Search

This paper embodies the results of experimental studies of a dielectric barrier discharge low-temperature nonequilibrium plasma reactor that runs in air and nitrogen at atmospheric-pressure conceived for surface treatment applications. A homemade reactor, of typical plane-to-plane geometry with the dielectric covering the upper electrode which is stressed by a high voltage (40 kV, 3–20 kHz) is used. Electrical signals (current and voltage), optical emission spectroscopy records, and total light emission measured by photomultiplier have been analyzed and used to distinguish different plasma regimes which are studied for the treatment of a lignocellulosic material (sugarcane bagasse). In the filamentary discharge regime, the gas temperature of few tens of degree Celsius above the ambient one was determined, the electronic temperature of some electronvolts and electron density in the range of 1012–1013 cm−3 were estimated. Plasma treated pellets of sugarcane bagasse were analyzed by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectrometry and the relative results obtained under filamentary discharge regime have shown significant degradation of the lignin macromolecule. It has been shown important modifications on the lignocellulosic material, namely, the plasma attacks drastically the lignin bonds. Strong modification of lignin was observed near wavenumber of 3400 cm−1, due to stretching vibrations of OH, and for the band 1114 cm−1 which is related to C=C and C=O stretching. Severe decrease of the band intensity 1596 cm−1, which due to C=C stretching and C=O, is also a result of the treatments done in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new configuration of dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) reactor with three electrodes was manufactured and used to produce ozone. Designed flatly, this reactor is capable of establishing three different discharge modes from type of the volume and surface discharges, without modifying its internal structure. The aim of presenting this paper is to experimentally analyze the three discharge modes and their combination using a second channel to produce ozone. The two reactor channels are identical in terms of dimensions, material, and manufacturing process. Two frequency-adjustable pulse generators of the same electrical characteristics and two high-voltage transformers were used in the course of the experiments. The applied sinusoidal voltage is from 0 to 12 kVp-p. The frequency range was determined and fixed for all three discharge modes for the highest ozone concentration at a fluctuation rate of 1 L/min. Effects of increasing the applied voltage on the obtained concentration from the three different discharge modes were experimentally analyzed. Using the provided inlets–outlets, the effect of flowing gas through the length and width of the discharge area on ozone concentration was investigated, and appropriate flow directions were determined for the flowing gas under either of the three discharge modes. Experimentally results have been done for this three discharge modes as well as hybrid modes. The maximum ozone production rate achieved up to 14.52 g/h in the series combination of two different volume discharge. At 96% oxygen purity, ozone production yield, in two modes volume discharge VaDBD and surface discharge SDBD, have been improved up to 529.87 g/kWh. However, the total input power of the entire system is 120.2 W. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collision frequencies between electrons and air molecules are important parameters when analyzing electrical breakdown. Different values for the collision frequency in atmospheric air have been reported in academic literature; the current analysis method for breakdown in waveguides and filters considers an electric field-independent term. However, some authors have remarked the importance of an electric field dependence of the collision frequency. In this paper, the collision frequency of electrons, accelerated by the presence of an electric field, against air molecules is obtained. The collision frequency is calculated from experimental data, for breakdown voltages at dc in positive polarity in a wide atmospheric pressure range using a plane–plane plates configuration. As waveguide filters are currently designed with a 3-dB tolerance below the electrical breakdown thresholds, this paper analyses the current methods for these breakdown threshold calculations, and proposes a novel correction factor for the collision frequency in order to approximate the analytic calculations to experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the capacitances of the two-stage bushing that is installed in the 1-MV test bed for neutral beam injectors in the future fusion reactors are calculated by modeling the bushing in a 3-D electrostatic code. One of the modeling results is the stored energy in the bushing, which corresponds to 1/2 CV2. After evaluating the bushing capacitance, a MATLAB/Simulink model is presented to model the possible breakdown in the bushing and between the electrodes in the 1-MV test bed. When a breakdown occurs between anode and cathode, an overcurrent is drawing that can cause damage in the electrode surfaces while an overvoltage takes place when the breakdown happens between the bushing stages. Such damage has been observed experimentally in the past. This paper also presents some of the possible protection against the breakdown in the 1-MV test bed to dissipate the stored energy in order to protect the electrode surfaces and the bushing. The suggested protections presented in this paper are damping resistors, surge arrester individually, and both of them. Also, a coil can be added to the DR either in series or in parallel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a complete flux scheme (CFS) has been implemented in 1-D fluid model for simulating the pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in pure argon at atmospheric pressure. The characteristic quantities of the pulsed DBD have been systematically calculated by using the CFS and presented in comparison with those by using the exponential difference scheme (EDS). This paper shows the following results. There is the two-pulse discharge mode in the present simulation. The two discharge currents obtained using the CFS and EDS converge to the same result in good agreement with the experiment as spatial step length decreases, but the CFS has a fast convergence performance compared to the EDS. With a small grid number, the numerical scheme has an evident effect on the characteristic quantities in the time region corresponding to the first discharge pulse. This paper suggests that in the pulsed DBD, the usage of the CFS with a properly small grid number can give more accurate result and also presents a high calculation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Load characteristics have substantial influence on the voltage stability of power systems. The self-restorative characteristic and stalling of induction motor loads can deteriorate the voltage stability, so it is necessary to develop accurate and efficient dynamic analysis methods for voltage stability analysis of systems with induction motor loads. In this paper, a set of methods based on holomorphic embedding is proposed, which is able to solve steady states and dynamics of a power system with induction motors. The paper is the first work that applies holomorphic embedding to dynamic problems of power systems. The test cases on the IEEE 14-bus system, the NPCC 140-bus system, and the Polish 2383-bus system verify both accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High intermittency in today's renewable-rich distribution systems, and the prohibitive cost of upgrading the system infrastructure, has rendered voltage instability a real concern for heavily loaded systems. The voltage instability of distribution systems can spread to the corresponding transmission grid, as proven by real-life incidents. Recent advances in energy storage systems (ESSs), however, have offered a viable means of enhancing the reliability and robustness of power systems. In this paper, the optimal placement, sizing, and operation of ESS devices in wind-intensive distribution power systems are studied. The objectives of this paper are to minimize the ESS size (power and energy), required to ensure a desired voltage stability margin (VSM), and to minimize the reactive power loss and reactive power import from the upstream network. Wind uncertainty has been accounted for through a risk-based stochastic optimization framework. Besides, active network management (ANM) tools, such as the tap position of on-load tap changers, modelled by using a new method, and reactive power capabilities of both ESS devices and wind farms, are used as additional means to reduce the required ESS size. The results show that the required ESS significantly increases with increase in the desired VSM. Nevertheless, the increase can be considerably curtailed by using risk-based VS constraints and ANM tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an improved postfault strategy is introduced for modular multilevel converters, which utilizes the remaining healthy capacity of the converter more efficiently and increases the line voltage amplitude under these circumstances. Previous works proposed to use the neutral point shift in ac side and dc side of the converter simultaneously. This paper adds a comprehensive and coherent formulation, deep analyzation, and experimental validation. The main improvement of the proposed method is maximizing the line voltage amplitude using the optimum dc component and the best neutral point position. Indeed, fewer restrictions in fault numbers, fewer restrictions in load power factor, and fewer nonsolution conditions are among other improvements of a combined dc and neutral-shift method. Comparative simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circulating current of modular multilevel converter (MMC) has a great impact on the power losses, the submodule (SM) capacitor voltage ripples, and the rating of power devices. Existing analysis of circulating current has considered the capacitor voltage and the modulation signal. In this paper, the effect of semiconductor devices on the circulating current is further presented. In order to realize the different circulating current injection targets under different conditions, a unified online calculation scheme by using the instantaneous information of MMC is proposed in this paper to generate the circulating current injection references. It avoids detecting the amplitude and phase of the output current or using an extensive lookup table. Besides, a mathematical analysis model is built and it reveals the impact on the capacitor voltage ripple and the rms value of arm current with different injection references, thus guide the determination of the injection ratio. Experimental results based on a three-phase MMC prototype with six SMs per arm are presented to demonstrate the analysis of circulating current and the proposed circulating current injection references generating method is verified by different circulating current control targets with different loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the first known composition to demonstrate the application of quintic splines in the development of a dual-gate MOSFET model based on the well-known drift-diffusion system of differential equations used in semiconductor analysis. The techniques and methodologies presented advance the current state of the art in this particular area by implementing improved 2-D numerical techniques and avoiding the use of common accuracy reducing assumptions to decrease semiconductor equation complexity and execution time. This results in a model that is valid in all regions of operation, includes Non-Quasi static transient behavior, accounts for short channel effects, and allows researchers to predict the real world manufacturing effects of gate oxide thickness imperfections and applied gate voltage disparities. Model validation was accomplished by comparing simulation results to previously published experimental data for long and short channel devices as well as data generated using an established commercial product. In addition, a subsequent paper submission is planned to demonstrate the application of this modeling method in determining frequency response for simple CMOS circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a simple analysis of the guided waves in an eccentric circular waveguide based on the bipolar coordinate system (BCS). The separation of the variable technique is used for the solution. The structure under study is an infinite perfect electric conductor (PEC) cylinder in the z-direction, which encloses eccentrically another infinite PEC cylinder. The modal analysis has been conducted using an analytical method, solving the TE and TM modes by the aid of electromagnetic formulation. Despite previous studies which mostly rely on numerical techniques or otherwise considering the dominant TEM mode, in this paper, the analytical solution is proposed for the electromagnetic fields which consequently lead to the characterization of the cutoff wavenumbers of higher order modes and explicit solution to electric and magnetic fields in BCS. The solution of the Helmholtz equation in BCS using the technique of separation of variables exhibits as a one of the contributions of this paper, and the validity range of the answer is discussed. The values of the cutoff wavenumbers for the first few modes are calculated and compared with the benchmark results. The precise correspondence of the obtained values with the proposed method with those of the previous studies and computer simulations, along with the high speed and simplicity in implementation, introduces the present method as an appropriate option for analyzing eccentric circular cylindrical structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the significant impact of distributed-energy-resource (DER) inverters (which are connected to the same node) on anti-islanding protection of DER-installations. As it concerns the harmonic injection-based schemes, the induced harmonic voltage component that is provoked by each inverter is compromised, as synchronous injection (injection at the same time intervals) among the inverters cannot be reassured. Therefore, harmonic injection-based anti-islanding schemes will fail if the harmonic voltage component falls below a certain level. In this framework, a novel metric (i.e., the upgrade factor, UF) is introduced, indicating the supplementary power (of DERs) that can be installed in the same point of common coupling without compromising the effectiveness of the harmonic injection scheme. As this metric enables the evaluation of harmonic injection schemes prior to the future integration of DERs, it could be a substantial addendum into the relevant standards that evaluates the anti-islanding features of grid-tied DER-inverters. Finally, this paper proposes a technique (implemented in the software level), which maximizes UF and reassures the effectiveness of the harmonic injection schemes under the power variations of installed inverters. Extensive simulations and experimental tests have been conducted that verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy under various penetration-levels and islanding-network conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have proved that sustainable saturation operation of Ferrite Power Inductors (FPIs) allows reducing the inductor size and increasing the power density in Switch-Mode Power Supply (SMPS) applications. This paper discusses a new behavioral model for reliable prediction of ac power loss in FPIs, including the effects of saturation. The new model has been identified by means of the Genetic Programming (GP) algorithm combined with a Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) technique, starting from large sets of power loss experimental measurements. The proposed ac power loss model uses as input variables the voltage and switching frequency imposed to the inductor by the SMPS operation, while the dc inductor current is used as a parameter expressing the impact of saturation. Such quantities can be easily determined for whatever converter topology and in real-world switching operation, thus confirming the readiness and the easiness-to-use of the proposed behavioral model. The results of experimental tests presented in this paper prove the reliability of the power loss predictions, also by correctly accounting for the impact of inductors saturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel dc power electronic transformer (DCPET) topology for locomotive, ac/dc hybrid grid, dc distribution grid, and other isolated medium-voltage and high-power applications. Compared with conventional PET topology, the proposed DCPET has fewer power semiconductor devices and high-frequency isolation transformers, which can improve the power density and reliability. Fault handling or redundancy design can be achieved to further improve the reliability when some dc–dc modules break down. Also, input voltage sharing control can be omitted to simplify the control system and improve the stability. Meanwhile, soft switching is guaranteed for all the switches, which is beneficial to increase switching frequency and improve power density. In this paper, the principle, evolution, and control of the proposed DCPET are respectively presented and studied in detail. Finally, a prototype of the proposed DCPET is built and the experimental results verify the validity and superiority of the proposed topology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a practical strategy for utilizing the submodule (SM) redundancy of a modular multilevel converter (MMC) for its fault tolerance. This strategy provides a systematic framework for balancing the tradeoff between two conventional methods for using the active redundancy and, thus, achieves operational flexibility. One of the existing methods improves SM reliability owing to less voltage stress on the SM components by employing all of the SMs to form the ac or dc voltages (voltage-sharing mode). The other avoids transients by keeping the average SM voltage constant at the cost of slightly increased stress on the SM components (fixed-level mode), which, however, can be controlled to provide the grid-adaptive operation by reserving the energy of the SMs not in service. We, thus, develop a new redundancy management scheme by integrating these two methods and exploiting their technical benefits to meet the PQ requirements and MMC control performance. This research provides a theoretical basis and a technical guide to determining the number of SMs, which can further increase the voltage steps as per the MMC and grid conditions. This paper also connects the remaining PQ capability of the MMC at a particular operating point with the SM redundancy concept by defining a potential redundancy, especially useful when the physical redundancy is exhausted. The theoretical findings and efficacy of the proposed strategy are validated through PSCAD/EMTDC time-domain simulations followed by experiments using a nine-level single-phase MMC system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel method for instantaneous balancing of neutral-point (NP) voltages with stacked multilevel inverters (MLIs) for variable-speed drives. The stacked MLI uses series-connected dc sources and NPs (connecting points of dc sources) to obtain the desired levels. The balancing of NP voltages are obtained by using a low-voltage-capacitor-fed cascaded H-bridge (CHB) per phase of a symmetrical six-phase induction machine (IM), which ensures zero current drawn from NPs (at any given instant). Since no current is drawn from NPs, the single dc-link operation with stacked capacitors is also possible. The scheme is suitable for applications, where low-voltage dc sources and batteries are stacked to form a dc link. A variable-speed operation is done using a seven-level inverter scheme for a symmetrical six-phase IM, which is formed by three dc-link stacked capacitors cascaded with two low-voltage-capacitor-fed CHBs per phase. Furthermore, the method is extended for an open-end IM to obtain a seven-level common-mode eliminated space vector structure using a single dc link. The generalization of this method for any stacked $n$ -level inverter without NP voltage deviation is also presented in this paper. The experimental results and analysis are included to validate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxide semiconductors are highly attractive for fabrication of large-area thin-film electronics because of their high electrical performance, low process temperature, high uniformity, and ease of industrial manufacturing. n-type oxide semiconductors, such as InGaZnO, are highly developed and have already been commercialized for backplane drivers of flat-panel displays. To date, developing CMOS technology is still an urgent issue in order to build low-power electronic circuits based on oxide semiconductors. In this paper, various CMOS circuits, including inverters, NAND, NOR, XOR, d-latches, full adders, and 7-, 11-, 21-, and 51-stage ring oscillators (ROs), are fabricated based on sputtered p-type tin monoxide and n-type InGaZnO. The inverters show rail-to-rail output voltage behavior, low average static power consumption of 8.84 nW, high noise margin level up to ~40% supply voltage, high yield of 98%, and high uniformity with negligible standard deviation. The NAND, NOR, XOR, d-latches, and full adders show desirably ideal input–output characteristics. The performances of ROs indicate small stage delay of $\sim 1~\mu \text{s}$ , extremely high uniformity and high yieldwhich are essential for large-area thin-film electronics. This paper may inspire constructions of low power, large area, large scale, and high-performance transparent/flexible CMOS circuits fully based on oxide semiconductors for applications beyond flat-panel displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inverter delay is often evaluated as $\textit {CV}_{\text {dd}}/{I}_{\text {eff}}$ , where ${C}$ is the load capacitance, ${V}_{\text {dd}}$ is the supply voltage, and ${I}_{\text {eff}}$ is the effective drive current derived by approximating the inverter switching trajectory with a linear model. The ${I}_{\text {eff}}$ model utilizes high and low drain currents conventionally measured in wafer acceptance tests and does not require extraction of any parameters. Ease of use combined with reasonable accuracy (~15%) is the main reason for wide application of $\textit {CV}_{\text {dd}}/{I}_{\text {eff}}$ delay metrics. However, $\textit {CV}_{\text {dd}}/{I}_{\text {eff}}$ expression produces large errors when applied to another two important basic circuits: NAND and NOR. This is because NAND and NOR circuits contain transistor series connections not accounted for in the inverter model. In this paper, an analytical solution for the transistor series connection influence on the discharge/charge operation in NAND/NOR circuits is provided. The model for NAND/NOR effective drive current (denoted as ${I}_{\text {stack}}$) developed in this paper maintains simplicity of the original ${I}_{\text {eff}}$ expression. It requires only one additional measurement of the linear current. Model accuracy was assessed by comparing to extensive SPICE delay simulations of NAND and NOR circuits designed using state-of-the-art MOS technologies. Comparison results show that $\textit {CV}_{\text {dd}}/{I}_{\text {stack}}$ equation provides ~15% accuracy for NAND/NOR circuits in line with $\textit {CV}_{\text {dd}}/{I}_{\text {eff}}$ accuracy for inverter. In an era of emphasis on low-power design, the developed model presents convenient means of exploring design space when optimizing circuit supply voltage for low-power operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonlinear ac–dc composite electric field in the winding area of the converter transformer was studied by considering the frequency and temperature dependence of the insulation materials in this paper. First, the relative permittivity and conductivity of vegetable oils, mineral oils, and insulation papers were measured at different frequencies and temperatures. Then, the oil-paper insulation structure model of one 500 kV converter transformer valve-side winding was established. The nonlinear composite electric field of the converter transformer insulation with vegetable oils and mineral oils was analyzed. The maximum voltage of the converter transformer with mineral oils is 524.9 kV, at −20 °C and that with vegetable oils is 497.1 kV. The results show that the calculation method proposed in this paper is more accurate than the traditional superposition method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the resonance problem in a parallel-inverter-based grid-connected system. Harmonic interactions between inverters and the grid exhibit various number of complicated characteristics that threatens the system stability and power quality. In this paper, a method of harmonic resonance analysis is proposed to investigate the resonance problem in a multi-inverter grid-connected system based on resonance modal analysis (RMA) and participation factor (PF) calculations. Initially, an impedance-based analytical approach is employed and expanded to an electricity distribution network that is dominated by multiple inverters with LCL filters and proportional resonant controllers. Then, the RMA is introduced to investigate the resonant interactions among inverters and the grid. Specifically, harmonic resonance characteristics are addressed through transfer functions and the proposed method considering variation of inverter number, different inverter combinations, and critical system components. Finally, time domain simulations on the PSCAD/EMTDC platform are presented. The case study results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an averaging control strategy of the phase-unit losses of modular multilevel converters (MMCs). The quantitative analysis of the MMC phase-unit loss distribution under unbalanced ac conditions is carried out by investigating the individual component of the MMC arm currents. It shows that the unbalanced arm currents will result in unbalanced phase-unit losses. To address this issue, this paper proposes a predictive closed-loop-control-based zero-sequence voltage injection method that results in much averaged loss distribution under unbalanced ac conditions. The essence of the new method is that it adjusts the three-phase sinusoidal references so that the unbalanced arm currents are fully utilized to average phase-unit losses. This paper shows the effectiveness of the new approach by electromagnetic transient simulations on PSCAD/EMTDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmonic distortions at a point of common coupling (PCC) are caused by the harmonic sources in both supply system and customer facilities. In order to verify compliance with harmonic limits for an operating facility, it is essential to determine the contribution of a facility to the harmonic distortions measured at the PCC. Over the past many years, a significant amount of research work has been conducted in developing different harmonic analysis methods and especially harmonic contribution assessment methods. A common need of this line of research is consistent test systems that can be used to verify/validate a proposed method or to compare different approaches. To address this gap, a benchmark test system representing a typical medium-voltage/low-voltage network supplying industrial loads is proposed in this paper. This paper also includes examples on how to use the system to assess the performance of harmonic contribution determination methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a multiphysics analysis of thermally actuated RF MEMS switches for use in power limiter applications. RF MEMS switches can self-actuate when operating under high RF power levels. The level of power at which the switch actuates, can be varied by controlling the applied dc actuation voltage. MEMS switches are, therefore, proposed for use in power limiter applications. The objective of the multiphysics analysis presented in this paper is to combine thermal analysis, with mechanical analysis and RF analysis to derive a relationship between the RF power needed for self-actuation and the dc voltage applied to the thermal actuator. A thermally actuated MEMS switch is fabricated and tested. It is used as a test bed for demonstrating the proposed multiphysics analysis. The experimental results obtained for this switch confirm the approach used to construct a multiphysics analysis for thermally actuated MEMS switches. The results obtained also demonstrate that thermally actuated MEMS switches offer improved device sensitivity, when used in power limiter applications, in comparison with their counterparts electrostatically actuated MEMS switches. [2018-0106] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hybrid switch concept of paralleling a higher-current main Si IGBT and a lower-current auxiliary SiC mosfet offers an improved cost/performance tradeoff in power converters. Currently, the gate control strategy of these two internal devices emphasizes on minimizing the total power loss, and is referred to as the efficiency control mode in this paper. However, there is a serious risk of overheating and reliability degradation of the SiC mosfet if solely relying on this control strategy. In this paper, we propose a new method of gate control optimization, referred to as the thermal balance control mode, to keep the junction temperature of both devices within the specified temperature range, and to minimize the total power loss simultaneously. We first investigate the dependency of the hybrid switch switching losses on the gate control pattern both theoretically and experimentally. We then extensively study control optimization in these two distinct control modes in a dc–dc boost converter. It is found that the thermal balance control mode can achieve almost the same total power loss as the efficiency control mode, but much lower and more balanced junction temperatures of the two internal devices. Experimental results demonstrate that the Si/SiC hybrid switch in an optimal thermal balance control mode can achieve a 163% higher power handling capability in the 20-kHz boost converter or four times higher switching frequency in the 4-kW boost converter than a single IGBT solution with hard switching condition, and yet a considerably lower component cost than a single SiC mosfet solution in the boost converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive analytically expressions for the probability distribution of the propagation delay time of logic signals through a CMOS inverter when the inverter power supply voltage $V_{{\text{dd}}}$ (more precisely, gate voltage $V_{{\text{GS}}}$) is itself probabilistic for some reason (e.g., system noise or a random external electromagnetic disturbance). Since the propagation delay time is a function of the value of $V_{{\text{dd}}}$ , then some values of $V_{{\text{dd}}}$ may produce values of the inverter propagation delay time that cause the circuit in which the inverter resides to malfunction (e.g., by resulting in an inverter delay time value not conforming with the delay time margins for that circuit). Based upon the derived inverter propagation delay time probability distribution, we then derive a probability for the malfunction of a circuit containing a single inverter subject to such a stochastic $V_{{\text{dd}}}$. In this paper, we present no discussion of the application of our formalism to example probability density functions for $V_{{\text{dd}}}$ ; we rectify this situation by presenting three detailed such examples in a companion paper in this journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IEC 60156 and IEC 60897 were standardized with the purpose of evaluating the breakdown voltage of liquid dielectrics both under AC and impulse voltages. AC breakdown voltage determination is a simple method but only able to provide information on the presence of contaminants. The limit of this test is the large scatter in the results and, for this reason, this IEC standard has been recently revised. Impulse breakdown voltage determination allows discrimination of different dielectric liquids, also in terms of their chemical composition. This test has only limited application because of the dimensions of the high voltage generator. The present paper shows a comparison among breakdown voltages of various mineral oils and natural esters under both AC and impulse voltages. The paper presents also an effort to describe how these two tests may reveal the electrical performance of the dielectric liquid under test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoelectric characteristics are an important reference for high-voltage discharges and are closely related to the excited mode of the high-voltage source. In this paper, we built a large-scale volume dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system, which is composed of multilayer parallel-plate DBD electrodes and is excited by a high-voltage source in the power density modulation (PDM) mode. Subsequently, we analyzed the applied energy equation and evaluated the DBD systems photoelectric characteristics. The results show that the energy values of different applied voltage cycles during a PDM period exhibit significant differences. However, the average energy in a PDM period is approximately constant. Moreover, the equivalent capacitance of the DBD cell is a function of both the applied voltage and energy density. For the DBD cell, with the increase in both the applied voltage and energy loaded on the DBD cell, the total equivalent capacitance ($C$) is approximately constant, the dielectric capacitance ($C_{\mathrm{ d}}$) increases exponentially and decreases linearly, while the discharge gap capacitance ($C_{\mathrm{ g}}$) decreases and increases in the same cases. In addition, the relative intensities of the discharge emission increase and the energy efficiency ratios of the relative photoquantum yield of active species decline with the increase in both the applied voltage and energy density loaded on the DBD cell. The experimental results have been analyzed by evaluating the influence of the electrical parameters, and the underlying physical principles have been discussed. This paper clearly demonstrates that the photoelectric characteristics of the DBD reactor are significantly influenced by both the applied voltage and energy density, thus providing helpful insights into the energy evaluation and application of high-voltage discharges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past measurements of the plasma density and potential profiles near the exit of the keeper electrode in a hollow cathode device suggested that turbulent ion acoustic fluctuations and ionization instability in the cathode plume significantly increased the energy of the ions that flow from this region. The lifetime of keeper electrode is limited by sputtering or ion bombardment of the Molybdenum surface exposed to the discharge plasma. Increases in the cathode gas flow reduce the amplitude of the fluctuations and the number and energy of the energetic ions, which decreases the erosion rate of the keeper electrodes. However, as the cathode gas flow is raised for a given discharge current, the performance of a 5-kW Annular-Geometry Ion Engine (AGI-Engine) declines. There is a strong relationship between the performance and the lifetime of the ion thruster. To validate whether the 20-A hollow cathode satisfied China’s communication satellite platform’s application requirement for North-South station keeping, this paper analyzed the effect of the cathode gas flow on the performance and the lifetime of the AGI-Engine. Different from the previous methods, this paper first tracked the movement of energetic ions generated in the plume of the hollow cathode, predicted erosion rates, found where they hit the keeper electrode, and then determined the amount of material that they sputtered. A review of past experimental results was presented first. Next, based on the existing experimental data, theoretical analysis and numerical calculations were performed to determine the optimum gas flow range and the performance curve of the 20-A hollow cathode. The results showed that the primary erosion mechanism of the keeper electrode was caused by impact from Charge Exchange Xenon (CEX) ions, which caused the cathode orifice to be widened and attenuated over time. However, heavy double xenon ($\text{X}_{\text{e}}^{++}$) ions, which struck the keeper electrode more severely than CEX ions, were the most crucial factor that limited the lifetime of the 20-A hollow cathode due to their high energy and large mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a novel methodology to increase the voltage droop compensation range in generalized solid-state bipolar high-voltage Marx modulators with one resonant stage. To maintain the modularity characteristic of bipolar Marx modulators, the imbedding of additional resonant stages is not straightforward. Nevertheless, this paper proposes to add a second resonant stage to the already existing resonant-type voltage droop compensation stage. This second stage increases the voltage droop compensation percentage of a generalized solid-state bipolar Marx generator. The compensation of the bipolar pulse voltage droop is now achieved by adding two auxiliary synchronous compensation resonant voltages, to the output capacitive decaying voltage. Simulation and experimental results are presented for six Marx plus two resonant stages, 16% voltage droop, with 3-kV pulse amplitude, 100- $\mu \text{s}$ pulsewidth, 40-ms relaxation time, and 10-Hz pulse repetition rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power quality (PQ) is becoming more and more critical issue in shipboard microgrid systems (SMGs). Especially, the impact of voltage unbalance combined with harmonic distortions on the SMG behavior has not been fully investigated. In this paper, simple PQ assessment models and a series of controlled experiments are proposed and carried out in a real ship under sea-going conditions. The ship experimental results are presented and discussed considering nonlinear bow thruster load and high power ballast pump loads under unbalanced and harmonic voltage conditions. In addition, the analysis of bow thruster current harmonic surges during the ballast pump start-up is presented. Furthermore, the voltage/current distortions of a working generator, bow thruster and pump loads are analyzed. The paper provides a valuable analysis for coping with PQ issues in the SMG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many research works report the use of LCL filters for grid-interfaced PV systems. Indiscreet selection of passive LCL filter parameters may result in poor filtering and increased power losses. LCL filter parameter selection is critical to get a good performance and at the same time ensure that losses and costs stay low. This paper proposes a novel approach to design the LCL filter for a grid-interfaced PV system. A cost-based minimization approach on a cost per joule basis for each of the filter elements is explored to obtain the optimal filter design. Simulation results for a 10-kVA grid-connected inverter with an LCL filter are presented in order to verify the efficacy of the proposed design. The impact of designed filter parameters on the ripple current is also discussed in this paper. The total inductance of the LCL filter is varied and filter parameter values which give lowest cost is identified while meeting harmonic standard requirements and the fundamental voltage drop across the filter. Finally, the proposed design is also experimentally validated via a hardware prototype. Results validate the design method in terms of the harmonic attenuation and total harmonic distortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grid-interactive inverters allow distributed generation units to provide various ancillary services in microgrids. As the linear modulation region of inverters is restricted by the dc-bus voltage, providing ancillary services may drive the fundamental positive-sequence inverter voltage to the overmodulation region. Therefore, to operate in the linear modulation region the maximum active- and reactive-power of the inverter may have to be reduced unless pulsewidth modulation (PWM) references are adjusted. In this paper, an atypical PWM method is proposed for maximizing dc-bus utilization of grid-interactive two-level voltage source inverters (2L-VSI) providing ancillary services. Two important ancillary services, i.e., negative-sequence compensation and harmonic compensation are considered in this paper. The proposed method increases the maximum active- and reactive-power that a 2L-VSI can deliver when providing ancillary services by injecting a common-mode component in the references computed based on instantaneous reference magnitudes. The validity of the proposed technique is verified through simulation, as well as experimental data obtained using a 208-V three phase grid-connected 2L-VSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The minimum specific ON-resistance $\text{R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textsf {sp}}$ of the semisuperjunction (semi-SJ) device is realized in this paper. Based on the similar SJ optimization method in our previous works, the minimum $\text{R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textsf {sp}}$ of the semi-SJ is searched by optimizing both the semi-SJ and the N-buffer regions. The proposed design formulas give the optimized doping concentration $\text{N}_{\textsf {SJ}}$ of the semi-SJ region, doping concentration $\text{N}_{\textsf {B}}$ , and length $\text{L}_{\textsf {B}}$ of the N-buffer region, respectively. As examples, 1000- and 1500-V semi-SJ devices are designed with the formulas. The calculated results are in a good agreement with the simulations. The comparisons between the simulations and the existing experiments demonstrate that the optimization in this paper realizes lower $\text{R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textsf {sp}}$ under the same breakdown voltage $\text{V}_{\textsf {B}}$ even with a shorter SJ length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a model for estimating short-channel effects (SCEs) in the shell-doped double-gate junctionless (JL) MOSFET. The main emphasis of this paper is to estimate SCEs by effectively capturing source/drain (S/D) extensions beyond the gate edges for different values of undoped core thickness (${T}_{\textsf {core}}$), shell doping (${N}_{\textsf {d}}$), gate length (${L}_{\textsf {g}}$), and gate (${V}_{\textsf {gs}}$) and drain (${V}_{\textsf {ds}}$) biases in subthreshold regime. The threshold voltage (${V}_{\textsf {th}}$), drain-induced barrier lowering and subthreshold swing (${S}$), extracted from transfer characteristics, are in good agreement with the simulation results. Results highlight the utility of shell doping and core thickness to provide an additional degree of freedom to control SCEs. The proposed model can be useful in estimating SCEs and optimizing core–shell JL architecture for low-power applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a high-efficiency single-phase T-type boundary conduction mode (BCM) microinverter. The conventional full-bridge BCM microinverter has achieved zero voltage switching (ZVS) and thereby improved the efficiency, but it suffers from high switching losses under light load conditions. The proposed T-type BCM microinverter reserves ZVS and uses a multilevel technique to further decrease the switching losses. The BCM operation with multilevel technique will have too low switching frequency when the grid voltage approaches half of the dc link voltage. To solve this problem, this paper adopts a third operation mode for the T-type switching leg to maintain the switching frequency above a minimum value. The corresponding mode transitions are also detailed to ensure a smooth operation. Because of the turn-offdelay of the freewheeling transistor, the actual lower current boundary deviates from the programmed one, which will distort output current. To address this issue, this paper also proposes a boundary compensation method. A prototype has been built for performance verification, which can test both full-bridge and T-type topology. Compared with the full-bridge BCM microinverter, the proposed T-type BCM microinverter has a higher efficiency over the whole load range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power management integrated circuits (PMICs) with on-chip compensation are widely used to power multiple loads in mobile devices with increased power density. However, there are two issues for on-chip compensated PMICs. First, on-chip compensation reconfigurability is required to obtain the appropriate response in various passive components. Second, a converter for a processor requires adaptive voltage positioning (AVP) to reduce the output capacitor size. In this paper, a novel reconfigurable on-chip compensated current-mode buck converter with AVP is proposed to solve the aforementioned issues without requiring high-speed and high-resolution analog-to-digital converter (ADC). A reconfigurable accurate load line control scheme and on-chip compensation are proposed to achieve an accurate load line and AVP in various load lines and passive components. The control scheme, small-signal model, and circuit implementation are illustrated in this paper. The proposed buck converter was implemented into an integrated circuit to verify the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes data transmission method between primary and secondary of the flyback converter without additional communication circuit while simultaneously transferring power. In some application such as a battery charger, the data exchanges between the primary and secondary sides are necessary. In the conventional system, an additional line or wireless communication modules is used for data exchanges, thereby increasing the system and connector size. The proposed system, in comparison, does not use additional signal transceiver but instead exchanges data by simply alternating operation mode of the flyback converter, thus adding communication function while not increasing the volume of the terminal and overall system. The waveform of transformer voltage is used to count the number of resonant pulses, which is used for decoding and encoding the data packet. Bidirectional communication between primary and secondary sides is possible while power is transferred to the output using an appropriate communication protocol. This paper proposes data transmission method for both single output and the multioutput cases. Also, both half-duplex and full-duplex communication using the proposed method is explained. The experimental results are presented to verify the performance of the proposed communication method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new soft-switching bridgeless single-phase power factor correction (PFC) converter is presented and analyzed. Employing an auxiliary switch, the input current dead angle that is the main drawback of the existing buck-type PFCs is omitted, and thus, the power factor (PF) is improved, which is the main contribution of the paper. Proposed PFC converter operates under discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) and draws sinusoidal input current from power supply inherently. All switches and diodes are turnedonandoffunder soft switching, which leads to low switching losses and elimination of diode reverse recovery problems. Also, minimum numbers of semiconductor devices are in the power flow path that reduce the conduction losses. A 120-W laboratory prototype is implemented and experimental results verify the validity of theoretical analysis and show efficiency of 92.1%. In addition, total harmonic distortion (THD) of 3.3% is achieved and the input current harmonics complies with IEC61000-3-2 Class D requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the digital implementation of a boundary controller with unipolar switching characteristic for single-phase voltage source full-bridge inverters. This paper expands the application of a second-order switching surface-based control method to unipolar switching of single-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs) using a finite-state machine. The finite-state machine has been formulated considering four different states of the inverter; positive,zero1, negative, andzero2. The second-order boundary control governs the current state of the system and provides proper switching action to keep the system within the desired reference. The control law is implemented digitally in F28m35x digital control card. A full-bridge inverter topology is used to achieve the three-level voltage switching. Various simulations and experiments were performed in a 550 VA, 120 V, 60 Hz VSI with a digitally implemented controller to verify the theoretical predictions. A high-quality voltage output was obtained for various loading conditions. The transient performance of the controller was investigated using a reference and load changes. A comparison of the implementation was made with the existing classical controllers to verify the fast-dynamic response of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive optimization control scheme to improve efficiency and dynamic response of dual-active-bridge (DAB) dc–dc converters. Unified-phase-shift (UPS) control is widely used to increase the efficiency of DAB dc–dc converters by minimizing the peak current, but dynamic performance of the converters needs to be further enhanced. In this paper, to gain superior dynamic performance of DAB dc–dc converters, an equivalent power-balancing (PB) model is employed, which is capable of predicting dynamic behavior of converter output voltages due to input voltage fluctuation and load disturbance. And then, combining the UPS control and the PB control, a comprehensive UPS and PB (UPS-PB) scheme is proposed to improve the efficiency and dynamic performance simultaneously. This work also includes the detailed inductance parameter sensitivity of the proposed UPS-PB scheme and a zonal voltage control strategy to further improve dynamic responses of the output voltage under the start-up process or a large step change of the output voltage reference. Moreover, the variant of UPS-PB scheme for constant power load is analyzed in the experimental part. Finally, experimental results have verified the excellent performance of the proposed UPS-PB scheme and correctness of theoretical analysis in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power converters and electric motor drives when tightly regulated behave as constant power loads. These loads are different from resistive loads and have destabilizing negative impedance characteristics, which impact a system's stability. A boost converter is intrinsically nonlinear and is a nonminimum phase system at the output voltage with respect to the control input. The linear approximation of this boost converter loaded with a constant power load has a zero and poles in the right half of the $s$ -plane, making the system unstable and very difficult to control. Control techniques that employ some form of system inversion cannot be implemented for a nonminimum phase system. This paper describes a technique to modify the nonminimum phase boost converter to a minimum phase for a constant power load, further implementing the input–output linearization technique to stabilize the system. This paper also provides a methodological analysis of the problem followed by the proposed solution. Furthermore, it verifies the analysis of the proposed solution through simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new topology based on a modified class-E resonant inverter used as an LED series current regulator. The proposed topology behaves as a controllable nondissipative impedance that adjusts the current flowing through the lamp. In this circuit, the LED is placed at the dc side of the class-E inverter, in series with the input filter inductance. The power handled by the ac side is sent back to the input by means of two diodes. Despite the addition of these two diodes, the converter maintains all the advantages of the class-E inverter: low component count, simple control, and extremely low switching losses. The LED current can be controlled with a small variation of the operating frequency. This way, the low-frequency current ripple of the lamp can be strongly reduced even when there is a considerably high input voltage excursion, such as the one expected in electrolyticless high-power-factor LED ballast. This paper proposes a simplified methodology based on the fundamental approach aiming to design and build a laboratory prototype. The prototype is designed in order to minimize the effect of LED voltage in the output current. This way, the input voltage ripple can be canceled using a simple feedforward control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islanded grids operate isolated from the main grid and they allow the use of ac with a different frequency from the main grid. In this paper, it is proposed to use more than one frequency at the same time in such autonomous systems. The grid voltage amplitude at the fundamental frequency can be increased while the voltage peak is constant by adding odd harmonics to the voltage waveform. The grid currents and the power converter currents are decreased for the same power level, which leads to reduced losses in the system. The currents can be minimized if waveform shaping is additionally applied to the current waveforms. The approach also offers the possibility of mitigating the influence of low power factor in single-phase systems. This paper presents the impact of multifrequency power transfer on single-phase converters and grid components such as power cables and protection, and verifies the results with analysis, simulations, and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the event of a single line to ground (SLG) fault in a non-effectively grounded distribution network, the faulted current is weak (only a few amperes or less) and the existing devices cannot accurately judge the faulted feeder. In this paper, we proposed algorithms that combine complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) and Hilbert transform to construct a multi-criteria comprehensive voting method. First, CEEMDAN algorithm is used to decompose the zero-sequence current to obtain the IMF1(the first intrinsic mode function) component and the Hilbert transform is used to calculate the instantaneous amplitude and instantaneous phase. Then, according to the three largest instantaneous amplitudes information, we constructed the characteristic instantaneous phase, characteristic instantaneous energy relative entropy and characteristic instantaneous zero sequence current polarity criteria from the phase, energy and polarity, respectively. Finally, we proposed a comprehensive voting method, which is specifically shown as follows: when two or more criteria show that one feeder or the bus has an SLG fault, it is voted that the feeder or the bus has an SLG fault. In contrast, if the judgment results of the three criteria are inconsistent, then we would return to recalculation and then vote. Compared with existing method, simulation tests and field experiments show that the method proposed in this paper has higher accuracy and a faster calculation speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems comprising overhead line (OHL) sections as well as cable sections, the dc cable system is exposed indirectly to lightning strokes. In case of HVDC cable systems with extruded insulation the present test recommendations do not specify lightning impulse test levels related to rated system voltage. Instead, preliminary electromagnetic transient studies are required to determine the absolute maximum lightning impulse voltage the cable might experience. Within this paper, the general lightning behavior of OHL-cable mixed systems subsequent to the occurrence of a backflashover as well as a shielding failure is investigated for a 525 kV HVDC transmission scheme. This paper presents a modeling method to calculate occurring lightning overvoltages along a dc cable embedded between OHL sections. Based on a detailed parametric study using time-domain simulation, maximum lightning impulse voltages along the cable system are determined, and evaluated with regard to impulse level and polarity. The impact of project related parameter such as cable length, tower design, and tower grounding conditions on lightning overvoltage affecting the cable is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foil-winding transformers with high currents in low voltage winding normally have copper/aluminum bars as leads of the coils. A practical solution for locating bar leads without increasing the size of the active part is to flatten the coil in the leads zone causing a deformation. Abnormalities in the leakage reactance have been identified in this type of transformers. In order to take this effect into account, this paper proposes a correction to the mathematical formulation for calculating the leakage reactance in transformers with deformations in the low voltage winding. Three methods for calculating the leakage reactance have been compared for four real case studies: the proposed formulation, the commonly used formulation, and detailed simulations with the finite element method in three-dimension (FEM3D). The leakage reactance calculated with the proposed method has been found to have an improved accuracy compared with the one calculated using the formulation without correction in all case studies. The main contribution of this paper is that the proposed correction in the formulation makes it possible to increase the accuracy in the calculation of leakage reactance, avoiding the need to resort to detailed simulations with FEM3D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel traveling-wave-based fault-location algorithm for multiterminal transmission lines is introduced in this paper. Existing traveling-wave fault-location methods that based on the data measured at line terminals lack reliability and accuracy because time synchronization is needed, which brings error. To solve this problem, the complex structure of multiterminal power system is divided into several fault identification branches, current at the midpoint of each branched is measured, a novel fault-location algorithm is proposed, and the time synchronization error is eliminated. A line-based device is designed to measure the current at the midpoint of each branch. An accurate value of the traveling wave speed can be obtained by merely applying the data record in one measuring device. Thus, the fault-location accuracy is improved. The system model applied in this paper comprises one transmission line and two tapped lines, and the proposed method applies to networks with more terminals. Performance of this method is tested by different cases by PSCAD. The hardware platform has been tested in Sichuan Province, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel method for voltage dip classification using deep convolutional neural networks. The main contributions of this paper include: 1) to propose a new effective deep convolutional neural network architecture for automatically learning voltage dip features, rather than extracting hand-crafted features; 2) to employ the deep learning in an effective two-dimensional (2-D) transform domain, under space-phasor model (SPM), for efficient learning of dip features; 3) to characterize voltage dips by 2-D SPM-based deep learning, which leads to voltage dip features independent of the duration and sampling frequency of dip recordings; and 4) to develop robust automatically-extracted features that are insensitive to training and test datasets measured from different countries/regions. Experiments were conducted on datasets containing about 6000 measured voltage dips spread over seven classes measured from several different countries. Results have shown good performance of the proposed method: average classification rate is about 97% and false alarm rate is about 0.50%. The test results from the proposed method are compared with the results from two existing dip classification methods. The proposed method is shown to outperform these existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circuit models of horizontal and vertical grounding electrodes are traditionally used in high-frequency (HF) analysis, although underlying approximations limit their accuracy in some low-frequency ranges. Recently, a number of new circuit models have been introduced, but the improvement of the accuracy at HF has not been systematically evaluated. In this paper, we show that new circuit models can be directly derived from method of moments solutions of the integral forms of Maxwell equations by introducing different assumptions. This approach helps to categorize different models into only a few categories based on underlying approximations. To determine the applicable range, we analyze the error for impedance to ground computed by different circuit models in comparison to that calculated by a rigorous full-wave model over wide ranges of parameters, such as electrode length, soil resistivity, and frequency. This paper: 1) provides a parametric analysis that enables the estimation of the applicability of the particular circuit model for application to a practical case based on its accuracy; 2) presents a unified systematic approach to derive circuit models with different capabilities; and 3) reveals that the modeling of the mutual coupling between different parts of the grounding electrode is the key factor for radically improving the accuracy of circuit models at HF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive time series power flow (TSPF) framework is proposed for the analysis of fault-induced delayed voltage recovery (FIDVR). TSPF bridges the gap between static power flow simulations and time-domain simulations for FIDVR analysis. FIDVR events can be simulated faster with TSPF, while transient simulations normally require much longer time. In the TSPF framework, a random model for the disconnection of the induction motors is proposed to determine the load for different “snapshots” during FIDVR events. Regression analysis is used to predict the parameters needed in the simulations. There is no need to simplify the network topology or aggregate loads into clusters as in measurement-based load modeling approaches. The techniques presented in this paper successfully reproduced two FIDVR events recorded in heavily meshed distribution networks in New York City in 2010 and 2015. The paper uncovers that the proper modeling of motor protections (thermal and under-voltage) is key to properly predict FIDVR events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]