Engineering Commons^™

Improving The Power Efficiency Of Woodward’S High-Power Inverter (Hpi) Using Algorithmic Part Selection., Jaron Holder, Ali Al Gazwi, John Childers, Jose Soublett

Honors Capstones

Woodward Inc. is a secondary aerospace manufacturer based in the USA that specializes in aircraft power and control systems. This senior design project was concerned with a power systems platform currently in development by Woodward, the High-Power Inverter (HPI) system. In this report, the senior design group from Northern Illinois University (NIU) demonstrated the creation of an algorithmic part selection process to choose more power-efficient electrical components, the prototyping using MATLAB Simulink, and the practical testing that showed an increase of 7% in the power efficiency of the HPI system.

Dc To Ac Inverter For A Microgrid-Inspired Power Distribution Architecture For Electric Vehicles, Bryan A. Carrillo Martinez, Eli Blacklock, Paul A. Samson, William S. Holt-Hillis

Electrical Engineering

This project builds upon the prototyping of a microgrid-inspired power distribution architecture for electric vehicles (EVs). The efficacy of this prototype aims to inform a full-scale power distribution system that charges an EV battery, supports the electric grid with important ancillary services, performs peer-to-peer EV charging, and works in conjunction with other AC and DC sources and loads. The scope of this report focuses specifically on the design, construction, and testing of the DC/AC inverter. Future development of this distribution architecture will incorporate synchronous generators, a battery management system, and an Arduino/Raspberry Pi-based communication system to fully simulate an electric …

Design Of Hybrid Inverters Using Wideband Gap Semiconductors For Microgrid Application, Luca Gacy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the world becomes more reliant on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, the need for high efficiency high power inverters connected to homes is more relevant than ever. Connecting these renewable energy sources (RES) coupled with an energy storage system (ESS) to the grid through a hybrid inverter, with the highest efficiency and grid stability, is quickly becoming a necessity for the near future. This thesis explores the integration of wide band gap semiconductors for the power stage in these systems, along with the analysis of hybrid inverter topologies and structures. The goal of this thesis …

Controller Platform Design And Demonstration For An Electric Aircraft Propulsion Driv, Rosten Sweeting

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the growth in the aerospace industry there has been a trend to optimize the performance of an aircraft by reducing fuel consumption and operational cost. Recent advancements in the field of power electronics have pushed towards the concepts of hybrid electric aircraft also known as more electrical aircrafts. In this work, a custom controller board for an electric aircraft propulsion drive was designed to drive a permanent magnet synchronous motor. Design of the controller board required knowledge of the topology selection and power module selections. Simulations of the system were performed using MATLAB/Simulink to analyze the overall performance of …

Improvement Of Stability Of A Grid-Connected Inverter With An Lcl Filter By Robust Strong Active Damping And Model Predictive Control, Seungyong Lee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses development and implementation of robust control methods for a three-phase grid-connected voltage source inverter (VSI) accompanied by an inductive-capacitive-inductive (LCL) filter. A challenge of current control for the VSI is LCL filter resonance near to the control stability boundary, which interacts with the inverter control switching actions and creates the possibility of instability. In general, active damping is needed to stabilize the system and ensure robust performance in steady-state and dynamic responses. While many active damping methods have been proposed to resolve this issue, capacitor-current-feedback active damping has been most widely used for its simple implementation.

There …

Performance And Economics Of Solar Inverters And Module Level Power Electronics In A 1 Mw Photovoltaic System, Maxwell Criswell

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Photovoltaic solar panels convert sunlight to electricity in the form of direct current; therefore, a necessary component of every photovoltaic system is an inverter to convert the electricity to usable alternating current. There are various commercially available inverter technologies manufactured today such as microinverters, string inverters, and central inverters, as well as module level power electronic devices such as DC optimizers that are capable of improving system performance in string and central inverter systems. This thesis compares the performance and economics of five different inverter and module level power electronic systems through model simulation using Helioscope software. The five alternatives …

Three-Phase Pulse Width Modulated Ac/Dc Rectifier And Dc/Ac Inverter, Carmen Ngo

Honors Theses

Electric vehicles use inverter and rectifier circuits in order to convert power from one type to another. They run on direct current batteries, but their motors can run on direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). There is a need for both of these circuits if the motor runs on AC. The objective of this project is to successfully replicate driving and braking in an electric vehicle, and understand its power flow. Both systems should start to convert the input power as soon as the source is “on” and should continue this conversion without interruption. In the driving system, a …

Design And Optimization Of A High Power Density Silicon Carbide Traction Inverter, Tyler Adamson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project was initiated with the goal of demonstrating a 3-phase silicon carbide based 150-kW 25 kW/L DC-AC power conversion unit capable of operation with coolant temperatures up to 90°C. The project goals were met and exceeded by first analyzing the established inverter topologies to find which one would yield the highest power density while still meeting electrical performance needs in the 150-kW range. Following topology selection, the smallest silicon carbide power module that met the electrical requirements of the system was found through experimental testing and simulation. After a power module selection was finalized, a DC link capacitor bank …

Improvements In Inverter Modeling And Control, Xiao Liu

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

In this dissertation, the generalized averaging method models for inverters, reactive power control methods for photovoltaic inverters, and a noise immunity improvement for hybrid position observers for brushless dc motor drives are studied.

Models of inverters and other converters based on averaging have been widely used in numerous simulation applications. Generalized averaging can be applied to model both average and switching behavior of converters while retaining the faster run times associated with average-value models. Herein, generalized average models for single- and three-phase pulse width modulation inverters are proposed. The modulation signal for the proposed model could be either a sinusoidal …

Analysis And Simulation Of Photovoltaic Systems Incorporating Battery Energy Storage, Oluwaseun M. Akeyo

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Solar energy is an abundant renewable source, which is expected to play an increasing role in the grid's future infrastructure for distributed generation. The research described in the thesis focuses on the analysis of integrating multi-megawatt photovoltaics (PV) systems with battery energy storage into the existing grid and on the theory supporting the electrical operation of components and systems. The PV system is divided into several sections, each having its own DC-DC converter for maximum power point tracking and a two-level grid connected inverter with different control strategies. The functions of the battery are explored by connecting it to the …

Solar Generation's Impact On Fault Current, Kody Heppner

Electrical Engineering

California is paving the road for other states with the capacity of solar installations for residential and commercial entities. The added capacity of solar generation to the state's electric grid has an impact on power flow and fault currents. This project looks at the impact of solar installations on fault currents. Feeders with added residential rooftop solar and larger commercial solar installations may impact the system differently than a large, utility-sized solar installation. This project looks at the impact of both cases on the magnitude of fault current during many different fault types and locations that can occur within a …

Solar-Powered Hot Tub, Jonathan Peterson, Anthony Zepeda

Electrical Engineering

This paper discusses the design and implementation of a solar-powered hot tub. The concept of this project was to design an independently-operated hot tub powered by a 12V rechargeable battery, charged during the day by a single 400W solar panel. For this purpose, a twenty-year-old name-brand hot tub was purchased, in used condition. The plumbing, AC electrical wiring, and mechanical pumps were all removed and replaced with new components to meet our design specifications. Additionally, a solar water-heater was designed and integrated into the system to directly apply the sun’s heat to water pumped in and out of the tub, …

Real Time Testing And Validation Of A Novel Short Circuit Current (Scc) Controller For A Photovoltaic Inverter, Vishwajitsinh H. Atodaria

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

About 45% applications from PV solar farm developers seeking connections to the distribution grids in Ontario were denied in 2011-13 as the short circuit current (SCC) capacity of several distribution substations had already been reached. PV solar system inverters typically contribute 1.2 p.u. to 1.8 p.u. fault current which was not considered acceptable by utility companies due to the need for very expensive protective breaker upgrades. Since then, this cause has become a major impediment in the growth of PV based renewable systems in Ontario.

A novel predictive technique has been patented in our research group for management of short …

Control Of Solar Photovoltaic (Phv) Power Generation In Grid-Connected And Islanded Microgrids, Sarina Adhikari

Doctoral Dissertations

With the ever increasing electricity demand, fast depletion of fossil fuel and the growing trend towards renewable energy resources, the integration of green distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar photovoltaic (PhV) generation and wind power in the utility grid is gaining high popularity in the present years. The capability of these modular generators needs to be harnessed properly in order to achieve the maximum benefit out of such integrated systems. Most DERs are connected to the utility grid or microgrids with the help of power electronics interface. They are capable of producing both active and reactive power with the …

Design And Simulation Of V2g Bidirectional Inverter And Dc-Dc Converter, Allan Agatep, Mason Ung

Electrical Engineering

As plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) become more popular, the utility companies are forced to feed the grid more electricity. However, these PHEVs are capable of providing power to the grid when they are parked serving as ancillary systems for grid regulation (V2G). Using a system based on photovoltaic (PV) technology, a design for a bidirectional inverter with LCL filter, and a bidirectional dc-dc with a constant current controller, was constructed using LTspice. Various papers were researched and analyzed to determine applicable designs for components. Simulations show the designs are capable of bidirectional power transfer. ETAP simulations show that delivering …

High Voltage Switched-Mode Power Supply For Three-Phase Ac Aircraft Systems, John Brewer Jr., Kamaljit Bagha

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of this senior project was to design and fabricate a proof-of-concept Three-Phase Sinusoidal Switched-Mode Inverter with a power output capability of 10 kW and nominal operating frequency of 400 Hz for AC aircraft system applications. This senior project report includes a thorough discussion and presentation of the inverter system background, requirements, design, construction, and testing processes.