Orientador: Edméa Cássia Baptista / Resumo: O problema de maximização da margem de carregamento operacional tem por finalidade determinar a maior demanda de carga em um sistema elétrico de potência que satisfaça todas as restrições operacionais do sistema e de equipamentos. Em linhas gerais, conhecer com precisão a máxima demanda de potência ativa e reativa suportada pelo sistema elétrico de potência para que o mesmo opere em condições satisfatórias é uma informação importante para a operação e planejamento do sistema. Muitos trabalhos, da literatura, formulam o problema de máximo carregamento através de um modelo de otimização contínuo, e mais recentemente, alguns trabalhos apresentam modelos que também passaram a levar em consideração o fator de potência da demanda das barras de carga. Neste trabalho propõe-se um modelo para o problema de máximo carregamento baseado no fator de potência de demanda ajustável e levando em consideração restrições de segurança. O problema de maximização da margem de carregamento operacional será formulado como um problema de programação não linear, não convexo de grande porte com variáveis contínuas e visa maximizar o somatório de potências ativas demandadas pelas barras de carga, respeitando um fator de potência mínimo pré-estabelecidos e restrições de segurança pós-contingência. Destaca-se que uma contribuição do trabalho é que o modelo encontre para o sistema um ponto de operação factível na presença de contingências pré-definidas, além disso, respeita os limites físicos e operacionai... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The problem of maximizing the operating load margin aims to determine the highest load demand in an electrical power system that satisfies all operational constraints of the system and equipment. In general, knowing precisely the maximum demand for active and reactive power supported by the electrical power system, in order that it operates in satisfactory conditions, is an important information for the operation and planning of the system. Many works in the literature formulate the problem of maximum loading through a continuous optimization model, and more recently, some works present models that also started to take into account the power factor of the load bars demand. This work proposes a model for the maximum load problem based on the adjustable demand power factor, taking into account security constraints. The problem of maximizing the operating load margin will be formulated as a non-linear, non-convex large programming problem with continuous variables and aims to maximize the sum of active powers demanded by the load bars, respecting an established minimum power factor and post-contingency security constraints. It is important to highlight that the model also ensures that the system finds a feasible operating point, even in the presence of predefined contingencies, besides; it respects the physical and operational limits provided for in the traditional Optimal Power Flow. The proposed model was tested for the IEEE 14, 30, 118 bus systems, simulated on the GAMS platf... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

L'autonomie moyenne des voitures électriques commercialisées actuellement reste limitée par rapport aux véhicules thermiques. Pour pallier ce problème, la capacité de la batterie peut être augmentée ou bien la charge peut être facilitée en réduisant le temps de charge et ceci en augmentant la puissance de charge.L'infrastructure de charge rapide de type DC étant encore limitée, un progrès considérable consiste à embarquer le chargeur dans le véhicule en réutilisant tout, ou une partie de l'électronique de puissance déjà disponible pour propulser le véhicule. Le chargeur est alors nommé chargeur intégré.Au cours des dernières années, plusieurs chargeurs intégrés ont été proposés, mais peu d'entre eux ont été industrialisés vue qu'ils présentent des inconvénients que l'on cherchera à surmonter ou réduire.Dans le cadre de cette thèse notre objectif principal est donc de concevoir une nouvelle topologie de convertisseur permettant la charge de la batterie à moindre coût.Plusieurs idées permettant l'innovation sont proposées et une solution répondant au mieux au cahier de charges est retenue. Cette topologie est étudiée en détails (contrôle, dimensionnement, harmoniques, CEM, etc.). Finalement un prototype est réalisé pour valider le concept proposé. / To date, the range autonomy of most electric vehicles is still lower than conventional fuel based vehicles and charging times are significantly longer. To overcome this problem, battery capacity could be increased but more importantly high power fast charging should be accessible everywhere.The widespread deployment of public DC fast charging stations is still difficult to achieve. So, in order to have a better spreading of the charge spots and a better coverage, it is also necessary for the vehicle to be charged from an on-board charger that could be plugged into three-phase AC power outlets.Furthermore, because the battery is charged only when the car is parked -except for regeneration at braking-, using the on-board traction system components to form an integrated charging device is possible. This kind of topology is called an integrated charger which allows designing a charger small enough to be embedded in a vehicle at an affordable cost.Several non-isolated on-board integrated charging topologies are proposed in this thesis and the one that best meets some predefined specifications is selected. This topology is studied in details and validated by simulation software. A laboratory prototype is also built to verify the performance of this multi-purpose traction/charger converter.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis proposes two new topologies for Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS), and a grid-tie microinverter. The first topic will discuss an on-line transformerless UPS system based on the integrated power electronics converters that is able to control the input power factor, charge the battery, and guarantee backup operation of the system. The main advantages of the proposed UPS are active power factor correction (PFC) without the need of a complex control scheme, and integrated functions of the battery charger circuit and PFC with only three power switches. Operation modes of the system and the PWM strategy is presented in detail. The second topic discussed is of a proposed circuitry for a single-phase back-to-back converter for UPS applications. The main advantages of this topology is higher number of levels at the rectifier side, less number of power switches, and no need for a boost inductor at the input side of the converter. The last topic discussed is of a proposed patent pending microinverter. This topic was a project funded by the National Science Foundation, and its aim was to help commercialize the research. This project proposes a solution for a solar inverter called Delta Microinverter that allows easier and faster installation as well as power conversion with higher efficiency. Delta Microinverters innovation is found in its patent-pending shape and in its patent-pending circuitry, i.e., electronics mounted inside of the Delta Microinverter. The Delta Microinverters shape has a housing configured for rapid mounting using a single fastener and its power electronics configuration offers an optimized relationship between the number of levels and number of power switches.

This thesis presents an optimal method of designing and controlling an oscillating energy harvesting system. Many new and emerging energy harvesting systems, such as the energy harvesting backpack and ocean wave energy harvesting, capture energy normally expelled through mechanical interactions. Often the nature of the system indicates slow system time constants and unsteady AC voltages. This paper reveals a method for achieving maximum energy harvesting from such sources with fast determination of the optimal operating condition. An energy harvesting backpack, which captures energy from the interaction between the user and the spring decoupled load, is presented in this paper. The new control strategy, maximum energy harvesting control (MEHC), is developed and applied to the energy harvesting backpack system to evaluate the improvement of the MEHC over the basic maximum power point tracking algorithm.

In recent years, wind energy technology has become one of the top areas of interest for energy harvesting in the power electronics world. This interest has especially peaked recently due to the increasing demand for a reliable source of renewable energy. In a recent study, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) ranked the U.S as the leading competitor in wind energy harvesting followed by Germany and Spain. Although the United States is the leading competitor in this area, no one has been able successfully develop an efficient, low-cost AC/DC convertor for low power turbines to be used by the average American consumer. There has been very little research in low power AC/DC converters for low to medium power wind energy turbines for battery charging applications. Due to the low power coefficient of wind turbines, power converters are required to transfer the maximum available power at the highest efficiency. Power factor correction (PFC) and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms have been proposed for high power wind turbines. These turbines are out of the price range of what a common household can afford. They also occupy a large amount of space, which is not practical for use in one's home. A low cost AC/DC converter with efficient power transfer is needed in order to promote the use of cheaper low power wind turbines. Only MPPT is implemented in most of these low power wind turbine power converters. The concept of power factor correction with MPPT has not been completely adapted just yet. The research conducted involved analyzing the effect of power factor correction and maximum power point tracking algorithm in AC/DC converters for wind turbine applications. Although maximum power to the load is always desired, most converters only take electrical efficiency into consideration. However, not only the electrical efficiency must be considered, but the mechanical energy as well. If the converter is designed to look like a purely resistive load and not a switched load, a wind turbine is able to supply the maximum power with lower conduction loss at the input side due to high current spikes. Two power converters, VIENNA with buck converter and a Buck-boost converter, were designed and experimentally analyzed. A unique approach of controlling the MPPT algorithm through a conductance G for PFC is proposed and applied in the VIENNA topology. On the other hand, the Buck-boost only operates MPPT. With the same wind profile applied for both converters, an increase in power drawn from the input increased when PFC was used even when the power level was low. Both topologies present their own unique advantages. The main advantage for the VIENNA converter is that PFC allowed more power extraction from the turbine, increasing both electrical and mechanical efficiency. The buck-boost converter, on the other hand, presents a very low component count which decreases the overall cost and volume. Therefore, a small, cost-effective converter that maximizes the power transfer from a small power wind turbine to a DC load, can motivate consumers to utilize the power available from the wind.

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The dissertation presents a generalized average-current-mode control technique (GACMC), which is an extension of the average-current-mode control (ACMC) for single-phase ac-dc boost converters with power factor correction (PFC). Traditional ACMC is generalized in a sense that it offers improved performance in the form of significant reduction of the current control loop bandwidth requirement for a given line frequency in unidirectional and bidirectional boost PFC converters, and additional functionality in the form of reactive power control capability in bidirectional converters. These features allow using a relatively low switching frequency and slow-switching power devices such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) in boost PFC converters, including those designed for higher ac line frequencies such as in aircraft power systems (360–800 Hz). In bidirectional boost PFC converters, including multilevel topologies, the GACMC offers a capability to supply a prescribed amount of reactive power (with leading or lagging current) independently of the dc load power, which allows the converter to be used as a static reactive power compensator in the power system. A closed-loop dynamic model for the current control loop of the boost PFC converter with the ACMC has been developed. The model explains the structure of the converter input admittance, the current phase lead phenomenon, and lays the groundwork for development of the GACMC. The leading phase admittance cancellation (LPAC) principle has been proposed to completely eliminate the current phase lead phenomenon and, consequently, the zero-crossing distortion in unidirectional converters. The LPAC technique has been adapted for active compensation of the input filter capacitor current in bidirectional boost PFC converters. The dynamic model of the current control loop for bidirectional boost PFC converters was augmented to include a reactive power controller. The proposed control strategy enables the converter to process reactive power and, thus, be used as a reactive power compensator, independently of the converter operation as an ac-dc converter. Multiple realizations of the reactive power controller have been identified and examined in a systematic way, along with their merits and limitations, including susceptibility to the ac line noise. Frequency response characteristics of reactive elements emulated by means of these realizations have been described. Theoretical principles and practical solutions developed in this dissertation have been experimentally verified using unidirectional and bidirectional converter prototypes. Experimental results demonstrated validity of the theory and proposed practical implementations of the GACMC. / Ph. D.

In this work, a modeling approach is delineated and described in detail; predominantly done in the time domain from low frequency, DC, to high frequencies, 100 MHz. Commercially available computer aided design tools will be used to determine the propagation path in a given structure. Next, an integrated transmission-line filter — fabricated using planar processing technologies — is modeled to accurately predict the EMI characteristics of the system. A method was derived to model the filter's performance in the time-domain while accurately depicting the highly frequency dependant transmission-line properties. A system model of a power factor correction (PFC) boost converter was completed by using active device models for diodes, MOSFETs, and the gate driver. In addition, equivalent circuits were used to characterize high frequency impedances of the passive components. A PFC boost converter was built and used to validate the model. The PFC operated at a peak output power of 1 kW, switching at 400 kHz, with a universal input ranging from 90-270 VRMS with unity power factor. The time-domain and EMI frequency spectrum waveforms are experimentally measured and agree very well with the simulated values; within 5 dB for EMI. The transmission-line filter was also manufactured for model verification, and it is tested for the first time with an operating converter: a PFC at 50 W output and 50 VDC input. The small signal characteristics match the model very well. In addition, impedance interactions between the filter, the converter, and the EMI measurement set-up are discussed, evaluated, measured, and improved to minimize undesired resonances and increase low-frequency EMI attenuation. Experimentally measured attenuation provided by the filter in the range from 100 kHz to 100 MHz was 20-50 dBμV. The simulation also shows a similar attenuation, with the exception of one key resonance not seen in the simulation. / Master of Science

With the increasing demands on electronic loads (e.g. desktop, laptop, monitor, LED lighting and server) in modern technology-driven lives, performance of switched-mode power supply (SMPS) for electronics have been growing to prominence. As front-end converters in typical SMPS structure, ac-dc power-factor correction (PFC) circuits play a key role in regulations of input power factor, harmonics and dc output voltage, which has a decisive effect on entire power-supply performances. Universal ac-line and low-power system (90–264 Vrms, up to 300–400 W) is one of the most common power-supply specifications and boost-derived PFC topologies have been widely used for the purpose. In order to concurrently achieve high efficiency and low-cost system in the PFC stage, zero-current switching (ZCS) control schemes are highly employed in control principles. Representative schemes are discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) and critical conduction mode (CRM). Both modes can realize ZCS turn-on without diode reverse recovery so that low switching losses and low-cost diode utilizations are obtainable. Among various boost-family PFC topologies, three-level boost (TLB) converter has generated considerable research interest in high-voltage high-power applications. It is mainly due to the fact that the topology can have halved component voltage stresses, improved waveform qualities and electromagnetic interference (EMI) from phase interleaved continuous conduction mode (CCM) operations, compared to other two-level boost PFC converters. On the other hand, in the field of universal-line low-power applications, TLB PFC has been thoroughly out of focus since doubled component counts and increased control complexity than two-level topologies are practical burden for the low-cost systems. However, recent researches on TLB PFC with ZCS control schemes have found that cost-competitiveness of the topology is actually comparable to two-level boost PFC converters because the halved component voltage stresses enable usage of low voltage-rating components of which unit prices are cheaper than higher-rating ones. Based on the justification, researches on ZCS control schemes for TLB PFC have been conducted to get enhanced waveform qualities and performance factors. Following the research stream, a three-level current modulation scheme that can be adopted in both DCM and CRM is proposed in Chapter 2 of this dissertation. Main concept of the proposed current modulation is additional degree-of-freedom in current-slope shaping by differentiating on-times of two active switches, which cannot be found from any other single-phase boost-derived PFC topologies. Using the multilevel feature, proposed operations in one switching period consist of three steps: common-switch on-time, single-switch on-time and common-switch off-time. The single-switch on-time step is key design factor of the proposed modulation that can be utilized either in fixed or adjustable form depending on control purpose. Based on the basic modulation concept, three-level CRM control scheme, adjustable three-level DCM control scheme, and spread-spectrum frequency modulation (SSFM) with adjustable three-level DCM scheme are proposed in Chapter 3–5, respectively. In each chapter, implemented control scheme aims to improve different performance factors. In Chapter 3, the proposed three-level CRM scheme uses increased single-switch on-time period to reduce peak inductor current and magnitude of variable switching frequency. It is generally accepted fact that CRM operations suffer from high switching losses and poor efficiency at light load due to considerable increment of switching frequency. Thus, efficiency improvement effect by the proposed CRM scheme becomes remarkable as load condition goes lighter. In experimental verifications, maximum improvement is measured by 1.2% at light load (20%) and overall efficiency is increased by at least 0.4% all over the load range. In Chapter 4, three-level DCM control scheme adopts adjustable single-switch on-time period in fixed switching-frequency framework. The purpose of adjustable control scheme is to widen the length of non-zero inductor current period as much as possible so that discontinued current period and high peak current of DCM operations can be minimized. Experiment results show that, compared to conventional two-level DCM control, full-load peak inductor currents are reduced by 20.2% and 17.1% at 110 and 220 Vrms input voltage conditions, respectively. Moreover, due to turn-off switching energy decrements by the turn-off current reductions, efficiency is also improved by at least 0.4% regardless of input voltage and load conditions. In Chapter 5, a downward SSFM technique is developed first for DCM operations of boosting PFC converters including two-level topologies. This chapter aims to achieve significant reduction of high differential-mode (DM) EMI amplitudes from DCM operations, which is major drawback of DCM control. By using the simple linearized frequency modulation, peak DM EMI noise at full load condition is reduced by 12.7 dBμV than conventional fixed-frequency DCM control. On top of the proposed SSFM, the adjustable three-level DCM control scheme in Chapter 4 is adopted to get further reductions of EMI noises. Experimental results prove that the collaborations of SSFM and adjustable DCM scheme reduce the EMI amplitudes further by 2.5 dBμV than the result of SSFM itself. The reduced EMI amplitudes are helpful to design input EMI filter with higher cut-off frequency and smaller size. Different from two-level boosting PFC converters, TLB PFC topology has two output capacitors in series and inherently suffers from voltage unbalancing issue, which can be noted as topological trade-off. In Chapter 6, two simple but effective voltage balancing schemes are introduced. The balancing schemes can be easily built into the proposed ZCS control schemes in Chapter 3–5 and experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed balancing principles. For all the proposed control schemes in this dissertation, detailed operation principles, derivation process of key equations, comparative analyses, implementation method with digital controller and experimental verifications with TLB PFC prototype are provided. / Doctor of Philosophy / Electronic-based devices and loads have been essential parts of modern society founded on rapid advancements of information technologies. Along with the progress, power supplying and charging of electronic products become routinized in daily lives, but still remain critical requisites for reliable operations. In many power-electronics-based supplying systems, ac-dc power-factor correction (PFC) circuits are generally located at front-end to feed back-end loads from universal ac-line sources. Since PFC stages have a key role in regulating ac-side current quality and dc-side voltage control, the importance of PFC performances cannot be emphasized enough from entire system point of view. Thus, advanced control schemes for PFC converters have been developed in quantity to achieve efficient operations and competent power qualities such as high power factor, low harmonic distortions and low electromagnetic interferences (EMI) noises. In this dissertation, a sort of PFC topologies named three-level boost (TLB) converter is chosen for target topology. Based on inherent three-level waveform capability of the topology, multiple zero-current switching (ZCS) control schemes are proposed. Compared to many conventional two-level PFC topologies, TLB PFC can provide additional degree-of-freedom to current modulation. The increased control flexibility can realize improvements of various waveform qualities including peak current stress, switching frequency range, harmonics and EMI amplitude. From the experimental results in this dissertation, improvements of waveform qualities in TLB PFC with the proposed schemes are verified with comparison to two-level current control schemes; in terms of efficiency, the results show that TLB PFC with the proposed schemes can have similar converter efficiency with conventional two-level boost converter in spite of increased component counts in the topology. Further, the proposed three-level control schemes can be utilized in adjustable forms to accomplish different control objectives depending on system characteristics and applications. In each chapter of this dissertation, a novel control scheme is proposed and explained with details of operation principle, key equations and digital implementation method. All the effectiveness of proposals and analyses are validated by a proper set of experimental results with a TLB PFC prototype.

Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta um novo conversor PWM monofásico CA-CC, com um único estágio de retificação e correção do fator de potência, utilizando a célula de comutação de três estados. É demonstrado o conversor proposto empregando duas destas células, em substituição as configurações convencionais de duplo estágio, um estágio retificador e outro pré-regulador. A célula de comutação de três estados é composta basicamente por dois interruptores ativos, dois passivos e dois indutores acoplados magneticamente. A topologia desta célula permite que apenas metade da potência de entrada seja processada pelos interruptores ativos, reduzindo assim a corrente de pico sobre estes à metade do valor da corrente de pico da entrada, tornando importante para aplicações em potências mais elevadas. O volume dos elementos reativos (indutores e capacitores) é reduzido, pois, por características topológicas, a freqüência da ondulação da corrente e da tensão é o dobro da freqüência de operação dos interruptores, sendo assim, possível operar o conversor com menores freqüências, diminuindo consequentemente as perdas na comutação. As perdas totais são distribuídas entre todos semicondutores, facilitando a dissipação de calor. O paralelismo dos interruptores é muito atraente para a configuração do circuito estudado, possibilitando o uso de interruptores mais baratos. Outra vantagem é possuir uma menor faixa de operação na região de descontinuidade, ou seja, a faixa de operação no modo de condução contínua é ampliada. É realizado um estudo do conversor boost CC-CC operando com razão cíclica (0 < D < 0,5) e (0,5 < D < 1). Em seguida este conversor é empregado, operando em toda faixa de variação da razão cíclica (0 LÜD LÜ1), no conversor CA-CC de estágio único. O circuito do conversor em questão funciona em malha fechada utilizando o circuito integrado UC3854 para... / Abstract: This work presents a new AC-to-DC PWM single-phase converter, with only one stage including rectification and power factor correction, using the three-state switching cell. It is demonstrated the proposed converter using two of these cells, instead of the conventional configurations that use a rectifier stage and a high-frequency pre-regulator. The three-state switching cell comprises two active switches, two diodes and two coupled inductors. In this topology only part of the input energy is processed by the active switches, reducing the peak current in these switches in a half of the peak value of the input current, making this topology suitable to the operation in larger power levels. The volume of the power reactive elements (inductors and capacitors) is also decreased since the ripple frequency on the output is twice the switching frequency. For a smaller operating frequency, the switching losses are decreased. Due to the topology of the converter, the total losses are distributed among all semiconductors, facilitating the heat dissipation. The parallelism of switches is very attractive for the studied configuration, facilitating the use of cheaper switches. Another advantage of this converter is the smaller region to operate in discontinuous conduction mode or, in other words, the operation range in continuous conduction mode is enlarged. It is developed a study of the DC-to-DC boost converter operating with duty (0 < D < 0,5) and (0,5 < D < 1). Then, this converter was used in full variation range of the duty-cycle (0 < D < 1) in the AC-to-DC single-stage converter. The circuit of this issue converter works with a feedback control line using the integrated circuit UC3854 to do the control in continuous conduction mode for input current with instantaneous average mode. Besides the mathematical analysis and development through... / Orientador: Falcondes José Mendes de Seixas / Coorientador: Grover Victor Torrico Bascopé / Banca: Fabio Toshiaki Wakabayashi / Banca: João Onofre Pereira Pinto / Mestre