This research work is devoted to the analysis, design and development of the Current-Source Converter (CSC) based distribution-type Static Synchronous Compensator (D-STATCOM) for low-voltage applications in reactive-power control in order to achieve i) faster transient response in reactive-power control, ii) lower current harmonic distortion, iii) lower power losses and iv) minimum storage elements in comparison with conventional solutions. The developed CSC-D-STATCOM includes a low-pass input filter and a three phase forced-commutated CSC which is composed of six insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) with built-in series diodes. The analysis and the control of the CSC-D-STATCOM are carried out in dq-synchronous reference frame in order to obtain the reference current waveform which is to be generated by switching the IGBTs at 3kHz with the use of space vector modulation.

AC/DC adapters mostly employ two-stage topology: Power Factor Correction (PFC) pre-regulation stage followed by an isolated DC/DC converter stage. Low power AC/DC adapters require a small size to be competitive. Among their components, the bulk DC-link capacitor is one of the largest because it should keep the output voltage with low ripple. Also, the size of this capacitor is penalized due to the universal line voltage application. Synchronization through employing leading edge modulation for the first PFC stage and trailing edge modulation for the second DC/DC converter stage can significantly reduce the ripple current and ripple voltage of the DC-link capacitor. Thus, a smaller DC-link capacitance can be used, lowering the cost and size of the AC/DC adapter. Benefits of the synchronous switching scheme were already demonstrated experimentally. However, no mathematical analysis was presented. In this thesis, detailed mathematical analyses in per-unit quantity are given to facilitate the calculation of the DC-link capacitor ripple current reduction with Leading/Trailing Edge Modulation strategies. One of the limitations of leading/trailing edge modulation is that the switching frequencies of the two stages need to be equal to achieve the best reduction of the DC-link capacitor ripple current. The DC-link capacitor ripple current will become larger if the switching frequency of the DC/DC converter is larger than that of the PFC pre-regulator, which blocks us to employ higher frequency for isolated DC/DC converter to reduce its transformer size. This thesis proposed a new Leading/Trailing Edge Modulation strategy to further reduce the DC-link bulk capacitor ripple current when switching frequency of DC/DC converter stage is twice the switching frequency of PFC stage. This proposed pulse width modulation scheme was verified by simulation. Experimental results obtained through digital control based on FPGA are also presented in this thesis.

In this research, a time-based oversampling delta-sigma (ΔΣ) ADC architecture is introduced. This system uses time, rather than voltage or current, as the analog variable for its quantizer, and the noise shaping process is realized by modulating the width of a variable-width digital “pulse.” The ΔΣ loop integrator, the quantizer and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) are all time-based circuits and are implemented using digital gates only. Hence, no amplifier or voltage-based circuit is required. The proposed architecture not only offers a viable for nano-scale ‘digital’ IC technologies, but also enables improved circuit performance compared to the state-of-the-art. This is in contrast to conventional voltage-based analog circuit design, whose performance decreases with scaling due to increasingly higher voltage uncertainty due to supply voltage. The proposed architecture allows all digital implementation after the Voltage to Time Converter (VTC) and merged multi-bit quantizer/DAC blocks by taking advantage of delay lines reusable in both quantization and DAC operation. The novelty of this architecture is digital pulse width processing to implement the ΔΣ modulation. It is realized with small area and potentially can take advantage from the process scaling. A 3-bit prototype of this ADC in 0.18 μm CMOS process is implemented, tested, and presented. With an OSR of 36 and a bandwidth of 2 MHz, it achieves a SNDR of 34.6 dB while consuming 1.5 mA from a 1.8 V supply. The core occupies an area of 0.0275 mm² (110μm × 250μm = 0.0275 mm²). The second generation of the architecture was fabricated in IBM 45 nm SOI process. The oversampling frequency of this system is 705 MHz and oversampling ratio of 64. The expected performance is 7-bit effective resolution for a 5.5 MHz bandwidth while consuming 8mW of power and occupying a core area of less than 0.02 mm² (160μm × 120μm = 0.0192 mm²). / text

In this thesis, a new approach for single-stage power factor correction converters is proposed to increase their power ratings to be in the multiple kilowatts levels. The proposed techniques are based on the utilization of modified three-level resonant converter topologies. These topologies provide low component stresses, high frequency operation, zero voltage switching, applicability under a wide range of input and output conditions as well as added control flexibility. The proposed control algorithms are based on a combination of variable frequency and asymmetrical pulse width modulation control or variable frequency and phase shift modulation control. In either case, the variable frequency control is used to tightly regulate the output voltage, whereas, pulse width or phase shift modulation is used to regulate the dc-bus voltage as well as the input power factor. New converter topologies, their operation and steady state and dynamic analyses are presented in details. A modelling approach based on average multiple frequency methods is also proposed. This approach leads to the development of a full order state space model with the two control variables explicitly separated allowing a better controller design. The model can be used either at high level of detail expressing the non-linearities of the system or it can readily be simplified to a linear decoupled model for approximate solutions. Finally, a discrete time controller for the proposed converters, which is suitable for FPGA implementation, is presented. Analytical, simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the proposed concepts. / Thesis (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-01-30 14:28:15.725

Power electronic systems have been widely used in the electrical power processing for applications with power levels ranging from less than one watt in battery-operated portable devices to more than megawatts in the converters, inverters and rectifiers of the utility power systems. These systems typically involve the passive elements such as inductors, capacitors, and resistors, the switching electronic components such as IGBTs, MOSFETS, and diodes, and other electronic circuits. Multifrequency averaging is one of the widely used modeling and simulation techniques today for the analysis and design of power electronic systems. This technique is capable of providing the average behavior as well as the ripple behavior of power electronic systems. This work begins with the extension of multifrequency averaging to represent uniformly sampled PWM converters. A new multifrequency averaging method of solving an observed issue with model stability is proposed and validated. Multifrequency averaging can also be applied to study the instability phenomenon in power electronic systems. In particular, a reduced-order multifrequency averaging method, along with a genetic algorithm based procedure, is proposed in this work to estimate the regions of attraction of power electronic converters. The performance of this method is shown by comparing the accuracy and efficiency with the existing methods. Finally, a new continuous-time multifrequency averaging method of representing discrete-time systems is proposed. The proposed method is applied to model digitally controlled PWM converters. Simulation and hardware results show that the proposed method is capable of predicting the average behavior as well as the ripple behavior of the closed-loop systems. Future research in the area of multifrequency averaging is proposed.

This thesis deals with the design and implementation of a feedback control scheme for a DC Hybrid Active Power Filter used to filter harmonics from a Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) Drive load. Power electronic systems are non-linear & dynamic [1,3,5]. Power electronic systems employ switching circuits to maximize their efficiency at the penalty that switching circuits generate electrical noise called ripple current and voltage or conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI). The ripple current drawn by the power electronic systems needs to be attenuated to an acceptable level. Filters attenuate this to an acceptable level. Traditionally filters with passive inductors and capacitors are used. Active filters contain switching elements in addition to passive inductors and capacitors which reduce overall size of passive components used. Two control approaches, full-state state space, and plain proportional feedback, are evaluated for this filter. Circuit models are simulated in SPICE and mathematical models are simulated in Matlab/Simulink for evaluating these control approaches. Proportional feedback control was chosen for implementation and the reason for this is provided in the thesis. The active filter was tested with chosen feedback control and experimental results were compared with simulation results. Inferences and scope for further work are finally presented.

Κατά τη διάρκεια των τελευταίων δεκαετιών, το διεθνές ενδιαφέρον για την φωτοβολταϊκή μετατροπή της ηλιακής ακτινοβολίας αυξάνει συνεχώς. Έχει δοθεί ιδιαίτερη σημασία στην ανάπτυξη φωτοβολταϊκών συστημάτων για την σύνδεσή τους με το δίκτυο, έτσι ώστε να αξιοποιείται η ηλιακή ακτινοβολία για παραγωγή ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας με τον καλύτερο δυνατό τρόπο. Στην παρούσα εργασία γίνεται μελέτη των φωτοβολταϊκών συστημάτων παραγωγής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας και σκοπός αυτής είναι η κατασκευή ενός συστήματος μετατροπής συνεχούς τάσης σε εναλλασσόμενη για τη διασύνδεση μιας πηγής συνεχούς τάσης με το μονοφασικό δίκτυο. Το σύστημα αυτό αποτελείται από ένα ηλεκτρονικό μετατροπέα ισχύος διπλής βαθμίδας. Το πρώτο τμήμα είναι ένας μετατροπέας συνεχούς τάσης σε συνεχή τάση υψηλότερης τιμής. Συγκεκριμένα, ο μετατροπέας αυτός ανυψώνει την τάση του φωτοβολταϊκού συστήματος του Εργαστηρίου στα 400V. Στη συνέχεια υπάρχει το δεύτερο τμήμα, αποτελούμενο από το σύστημα μετατροπής συνεχούς τάσης σε εναλλασσόμενη, το οποίο μετατρέπει την εισερχόμενη συνεχή τάση των 400V σε εναλλασσόμενη τάση συχνότητας 50 Hz και ενεργού τιμής 220V. Η διπλωματική αυτή εργασία πραγματοποιήθηκε στο Εργαστήριο Ηλεκτρομηχανικής Μετατροπής Ενέργειας του Τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών της Πολυτεχνικής Σχολής του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών, υπό την επίβλεψη του Ομότιμου Καθηγητή Δρ.-Μηχ. Αθανασίου Σαφάκα. Αρχικά, αναλύεται η αρχή λειτουργίας των ηλιακών κυττάρων και περιγράφονται οι υπάρχουσες τεχνολογίες τους. Έπειτα γίνεται αναφορά στα φωτοβολταϊκά συστήματα και τους τρόπους που μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθούν, δηλαδή συνδεδεμένα με το δίκτυο ή αυτόνομα. Στη συνέχεια, αναφέρονται και αναλύονται διάφορες τεχνικές συγχρονισμού μετατροπέων με το μονοφασικό δίκτυο και τρόποι ρύθμισης της ενεργού και αέργου ισχύoς που παρέχεται από τις πηγές ενέργειας στο δίκτυο. Παρατίθενται στοιχεία του μετατροπέα συνεχούς τάσης σε συνεχή και γίνεται η μελέτη του μονοφασικού αντιστροφέα που πρόκειται να κατασκευαστεί. Επιπρόσθετα γίνεται προσομοίωση του συστήματός στο λογισμικό MATLAB/Simulink. Συγκρίνεται η λειτουργία του αντιστροφέα με τη μέθοδο παλμοδότησης SPWM (Ημιτονοειδής Διαμόρφωση του Εύρους Παλμών) με διπολική και μονοπολική τάση εξόδου και παρουσιάζονται αποτελέσματα της προσομοίωσης για παραλληλισμό του συστήματος με το δίκτυο και προσφορά ισχύος από πηγή συνεχούς τάσης προς το δίκτυο. Αναλύονται τα τεχνικά χαρακτηριστικά του αντιστροφέα που κατασκευάστηκε, καθώς και ο τρόπος κατασκευής των απαραίτητων κυκλωμάτων για την οδήγηση του. Τέλος, παρατίθενται πειραματικά αποτελέσματα από τη λειτουργία του συστήματος. / During the last decades, the international interest in the photovoltaic conversion of solar radiation is increasing. Special attention has been given to the development of photovoltaic systems for their connection to the utility grid, in order to use solar radiation for electricity generation in the best possible way. In this diploma thesis, the photovoltaic power generation is studied and the purpose of this work is to construct a single phase grid connected dc/ac converter system in order to connect a dc voltage source to the grid. This system consists of a dual-stage electronic power converter. The first part is a dc-dc converter, which converts a source of direct current (dc) from one voltage level to another, with an output voltage greater than its input voltage. Specifically, the dc/dc converter increases the voltage of the photovoltaic system, which is installed on the laboratory, to 400V DC. The second part consists of a dc/ac inverter, which converts the incoming voltage of 400V DC to 220V AC at 50Hz. The work presented on this diploma thesis was carried out at the Laboratory of Electromechanical Energy Conversion, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Patras, under the supervision of Emeritus Professor Dr.-Ing. Athanasios Safacas. Initially, the working principle of solar cells is analysed and its current technologies are described. Then, reference is given to the photovoltaic systems and their applications, i.e. stand-alone PV systems and grid-connected PV systems. Next, reference and analysis are given to the various grid synchronization techniques for single phase inverter systems and control methods to regulate the active and reactive power supplied from sources of energy into the grid. Data are presented about the dc/dc converter and the study of the single-phase inverter to be constructed. Additionally, the system is simulated with MATLAB/Simulink software and the simulation results of the specific system are presented. A comparison of the operation of the inverter is made using sinusoidal pulse width modulation technique (“SPWM”) with bipolar and unipolar output voltage and simulation results of the grid connected converter system are presented. The technical characteristics of the constructed inverter and the design of its necessary integrated circuits are analysed. Finally, experimental results from the operation of the grid connected dc/ac inverter are presented.

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-11-08T17:29:28Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao_Felipe_Correa_CD.pdf: 5991890 bytes, checksum: bf897f6d56367daee94655b05dc520e3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-08T17:29:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao_Felipe_Correa_CD.pdf: 5991890 bytes, checksum: bf897f6d56367daee94655b05dc520e3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-31 / Capes / O conversor nove chaves (Nine-Switch Inverter - NSI) foi proposto recentemente e, desde então, um grande número de aplicações foi explorado para esta nova topologia, especialmente como um possível substituto do tradicional conversor back-to-back. A principal vantagem do NSI é o menor número de chaves (nove em vez de doze do conversor back-to-back), que, como consequência, acarreta em restrições nas amplitudes de saída do inversor. Na literatura, foram propostas diferentes técnicas de modulação por largura de pulso (Pulse Width Modulation - PWM) que respeitam estas restrições. Diante deste cenário, o presente trabalho propõe duas abordagens para a generalização da modulação no NSI: a modulação escalar quasi generalizada e a generalizada, que são baseadas no conceito de generalização para o inversor trifásico fonte de tensão (VSI) convencional e que podem ser facilmente implementadas com um reduzido esforço computacional. Este conceito propicia, através de uma abordagem sistemática e direta, a geração de qualquer técnica de PWM, seja ela contínua ou descontínua, através do ajuste de graus de liberdade específicos. Objetivando a redução de perdas, são apresentados os graus de liberdade específicos que, quando aplicados nas modulações propostas, aumentam o rendimento do inversor. Resultados de simulação confirmam a funcionalidade das modulações. / The nine-switch inverter (NSI) has been proposed recently and, since then, a large number of applications were explored for this new topology, specially as a possible substitute to the traditional back-to-back converter. The main advantage of the NSI is its lesser number of switches (nine instead of twelve of the back-to-back converter), which, as a consequence, leads to some restrictions in the total attainable amplitude at its outputs. In literature, many pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques were proposed respecting those restrictions. In this scenario, this paper proposes two generalization approaches for the modulation of the NSI: the quasi generalized scalar modulation and the generalized scalar modulation, which are based on the generalization concept for the voltage source inverter (VSI), easily implemented with a reduced computational effort. Such concept leads to a systematic and straight approach to the generation of any continuous or discontinuous PWM technique for the NSI, simply adjusting a few degrees of freedom of the modulation strategy. Aiming the reduction of the power losses, specific degrees of freedom are presented, for the proposed modulations. Simulation results confirm the validity of the proposed methods.

A aplicação de defensivos é um dos fatores de maior impacto em um sistema de produção agrícola, para o sucesso dessa prática o sistema de pulverização deve alocar o princípio ativo no alvo com eficiência e custo reduzido. Em uma área irrigada por pivô central o agricultor possui como alternativas para a aplicação de agroquímicos a pulverização tratorizada, aplicação aérea, quimigação e sistemas de pulverização acoplados ao equipamento de irrigação. Com o intuito de diminuir o custo fixo envolvido na implantação de um sistema de pulverização acoplado foi desenvolvida uma metodologia de dimensionamento, um aplicativo com as rotinas de cálculo e sugeridos novos modelos de emissor, que possuem válvulas anti gotas integradas, também estudados neste trabalho. São comparados quatro cenários para o dimensionamento: (a) barras de PVC intercambiáveis; (b) barras de PVC não intercambiáveis; (c) barras de PEMD intercambiáveis; e (d) barras de PEMD não intercambiáveis. As principais inovações do novo desenho do sistema são barras com a metade do comprimento de outros equipamentos acopláveis, de diâmetro telescópico, e o dimensionamento específico para cada torre. Os cenários com barras intercambiáveis obtiveram uniformidades estatísticas no limiar das faixas excelente e muito bom, mas apresentaram amplitudes entre a calda máxima e mínima aplicada da ordem de 60 L ha-1, favorecendo a adoção de sistemas com barras exclusivas. O aplicativo pode utilizar quaisquer modelos de emissor conhecidos pelo usuário exportando os resultados para um arquivo com valores separados por vírgula / Chemical application is a major factor into agricultural systems, to be succeeded in this practice the application system must allocate the active ingredient on target with efficiency and at low costs. In a center pivot irrigation area a farmer have some alternatives for chemical application as tractor mounted sprayers, aerial application, chemigation and pivot attached spray systems. Aiming lower deploying costs of a spray system coupled to the irrigation device, a design method and a software have been developed. New emitter models, which have built-in no leakage valves was also studied in this work. Four design scenarios have been studied: (a) interchangeable PVC spray boom; (b) unique PVC spray boom for each tower; (c) interchangeable MDPE spray boom (e) unique MDPE spray boom for each tower. The main innovations obtained by the new design were spray boom with half the length of the predecessors, telescopic diameter and specific design for each tower. Both the scenarios have reached excellent statistical uniformity, hence the interchangeable scenario had a range greater than 50 L ha-1 between maximum and minimum application rate. The software can design the spray booms for any emitter model known by the user

Three-level diode-clamped inverter is being widely used these days. Extensive research has been carried out on pulse width modulation (PWM) strategies for a three-level inverter. The most widely used PWM strategies are sine-triangle pulse width modulation (SPWM) and centered space vector pulse width modulation (CSVPWM). The influence of these PWM strategies on the DC-link capacitor current and voltage ripple is studied in this thesis. The sizing of the DC capacitor depends on value of the maximum RMS current flowing through it. In this work, an analytical expression for capacitor RMS current is derived as a function of operating conditions like modulation index, power factor angle of the load and peak load current. The worst case current stress on the capacitor is evaluated using the analytical expression. The capacitor RMS current is found to be the same in SPWM and CSVPWM schemes. The analytical expression is validated through simulations and experiments on a 3kVA MOSFET based three-level inverter. Harmonic analysis of the capacitor current is helpful in better evaluation of capacitor power loss. Therefore, harmonic analysis of the capacitor current is carried out, using the techniques of geometric wall model and double Fourier integral for SPWM and CSVPWM schemes. The theoretical predictions are validated through experiments. The capacitor RMS current is divided into low-frequency RMS current (where low frequency component is defined as a component whose frequency is less than half the switching frequency) and high-frequency RMS current. The capacitor voltage ripple is estimated analytically for SPWM and CSVPWM schemes, using the low-frequency and high-frequency capacitor RMS current. The voltage ripples due to SPWM and CSVPWM schemes are compared. It is found that the voltage ripple with SPWM is higher than that with CSVPWM. A simplified method to estimate the capacitor power loss, without the requirement of FFT analysis of capacitor current, is proposed. The results from this simplified method agree reasonably well with the results from the detailed method. A space vector based modulation scheme is proposed, which reduces the capacitor RMS current at high power factor angles. However, the proposed method leads to higher total harmonic distortion (THD) than CSVPWM. Simulation and experimental results, comparing CSVPWM and the proposed PWM, are presented.