Browsing by Author "Wang, Fei Fred"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 53
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    Alternative structures for integrated electromagnetic passives
    Liu, Wenduo (Virginia Tech, 2006-04-19)
    The demand for high power density keeps driving the development of electromagnetic integration technologies in the field of power electronics. Based on planar homogeneous integrated structures, the mechanism of the electromagnetic integration of passives has been investigated with distributed-parameter models. High order modeling of integrated passives has been developed to investigate the electromagnetic performance. The design algorithm combining electromagnetic design and loss models has been developed to optimize and evaluate the spiral winding structure. High power density of 480 W/in3 has been obtained on the prototype. Due to the structural limitation, the currently applied planar spiral winding structure does not sufficiently utilize the space, and the structure is mechanically vulnerable. The improvement on structures is necessary for further application of integrated passives. The goal of this research is to investigate and evaluate alternative structures for high-power-density integrated passives. The research covers electromagnetic modeling, constructional study, design algorithm, loss modeling, thermal management and implementation technology The symmetric single layer structure and the stacked structure are proposed to overcome the disadvantages of the currently applied planar spiral winding structure. Because of the potential of high power density and low power loss, the stacked structure is selected for further research. The structural characteristics and the processing technologies are addressed. By taking an integrated LLCT module as the study case, the general design algorithm is developed to find out a set of feasible designs. The obtained design maps are used to evaluate the constraints from spatial, materials and processing technologies for the stacked structure. Based on the assumption of one-dimensional magnetic filed on the cross-section and linear current distribution along the longitudinal direction of the stacked structure, the electromagnetic field distribution is analyzed and the loss modeling is made. The experimental method is proposed to measure the loss and to verify the calculation. The power loss in the module leads to thermal issues, which limit the processed power of power electronics modules and thus limit the power density. To further improve the power handling ability of the module, the thermal management is made based on loss estimation. The heat extraction technology is developed to improve the heat removal ability and further improve the power density of integrated passives. The experimental results verify the power density improvement from the proposed stacked structure and the applied heat extraction technology. The power density of 1147 W/in3 (70 W/cm3) is achieved in the implemented LLCT module with the efficiency of 97.8% at output power of 1008W.
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    Analysis and Design for a High Power Density Three-Phase AC Converter Using SiC Devices
    Lai, Rixin (Virginia Tech, 2008-12-10)
    The development of high power density three-phase ac converter has been a hot topic in power electronics area due to the increasing needs in applications like electric vehicle, aircraft and aerospace, where light weight and/or low volume is usually a must. Many challenges exist due to the complicated correlations in a three-phase power converter system. In addition, with the emerging SiC device technology the operating frequency of the converter can be potentially pushed to the range from tens of kHz to hundreds of kHz at higher voltage and higher power conditions. The extended frequency range brings opportunities to further improve the power density of the converter. Technologies based on existing devices need to be revisited. In this dissertation, a systematic methodology to analyze and design the high power density three-phase ac converter is developed. All the key factors of the converter design are explored from the high density standpoint. Firstly, the criteria for the passive filter selection are derived and the relationship between the switching frequency and the size of the EMI filter is investigated. A function integration concept as well as the physical design approach is proposed. Secondly, a topology evaluation method is presented, which provides the insight into the relationships between the system constraints, operating conditions and design variables. Four topologies are then compared with the proposed approach culminating with a favored topology under the given conditions. Thirdly, a novel average model is developed for the selected topology, and used for devising a carrier-based control approach with simple calculation and good regulation performance. Fourthly, the converter failure mode operation and corresponding protection approaches are discussed and developed. Finally, a 10 kW three-phase ac/ac converter is built with the SiC devices. All the key concepts and ideas developed in this work are implemented in this hardware system and then verified by the experimental results.
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    Analysis and Design of Paralleled Three-Phase Voltage Source Converters with Interleaving
    Zhang, Di (Virginia Tech, 2010-04-26)
    Three-phase voltage source converters(VSCs) have become the converter of choice in many ac medium and high power applications due to their many advantages, including low harmonics, high power factor, and high efficiency. Modular VSCs have also been a popular choice as building blocks to achieve even higher power, primarily through converter paralleling. In addition to high power ratings, paralleling converters can also provide system redundancy through the so-called (N+1) configuration for improved availability, as well as allow easy implementation of converter power management. Interleaving can further improve the benefit of paralleling VSCs by reducing system harmonic currents, which potentially can increase system power density. There are many challenges to implement interleaving in paralleled VSCs system due to the complicated relationships in a three-phase power converter system. In addition, to maximize the benefit of interleaving, current knowledge of symmetric interleaving is not enough. More insightful understanding of this PWM technology is necessary before implement interleaving in a real paralleled VSCs system. In this dissertation, a systematic methodology to analyze and design a paralleled three-phase voltage source converters with interleaving is developed. All the analysis and proposed control methods are investigated with the goal of maximizing the benefit of interleaving based on system requirement. The dissertation is divided into five sections. Firstly, a complete analysis studying the impact of interleaving on harmonic currents in ac and dc side passive components for paralleled VSCs is presented. The analysis performed considers the effects of modulation index, pulse-width-modulation (PWM) schemes, interleaving angle and displacement angle. Based on the analysis the method to optimize interleaving angle is proposed. Secondly, the control methods for the common mode (CM) circulating current of paralleled three-phase VSCs with discontinuous space-vector modulation (DPWM) and interleaving are proposed. With the control methods, DPWM and interleaving, which is a desirable combination, but not considered possible, can be implemented together. In addition, the total flux of integrated inter-phase inductor to limit circulating current can be minimized. Thirdly, a 15 kW three phase ac-dc rectifier is built with SiC devices. With the technologies presented in this dissertation, the specific power density can be pushed more than 2kW/lb. Fourthly, the converter system with low switching frequency is studied. Special issues such as beat phenomenon and system unbalance due to non-triplen carrier ratio is explained and solved by control methods. Other than that, an improved asymmetric space vector modulation is proposed, which can significantly reduce output current total harmonic distortion (THD) for single and interleaved VSCs system. Finally, the method to protect a system with paralleled VSCs under the occurrence of internal faults is studied. After the internal fault is detected and isolated, the paralleled VSCs system can continue work. So system reliability can be increased.
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    Bidirectional DC-DC Power Converter Design Optimization, Modeling and Control
    Zhang, Junhong (Virginia Tech, 2008-01-30)
    In order to increase the power density, the discontinuous conducting mode (DCM) and small inductance is adopted for high power bidirectional dc-dc converter. The DCM related current ripple is minimized with multiphase interleaved operation. The turn-off loss caused by the DCM induced high peak current is reduced by snubber capacitor. The energy stored in the capacitor needs to be discharged before device is turned on. A complementary gating signal control scheme is employed to turn on the non-active switch helping discharge the capacitor and diverting the current into the anti-paralleled diode of the active switch. This realizes the zero voltage resonant transition (ZVRT) of main switches. This scheme also eliminates the parasitic ringing in inductor current. This work proposes an inductance and snubber capacitor optimization methodology. The inductor volume index and the inductor valley current are suggested as the optimization method for small volume and the realization of ZVRT. The proposed capacitance optimization method is based on a series of experiments for minimum overall switching loss. According to the suggested design optimization, a high power density hardware prototype is constructed and tested. The experimental results are provided, and the proposed design approach is verified. In this dissertation, a general-purposed power stage model is proposed based on complementary gating signal control scheme and derived with space-state averaging method. The model features a third-order system, from which a second-order model with resistive load on one side can be derived and a first-order model with a voltage source on both sides can be derived. This model sets up a basis for the unified controller design and optimization. The Δ-type model of coupled inductor is introduced and simplified to provide a more clearly physical meaning for design and dynamic analysis. These models have been validated by the Simplis ac analysis simulation. For power flow control, a unified controller concept is proposed based on the derived general-purposed power stage model. The proposed unified controller enables smooth bidirectional current flow. Controller is implemented with digital signal processing (DSP) for experimental verification. The inductor current is selected as feedback signal in resistive load, and the output current is selected as feedback signal in battery load. Load step and power flow step control tests are conducted for resistive load and battery load separately. The results indicate that the selected sensing signal can produce an accurate and fast enough feedback signal. Experimental results show that the transition between charging and discharging is very smooth, and there is no overshoot or undershoot transient. It presents a seamless transition for bidirectional current flow. The smooth transition should be attributed to the use of the complementary gating signal control scheme and the proposed unified controller. System simulations are made, and the results are provided. The test results have a good agreement with system simulation results, and the unified controller performs as expected.
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    Characterization and Modeling of High-Switching-Speed Behavior of SiC Active Devices
    Chen, Zheng (Virginia Tech, 2009-12-18)
    To support the study of potential utilization of the emerging silicon carbide (SiC) devices, two SiC active switches, namely 1.2 kV, 5 A SiC JFET manufactured by SiCED, and 1.2 kV, 20 A SiC MOSFET by CREE, have been investigated systematically in this thesis. The static and switching characteristics of the two switches have firstly been characterized to get the basic device information. Specific issues in the respective characterization process have been explored and discussed. Many of the characterization procedures presented are generic, so that they can be applied to the study of any future SiC unipolar active switches. Based on the characterization data, different modeling procedures have also been introduced for the two SiC devices. Considerations and measures about model improvement have been investigated and discussed, such as predicting the MOSFET transfer characteristics under high drain-source bias from switching waveforms. Both models have been verified by comparing simulation waveforms with the experimental results. imitations of each model have been explained as well. In order to capture the parasitic ringing in the very fast switching transients, a modeling methodology has also been proposed considering the circuit parasitics, with which a device-package combined simulation can be conducted to reproduce the detailed switching waveforms during the commutation process. This simulation, however, is inadequate to provide deep insights into the physics behind the ringing. Therefore a parametric study has also been conducted about the influence of parasitic impedances on the device's high-speed switching behavior. The main contributors to the parasitic oscillations have been identified to be the switching loop inductance and the device output junction capacitances. The effects of different parasitic components on the device stresses, switching energies, as well as electromagnetic interference (EMI) have all been thoroughly analyzed, whose results exhibit that the parasitic ringing fundamentally does not increase the switching loss but worsens the device stresses and EMI radiation. Based on the parametric study results, this thesis finally compares the difference of SiC JFET and MOSFET in their respective switching behavior, comes up with the concept of device switching speed limit under circuit parasitics, and establishes a general design guideline for high-speed switching circuits on device selection and layout optimization.
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    Computer Modeling and Simulation of Power Electronics Systems for Stability Analysis
    Ahmed, Sara Mohamed (Virginia Tech, 2007-12-05)
    This works focuses on analyzing ac/dc hybrid power systems with large number of power converters that can be used for a variety of applications. A computer model of a sample power system is developed. The system consists of various detailed/switching models that are connected together to study the sample system dynamic behavior and to set conditions for safe operation. The stability analysis of this type of power systems has been approached using time domain simulations. There are three types of stability analysis that are studied: steady-state, small-signal analysis and large signal analysis. The steady-state stability analysis is done by investigating the nominal operation of the power electronics system proposed. The small-signal stability of this system is studied by running different parametric case studies. First, the safe values of the main system parameters are defined from the view of the stability of the complete system. Then, these different critical parameters of the system are mapped together to predict their influence on the system. The large signal stability is examined through the response of the power system to different types of transient changes. There are different load steps applied to the critical parameters of the system at the maximum or minimum stability boundary limit found by the mapping section. The maximum load step after which the system can recover and remain stable is defined. The other type of large signal stability analysis done is the study of faults. There are different faults to be studied; for example, over voltage, under voltage and over current.
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    Control of Power Conversion Systems for the Intentional Islanding of Distributed Generation Units
    Thacker, Timothy Neil (Virginia Tech, 2005-09-26)
    Within the past decade, talk has arisen of shifting the utility grid from centralized, radial sources to a distributed network of sources, also known as distributed generation (DG); in the wake of deregulation, the California energy crisis, and northeastern blackouts. Existing control techniques for DG systems are designed to operate a system either in the connected or disconnected (islanding) mode to the utility; thus not allowing for both modes to be implemented and transitioned between. Existing detection and re-closure algorithms can also be improved upon. Dependent upon the method implemented, detection algorithms can either cause distortions in the output or completely miss a disturbance. The present re-closure process to reconnect to the utility is to completely shutdown and wait five minutes. The proposed methods of this study improve upon existing methods, via simulation and hardware experimentation, for DG systems that can intentionally islanding themselves. The proposed, "switched-mode", control allows for continuous operation of the system during disturbances by transitioning the mode of control to reflect the change in the system mode (grid-connected or islanding). This allows for zero downtimes without detrimental transients. The proposed detection method can sense disturbances that other methods cannot; and within 25 ms (approximately 1.5 line-cycles at 60 Hz). This method is an improvement over other methods because it eliminates the need to purposely distort the outputs to sense a disturbance. The proposed re-closure method is an improvement over the existing method due to the fact that it does not require the system to de-energize before re-synchronizing and reconnecting to the utility. This allows for DGs to continuously supply power to the system without having to shut down. Results show that the system is generally ready to reconnect after 2 to 5 line cycles.
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    Design and Construction of Controls for a Kv/Mva Class Power Electronics Testing Facility
    Perdue, Clinton L. (Virginia Tech, 2006-09-08)
    In order to facilitate research and testing of kV/MVA class power electronics systems, Virginia Tech has constructed the High-Power lab facility. This lab supports testing of equipment operating at up to 1.3 MW, with maximum supply ratings of 4,160 V or 480 A, depending on how the system is configured. When operated as a recirculating power ring, the system will make minimal demands on utilities. An industrial supervisory, control, and data acquisition (SCADA) system will be used to control the facility. In this paper we will detail the lab design and give insight to the decisions behind it, with an aim toward helping the reader in their own similar effort.
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    Design and Development of High Density High Temperature Power Module with Cooling System
    Ning, Puqi (Virginia Tech, 2010-05-04)
    In recent years, the SiC power semiconductor has emerged as an attractive alternative that pushes the limitations of junction temperature, power rating, and switching frequency of Si devices. These advanced properties will lead converters to higher power density. However, the reliability of the SiC semiconductor is still under investigation, and at the same time, the standard Si device packages do not meet the requirement of high temperature operation. In order to take full advantage of SiC semiconductor devices, high density, high temperature device packaging needs to be developed. In this dissertation, a high temperature wirebond package for multi-chip phase-leg power module using SiC devices was designed, developed, fabricated and tested. The details of the material selection and thermo-mechanical reliability evaluation are described. High temperature power test shows that the presented package can perform well at the high junction temperature. In order to increase the power density, reduce the parasitic parameters, and enhance the electrical, thermo-mechanical performance over wirebond packages, planar package is utilized to better take advantages of SiC device. This dissertation proposed a novel package, in which the interconnections can be formed on small dimensional pads and enclosed pads that may baffle the regular solder based connection in other planar packages. Electrical and thermo-mechanical tests of the prototype module demonstrate the functionality and reliability of the presented planar packaging methodology. In this dissertation, together with the design example, the manual module layout design and automatic module layout design process are also presented. Furthermore, a systematic optimal design process and parametric study of the heatsink-fan cooling system by applying the analytical model is described. This dissertation also established a systematic testing procedure which can rapidly detect defects and reduce the risk in high temperature packaging testing. Finally, a wirebond module and a planar module are designed for 175 ºC junction temperature and 250 ºC junction temperatures. All the key concepts and ideas developed in this work are implemented in the prototype module development and then verified by the experimental results.
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    Design and Implementation of High Efficiency, High Power Density Front-End Converter for High Voltage Capacitor Charger
    Kang, Yonghan (Virginia Tech, 2005-04-15)
    Pulse power system is widely used for medical, industrial and military applications. The operational principle of the pulse power system is that the energy from the input source is stored in the capacitor bank or superconducting inductive device through a dc-dc converter. Then, when a discharging signal exists, the stored energy is released to the load through pulse forming network (PFN) generating high peak power pulse up to gigawatts within several tens of or hundreds of microseconds. The pulse power system has been originally developed for the defense application. After the format of the voltage compression and voltage addition stages for the short-pulse high power acceleration has been established, it has been evolved to be common. Then, its application has been extended to food processing, medical equipment sterilization and wastewater treatment since many present environmental problems have been known in the early 70's or even earlier. In addition, the pulse power system is newly spotlighted due to the recent world events. The application examples are to treat anthrax-contaminated mail, and the use of accelerators to produce high power X-rays for security screening. Furthermore, the pulse power system has been applied for the tactical weapon system such as electrothermal-chemical (ETC) gun, coilgun and active armor system. Because the pulse power system applied for the tactical weapon system has the potential to be integrated in the military vehicle, a compact, lightweight pulse power system is strongly required for the future weapon system. In this thesis, a distributed power system (DPS) for the capacitor charger is introduced for the application of the active armor system. Furthermore, a design methodology is presented for the front-end converter to achieve the high efficiency as well as the high power density. Design parameters are identified and their impact on the design result is studied. the optimal operating point is determined based on the loss comparison between different operating points. In order to further improve the power density utilizing the unique operation mode i.e. pulse power operation, transformer design using amorphous-based core is provided and the design result is compared with that using ferrite-based core. A 5 kW prototype converter is built up and the experimentation is performed to verify the design.
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    Design of High-density Transformers for High-frequency High-power Converters
    Shen, Wei (Virginia Tech, 2006-07-13)
    Moore's Law has been used to describe and predict the blossom of IC industries, so increasing the data density is clearly the ultimate goal of all technological development. If the power density of power electronics converters can be analogized to the data density of IC's, then power density is a critical indicator and inherent driving force to the development of power electronics. Increasing the power density while reducing or keeping the cost would allow power electronics to be used in more applications. One of the design challenges of the high-density power converter design is to have high-density magnetic components which are usually the most bulky parts in a converter. Increasing the switching frequency to shrink the passive component size is the biggest contribution towards increasing power density. However, two factors, losses and parasitics, loom and compromise the effect. Losses of high-frequency magnetic components are complicated due to the eddy current effect in magnetic cores and copper windings. Parasitics of magnetic components, including leakage inductances and winding capacitances, can significantly change converter behavior. Therefore, modeling loss and parasitic mechanism and control them for certain design are major challenges and need to be explored extensively. In this dissertation, the abovementioned issues of high-frequency transformers are explored, particularly in regards to high-power converter applications. Loss calculations accommodating resonant operating waveform and Litz wire windings are explored. Leakage inductance modeling for large-number-of-stand Litz wire windings is proposed. The optimal design procedure based on the models is developed.
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    Device Selection Criteria--Based on Loss Modeling and Figure of Merit
    Ying, Yucheng (Virginia Tech, 2008-03-28)
    With the increasing speed of the microprocessor and its rapidly increasing demand for power, determining how to power the microprocessors for our computers becomes an important issue. So far, industry has been struggling to operate the VR/VRM at higher and higher switching frequencies while maintaining acceptable power conversion efficiency. As a consequence, the power switches used in the VR/VRM must be able to work efficiently at a higher switching frequency and with a higher current density. To evaluate the performance of the MOSFET for this low-output-voltage, high-current and high-switching-frequency application, a prevalent criterion, the Figure-of-Merit (FOM), is being widely adopted for determining the top switch of the buck converter in the VR/VRM. By comparing the FOMs of different devices, the device with the lowest FOM value should have the best performance and lead to the lowest loss for this device in the circuit. Qgd*Rdson is a widely accepted and widely used FOM for power devices. Due to the lack of accuracy of the power loss model, this FOM is no longer suitable for VRM applications. Furthermore, the question of how to use this FOM to select the right device for different application is another important issue. This work presents an investigation of a new Figure-of-Merit based on a more accurate loss model, which includes the factor of Qgs2, the gate-driving voltage and the packaging parasitics. Furthermore, a simple method is proposed to select the right device and gate-driving voltage for different circuit conditions. A new simple and accurate closeform model for device loss with packing parasitics is derived. This model can provide more physical information for each of the device parameters. The loss influence of the different packaging method is analyzed and discussed at the end of the work.
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    Digital Generator Control Unit for Synchronous Brushless Generator
    Ma, Xiangfei (Virginia Tech, 2004-12-16)
    This thesis focuses on the study, implementation and improvement of a digital Generator Control Unit (GCU) for a high-speed synchronous brushless generator. The control of variable frequency power system, a preferred candidate in More Electric Aircraft (MEA), becomes a big challenge. Compared with conventional analog GCU, digital GCU is a future trend due to the properties such as easy tuning, modification and no aging. Control approaches adopted in the new GCU design is introduced. It has multiloop structure and model-based characteristics. Sensorless rotor position detection was used to finish Park transformation. DSP+FPGA based controller hardware was developed in the lab. A set of hardware was designed to implement the control algorithms. VHDL-based software was developed for FPGA, which is working as a bridge between DSP and peripheral circuits. C-based software was designed to implement control algorithm inside DSP. A testbed system was developed according to the lab capacity of CPES. The complete load transit responses were tested according to the standard ISO1540 and EN8420. Good match between simulation and experiment has been reached. Compared with benchmark controller, great improvement in both steady state and dynamic performance is realized. A feasibility of using digital GCU in the next generation aircraft has been proved preliminarily. However, the challenge of reliability issues in digital system and software still needs further attention.
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    Direct Back EMF Detection Method for Sensorless Brushless DC (BLDC) Motor Drives
    Shao, Jianwen (Virginia Tech, 2003-09-12)
    Brushlesss dc (BLDC) motors and their drives are penetrating the market of home appliances, HVAC industry, and automotive applications in recent years because of their high efficiency, silent operation, compact form, reliability, and low maintenance. Traditionally, BLDC motors are commutated in six-step pattern with commutation controlled by position sensors. To reduce cost and complexity of the drive system, sensorless drive is preferred. The existing sensorless control scheme with the conventional back EMF sensing based on motor neutral voltage for BLDC has certain drawbacks, which limit its applications. In this thesis, a novel back EMF sensing scheme, direct back EMF detection, for sensorless BLDC drives is presented. For this scheme, the motor neutral voltage is not needed to measure the back EMFs. The true back EMF of the floating motor winding can be detected during off time of PWM because the terminal voltage of the motor is directly proportional to the phase back EMF during this interval. Also, the back EMF voltage is referenced to ground without any common mode noise. Therefore, this back EMF sensing method is immune to switching noise and common mode voltage. As a result, there are no attenuation and filtering necessary for the back EMFs sensing. This unique back EMF sensing method has superior performance to existing methods which rely on neutral voltage information, providing much wider motor speed range at low cost. Based on the fundamental concept of the direct Back EMF detection, improved circuitry for low speed /low voltage and high voltage applications are also proposed in the thesis, which will further expand the applications of the sensorless BLDC motor drives. Starting the motor is critical and sometime difficult for a BLDC sensorless system. A practical start-up tuning procedure for the sensorless system with the help of a dc tachometer is described in the thesis. This procedure has the maximum acceleration performance during the start-up and can be used for all different type applications. An advanced mixed-signal microcontroller is developed so that the EMF sensing scheme is embedded in this low cost 8-bit microcontroller. This device is truly SOC (system-on-chip) product, with high-throughput Micro core, precision-analog circuit, in-system programmable memory and motor control peripherals integrated on a single die. A microcontroller-based sensorless BLDC drive system has been developed as well, which is suitable for various applications, including hard disk drive, fans, pumps, blowers, and home appliances, etc.
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    Distributed, Modular, Open Control Architecture for Power Conversion Systems
    Guo, Jinghong (Virginia Tech, 2005-05-13)
    Due to close coupling to hardware and lack of software engineering technologies, the control software in digitally controlled power conversion systems is difficult to design and maintain. This is a natural consequence of a topology- or application-driven design approach. This research work proposes a distributed, modular, open control architecture for power conversion systems to reduce control design complexity, encapsulate and localize design dependencies, reduce unnecessary redesign effort and improve software quality. Dataflow style is chosen as the architectural style for the proposed control architecture based on comparative analysis. The detailed implementation of the dataflow architecture is presented. The resulting dataflow control software is evaluated in comparison to the legacy approach to control design used in industry and academia. The dataflow control software for a 3-phase voltage source inverter is also tested on a real PEBB-based converter system. To further explore the flexibility of control composition that is brought by the dataflow approach, the feasibility of dynamic control reconfiguration is also presented as an important future research direction.
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    Double-Sided Liquid Cooling for Power Semiconductor Devices Using Embedded Power Technology
    Charboneau, Bryan Charles (Virginia Tech, 2005-07-22)
    Power electronics is a constantly growing and demanding technical field. Consumer demand and developing technologies have made the improvement of power density a primary emphasis of research for this area. Power semiconductors present some of the major challenges for increasing system level power density due to high loss density and interconnection requirements. Advanced cooling schemes, such as double-sided, forced liquid convection or multi-phase flow, can be implemented with non-wire bond packaging to improve thermal management while maintaining proper electrical performance. Embedded power is one such packaging technology, which provides a compact structure for interface of power semiconductor to fluid flow. The objective of this work was to identify the potential of implementing embedded power packaging with double-sided forced liquid convection. Physics based, electro-thermal models were first used to predict the improvement in heat transfer of double-sided, forced liquid convection with embedded power packaging over single-sided liquid cooled wire bond based packaging. A liquid module test bed was designed and constructed based on the electro-thermal models, which could be interfaced with high power MOSFET based samples implementing various packaging technologies. Experiments were used to verify the model predictions and identify practical limitations of high flow rate, double-sided liquid cooling with embedded power. An improvement of 45% to 60% in total junction to case thermal resistance is shown for embedded power packaging with double-sided liquid cooling for water flow rates between 0.25 and 4.5 gal/min.
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    A Dq Rotating Frame Controller for Single Phase Full-Bridge Inverters Used in Small Distributed Generation Systems
    Roshan, Arman (Virginia Tech, 2007-06-29)
    Today, small distributed power generation (DG) systems are becoming more common as the need for electric power increases. Small DG systems are usually built close to the end-user and they take advantage of using different energy sources such as wind and solar. A few examples are hybrid cars, solar houses, data centers, or hospitals in remote areas where providing clean, efficient and reliable electric power is critical to the loads. In such systems, the power is distributed from the source side to the load side via power electronic converters in the system. At low and medium power applications, the task is often left to single phase inverters where they are the only interface between sources connected to DC bus and loads connected to an AC bus. Much has been done for the control of single phase inverters in the past years; however, due to the requirements of stand alone systems and the time-varying nature of the converter, its controller design is still quite difficult, and especially so if its critical functionality within the system is taken into consideration. Part of the challenge is also due to the fact that the load is not known at all time, further complicating the controller design. This thesis proposes a different method of control for single phase inverters used in low and medium power DG systems. The new control method takes advantage of the well-known DQ transformation and analysis mostly employed for three phase converters' analysis and control design. Providing a time-invariant model of single phase inverters is the main feature of DQ transformation. In addition to that, control design of the inverter in DQ frame becomes similar to those of DC-DC and three phase converters making it easier to achieve superior performance under different operation conditions while achieving a robust controller. The transformation requires at least two independent phases for each state variable in the system; thus a second phase must be created. This thesis proposes the creation of an imaginary circuit based on the real circuit of the inverter to provide the second required phase for transformation. The state variables of the imaginary circuit are obtained by differentiating the state variables of the main inviter's circuit. The differentiation can be implemented in DSP so there is no need for additional hardware in the system, making it more attractive and cost effective method. The DQ controller not only provides superior transient response, it also provides zero steady-state error as well as low output voltage THD under nonlinear load operation. The entire controller can be implemented in a digital control board which is becoming more common in power electronics converters within the past decade. Analysis and design of a DQ controller for a 2.5kW single phase full-bridge inverter is presented in this study with the final results implemented in a FPGA/DSP based digital controller board.
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    Driver Based Soft Switch for Pulse-Width-Modulated Power Converters
    Yu, Huijie (Virginia Tech, 2005-02-23)
    The work in this dissertation presents the first attempt in the literature to propose the concept of "soft switch". The goal of "soft switch" is to develop a standard PWM switch cell with built-in adaptive soft switching capabilities. Just like a regular switch, only one PWM signal is needed to drive the soft switch under soft switching condition. The core technique in soft switch development is a built-in adaptive soft switching circuit with minimized circulation energy. The necessity of minimizing circulation energy is first analyzed. The design and implementation of a universal controller for implementation of variable timing control to minimize circulation energy is presented. The controller has been tested successfully with three different soft switching inverters for electric vehicles application in the Partnership for a New Generation Vehicles (PNGV) project. To simplify the control, several methods to achieve soft switching with fixed timing control are proposed by analyzing a family of zero-voltage switching converters. The driver based soft switch concept was originated from development of a base driver circuit for current driven bipolar junction transistor (BJT). A new insulated-gate-bipolar-transistor (IGBT) and power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor (MOSFET) gated transistor (IMGT) base drive structure was initially proposed for a high power SiC BJT. The proposed base drive method drives SiC BJTs in a way similar to a Darlington transistor. With some modification, a new base driver structure can adaptively achieve zero voltage turn-on for BJT at all load current range with one single gate. The proposed gate driver based soft switching method is verified by experimental test with both Si and SiC BJT. The idea is then broadened for "soft switch" implementation. The whole soft switched BJT (SSBJT) structure behaves like a voltage-driven soft switch. The new structure has potentially inherent soft transition property with reduced stress and switching loss. The basic concept of the current driven soft switch is then extended to a voltage-driven device such as IGBT and MOSFET. The key feature and requirement of the soft switch is outlined. A new coupled inductor based soft switching cell is proposed. The proposed zero-voltage-transition (ZVT) cell serves as a good candidate for the development of soft switch. The "Equivalent Inductor" and state plane based analysis method are used to simply the analysis of coupled inductor based zero-voltage switching scheme. With the proposed analysis method, the operational property of the ZVT cell can be identified without solving complicated differential equations. Detailed analysis and design is proposed for a 3kW boost converter example. With the proposed soft switch design, the boost converter can achieve up to 98.9% efficiency over a wide operation range with a single gate drive. A high power inverter with coupled inductor scheme is also designed with simple control compared to the earlier implementation. A family of soft-switching converters using the proposed "soft switch" cell can be developed by replacing the conventional PWM switch with the proposed soft switch.
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    Dynamic Performance Analyses of Current Sharing Control for DC/DC Converters
    Sun, Juanjuan (Virginia Tech, 2007-06-13)
    Paralleling operation of DC/DC converters is widely used in today's distributed power systems. To ensure balanced output currents among paralleled power modules, current sharing control is usually necessary.Active current sharing controls with current feedback mechanism are widely used in today's power supplies. However, the dynamic performance of these current sharing control schemes are not yet clearly explored. In this work, the dynamic current sharing performance is evaluated for paralleling systems with the output impedance approach. As the representative of the terminal characteristic of a power converter, output impedance is a powerful tool to study the dynamic response under load transients. The dynamic current sharing analyses are then conducted for three different active current sharing control structures and a comprehensive comparison among them helps the designer to choose appropriate controls for different applications. On the other hand, high-frequency load transients are possible to happen for voltage regulators, which are the power supplies of microprocessors. In order to study the dynamic current sharing performance for a paralleling system when the perturbation frequency is higher than half of the switching frequency,the conventional output impedance concept needs to be extended. Due to the non-linear behavior of a switching modulator, the beat-frequency phenomenon could cause unexpected failure of a power supply when the perturbation frequency is close to the switching frequency. To address this issue, an unconventional multi-frequency model is proposed for high-frequency dynamic current sharing studies. With this model, the sideband components are possible to be included and the beat-frequency oscillations can be predicted. After that, the conventional impedance concept is expanded in the form of extended describing function, so that the terminal characteristics of paralleled converters are represented by a series of impedances. Besides the analyses, this work also proposed several solutions for the beat-frequency oscillation issue which are experimentally verified. In summary, both low-frequency and high-frequency dynamic current sharing performances are studied in this dissertation. The output impedance concept and its extension in the form of extended describing function are utilized as the tools for researches. With these powerful tools, more insights are obtained to help better design of a paralleling system.
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    Electrical, Magnetic, Thermal Modeling and Analysis of a 5000A Solid-State Switch Module and Its Application as a DC Circuit Breaker
    Zhou, Xigen (Virginia Tech, 2005-09-02)
    This dissertation presents a systematic design and demonstration of a novel solid-state DC circuit breaker. The mechanical circuit breaker is widely used in power systems to protect industrial equipment during fault or abnormal conditions. Compared with the slow and high-maintenance mechanical circuit breaker, the solid-state circuit breaker is capable of high-speed interruption of high currents without generating an arc, hence it is maintenance-free. Both the switch and the tripping unit are solid-state, which meet the requirements of precise protection and high reliability. The major challenge in developing and adopting a solid-state circuit breaker has been the lack of power semiconductor switches that have adequate current-carrying capability and interruption capability. The high-speed, high-current solid-state DC circuit breaker proposed and demonstrated here uses a newly-emerging power semiconductor switch, the emitter turn-off (ETO) thyristor as the main interruption switch. In order to meet the requirement of being a high-current circuit breaker, ETO parallel operation is needed. Therefore the major effort of this dissertation is dedicated to the development of a high-current (5000A) DC switch module that utilizes multiple ETOs in parallel. This work can also be used to develop an AC switch module by changing the asymmetrical ETOs used to symmetrical ETOs. An accurate device model of the ETO is needed for the development of the high-current DC switch module. In this dissertation a novel physics-base lumped charge model is developed for the ETO thyristor for the first time. This model is verified experimentally and used for the research and development of the emitter turn-off (ETO) thyristor as well as the DC switch module discussed in this dissertation. With the aid of the developed device model, the device current sharing between paralleled multiple ETO thyristors is investigated. Current sharing is difficult to achieve for a thyristor-type device due to the large device parameter variations and strong positive feedback mechanism in a latched thyristor. The author proposes the "DirectETO" concept that directly benefits from the high-speed capability of the ETO and strong thermal couplings among ETOs. A high-current DC switch module based on the DirectETO can be realized by directly connecting ETOs in parallel without the bulky current sharing inductors used in other current-sharing solutions. In order to achieve voltage stress suppression under high current conditions, the parasitic parameters, especially parasitic inductance in a high-current ETO switch module are studied. The Partial Element Equivalent Circuit (PEEC) method is used to extract the parasitics. Combined with the developed device model, the electrical interactions among multiple ETOs are investigated which results in structural modification for the solid-state DC switch module. The electro-thermal model of the DC switch module and the heatsink subsystem is used to identify the "thermal runaway" phenomenon in the module that is caused by the negative temperature coefficient of the ETO's conduction drop. The comparative study of the electro-thermal coupling identifies a strongly-coupled thermal network that increases the stability of the thermal subsystem. The electro-thermal model is also used to calculate the DC and transient thermal limit of the DC switch module. The high-current (5000A) DC switch module coupled with a solid state tripping unit is successfully applied as a high-speed, high-current solid-state DC circuit breaker. The experimental demonstration of a 5000A current interruption shows an interruption time of about 5 microseconds. This high-speed, high-current DC switch module can therefore be used in DC circuit breaker applications as well as other types of application, such as AC circuit breakers, transfer switches and fault current limiters. Since the novel solid-state DC circuit breaker is able to extinguish the fault current even before it reaches an uncontrollable level, this feature provides a fast-acting, current-limiting protection scheme for power systems that is not possible with traditional circuit breakers. The potential impact on the power system is also discussed in this dissertation.