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A digitizer is considered one of the fundamental components of an earthquake monitoring system. In this paper, we design and implement a high accuracy seismic digitizer. The implemented digitizer consists of several blocks, i.e., the analog-to-digital converter (ADC), GPS receiver, and microprocessor. Three finite impulse response (FIR) filters are used to decimate the sampling rate of the input seismic data according to user needs. A graphical user interface (GUI) has been designed for enabling the user to monitor the seismic waveform in real time, and process and adjust the parameters of the acquisition unit. The system casing is designed to resist harsh conditions of the environment. The prototype can represent the three component sensors data in the standard MiniSEED format. The digitizer stream seismic data from the remote station to the main center is based on TCP/IP connection. This protocol ensures data transmission without any losses as long as the data still exist in the ring buffer. The prototype was calibrated by real field testing. The prototype digitizer is integrated with the Egyptian National Seismic Network (ENSN), where a commercial instrument is already installed. Case studies shows that, for the same event, the prototype station improves the solution of the ENSN by giving accurate timing and seismic event parameters. Field test results shows that the event arrival time and the amplitude are approximately the same between the prototype digitizer and the calibrated digitizer. Furthermore, the frequency contents are similar between the two digitizers. Therefore, the prototype digitizer captures the main seismic parameters accurately, irrespective of noise existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To satisfy the ever-increasing requirement from load side and improve the power quality through harmonic content reduction, the paralleled converters’ structure is seen to be an interesting solution. However, paralleled converters, in which the same dc and ac sides are shared, suffer from a major challenge related to the excessive circulating currents due to the difference in the induced common-mode voltage (CMV) in each converter. This voltage difference is due to the instantaneous potential difference between paralleled phase-legs, due to the discrepancy in circuit and control parameters of paralleled converters. Consequently, zero-sequence circulating current (ZSCC) as well as differential-mode circulating current (DMCC) shall appear between the paralleled converters. In this context, this article utilizes the interleaved pulsewidth modulation (PWM) concept for the ZSCC and DMCC reduction in paralleled split-source inverters (SSIs), where this SSI is a single-stage dc–ac converter and the prior mentioned operation and associated issues have not been investigated yet. This article describes the three-phase SSI structure and its basic operation, and shows the corresponding CMV waveform. Then, based on the shown analysis, an interleaved discontinuous PWM strategy is proposed to restrain the CMV amplitude and reduce the induced circulating currents. Furthermore, the effect of changing the modulation index and interleaving angle on the overall converter behavior has also been evaluated in case of using SSI. The analysis and simulations revealed the effectiveness of the proposed modulation strategy compared to counterparts. Finally, the shown simulation results are validated with an experimental prototype of 1 kW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common-mode voltage (CMV), caused by standard high-frequency pulsewidth modulated (PWM) voltage source inverters (VSIs), is a major area of interest in various applications, such as electric motor drives, transformerless photovoltaic systems, and grid-tied inverters. Since VSIs have only the buck capability during the inversion mode, an additional boosting stage either in the dc side or in the ac side has to be utilized for low-voltage-fed applications. On the other hand, single-stage solutions, with buck and boost capabilities, represent an interesting alternative with reduced cost, complexity, and converter volume. Among the possible single-stage solutions, split-source inverter (SSI), which has been recently proposed, has several merits over its counterparts. One of the questionable aspects concerning this topology is the CMV, which has not been investigated yet. This article examines the induced CMV with the SSI. This is done by examining the CMV waveforms for VSI and SSI topologies, and then, comparing each other under different PWM schemes. Furthermore, this article proposes the use of the discontinuous space vector PWM scheme with the SSI to mitigate the CMV, where the analysis shows a significant reduction in the CMV compared to the other schemes. In order to validate the introduced analysis, simulation model has been designed using MATLAB/Simulink environment, and simulation results are presented. Moreover, a prototype has been built-up for testing the proposed concepts and the obtained experimental results are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the active damping of grid-connected LCL filter resonance using high-pass filter (HPF) of the grid current. An expression for such HPF is derived in terms of the filter components. This expression facilitates a general study of the actively damped filter behavior in the discrete time domain. Limits for the HPF parameters are derived to avoid the excitation of unstable open loop poles since such excitation can reduce both the damping performance and the system robustness. Based on this study, straightforward co-design steps for the active damping loop along with the fundamental current regulator are proposed. A numerical example along with simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the theoretical analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a new AC MPPT (maximum power point tracking) controller for single-stage three-phase grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) voltage source inverters (VSIs) with active/reactive power control capability. Novelty lies in employing the theory of power transfer in short AC transmission lines to achieve MPPT, where two independent control variables exist: load angle and inverter modulation index. Accordingly, the proposed controller maximizes the capabilities of the single-stage VSI and enables it to control either/both active power or/and reactive power, besides achieving MPPT function. Such contribution opens up avenues in MPPTs world in terms of flexibility, fast performance, and low hardware count/cost. AC refers to Alternate Current since the MPPT is managed in AC terms. Theoretical framework of the proposed controller has been addressed. Moreover, the overall system is simulated in MATLAB (The MathWorks, Natick, Massachusetts, USA) environment, and results have been introduced. Design and implementation of proposed algorithms have been carried out using a fixed-point digital signal processor (DSP)TMS320F2812. Furthermore, a breadboard circuit is built up for experimentally investigating the controller's performance using 3-phase VSI that connects PV with the grid. In addition to that, a comprehensive discussion is conducted for demonstrating results. Moreover, a detailed comparison of proposed work with a number of previously published papers in literature is carried out and addressed in this manuscript. Results reveal that introduced controller achieves satisfactory performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As promising and suitable candidates for high-power applications, multilevel inverters have become one of the most promising solutions in various applications. However, power switching devices are highly subjected to thermal overheating, which leads to shortened lifetime and reduced reliability. Thermal overheating may result from the degradation of power switching devices due to continuous overloading and power cycling. In addition, degradation and faults in the cooling system of power switching devices may cause thermal stresses as well. A new overheating-tolerant space vector modulation algorithm is proposed in this paper to alleviate thermal stresses from overheated power switching device. The proposed algorithm relies on using the redundancy property between switching states in multilevel inverters to continuously evaluate a cost function of the junction temperature of the overheated device for all possible switching sequence sets and then selects the optimal switching sequence. In addition, the proposed algorithm preserves the DC-link capacitor voltage without reduction in the output current of the inverter. The proposed algorithm is general, which can be applied to n-level inverters. Both simulation and experimental results reveal the efficient performance of the proposed algorithm using a three-level T-type inverter as a case study. Accordingly, the lifetime and reliability of the inverter are enhanced considerably using the proposed algorithm. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current work presents a feasibility study of stand-alone hybrid systems. Such renewable energy systems contain photovoltaic, wind and fuel cells. This system is used for supplying electrical energy to certain load demand in remote areas. Six different configurations were investigated and evaluated, namely, photovoltaic (PV)/battery storage (BS), PV/fuel cell (FC), wind turbine generator (WTG)/BS, PV/WTG, WTG/FC and PV/FC/BS. A detailed description and expected performance of the different configurations were established to be installed at Minya Governate (Egypt), which represents a remote agricultural area. Results are compared to find out the optimal configuration. Comparisons are based on minimum total net present cost and cost of energy. HOMER software has been used to simulate and optimize system performance. Optimization results showed that PV/FC hybrid renewable system attains the best choice among all studied configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the performance of power electronics devices and thus power inverters at cryogenic temperatures for electric aircraft systems are of great interest. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to examine the inverter circuit technologies used in cryogenically-cooled electric aircraft applications from three perspectives: inverter topologies, power capabilities, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) that may occur. At a cryogenic temperature, the characteristics of five power semiconductor switches with different technologies (Si MOS, SiC MOS, and GaN HEMT) used in cryogenically-cooled electric aircraft inverters were tested and the results were presented. Furthermore, the low-temperature performance of three types of capacitors commonly used in power electronics inverters was investigated. The research findings provide crucial considerations for the research and development of power inverters cooled by sub-cooled liquid nitrogen for modern electric aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a family of spread-spectrum schemes, several of which are new, for conducted-noise reduction in dc–dc converters. The schemes use three randomized parameters to generate the switching signals: carrier frequency, duty ratio, and pulse position. The increasing performance and cost reduction of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology have made the application of these schemes possible in this field. A theoretical framework for a general representative scheme is provided. Then, the proposed schemes are designed and implemented using an FPGA-based controller. Furthermore, the effect of using the proposed controller on common-mode, differential-mode, and total conducted-noise characteristics of the dc–dc converter is experimentally investigated. In addition, the three randomization parameters are swept to determine the values that best achieve the conducted-noise spectrum spread. All studied cases are designed, implemented, and experimentally investigated. Then, the conducted-noise spectra are compared. The experimental results show that the use of the proposed controller with the determined randomization values significantly improves the conducted-noise spectrum and effectively reduces the noise peaks at both high- and low-frequency ranges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a comprehensive analysis of the dynamic performance of an electric vehicle system using different control algorithms. The complete mathematical models of the electric vehicle and its motor drive system are described in a systematic manner. Furthermore, the vehicle dynamics are tested with several control topologies to investigate the most appropriate one. The adopted control topologies were the direct torque control (DTC), the model predictive direct torque control (MP DTC), and the predictive voltage control (PVC). The obtained results showed that the dynamics of the electric drive system of the vehicle under the PVC system were enhanced compared to the other control schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an effective means of suppressing electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise, the impedance balancing technique has been adopted in the literature. By suppressing the noise source, this technique can theoretically reduce the noise to zero. Nevertheless, its effect is limited in practice and also suffers from noise spikes. Therefore, this paper introduces an accurate frequency modeling method to investigate the attenuation degree of noise source and redesign the impedance selection accordingly in order to improve the noise reduction capability. Based on a conventional boost converter, the common mode (CM) noise model was built by identifying the noise source and propagation paths at first. Then the noise source model was extracted through capturing the switching voltage waveform in time domain and then calculating its Fourier series in frequency domain. After that, the conventional boost converter was modified with the known impedance balancing techniques. This balanced circuit was analyzed with the introduced modeling method, and the equivalent noise source was precisely estimated by combining the noise spectra and impedance information. Furthermore, two optimized schemes with redesigned impedances were proposed to deal with the resonance problem. A hardware circuit was designed and built to experimentally validate the proposed concepts. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]