies with 109, 1992, and 7807 controllable industrial, commercial, and residential loads. A better optimization algorithm to go along with the pricing scheme to reduce the peak-to-average ratio (PAR) was identified. The results demonstrate that centralized RTP using the SBY optimization algorithm helped to achieve 14.80%, 21.7%, and 21.84% in cost reduction and outperformed the PSO.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Demand Response Pricing Strategies in a Smart Grid Environment Using Particle Swarm Optimization and the Strawberry Optimization Algorithm

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/2050-7038.12554

A comprehensive overview of power converter topologies for induction heating applications

Energy management of a microgrid using demand response strategy including renewable uncertainties

In recent years, induction heating (IH) applications aided by electronic power control have gained significance. Particularly, for cooking applications, an appropriate control technique is required to feed power from a single source to multiple loads with minimum switching losses. Additionally, when multiple loads are used, it requires independent control and operation for each of the loads. The main idea of this work is to develop a single-stage AC-AC converter topology to feed power to multiple loads independently with a single source, with a reduced number of switching devices and with minimum switching losses. The proposed topology uses a frequency bifurcation concept to feed power to multiple loads by placing the transmitting coil and work coil at a distance of 3 cm. The source is resonated at a 25 kHz switching frequency, with the designed bifurcated frequencies of 20 kHz and 33 kHz. The resonant capacitors are appropriately chosen to operate at those frequencies. For real-time applications, simultaneous and independent power control are inevitable in multi load-fed IH applications. This is achieved through a pulse density modulation scheme with minimum switching losses. The simulation of the proposed system is performed in MATLAB/Simulink, and also the 1 kW system is validated using a PIC16F877A microcontroller. The real-time thermal variation in the load is also recorded using a FLIR thermal imager. The experimental and simulation results are observed, and the obtained efficiency of the system is plotted for various duty cycles of pulse density modulation control.

Suchitra Dayalan

Papers

A Comprehensive Analysis of Demand Response Pricing Strategies in a Smart Grid Environment Using Particle Swarm Optimization and the Strawberry Optimization Algorithm

A comprehensive overview of power converter topologies for induction heating applications

Energy management of a microgrid using demand response strategy including renewable uncertainties

Single Source Multi-Frequency AC-AC Converter for Induction Cooking Applications

Demand Side Load Management by Using Priority Based Load Shedding Algorithm with and without Renewable Energy Generation