Digitally-controlled, high power universal telecommunication power supply modules have been developed. In this work, the converter control strategy, and its design and implementation first, by means of parallel-operated, dual, 8-bit microcontrollers, and then by using a high processing power digital signal processor (DSP) have been emphasized. The proposed dual-processor based digital controller provides an extended operating output voltage range of the power supplies, user programmable current limit setting, serial communication based active load current sharing with automatic master-slave selection among parallel-operated modules, user selectable number of back-up battery cells, programmable temperature compensation curves, and automatic derating without extra hardware requirement. Overload and output short-circuit protection features are also controlled by software. One of the processors in the digital controller is employed for user interface purposes such as long term records, display, and alarm facilities, and remote control, which are inherently slow processes. The fast processing speed required by output voltage setting, current limit, and load current sharing however is to be fulfilled by a second processor dedicated to the adjustment of output voltages of modules. Tight dynamic load regulation requirement of a telecommunication power supply has been fulfilled by a 150 MIPS DSP, in place of a low cost, 8-bit microcontroller. The implemented digitally-controlled, 1.8 kW, 0-70V telecommunication power supplies have been tested successfully in several locations in the field.

Linear time-invariant models are widely used in the control community. They often serve as approximations of nonlinear systems. For control purposes linear approximations are often good enough since feedback control systems are inherently robust to model errors. In this thesis some of the possibilities for linear time-varying modeling are studied. In the thesis it is shown that the balanced truncation procedure can be applied to reduce the order of linear time-varying systems. Many of the attractive properties of balanced truncation for time-invariant systems can be generalized into the time-varying framework. For example, it is shown that a truncated input-output stable system will be input-output stable, and computable simple worst-case error bounds are derived. The method is illustrated with model reduction of a nonlinear diesel exhaust catalyst model. It is also shown that linear time-periodic models can be used for analysis of systems with power converters. Power converters produce harmonics in the power grids and give frequency coupling that cannot be modeled with standard time-invariant linear models. With time-periodic models we can visualize the coupling and also use all the available tools for linear time-varying systems, such as balanced truncation. The method is illustrated on inverter locomotives. / QC 20120208

Dans les dernières années, le respect de l’environnement est devenu une des grandes préoccupations des clients du secteur automobile. Les constructeurs cherchent à réduire les émissions carbones de ses produits et les véhicules hybrides ou purement électriques apparaissent comme une alternative viable aux véhicules thermiques. Un des éléments importants de la réussite de la commercialisation des véhicules électriques est la recharge de la batterie qui peut être effectuée par différents moyens, avec des chargeurs embarqués/débarqués, à domicile ou sur la voie-publique. Dans ce domaine un système de charge performant doit notamment être robuste vis-à-vis des contraintes extérieures( perturbations réseaux, impédances de ligne, charges de plusieurs véhicules en même temps), avoir un bon rendement entre la puissance puisée à la prise et celle délivrée à la batterie, maitriser les courants harmoniques rejetés sur le réseau électrique (respect des différentes contraintes réglementaires liées aux perturbations émises). Pour répondre à ces exigences les travaux de cette thèse proposent des commandes innovantes des convertisseurs de puissance contenus dans les chargeurs électriques. Dans un premier temps, la modélisation des convertisseurs de puissance est réalisée en moyenne à la période de commutation et en moyenne généralisée pour d´écrire le processus de génération des harmoniques des courants et tensions des convertisseurs. Des lois de commande non-linéaire fondées sur la théorie de stabilité au sens de Lyapunov sont proposées de fac¸on à induire un comportement en boucle fermée satisfaisant les exigences souhaitées pour les convertisseurs de puissance. La partie commande est complétée par une partie d’observation nécessaire pour l’estimation des signaux non-mesurés et pour l’extraction harmonique. Enfin dans la dernière partie de la thèse, les différentes stratégies de commande sont validées par rapport aux exigences via une co-simulation en reproduisant l’architecture de logiciel model in the loop utilisée dans l’industrie / In the last few years the question of respecting the environment became a central concern of car users. The electric cars respond to the public trend of reducing the toxic emissions of conventional cars. The success of electric cars depends on the charging of the batteries, charging done either at home or on the public domain.The charging system has to respond to the following performance criteria:-robustness to exterior constraints: network perturbations, line impedance, multiple simultaneous charging of vehicles.-a good efficiency for the power transfer between the received power and the power delivered to the battery.-respecting the power distributer constrains for network harmonic pollution.These three points impose the need for efficient control laws for the battery charger. In this context, the power converters (AC / DC - DC / DC) are key components in electrical chargers , an improved control law of these elements can provide a better level of performance for the charger.This work is a continuation of previous work that resulted in several theses with CIFRE funding, in collaboration with Renault in the context of the electric car (but not only):- From an industrial viewpoint, the doctoral student will draw on the expertise, experience and Renault's test facilities in the field of electric traction in the automotive transport.- From an academic point of view the work will benefit from the skills of the working group 'System control’ within the L2S laboratory, in the field of multi-physics modelling, design of control laws and optimization.Supervision will be provided by:- Emmanuel Godoy (Professor, HDR, advisor) and Dominique Beauvois (professor, co-director) of the academic point of view.- Pedro Kvieska (Engineer, Doctor, Ecole Centrale de Nantes) for industrial management within Renault.Objectives of the thesisThe first two years of thesis work will focus on methodological studies of dedicated control laws. During the third year the work will be focused on the implementation of the proposed architectures and control strategies by: implementing of the new control strategies as prototypes on test bench and on the transferability of the proposed control approaches.A big part of the last year will naturally be devoted to the writing of the doctoral thesis and the preparation of the defence.

Applications of power electronics in power systems are growing very rapidly and changing the power system infrastructure in terms of operation speed and control. Even though applications of power electronics are wide spread, the cost and reliability of power electronics are the issues that could hinder their penetration in the utility and industrial systems. The demand for efficient and reliable converter controllers gave rise to modularized converter and controller design. The objective of this dissertation is to determine the appropriate partitioning and interface requirements between the system and application control layers for power electronic converters so that the minimum set of system layer to application layer control interfaces is compatible across all power electronic controllers. Previous work, using the Open System Architecture (OSA) concept has shown that there is a set of common functions shared by different converters at the low-level control layers. It has also shown that, depending on the application, there is a variation in control functions in application/middle control layers. This functional variation makes it difficult to define system functionality of power converters at upper control layers and further complicates the investigation into the partition requirements of system to application control layer. However, by analyzing the current or voltage affected by a converter in terms of orthogonal components, where each component or group of components is associated with a power-converter application, and the amount of required DC bus energy storage, a common functionality can be observed at the application control layer. Therefore, by establishing common functionality in terms of affected current or voltage components, a flexibility of operation can be realized at upper control layers that will be a major contribution towards standardizing the open system architecture. In order to a construct functional flexible power converter control architecture, the interface requirements to the system control layer and the partitioning between the system control layer and application control layer need to be explored. This will provide flexibility of system design methodology by reducing the number of constraints and enabling system designers to explore possible system architectures much more effectively.

Cette thèse est dédiée aux convertisseurs multiniveaux et aborde les problématiques liées à la compensation des perturbations générées sur un réseau électrique, telles que celles produites par les fours à arc. Elle est composée de quatre chapitres couvrant les thématiques de la modélisation des réseaux électriques, des convertisseurs de tension, du contrôle commande et des stratégies de compensation, accompagnés de simulations et de résultats expérimentaux obtenus sur des équipements industriels de forte puissance. Les applications réseaux étant diverses et variées, les convertisseurs multiniveaux sont ici étudiés dans le but d’être raccordés directement sur des réseaux de distribution. Pour cela, un état de l’art des différentes topologies de convertisseurs de tension (classiques et multiniveaux) est présenté et les topologies dites modulaires, sont retenues pour une étude plus poussée. Ces convertisseurs utilisent des modules de puissance à base de ponts en H, de ½ ponts en H ou de ponts en H 3-niveaux connectés en cascade. Ils permettent ainsi de créer différents types de configurations ou couplages appelés dans ce mémoire : étoile, triangle et étoiles symétriques. Les différents modules et les stratégies pour les commander sont étudiés autour d’un composant de puissance (de type IGBT 2.5kV/1.5kA). A travers les domaines électrique et thermique, une méthode est proposée afin d’estimer les pertes, les températures de jonction et déterminer ainsi les limites d’utilisation d’un tel composant de puissance. Le dimensionnement et la fiabilité de ces convertisseurs est également abordé pour chacune des configurations envisagées, afin de dégager les avantages et inconvénients pour une application réseau. D’une façon générale, la stratégie de contrôle des convertisseurs multiniveaux est ardue, principalement lié au fait que de multiples sources de tensions continues doivent être contrôlées. Dans cette optique, des stratégies de contrôle sont proposées et validées en simulation selon les types de modules et de configurations utilisés pour la compensation des perturbations d’un four à arc. Enfin, la dernière partie de ces travaux est consacrée aux résultats expérimentaux sur la base d’un compensateur industriel dénommé DSVC (Dynamic Static Var Compensator), pour la compensation des fours à arc. Les différents résultats obtenus sur plusieurs sites industriels ont ainsi permis la validation des travaux exposés dans ce mémoire / This thesis is dedicated to the multilevel converters and addresses issues related to compensation for disturbance generated on an electrical network such as those produced by arc furnaces. It is composed of four chapters covering the themes of modeling of electrical networks, voltage converters, control and compensation strategies, with simulations and experimental results obtained on high power industrial equipment. There are many networks applications and multilevel converters are here considered to be directly connected to distribution networks. Therefore, a state of the art of different voltage converters, classics and multilevel topologies, is presented and the topologies called modular are retained for further studies. These converters use modular power cells made of H bridges, ½ bridges or 3-level H bridges connected in cascade. They allow to create different types of configurations or couplings called in this memory: star, delta and double stars. The different modules and the strategies to control them are investigated around the same switching power component (IGBT 2.5kV/1.5kA). Through electrical and thermal fields, a method is proposed to estimate their losses, junction temperatures in order to determine the limits of use of such a component of power. Sizing and reliability of these converters is also discussed for each considerer configurations in order to identify the advantages and disadvantages for a network application. Generally, the multilevel converters control strategy is difficult because of the multiple sources of DC voltages to control. In this context, control strategies are proposed and validated in simulation according to the types of modules and configuration used to compensation for disturbance of an arc furnace. Finally, the last part of this thesis is devoted to the experimental results based on an industrial compensator DSVC (Dynamic Static Var Compensator) for arc furnace compensation. The different results obtained at several industrial sites have thus allowed the validation of the various works exposed in this thesis

Tightly regulated power converters behave as constant power loads which may introduce instability in power systems. Prior to this work, the design-oriented stability criteria of DC and three-phase AC systems has been extensively studied, while the stability of single-phase AC power systems has received less attention. In this research, the modeling and stability analysis of single-phase AC power systems is studied. In particular, this research focuses on a system architecture where loads are connected in series and powered by a current source. Based on the proposed current source and load power electronic based topologies, which are typically used in airfield lighting systems, three types of system characterization are developed: waveform-level model, average-value <i>qd</i> model, and <i>qd</i> impedance/admittance measurement. Each approach has its own advantages and drawbacks, but the result - a frequency-domain (s-domain) representation of the system, is identical. Applying the generalized Nyquist stability criterion, the small-signal stability criteria of the system is developed. It is shown that the predictions of the system stability using these three approaches are consistent.

L’utilisation des plusieurs sources d’énergies de caractéristiques différentes, à bord du véhicule électrique VE) nécessite l’adoption de convertisseurs statiques. Ces derniers peuvent avoir la fonction de conditionneur ’énergie des différentes sources et/ou commander les machines électriques du véhicule.Généralement les VE disposent d’un bus continu « de quelques centaines de volts » dont la stabilité est assurée par un groupe de convertisseurs élévateurs de tension (du fait que les sources ont généralement un niveau de tension faible ; quelques dizaines de volts). Lors des démarrages/arrêts très fréquents du VE en mode urbain, les sources pourraient alimenter directement le moteur de traction sans avoir recours aux convertisseurs élévateurs de tension. Afin d’exploiter cette fonctionnalité, nous proposons d’explorer une deuxième architecture de convertisseur basée sur l’adoption d’un niveau de tension variable du bus continu. Dans cette approche, la tension minimale de ce dernier est fixée en fonction des niveaux de tensions disponibles du côté des sources et de la vitesse requise (niveau des f.é.m du moteur de traction). Ainsi, le rapport variable d’élévation de la tension est minimal à faible vitesse du véhicule en mode urbain et il est maximal à grande vitesse, en modes route et autoroute. Ceci apportera une amélioration du rendement énergétique de l’ensemble sources-moteurs notamment en mode urbain. Par ailleurs, l’utilisation grand public de ces véhicules exige des contraintes maximales de disponibilité (continuité de service) des fonctions principales notamment l’alimentation embarquée. A travers le travail de cette thèse nous proposons une nouvelle topologie du convertisseur de puissance entre les sources (une Pile à combustibles associée à un pack de super-condensateurs) et les charges (moteur de traction et réseau de bord alimentant les auxiliaires du véhicule). Ce convertisseur adopte une tension variable du bus continu et une redondance de l’alimentation du moteur de traction. Après la présentation du convertisseur proposé et son positionnement par rapport à la littérature, une analyse du fonctionnement et la modélisation de sa partie DC-DC est détaillée notamment à travers des résultats de simulation de ses différents modes. A ce titre un programme de simulation fine (à l’échelle des impulsions de commande) du système entier a été développé. Dans un deuxième temps, la commande automatique et rapprochée des interrupteurs de puissance a été développée en se basant respectivement sur la méthode de contrôle par petits signaux et la commande hystérésis de courant, triangulaire-rapport cyclique et triangulaire-sinus. Les résultats de simulation des fonctionnalités principales attendues mettent en évidence la faisabilité de l’architecture du convertisseur de puissance proposée. Enfin, une maquette expérimentale à échelle réduite a été développée dans le but de valider l’étude théorique. Les premiers tests expérimentaux de la partie DC-DC du convertisseur donnent des résultats satisfaisant et valident ainsi le processus de conception. Le travail futur sera la réalisation d’une maquette à échelle 1 dans laquelle la conception du refroidisseur sera intégrée en amont de la réalisation du plan de masse dudit convertisseur. Nous pensons que cela permettra une meilleure optimisation de l’espace à bord du véhicule et améliorera le rendement énergétique de la chaine de traction. / The use of many energy sources of different kind in a electrical vehicle (EV) needs the adoption of static converters. These can have the function of either conditioning energy or driving the electrical machines of the vehicle. EV’s generally have a DC bus of some hundred volts, whose stability is ensured by a set of boost converters, since the voltage level of the several sources is as low as about some tens of volts. During frequent start/stop phases of EV’s in urban mode, energy sources can feed the motors directly without using the converters. On the basis of this consideration this thesis proposes a novel converter topology adopting a variable DC voltage level. In this approach the lowest level of the DC bus is determined as a function of the voltages available from the sources and of the required speed (back fem of the traction motor). In this way the variable step-up voltage ratio is minimal at low speeds of the EV in urban mode and maximal at higher speeds in motorway modes. This would result in an energy efficiency improvement of the sources-motors system, especially in urban mode. On the other hand the use of this EV demands some constraints as for the service continuity of the main functions of the EV, particularly the energy supply.This thesis proposes a novel power converter topology between the sources (a Fuel Cell System associated with a pack of Super-capacitors) and the loads ( traction motor and auxiliary supply system). This converter adopts a variable DC bus voltage and a redundant supply of the traction motor. After presenting the proposed converter in the framework of the state of the art, the analysis and modelling of its DC/DC part is presented, especially with simulation results of the different modes of operation. With this regard a complete simulation program has been developed down to the scale of switching pulses. Afterwards the control of the power devices has been developed by using the small signal control and the hysteresis control, triangular duty cycle and triangular sine. The simulation results of the main modes show the feasibility of the proposed power converter architecture. Finally an experimental rig has been set up, at reduced scale, for assessing the theoretical analysis. The experimental results of the DC/DC part yield satisfactory results thus proving the effectiveness of the design. Future work will focus on setting up e real scale converter, where the cooling system design will be added before realizing the mass board of the converter. This should lead up to the optimization of the volume occupied in the EV and to the improvement of the energy efficiency of the traction chain.

A photo-voltaic system consists of solar cells, power converters, battery and the load. The power converter interfaces the solar cells, battery and the load. The battery serves to equalise the energy demand (load) and the energy supply (solar cell). Currently the solar cells and the battery cost nearly 90% of the system cost. A typical photo-voltaic system can adopt various power bus configurations. Battery tied bus is the simplest of the power bus configurations. In this topology, the battery is always attached to the bus. This system is extremely simple in terms of power circuit configuration as well as control. Such systems weigh less and are more reliable. However, the battery tied bus suffers certain disadvantages. The first among them is the poor utilisation of solar panels. The load has to tolerate the full swing of the battery voltage variation. On account of the constraint on the solar panel voltage, the solar panels may not be loaded to the maximum power capacity. Such operating conditions lead to gross under-utilisation of the expensive solar panels. The battery tied bus configuration is designed, built and evaluated experimentally with 4 solar panels rated at 35 W each and a lead acid battery of 12 V 42 AH rating. This thesis explores alternate power architecture to overcome the above limitations. Load regulation and maximum power harvesting from the solar panels are the objectives. In the proposed configuration, a bidirectional power converter is inserted between the bus and the battery. The bidirectional power converter operates in boost mode and charges the battery when the sunlight is available. During eclipse period, it operates in buck mode and meets the load demand. The maximum power is extracted from the panels by controlling the voltage across the solar panels. The bus voltage reference is computed by MPPT block and the bus voltage is regulated to the reference voltage through closed loop control. So the maximum power is extracted from the panels at the expense of extra bidirectional power converter. Even though there is an additional power loss due to the introduction of power converter, this power bus configuration is superior because it increases the output power from the panel itself. The entire control logic implementation is done digitally using dspic30F6010A. The simulation is done by writing script files in C language. The proposed bus configuration is designed, built and evaluated experimentally with the same setup and the results are then compared.

This research work is devoted to the design, development and implementation of a Current Source Converter (CSC) based Active Power Filter (APF) for Medium Voltage (MV) applications. A new approach has been proposed to the design of the CSC based APF for reducing the converter kVA rating considerably. This design approach is called the Selective Harmonic Amplification Method (SHAM), and is based on the amplification of some selected harmoniccurrent components of the CSC by the input filter, and the CSC control system, which is specifically designed for this purpose. The proposed SHAM has been implemented on the first industrial CSC based APF for the elimination of 11th and 13th current harmonics of 12-pulse rectifiers fed from Medium Voltage (MV) underground cables in order to comply with IEEE Std. 519-1992. 450 kVA rated APF with only 205 kVA CSC rating has been connected to the MV bus via a coupling transformer of 600kVA, 34.5/1.1 kV. The power stage of the CSC based APF is composed of water-cooled high voltage IGBT and diode modules. Reference currents to be generated by the CSC are obtained by the use of a selective harmonic extraction method, by mploying synchronously rotating reference frames for each selected harmonic component. An Active damping method is also used to suppress the oscillations around the natural frequency of the input filter, excluding the harmonic components to be eliminated by APF. Simulation and field test results have shown that SHAM can successfully be applied to a CSC based APF for reduction of converter kVA rating, thus making it a cost- competitive alternative to voltage source converter based APFs traditionally used in industry applications.

Switched mode power supplies (SMPS) are being extensively used in most power conversion processes. The analysis, design and modeling processes of hard-switched converters are mature, where the switching frequency was limited to a few 10's of kHz. The present direction of evolution m SMPS is towards higher efficiency and higher power density. These twin objectives demand high switching frequency and low overall losses. Soft switching results in practically zero switching losses and extends the switching frequency to 100's of kHz and beyond. This thesis presents novel variants of push-pull and half-bridge DC-DC converters with soft switching properties. The proposed topology uses two additional switches and two diodes. The additional switches introduce freewheeling intervals m the circuit and enable loss-less switching. Switch stress, control and small signal model are similar to hard-switched PWM converter. Synchronous rectifiers are used in the ZVS push-pull converter to achieve high efficiency. It is interesting to see that the drives for the synchronous rectifier device are practically the same as the additional switches. The contributions made in this thesis are 1) Idealized analysis and design methodology for the proposed converters. 2) Validation of the design through circuit simulation as well as prototypes - a 300kHz, 200W push-pull converter and a 300kHz, 640W half-bridge converter. 3) Closed loop control design for desired bandwidth and accuracy Verification of loop gain through network analyzer instrumental for the same The loop gain bandwidth achieved is about 30kHz for the push-pull converter and 20kHz for half-bridge converter. An appendix has been devoted to explain the use of network analyzer. Characterization of coil, transformer and capacitor are explained in detail. Measurement techniques for measuring the small signal parameters of power supply are also explained in the appendix.