Modified T-type topology of three-phase multi-level inverter for photovoltaic systems

In this article, a three-phase multilevel neutral-point-clamped inverter with a modified t-type structure of switches is proposed. A pulse width modulation (PWM) scheme of the proposed inverter is also developed. The proposed topology of the multilevel inverter has the advantage of being simple, on the one hand since it does contain only semiconductors in reduced number (corresponding to the number of required voltage levels), and no other components such as switching or flying capacitors, and on the other hand, the control scheme is much simpler and more suitable for variable frequency and voltage control. The performances of this inverter are analyzed through simulations carried out in the MATLAB/Simulink environment on a three-phase inverter with 9 levels. In all simulations, the proposed topology is connected with R-load or RL-load without any output filter.

Comparison of backstepping, sliding mode and PID regulators for a voltage inverter

<p><span>In the present paper, an efficient and performant nonlinear regulator is designed for the control of the pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage inverter that can be used in a standalone photovoltaic microgrid. The main objective of our control is to produce a sinusoidal voltage output signal with amplitude and frequency that are fixed by the reference signal for different loads including linear or nonlinear types. A comparative performance study of controllers based on linear and non-linear techniques such as backstepping, sliding mode, and proportional integral derivative (PID) is developed to ensure the best choice among these three types of controllers. The performance of the system is investigated and compared under various operating conditions by simulations in the MATLAB/Simulink environment to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control methods. Our investigation shows that the backstepping controller can give better performance than the sliding mode and PID controllers. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed backstepping controller are verified experimentally in terms of tracking objectives.</span></p>

Management of grape powdery mildew with an intelligent sprayer and sulfur

Wine grapes are an important agricultural commodity in the Pacific Northwest where grape powdery mildew (GPM) is one of the main disease problems. The efficacy of different sulfur concentrations and different output volumes from an air blast sprayer retrofitted with the Intelligent Spray System (ISS) were evaluated for the management of GPM. The ISS consists of a LiDAR sensor, Doppler speed sensor, embedded computer, flow controller, and individual pulse-width-modulation solenoid valves at each nozzle. GPM cluster severity ranged from 55% to 75% across all trials in the study when using the ISS at its default spray rate of 62.5 ml m-3 and micronized sulfur at 6 g L-1, which was significantly higher than all other fungicide treatments, but lower than non-treated controls. Similarly, leaf incidence values were highest on non-treated vines, followed by micronized sulfur at 6 g L-1 applied at 62.5 ml m-3 , with all other fungicide treatments being significantly lower in all trials. Using the ISS at the 62.5 ml m-3 rate and a rotation of locally systemic fungicides resulted in the lowest observed GPM leaf incidence, and average cluster severity of 11% in both 2019 and 2020, the lowest cluster severity of all fungicide treatments tested. GPM control using the ISS and micronized sulfur was equivalent to a constant-rate air blast treatment at 6 g L-1 when the spray rate of the ISS was increased to 125ml m-3, or if the concentration of sulfur was increased to 24 g L-1. In those cases, the amount of sulfur applied to vines was at or above the minimum label rate from bloom until the end of the season, or the entire season, respectively. This study has shown that sufficient disease control cannot always be expected when mixing pesticides at the same rate as would be used for a constant-rate sprayer in a variable rate sprayer, especially when using contact fungicides like sulfur . With appropriate adjustments, the variable-rate ISS can be a useful tool to reduce pesticide quantities, water required for mixing, and as a result labor, as fewer trips to refill for a given spray event are required.

Electronic thermodynamics part 1: Thermo-electromechanical system modeling, instrumentation, and simulation

This research proposes to obtain a mathematical model that describes the dynamic operation of a brushed DC motor, to obtain a state function considering the electrical, mechanical, and thermal effects of the DC motor. The dynamic evolution of the proposed function is evaluated by simulation using Matlab software, and by applying different values of the step type inputs for the brushed motor excitation employing pulse width modulation (PWM) to obtain a wide range of operations. Experimental results show that the developed state function, provides a reliable approximation to estimate the voltage, armature current, mechanical torque, and temperature of the brushed DC motor, showing an error percentage of 0.2%.

DSP Processer-in-the-Loop Tests Based on Automatic Code Generation

The digital signal processing (DSP) processor-in-the-loop tests based on automatic code generation technology are studied. Firstly, the idea of model-based design is introduced, and the principle and method of embedded code automatic generation technology are analyzed by taking the automatic code generation of the DSP control algorithm for pulse width modulation (PWM) output as an example. Then, the control system model is established on MATLAB/Simulink. After verifying the model through simulation, the target board platform is established with DSP as the core processor, and the automatically generated code is tested by the processor-in-the-loop (PIL). The results show that the technology greatly shortens the development cycle of the project, improves the robustness and consistency of the control code, and can be widely used in the complex algorithm development process of the controller, from intelligent design and modeling to implementation.

A Design Method of the Transmitting Waveform of Electromagnetic Sounding Based on Selective Harmonic Elimination

The exploration target at different depths through the ground-airborne frequency domain electromagnetic method (GAFDEM) is detected by transmitting waveforms at different frequencies. When taking these different depths into detail, arbitrarily distributed frequencies are needed. However, the current transmitting waveforms are mostly in a fixed frequency ratio or frequency difference, which fails to meet the requirements of exploration accuracy and efficiency at the same time. Therefore, as a solution to this problem, this paper proposes a transmitting waveform design method based on selective harmonic eliminated pulse width modulation (SHEPWM) technology. In the SHEPWM method, three transmitting waveforms with the desired spectrum are obtained by directly controlling the switching angles of a binary sequence with an artificial neural network algorithm. Firstly, our study puts forward the basic theories and principles of the full-periodic asymmetric SHEPWM waveform. Secondly, the study, through simulation, realizes the pseudorandom, depth-focused, and layer-identification waveform with different detection depths. Finally, the application of the proposed SHEPWM waveform to the geological survey in Kaili City, Guizhou Province, proves the correctness and feasibility of this proposed method.

Software In-The-Loop Simulation of an Advanced SVM Technique for 2ϕ-Inverter Control Fed a TPIM as Wind Turbine Emulator

An appropriate modulation scheme selection ensures inverter performance. Thus, space vector modulation (SVM) is more efficient and has its own distinct advantages compared to other pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques. This work deals with the development of an advanced space vector pulse width modulation (SVM) technique for two-phase inverter control using an XSG library to ensure rapid prototyping of the controller FPGA implementation. The proposed architecture is applied digitally and in real time to drive a two-phase induction motor (TPIM) for small-scale wind turbine emulation (WTE) profiles in laboratories with minimum current ripple and torque oscillation. Four space voltage vectors generated for the used SVM technique do not contain a zero vector. Hence, for an adequate adjustment of these four vectors, a reference voltage vector located in the square locus is determined. Considering the asymmetry between the main and auxiliary windings, the TPIM behavior, which is fed through the advanced SVM controlled-two-phase inverter (2ϕ-inverter), is studied, allowing us to control the speed and the torque under different conditions for wind turbine emulation. Several quantities, such as electromagnetic torque, rotor fluxes, stator currents and speed, are analyzed. To validate the obtained results using both Simulink and XSG interfaces, the static and dynamic characteristics of the WTE are satisfactorily reproduced. The collected speed and torque errors between the reference and actual waveforms show low rates, proving emulator controller effectiveness.

Solar Photovoltaic System-Based Reduced Switch Multilevel Inverter for Improved Power Quality

This paper deals with a reduced switch multi-level inverter for the solar photovoltaic system-based 127-level multi-level inverter. The proposed technique uses the minimum number of switches to achieve the maximum steps in staircase AC output voltage when compared to the flying capacitor multi-level inverter, cascaded type multilevel inverter and diode clamped multi-level inverter. The use of a minimum number of switches decreases the cost of the system. To eliminate the switching losses, in this topology a square wave switch is used instead of pulse width modulation. Thereby the total harmonic distortion (THD) and harmonics have been reduced in the pulsating AC output voltage waveform. The performance of 127-level MLI is compared with 15 level, 31-level and 63-level multilevel inverters. The outcomes of the solar photovoltaic system-based 127-level multi-level inverter have been simulated in a MATLAB R2009b environment.

Performance Analysis of PWM Based Full Wave Bridge Inverter

An obvious device for the utilization of renewable energy sources is inverter and Pulse Width Modulation technique is widely used method for voltage source inverters. This paper deals with the generation of PWM signals by analog circuit, where the comparison of sine wave and sawtooth wave for the operation of power circuit takes place. The above mentioned technique is studied and verified by Simulating the circuit. The prototype of PWM based, single phase, full bridge inverter is developed and the results are verified for the nominal voltage and frequency with the help of simulation and hardware is designed. Keywords: Inverter, SPWM, VSI, Simulation, MATLAB