• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.946-956
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• 2014

Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) converters can be directly connected to medium-voltage grids without using transformers and they possess the advantages of large capacity and low harmonics. They are significant tools for providing grid connections in large-capacity renewable energy systems. However, the reliability of a grid-connected CHB converter can be seriously influenced by the number of power switching devices that exist in the structure. This paper proposes a fault-tolerant control strategy based on double zero-sequence voltage injection and DC voltage optimization to improve the reliability of star-connected CHB converters after one or more power units have been bypassed. By injecting double zero-sequence voltages into each phase cluster, the DC voltages of the healthy units can be rapidly balanced after the faulty units are bypassed. In addition, optimizing the DC voltage increases the number of faulty units that can be tolerated and improves the reliability of the converter. Simulations and experimental results are shown for a seven-level three-phase CHB converter to validate the efficiency and feasibility of this strategy.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.750-759
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• 2011

This paper focuses on the control of bidirectional power flow in the electric shipboard power systems, especially in the Medium-Voltage Direct Current (MVDC) shipboard power system. Bidirectional power control between the main MVDC bus and the local zones can improve the energy efficiency and control flexibility of electric ship systems. However, since the MVDC system contains various nonlinear loads such as pulsed power load and radar in various subsystems, the voltage of the MVDC and the local zones varies significantly. This voltage variation affects the control performance of the bidirectional DC-DC converters as exogenous disturbances. To improve the control performance regardless of uncertainties and disturbances, this paper proposes a novel controller design method of the bidirectional DC-DC converters using $L_1$ control theory and intelligent optimization algorithm. The performance of the proposed method is verified via large-scale real-time digital simulation of a notional shipboard MVDC power system.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.621-631
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• 2011

In space qualified DC-DC converters, optimization of the following electrical characteristics is of greater interest in comparison with other specifications; power loss/efficiency, output voltage ripple and volume/weight. The main goal of this paper is to present an appropriate solution for optimizing the above mentioned characteristics. For this purpose, a comprehensive power loss model of a DC-DC converter is fully developed. Proper models are also demonstrated for assessment of the output voltage ripple and the utilized transformer volume as the bulkiest component in a DC-DC converter. In order to provide a test bed for evaluation of the proposed models, a 50W push-pull DC-DC converter is designed and implemented. Finally, a novel cost function with three assigned weight functions is proposed in order to have a trade-off among the power loss, the output voltage ripple and the utilized transformer volume of the converter. The cost function is optimized for applications in which volume has the highest priority in comparison with power loss and ripple. The optimization results show that the transformer volume can be decreased by up to 51% and this result is verified by experimental results. The developed models and algorithms in this paper can be used for other DC-DC converter topologies with some minor modifications.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.10 no.2 s.19
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• pp.149-155
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• 2006

In this study, the design of low voltage DC-DC converter with low triggering ESD (Electro-Static Discharge) protection circuit was investigated. The purpose of this paper is design optimization for low voltage(2.5V to 5.5V input range) DC-DC converter using CMOS switch. In CMOS switch environment, a dominant loss component is not switching loss but conduction loss at 1.2MHz switching frequency. In this study a constant frequency PWM converter with synchronous rectifier is used. And zener Triggered SCR device to protect the ESD phenomenon was designed. This structure reduces the trigger voltage by making the zener junction between the lateral PNP and base of lateral NPN in SCR structure. The triggering voltage was simulated to 8V.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.672-680
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• 2018

A bidirectional exponential-gain switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converter is developed in this paper. When compared with existing exponential SC converters, the number of switches is significantly reduced and its structure is simplified. The voltage transfer features, voltage ripple across capacitors, efficiency and output impedance of the proposed converter are analyzed in detail. Optimization of the output impedance is also discussed and the best type of capacitance distribution is determined. A common function of the voltage gain to the output impedance is found among the proposed converter and other popular SC voltage multipliers. Experimental evaluation is carried out with a 6-24V bidirectional prototype converter.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.60 no.12
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• pp.2281-2285
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• 2011

An algorithm for extracting SPICE MOS level 2 model parameters for the high voltage MOSFET DC model is proposed. The optimization method for analyzing the nonlinear data of the current-voltage curve using the Gauss-Newton algorithm is proposed and the pre-process step for calculating the threshold voltage and the mobility is proposed. The drain current obtained from the proposed method shows the maximum relative error of 5.6% compared with the drain current of 2-dimensional device simulation for the high voltage MOSFET.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.549-558
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• 2017

DC distribution has several differences compared to AC distribution. DC distribution has a higher efficiency than AC distribution when distributing electricity at the same voltage level. Accordingly, power can be transferred further with low-voltage DC. In addition, power flow in a DC grid system is produced by only a voltage difference in magnitude. Owing to these differences, operation of a DC grid system significantly differs from that of an AC system. In this paper, the power flow problem in a bipolar-type DC grid with unbalanced load conditions is organized and solved. Control strategy of energy storage system on a slow time scale with power references obtained by solving an optimization problem regarding the DC grid is then proposed. The proposed strategy is verified with computer simulations.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.534-539
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• 2015

The DC overhead line voltage of an electric railway substation swings depending on the accelerating and regenerative-braking energy of trains, and it deteriorates the energy quality of the electric facility in the DC railway substation and restricts the powering and braking performance of subway trains. Recently, an energy storage system or a regenerative inverter has been introduced into railway traction substations to diminish both the variance of the overhead line voltage and the peak power consumption. In this study, the variance of the overhead line voltage in a DC railway substation is modelled by RC parallel circuits in each feeder, and the RC parameters are estimated using the recursive least mean square (RLMS) scheme. The forgetting factor values for the RLMS are selected using simulated annealing optimization, and the modelling scheme of the overhead line voltage variation is evaluated through raw data measured in a downtown railway substation.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.1586-1592
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• 2017

Voltage sourced converter (VSC) based direct-current (DC) grid has the ability to control power flow flexibly and securely, thus it has become one of the most valid approaches in aspect of large-scale renewable power generation, oceanic island power supply and new urban grid construction. To solve the optimal power flow (OPF) problem in DC grid, an adaptive particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm based on fuzzy control theory is proposed in this paper, and the optimal operation considering both power loss and voltage quality is realized. Firstly, the fuzzy membership curve is used to transform two objectives into one, the fitness value of latest step is introduced as input of fuzzy controller to adjust the controlling parameters of PSO dynamically. The proposed strategy was applied in solving the power flow issue in six terminals DC grid model, and corresponding results are presented to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of proposed algorithm.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1595-1607
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• 2018

In this paper, a hierarchical control strategy is introduced to control a new three-port multidirectional DC-DC converter for integrating an energy storage system (ESS) to a bipolar DC microgrid (BPDCMG). The proposed converter provides a voltage-balancing function for the BPDCMG and adjusts the states of charge (SoC) of the ESS. Previous studies tend to balance the voltage of the BPDCMG buses with active sources or by transferring power from one bus to another. Furthermore, the batteries available in BPDCMGs were charged equally by both buses. However, this power sharing method does not guarantee efficient operation of the whole system. In order to achieve a higher efficiency and lower energy losses, a triple-layer hierarchical control strategy, including a primary droop controller, a secondary voltage restoration controller and a tertiary optimization controller are proposed. Thanks to the multi-functional operation of the proposed converter, its conversion stages are reduced. Furthermore, the efficiency and weight of the system are both improved. Therefore, this converter has a significant capability to be used in portable BPDCMGs such as electric DC ships. The converter modes are analyzed and small-signal models of the converter are extracted. Comprehensive simulation studies are carried out and a BPDCMG laboratory setup is implemented in order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed converter and its hierarchical control strategy. Simulation and experimental results show that using the proposed converter mitigates voltage imbalances. As a result, the system efficiency is improved by using the hierarchical optimal power flow control.