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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles -- A Vision For The Future, Mehdi Ferdowsi
Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles -- A Vision For The Future, Mehdi Ferdowsi
Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works
One of the unique advantages of plug-in hybrid vehicles is their capability to integrate the transportation and electric power generation sectors in order to improve the efficiency, fuel economy, and reliability of both systems. This goal is performed via integration of the onboard energy storage units of plug-in vehicles with the power grid by power electronic converters and communication systems. Employing energy storage systems improves the efficiency and reliability of the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution. Similarly, combining an energy storage system with the power train of a conventional vehicle results in a hybrid vehicle with higher fuel efficiency. …
Increased Performance Of Battery Packs By Active Equalization, Jonathan W. Kimball, Brian T. Kuhn, Philip T. Krein
Increased Performance Of Battery Packs By Active Equalization, Jonathan W. Kimball, Brian T. Kuhn, Philip T. Krein
Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works
Battery packs for most applications are series strings of electrochemical cells. Due to manufacturing variations, temperature differences, and aging, the individual cells perform differently. When a complete pack is charged and discharged as a single two-terminal circuit element, some cells are chronically overcharged, undercharged, or overdischarged, all of which act to reduce cell life. The performance and life of the complete pack is limited by the weakest cell. Many methods have been proposed and explored to mitigate this problem. In the present work, a switched-capacitor converter is shown to be a simple and effective method to maintain equal cell or …
A Unique Ultracapacitor Direct Integration Scheme In Multilevel Motor Drives For Large Vehicle Propulsion, Shuai Lu, Keith Corzine, Mehdi Ferdowsi
A Unique Ultracapacitor Direct Integration Scheme In Multilevel Motor Drives For Large Vehicle Propulsion, Shuai Lu, Keith Corzine, Mehdi Ferdowsi
Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works
This paper introduces a new set of methods to directly integrate ultracapacitor banks into cascaded multilevel inverters that are used for large vehicle propulsion. The idea is to replace the regular dc-link capacitors with ultracapacitors in order to combine the energy storage unit and motor drive. This approach eliminates the need for an interfacing dc-dc converter and considerably improves the efficiency of regenerative braking energy restoration in large vehicles using multilevel converters. Utilizing the proposed modulation control set, the two cascaded inverters can have their dc voltage levels maintained at any ratio (even a noninteger ratio) or dynamically varied over …