Dynamic voltage restorer using sliding mode controller: Experimental studies

The simulation and implementation of a sliding mode control strategy for a single-phase dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) to mitigate load voltage sag swell and harmonics is presented in this work. The control strategy's goal is to compensate for the required voltage by regulating the DVR's voltage via an injection transformer while keeping the load voltage constant. The ability of the DVR to achieve a good performance greatly depends on its control strategy. The controller used in this work is based on SMC theory, which consists of creating a passivation output and a storage function to use as a function of Lyapunov. The proposed control scheme of the DVR is initially evaluated in simulations using MATLAB and validated using a laboratory-scale prototype of the entire system, including a source, the DVR circuit and a load. The control scheme is implemented on a dSPACE 1104 board and the MATLAB real-time toolbox. Both the experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness the proposed control strategy of DVR in mitigating power qualities issues and therefore enhancing the performance of the network.

Transmitter Module Optimization for Wireless Power Transfer Systems with Single Transmitter to Multiple Receivers

Most of the coil designs for wireless power transfer (WPT) systems have been developed based on the “single transmitter to a single receiver (S-S)” WPT systems by the empirical design approaches, partial domain searches, and shape optimization methods. Recently, the layout optimizations of the receiver coil for S-S WPT systems have been developed using gradient-based optimization, fixed-grid (FG) representation, and smooth boundary (SB) representation. In this paper, the new design optimization of the transmitter module for the “single transmitter to multiple receivers (S-M)” WPT system with the resonance optimization for the S-M WPT system is proposed to extremize the total power transfer efficiency while satisfying the load voltage (i.e., rated power) required by each receiver and the total mass used for the transmitter coil. The proposed method was applied to an application model (e.g., S-M WPT systems with two receiver modules). Using the sensitivity of design variables with respect to the objective function (i.e., total power transfer efficiency) and constraint functions (i.e., load voltage of each receiver module and transmitter coil mass) at each iteration of the optimization process, the proposed method determines the optimal transmitter module that can maximize the total power transfer efficiency while several constraints are satisfied. Finally, the optimized transmitter module for the S-M WPT system was demonstrated through comparison with experiments under the same conditions as the simulation environment.

One hundred kilojoules of energy storage in water wire electric explosion deposition energy study

In this experiment, the electro-explosive deposition energy in water of aluminum-magnesium welding wire model ER5356 at 100 kJ capacitive storage energy was investigated. The loop current and the load discharge voltage during the wire electrical explosion were measured using a self-integrating Roche coil and a capacitive voltage divider, respectively. The physical process of electrical explosion and the energy deposition process were delineated by the measured loop currents and load voltages. The current waveform and load voltage of the electric explosion in water of 1.2 mm-3.0 mm diameter Al-Mg wire at 100 kJ stored energy were measured; the changes of load resistance value, load power and deposition energy of the wire loaded with electric explosion were calculated. The results show that the peak circuit current and peak time point decrease and then increase with increasing diameter, and the minimum value is achieved at 1.6 mm wire diameter; the load voltage and load resistance values gradually decrease with increasing diameter; the load power and total deposited energy of discharge achieve the maximum value at 2.0 mm diameter. At 100 kJ energy storage, there is an optimal range between 1.6 mm and 2.4 mm wire diameter.

An Enhanced Distributed Voltage Regulation Scheme for Radial Feeder in Islanded Microgrid

Even the simplest version of the distribution networks face challenges such as maintaining load voltage and system frequency stability and at the same time minimizing the circulating reactive power in grid-forming nodes. As the consumers at the far end of the radial distribution network face serious voltage fluctuations and deviations once the load varies. Therefore, this paper presents an enhanced distributed control strategy to restore the load voltage magnitude and to realize power-sharing proportionally in islanded microgrids. This proposed study considers the voltage regulation at the load node as opposed to the inverter terminal. At the same time, a supervisory control layer is put on to observe and correct the load voltage and system frequency deviations. This presented method is aimed at replacing paralleled inverter control methods hitherto used. Stability analysis using system-wide methodical small-signal models, the MATLAB/Simulink, and experimental results obtained with conventional and proposed control schemes verify the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Analysis and Implementation of a Frequency Control DC–DC Converter for Light Electric Vehicle Applications

In order to realize emission-free solutions and clean transportation alternatives, this paper presents a new DC converter with pulse frequency control for a battery charger in electric vehicles (EVs) or light electric vehicles (LEVs). The circuit configuration includes a resonant tank on the high-voltage side and two variable winding sets on the output side to achieve wide output voltage operation for a universal LEV battery charger. The input terminal of the presented converter is a from DC microgrid with voltage levels of 380, 760, or 1500 V for house, industry plant, or DC transportation vehicle demands, respectively. To reduce voltage stresses on active devices, a cascade circuit structure with less voltage rating on power semiconductors is used on the primary side. Two resonant capacitors were selected on the resonant tank, not only to achieve the two input voltage balance problem but also to realize the resonant operation to control load voltage. By using the variable switching frequency approach to regulate load voltage, active switches are turned on with soft switching operation to improve converter efficiency. In order to achieve wide output voltage capability for universal battery charger demands such as scooters, electric motorbikes, Li-ion e-trikes, golf carts, luxury golf cars, and quad applications, two variable winding sets were selected to have a wide voltage output (50~160 V). Finally, experiments with a 1 kW rated prototype were demonstrated to validate the performance and benefits of presented converter.