This work presents a study and a comparative analysis of high power single-phase converter applied to power factor correctioii in according to the international standards IEC 61000-3-4 (harmonics limitation) and CISPR 22 (electromagnetic interference limitation) for high power applications. The converters studied were the conventional boost converter, the interleaved boost converter, with two cell operating with a delay angle of 180" between each other, and the dual boost converter. Such converters are used in front-end modules of information technology equipment. AI1 converters have the same input and output voltage and the same input current. The converters were projected to provide the same total input harmonic distortion (THD), with the idea of using the same input filter. Implementation of the control laws was performed through a digital control with the use of a 16 bits microcontroller. A11 converters were, first of all, studied and presented in this dissertation. The analyzed parameters for comparison were: power factor, total harmonic distortion (THD), semiconductor losses and magnetic losses, heat-sinks volume and magnetics volume, conducted electromagnetic interference, performance and costs. / Esse trabalho apresenta um estudo e uma análise comparativa de conversores monofásicos aplicados i correção de fator de potência que estejam de acordo com as normas internacionais IEC 61000-3-4 (limitação de harmônicos) e CISPR 22 (limitação dos níveis de interferência eletromagnética) para aplicações de alta potência. Os conversores estudados foram os conversores Boost, o conversor Boost Intercalado, com duas células operando com uma defasagem de 180" entre si, e o conversor Dual Boost. Tais conversores são utilizados como estágio de entrada em fontes de equipamentos da tecnologia da informação. Todos os conversores apresentam a mesma tensão de entrada e saída, e a mesma corrente de entrada. Os conversores foram projetados para apresentarem a mesma taxa de distorção harmônica da corrente de entrada (THD) para que, dessa forma, todos tenham o mesmo filtro de entrada. A implementação das leis de controle foi realizada através de um controlador digital com o uso de um microcontrolador de 16 bits. Todos os conversores foram primeiramente estudados e são apresentados nesta dissertação. Os parâmetros analisados para a comparação das topologias foram: fator de potência, taxa de distorção harmônica, perdas nos dispositivos semicondutores e magnéticos, volume dos dissipadores e materiais magnéticos, interferência eletromagnética conduzida, eficiência e custos.

During the first three-and-a-half years of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the TRMM satellite operated at a nominal altitude of 350 km. To reduce drag, save maneuvering fuel, and prolong the mission lifetime, the orbit was boosted to 403 km in August 2001. The change in orbit altitude produced small changes in a wide range of observing parameters, including field-of-view size and viewing angles. Due to natural climatic variability, it is not possible to evaluate possible changes in precipitation retrievals from the satellite data alone. We estimate changes in TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and the Precipitation Radar (PR) precipitation retrievals due to the orbit boost by comparing them with surface rain gauges on ocean buoys operated by the NOAA Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory (PMEL). For each rain gauge, we compute the bias between the satellite and the gauge for pre- and post-boost time periods. For the TMI, the satellite is biased ~12% low relative to the gauges during the pre-boost period and ~1.5% low during the post-boost period. The mean change in bias relative to the gauges is approximately 0.4 mm day^-1. The PR is biased significantly low relative to the gauges during both boost periods. The change in bias is rain rate dependent, with larger changes in areas with higher mean precipitation rates.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This work investigates the influence of operation point (Δi @ fs) in the final volume of PFC boost converter. The boost inductor, EMI filter and thermal heatsink are the elements which main influences in the converter volume. These elements are strongly influenced by the chosen operation point, showing a direct relationship among them. With the increase of switch frequency and of the input current ripple occurs reduction of the boost inductor volume. On the other hand, it increases the switching losses in semiconductors, and influence on the EMI filter volume. It should be highlight that the optimum designs of individual devices or parameters of a system could not take the optimization of the overall system. In this form it is strongly recommended that the engineers and designers take into account the overall system, as well available technologies, standard and recommendation, and finally market commitments. The methodology presented realize the converter design in a integrate form, selecting the operation point that the converter finds the minimal total volume, starting from input variable output power, input and output voltage. The design takes into account different semiconductors technologies, different input filter topologies, different heart sinks profile, different magnetic cores technologies further of international standards that the converter must be adapt. Based on an integrate design of converter parameters is possible optimize the design finding the operation point for the minimal volume. / Esse trabalho investiga o impacto do ponto de operação (Δi @ fs) no volume final do conversor boost operando como pré regulador com correção do fator de potência (PFC). Os elementos de maior influência no volume do conversor são o indutor boost, o filtro de entrada e os dissipadores térmicos. O volume destes elementos é diretamente influenciado pelo ponto de operação, mostrando uma relação direta entre eles. Com o aumento da freqüência de comutação e da ondulação da corrente de entrada ocorre a diminuição do indutor boost, porém, aumentam as perdas nas comutações dos semicondutores e aumenta o volume do filtro de entrada. Com a diminuição da freqüência e da ondulação da corrente ocorre o inverso, sabendo disto, fica claro que projetar individualmente cada um destes três elementos pode resultar em um bom projeto individual, contudo penaliza os outros parâmetros. Assim, a metodologia apresentada realiza o projeto do conversor de forma integrada, escolhendo o ponto de operação em que o conversor encontre o volume final mínimo, partindo de algumas variáveis de entrada, como potência de saída e tensões de entrada e saída. O projeto leva em consideração diferentes tecnologias de semicondutores, topologias de filtros de entrada, perfis de dissipadores térmicos, tecnologias de núcleos magnéticos além das normas internacionais a que o conversor deve se adequar. Baseado no projeto integrado dos parâmetros do conversor é possível otimizar o projeto encontrando o ponto de operação para o volume total mínimo do conversor.

No description available.

This thesis aims to investigate an active power factor correction (PFC) circuit and its mathematical model, in order to develop a reliable and efficient simulation platform. By using the PI controller, we can control the inductor current and the output voltage of the boost converter. Finally, we constructed the circuit and analyzed the results to verify that our mathematical model is valid.

The thesis aims at investigating an active power factor correction circuit. In boost power converter, we ser up average large signal model with Matlab and derive control¡Voutput function for pole assignment of control loop with ac small signal model. In controller, control circuit of conventional active power factor correction and modified PI control circuit are adopted, separately. Through simulation results and experimental responses of hardware circuit show that under variation of load or alternating input voltage, modified PI control circuit has better regulating capacity than that of conventional control circuit .

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Behrooz Mirafzal / In this thesis, a modified version of the phasor pulse width modulation (PPWM) switching method for use in a single-stage three-phase boost inverter is presented. Because of the required narrow pulses in the PPWM method and limitations in controller resolution, e.g. dSPACE, the desired switching pattern for a boost inverter requires a costly processor. A low resolution processor can cause pulse dropping which results in some asymmetric conditions in output waveforms of the boost inverter and therefore, an increase in the THD of the output waveform. In order to solve this problem, a new switching pattern is developed which guarantees symmetric conditions in the switching pattern by discretizing the switching pattern in every switching cycle. This switching pattern has been applied to a boost inverter model developed by SimPowerSystems toolbox of MATLAB/Simulink. The model has been simulated in a wide range of input DC voltage and load. Moreover, a laboratory-scaled three-phase boost inverter has been designed, built, and tested using an identical switching pattern in the same input voltage and load range. Both simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the new switching pattern.

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the possibility to refine the control system of turbochargers in petrol engines by introducing turbo speed measurement. This thesis also investigates possible control enhancement from an electric wastegate actuator compared with a traditional pneumatic actuator. During the thesis work the control problem is divided into 3 sub systems: boost pressure controller, turbo speed controller, and electric actuator controller. The design procedure of the controllers follows model-based method in which a simulation model for engine and a simulation model for electric actuator are used. The designed controller is then implemented and evaluated in an engine test cell. The result of the thesis work shows that the electric wastegate actuator is preferred as it delivers consistent actuation speed and accurate positioning which favours model-based design that requires exact wastegate position. Although the purposed controller structure that uses turbo speed measurement cannot yet achieve faster generation of boost pressure by the end of the thesis work, the use of turbo speed sensor as controller feedback still shows potential to enhance the boost controller and ease the controller design, as the turbo speed measurement can reflect the boost pressure faster and is less sensitive to the disturbances in the air flow.

This thesis is about how our syntactic choice changes with linguistic experience. Studies on syntactic priming show that our decisions are influenced by sentences that we have recently heard or recently spoken. They also show that not all sentences have an equal amount of influence; that repetition of verbs increases priming (the lexical-boost effect) and that some verbs are more susceptible to priming than others. This thesis explores how and why syntactic decisions change with time and what these observations tell us about the cognitive mechanism of speaking. Specifically, we set out to develop a theoretical account of syntactic priming. Theoretical accounts require mathematical models and this thesis develops a sequence of mathematical models for understanding various aspects of syntactic priming. Cognitive processes are modelled as dynamical systems that can change their behaviour when they process information. We use these dynamical systems to investigate how each episode of language comprehension or production affects syntactic decisions. We also use these systems to investigate how long priming persists, how groups of consecutive sentences affect structural decisions, why repeating words leads to greater syntactic priming and what this tells us about how words, concepts and syntax are cognitively represented. We obtain two kinds of results by simulating these mathematical models. The first kind of results reveal how syntactic priming evolves over time. We find that structural priming itself shows a gradual decay with time but the lexical enhancement of priming decays catastrophically – a result consistent with experimental observations. We also find that consecutive episodes of language processing add up nonlinearly in memory, which challenges the design of some existing psycholinguistic experiments. The second kind of results reveal how our syntax module might be connected to other cognitive modules. We find that the lexical enhancement of syntactic priming might be a consequence of how the modules of attention and working memory influence syntactic decisions. These models suggest a mechanism of priming that is in contrast to a previous prediction-based account. This prediction-based account proposes that we actively predict what we hear and structural priming is due to error-correction whenever our predictions do not match the stimuli. In contrast, our account embodies syntactic priming in cognitive processes of attention, working memory and long-term memory. It asserts that our linguistic decisions are not based solely on abstract rules but also depend on the cognitive implementation of each module. Our investigations also contribute a novel theoretical framework for studying syntactic priming. Previous studies analyse priming using error-correction or Hebbian learning algorithms. We introduce the formalism of dynamical systems. This formalism allows us to trace the effect of information processing through time. It explains how residual activation from a previous episode might play a role in structural decisions, thereby enriching our understanding of syntactic priming. Since these dynamical systems are also used to model neural processes, this theoretical framework brings our understanding of priming one step closer to its biological implementation, bridging the gap between neural processes and abstract thoughts.