Mathematical Support of Automatic Power Equalization Systems for Modular Power Source
An algorithm for controlling the modules of a power supply source of vacuum electric furnaces intended for growing artificial monocrystals of leucosapphire according to the Kyropoulos method is considered. Since the modules from which a source with the required capacity is assembled by connecting them in parallel are not exactly identical with one another, and so are the current conducting buses used to interconnect them, a situation may occur in which some of the modules are underloaded, while others are overloaded. Therefore, in addition to stabilizing the total power produced by the source, the automatic control system must minimize the power difference among the modules. An algorithm ensuring balanced operation of the modules is developed, which is based on modeling the processes in an electrical system consisting of power supply modules and current supply buses that take into account their parameters — resistance, inductance, and mutual inductance. The algorithm has been implemented in the MatLab environment. The algorithm testing results have shown that the power difference among the power supply modules is decreased by more than a factor of two.