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This paper investigates the Multilevel Current Source Converter (MCSC) STATCOM. It proposes a new method of modulation. The new modulation method produces less THD and di/dt at the terminals of the MCSC STATCOM when compared to the widely used Phase-Shifted Carrier SPWM (PSC-SPWM). To ensure the inductors' currents remain balanced, a Current Balancing Algorithm (CBA) is presented. The CBA does not require any controls. It relies on assigning optimum switching states to each CSC module in real-time. In addition, two control strategies are presented in this paper. The first one assumes the STATCOM to be a SISO. Therefore, it only requires one PI controller. However, the gains for the controller must be changed if the STATCOM was to transition from capacitive mode to inductive mode, or vice versa. The second control strategy overcomes this problem by implementing a TITO integral state feedback controller. The contributions of this paper are validated via simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current-limiting inductors (CLIs) are commonly used to suppress DC fault current to safely trip DC circuit breakers in MMC-HVDC systems, but it significantly jeopardizes DC dynamics and causes instantaneous power mismatch between AC and DC sides of islanded rectifier station (RS), exposing MMC internal states to large disturbance. This paper firstly provides a detailed analysis of the influence of CLIs on AC fault, establishes RS mathematical representation including AC side dynamic, and reveals the mechanism of DC voltage oscillation, modulation saturation and PCC waveform distortion. The analysis shows that the AC and DC fault characteristics are decoupled under unsaturated AC modulation, but coupled under excessively low submodule capacitor voltage, where AC modulation is saturated and PCC waveforms are distorted. To solve this issue, a novel RS AC fault ride through method for MMC-HVDC system with CLIs is proposed to stabilize RS DC voltage, desaturate AC modulation and decouple fault characteristics by regulating the zero-sequence modulation of circulating current suppression. In addition, a current reference disturbance and an AC energy dissipation device coordinated control are designed, which adaptively recovers the submodule capacitor voltage. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed method is verified by simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic Transient (EMT) simulation tools are typically developed using conventional procedural programming languages. On the other hand, modern high-level and equation-based programming languages, such as Modelica, are currently available. Modelica allows formulating models that are easy to develop, maintain and understand by expressing what needs to be computed without stating how it should be computed. This paper presents a Modelica-based simulator for electromagnetic transients. It is demonstrated that this approach offers significant advantages for developing sophisticated models. Computational performance and accuracy are compared to a conventional EMT-type simulation tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mainstream production of optoelectronic and electronic devices based on epitaxial III-V compound semiconductor materials largely employs metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy, a process first demonstrated for devices in the 1970’s. For this special issue in honor of Prof. P. Daniel Dapkus, this paper first briefly reviews his early contributions that spearheaded the interest of MOVPE as a III-V device epitaxy process. Next, the paper discusses MOVPE reactor development in the 1980’s, which at the time was one of the key challenges in establishing MOVPE technology as a reliable epitaxy manufacturing process. The approach combined physical modeling and numerical simulations of reactor processes followed by materials and device demonstrations. Highly uniform performance metrics of AlGaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well diode lasers and two-dimensional monolithic surface-emitting lasers were demonstrated with excellent run-to-run reproducibility. This foundational approach advanced efforts to standardize reactors and subsequent scaling for high-throughput production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid-state transformers (SST) are emerging technologies to replace the conventional low-frequency main transformer (MTR) in railway vehicles. In order to isolate the load side from the AC 25 kV high-voltage (HV) side and to reduce the whole size of the SST, HV insulation and high-frequency transformers should be used in DC/DC converters. Furthermore, due to the severe constraint of installation space and difficulty of heat dissipation management in the bottom of railway vehicles, high-power density and minimum transformer loss should be considered. To satisfy such design requirements of the proposed SST for railway vehicles, high efficiency integrated transformers, which inherently have leakage inductance, are proposed for dual-active-bridge (DAB) converters in this paper. In order to obtain appropriate equivalent leakage inductance for the DAB converters, a calculation methodology for the leakage inductance has been introduced and verified by simulation. Two separated winding structures in the center-core are adopted to improve the core loss, and appropriate winding turns with 60 kV HV insulation capability are selected, according to the proposed design procedure of the integrated transformers. In order to compare the proposed transformers with the conventional transformer having additional inductors and to verify the major characteristics of the transformers, two 125 kW proposed transformers and conventional transformers have been built and evaluated by an 250 kW SST module, operating at 10 kHz switching frequency. Under a 125 kW full-load condition, 99.7% transformer efficiency was obtained by the proposed integrated transformers, which are 4.7% smaller and 7.0% lighter than the conventional transformer. As a result, 26°C maximum temperature improvement has been obtained and 60k V HV insulation capability has been satisfied by the proposed integrated transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel frequency domain technique to globally evaluate the accuracy of electro-magnetic transient simulations. It is shown that simulation accuracy at low frequencies can sometimes be poorer than at high frequency. A modified approach which quantifies accuracy from a driving point as a function of frequency is also introduced that uses the Bilinear Transformation and Norton equivalents, to produce a “simulation accuracy spectrum”. This approach can be applied to large systems without explicitly forming state space equations. It also permits the accuracy analysis of networks with distributed components such as frequency dependent transmission lines. Two examples are used to verify the proposed technique, a small network with a frequency dependent transmission line modeled by the universal line model; and the IEEE 39 bus system connected with an LCC-HVdc system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy harvesting has attracted increased attention recently. Energy sources are present all around us, such as, mechanical vibrations, stress, strain, waste heat, sunlight or room light, electromagnetic rays, and chemical or biological sources. Vibration generators based on piezoelectric elements have been highlighted as low-power sources; however, their output power is very low, around the milliwatt or microwatt level, and thus, improving their performance is necessary to make the generated power usable. This paper investigates the use of passive devices to improve output characteristics of the vibration generators. The proposed circuits are a resonator and a passive rectifier. The proposed resonator consists of a parallel inductor and capacitor for $LC$ resonance. The $LC$ resonance equivalently reduces the internal capacitor of the piezoelectric elements. As a result, the output voltage and power are increased compared with that of conventional circuits. In addition, a boost-type current-improving passive rectifier is applied as the passive rectifier. The validity of the proposed circuit is numerically and experimentally verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes Ka-band inductor-shared RF switches and their applications to a 35.2-ps 6-bit true-time-delay (TTD) switched-line (SL) phase shifter (PS). The inductor-shared RF switches share an inductor to match the input and output (I/O) ports of different states, which are realized with a switched inductor for SP ${n}\text{T}$ case and with a shared matching network for DP ${n}\text{T}$ case. The switches are applied to controlling most significant 3 bits of the proposed TTD SL PS. The delay lines and reference lines of the PS are implemented with microstrip lines and inverted microstrip lines in the same space, respectively. The dual-side microstrip lines allow it to have not only a small size but also compensation of the loss difference between the signal lines with different lengths. The least significant 3 bits are implemented with the modified structure of the SL PS, which reduces the size further by replacing a reference line by a series switch. The test chip is fabricated in a 65-nm CMOS process. It operates in the range of 20–30 GHz occupying a 0.18 mm2 core size. Its measured insertion loss and IP1dB are 11 dB and 6.5 dBm at 28 GHz, respectively. The measured gain error and rms delay error are less than 2 dB and 0.7 ps at operation frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an analysis of the methodologies proposed in the past years to automate the synthesis of radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuit blocks is presented. In the light of this analysis, and to avoid nonsystematic iterations between sizing and layout design steps, a multiobjective optimization-based layout-aware sizing approach with preoptimized integrated inductor(s) design space is proposed. An automatic layout generation from netlist to ready-to-fabricate prototype is carried in-the-loop for each tentative sizing solution using an RF-specific module generator, template-based placer and evolutionary multinet router with preoptimized interconnect widths. The proposed approach exploits the full capabilities of the most established computer-aided design tools for RF design available nowadays, i.e., RF circuit simulator as performance evaluator, electromagnetic simulator for inductor characterization, and layout extractor to determine the complete circuit layout parasitics. Experiments are conducted over a widely used circuit in the RF context, showing the advantages of performing complete layout-aware sizing optimization from the very initial stages of the design process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two high-voltage direct-current circuit breakers that have the capability of interrupting a short-circuit current within several milliseconds. They consist of a current-limit inductor, a current-control inductor, one or two mechanical switches, and a multilevel converter with phase-shifted-carrier pulsewidth modulation. The two breakers can commutate an almost zero current from the main branch to the auxiliary branch. This paper proposes an original breaker with low-voltage and high-voltage mechanical switches connected in series, followed by a simplified breaker with a single high-voltage mechanical switch. Finally, this paper includes experimental verification by two slightly different downscaled breakers rated at 300 Vdc and 150 Adc, as well as confirmation of an actual original breaker by circuit simulation using the “PSCAD/EMTDC” software package. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-voltage power supplies (HVPSs) are widely used to supply vacuum tubes. The amount of delivered energy from the HVPS to the tube is an important issue during the vacuum arc in the tube. The conventional protection mechanism consists of a shunt crowbar which diverts the fault current from the tube to itself as a parallel path. The crowbar circuit is usually built of the devices without the turn-off capability. It is a drawback since the output of the power supply is shortened for a long time. Thus, the restoration time of these power supplies is excessive. This demerit can have detrimental effects on mission-critical applications. In this paper, the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)-based crowbar structure is studied to overcome this issue. In the proposed protection mechanism, the crowbar can be reopened intentionally after closing. A theoretical analysis is presented to compare power supply performance in the presence of the conventional crowbar with the IGBT-based crowbar. The experimental results are presented to demonstrate the practical considerations of the proposed crowbar structure and its appropriate performance. This paper shows that HVPS has more fault resiliency and less restoration time with the proposed IGBT-based crowbar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the current limiting behavior based on an air-core high-temperature superconducting transformer (HTST) and a group of inductor–capacitor series resonant limiters. The air-core HTST is composed of four same double-pancake type high-temperature superconducting coils made up of Bi-2333/Ag tape, and both of primary and secondary windings include two series superconducting coils. It plays the roles of inductive fault current limiting and transformation impedance; in addition, the magnetic flux saturation can also be avoided. Meanwhile, the inductor and capacitor series with the secondary winding of the air-core HTST in series resonance state are the conventional devices. The influence of them on the circuit can almost be ignored, because they are in series resonant state in normal operation. While the fault current appeared in the primary circuit, it will be limited by the impedance of the air-core HTST and the inductor without quench (the inductor and capacitor would quit the series resonant state). According to the preliminary experiment carried out in our laboratory, this superconducting current limiting module can operate as expected, and its behavior is satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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]

One of the conceptual designs of the breeder blanket for a European demonstration fusion power station (DEMO) is the water-cooled lithium lead (WCLL) concept. The design development of the WCLL blanket in recent years has undergone the evolution of the neutronics model employing the MCNP code, with key changes in radial lengths and thickness as well as dimensional differences in inner structures such as breeding zone, shielding zones, and manifold. Furthermore, there has also been a significant increase in projected fusion power. Such changes were made with respect to its nuclear, thermohydraulic, and thermomechanical performances. In this paper, neutronic characteristics of WCLL modules were analyzed in terms of fusion power increase and dimensional changes of the blanket geometry presented in DEMO 2014 and 2015 models. For comparison, outboard and inboard blanket modules of the equatorial region were selected. Investigated neutronic characteristics include activity, decay heat, and contact dose rates. The numerical experiment was carried out with MCNP particle transport code and FISPACT/FISPACT-II activation calculation codes with EAF-2010/TENDL-2015 nuclear data libraries. [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 increased usage of diesel fuel of late has led the researchers to pay more attention toward abatement of increased emission of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in the engine exhaust. The focus is, therefore, lies in providing a technique that is economical, feasible, and long lasting. The combination of electric discharge plasma with adsorbent/catalyst derived out of solid waste can be one such possible technique. In this paper, waste foundry sand from foundry industry and red mud or bauxite residue from aluminum industry have been used. Diesel engine exhaust under dry condition was exposed to an oxidizing discharge plasma environment. The plasma-treated exhaust was subjected to either adsorption over waste foundry sand or catalysis over red mud. Studies were carried out in the laboratory environment with 20% loading of diesel generator. The oxidizing plasma environment was either with direct plasma or with indirect plasma in which case ozone injection into the exhaust was accomplished. The ozone-adsorbent cascading system has resulted in about 87% NOx reduction in the dry exhaust case. The effect of O3:NO ratio was discussed from the point of NO/NO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) have been studied over the past several years to generate high-power radio frequency signals. Their operation consists of a lumped line based on the nonlinear behavior of the LC section components, capacitors or inductors, as a function of the applied voltage or current, respectively. However, considering high-power signals, the application of these devices using nonlinear ceramic capacitors as the capacitive lumped lines are restricted to frequencies around 100 MHz since at high voltages, parasitic impedances in the line structure limit the maximum operating frequency. On the other hand, the use of variable capacitance diodes has enabled the operation of NLTLs at higher frequencies. This paper provides the results of a study of NLTLs for RF generation based on silicon carbide Schottky diodes. The principle of operation and its simplified theory are presented. Initially, the voltage dependence of the diode capacitance is modeled. Experimental and simulation results are compared. Frequency oscillations around 200 MHz were generated. The extraction of the radio frequency energy is realized, and the radiation of the electromagnetic wave is performed using double-ridged horn antennas. Finally, some parameters are analyzed, and all results discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a monitoring and control system for MEMS tunable evanescent-mode cavity filters. Inductive proximity sensing is utilized to detect the deflection of the tuning MEMS membrane. The sensed deflection is used as a feedback for a closed-loop control of the MEMS bias voltage to deliver the desired deflection and, hence, desired RF response based on an input from the user. The sensing spiral inductor also functions as an electrode for the electrostatic actuation of the membrane. The presented system is analyzed, optimized, and experimentally implemented on a bandstop filter tunable in the 30–42-GHz range. The measured results show that the system is capable of tuning the filter to the desired response with good repeatability of notch frequency (less than 1% error) and with stable long-term response (better than 1.6% drift), which falls within the 20-dB bandwidth of the filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a miniaturized contact-based system for dielectric spectroscopy using time-domain (TD) technique in ultrawideband (UWB) frequency range. The system consists of a miniaturized UWB transmitter, a planar sensor having direct contact with a liquid material under test (MUT), and a high-speed oscilloscope receiver. In the transmitter, a baseband (BB) pulse with 3.5-GHz bandwidth is generated from a square-wave input signal by employing a step recovery diode and a short-circuited stub. Then, the BB pulse is upconverted by a UWB mixer with 6.5-GHz local oscillator frequency, creating a 3–10-GHz passband pulse. After being amplified, the passband pulse excites the miniaturized sensor, including two stages of microstrip open-circuited stub between meander inductors. This sensor has a small area, requires only 0.3 $\mu \text{L}$ of liquid MUT for accurate sensing, and responds to both $\epsilon '$ and $\epsilon ''$ properties. The sensor output is captured by the oscilloscope in TD and then converted to frequency domain (FD) by the fast Fourier transform operation. Considering $\epsilon '$ and $\epsilon ''$ of MUT simultaneously affect both phase and magnitude of output signal in FD, the behavior of the system is described by testing 12 reference MUTs. From the behavioral model of the system, three unknown MUTs are characterized with errors less than $0.1|\epsilon ^{*}|$ in both $\epsilon '$ and $\epsilon ''$ from 3.28 to 10 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft-switching techniques of transformerless photovoltaic grid-connected inverters (TLIs) can significantly reduce switching losses, as well as soften switching processes. Conventional dc–ac soft-switching configurations proposed by Dr. Deepakraj M. Divan are invalid in TLIs because of the leakage current problem. In order to develop soft-switching techniques in TLIs, this paper proposes a new soft-switching configuration and a procedure to guide the invention of soft-switching TLIs. First, this paper proposes two basic resonance tanks related to dc bus polarities, and then, uses these basic tanks to elevate four popular full-bridge-type TLIs according to the proposed guideline. As a result, four soft-switching TLIs are gained. Second, this paper picks obtained soft-switching highly efficient and reliable inverter concept (HERIC) as example to analyze its soft-switching operation principle and performance. As a consequence, all active switches of the gained soft-switching HERIC circuit are switched under both of zero-current turn-on and turn-off conditions; the reverse recovery problem of freewheeling diodes is alleviated owing to the zero-current turn-off of diodes; meanwhile, the common-mode voltage at the switching frequency scale is still constant. Finally, some experimental results from a 3-kW universal prototype at 50-kHz switching frequency are provided to verify the effectiveness of the main contributions of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses dynamic behavior of a dual-active-bridge (DAB) dc–dc converter. Conventional phase-shift control methods for the DAB converter may cause dc offsets in both inductor current and transformer magnetizing current in transient states. The dc offset in the inductor current would introduce an excessive peak current through the switching devices. The dc offset in the magnetizing current may induce magnetic-flux saturation. Conventional methods simultaneously turn on and off the diagonal switches in each H-bridge converter and produce a square-wave voltage with a 50% duty ratio. In contrast, the proposed method in this paper independently controls each switch to modify the duty ratio in transient states. This paper clearly derives the requirements of each switch to eliminate the dc offsets in both currents with a settling time shorter than half the switching period. Experimental results using a 5-kW 20-kHz system verify the validity of the proposed control method, which is effective not only in a single step change, but also in a continuous change in the phase-shift reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pump-back test is widely adopted in the industry for characterizing and qualifying high-power converters. One popular pump-back test configuration is to tie the dc links of two converters together and circulate the current through the inductor connected between the ac terminals. In this configuration, one of the converters operates in the voltage mode to generate the virtual grid and the other converter regulates the circulating current, where hysteresis control could be applied. However, the switching characteristics of hysteresis control are unique due to the pulsewidth modulation type voltage being the virtual grid. This paper contributes to analyzing the switching frequency characteristics of the hysteresis control in this pump-back test configuration. The switching frequency tracking phenomenon is revealed and reported in this paper for the first time. Theoretical analysis, simulation validation, and experimental demonstration are provided to support the major conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a measurement technique for telemetric systems working with passive resistive sensors from the kilohm order. It permits calculating sensor output through analytical formulas, from system parameters and the real part of system impedance measured at readout inductor’s terminals. Impedance measurement is performed always at a fixed frequency, when inductors are at a fixed relative position. Formulas were derived through specific analyses, starting from a circuit model of the system. The technique was validated by finding the output of discrete commercial resistors attached to an inductor. A difference lower than 0.98% was obtained between resistors’ values calculated through the proposed technique, and their values measured by means of an impedance analyzer. Finally, we applied the technique to a real application, i.e., temperature monitoring in an enclosed environment. We used a telemetric configuration with a Pt1000 sensor to monitor the temperature inside an oven wirelessly. The results pointed out that the technique permitted to estimate the temperature with an average difference of 2.2 °C with respect to a reference. Then, uncertainty on calculated temperature was equal to ±1.2 °C. In general, work analyses highlight that measuring impedance real part may be preferred than measuring its phase angle. These achievements show the feasibility of estimating the output of a resistive sensor through the proposed technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air-borne micrometer and submicrometer particles produced by anthropogenic sources contaminate atmospheric air, especially in large cities where both population and industrial activities are higher leading to a reduced air quality. Recent research has pointed out particles less than 2.5 \mum in diameter (PM2.5) as a potential health hazard. To address this issue, stricter legislation has been put into force to reduce PM2.5 emissions. This paper is focused on the development of an impulsive microelectrostatic precipitation technology for charging and removal of fine air-borne particles in an economically feasible way. In this paper, a compact coaxial precipitator has been developed for possible indoor air cleaning applications. High-voltage impulses together with dc voltage have been used for energization of the reactor as it has been shown to enhance the precipitation efficiency. This precipitation system has been used for removal of fumes and fine air-borne particles from ambient air. In addition to the experimental part, analytical work has been conducted to optimize the electrostatic precipitation process and to reduce its power consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper provides a theoretical and experimental discussion on a modular multilevel triple-star bridge-cell converter with focus on mitigating the capacitor-voltage fluctuation contained in each bridge cell. A new control method proposed in this paper is characterized by properly superimposing both common-mode voltage and circulating currents in the whole speed range. Moreover, this paper optimizes the amplitude and frequency of the superimposed common-mode voltage on the basis of theoretical analysis, thus resulting in minimizing the voltage fluctuation. The optimized control method makes both voltage fluctuation and cluster-current amplitude smaller than do the existing methods. Experimental waveforms obtained from a three-phase downscaled system using a 370-V, 15-kW, 75-Hz, six-pole, permanent-magnet synchronous motor verify good start-up performance from a standstill to the rated speed, keeping both capacitor-voltage and cluster current within acceptable levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active balancing architectures effectively increase the efficiency of large battery packs by equalizing charge between cells. For this purpose, a balancing circuit and appropriate control scheme have to be designed to enable the charge transfer via energy storage elements such as inductors. Using a manual approach to design balancing architectures can be tedious and error-prone, resulting in potentially suboptimal solutions. As a remedy, this paper presents an automatic synthesis of balancing circuits and their corresponding control, optimizing the number of required metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, and necessary control signals. The proposed synthesis combines a satisfiability solver to explore the search space with a graph-based verification that iteratively excludes infeasible solutions until the optimal architectures are obtained. The experimental results are carried out for three given template circuits and two signal templates. The synthesis results in architectures that are superior in terms of all design objectives in comparison to solutions from literature that result from a manual design approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dynamic wireless charging (DWC) is one of the most promising and economical power supply solutions for electric vehicles (EVs), which can address range anxiety and downsize the volume of onboard batteries. To solve the null power phenomenon and transfer power pulsation phenomenon in DWC scheme, this paper proposes a new magnetic coupler array to implement continuous charging and reduce the output power variation. The transmitters are placed with a proper interval to eliminate the adjacent coupling and enlarge the coil array’s effective length. ANSYS Maxwell is utilized to demonstrate the finite element analysis (FEA) of the DWC system. A larger receiver coil is designed to significantly mitigate power pulsation and increase the magnetic coupling as the receiver moves along the array. With the well-designed receiver coil, the output power pulsation is $\pm$ 1.52 $\%$. For the high-power capacity scenario, a multilevel connected DC-DC converter is designed on the receiver side to regulate the transfer power. Besides, a passivity-based control (PBC) is developed for the receiving DC-DC converter based on the Euler-Lagrange (EL) model, and a current sharing compensator is employed to balance each phase inductor current. Finally, a 500- $\text{W}$ prototype is constructed, and experimental results are represented to validate the proposed optimized coil array and the proposed PBC method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The DC-DC converter for fuel cell vehicles should be characterized by high-gain, low voltage stress, small size and high-efficiency. However, conventional two-level, three-level and cascaded boost converters cannot meet the requirements. A new non-isolated DC-DC converter with switched-capacitor and switched-inductor is proposed in this paper, which can obtain high-gain, wide input voltage range, low voltage stresses across components and common ground structure. In this paper, the operating principle, component parameters design, and comparisons with other high-gain converters are analyzed. Moreover, the state-space averaging method and small-signal modeling method are adopted to obtain the dynamic model of converter. Finally, simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed topology. The input voltage of the experimental prototype ranges from 25 V to 80 V. The rated output voltage is 200 V and rated power is 100W. The maximum efficiency is 93.1% under rated state. The proposed converter is suitable for fuel cell vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper by Jin et al. (IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 1363–1371, Mar. 2015), the authors present an expansion of Ohm's law in the nonsinusoidal ac circuit, based on which a distinct instruction for analyzing and designing nonsinusoidal circuit including ac/dc link circuit is provided. This paper is very interesting and a good work. However, some equations and expressions may be improved. In this paper, they are discussed and modified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the world's first ever power electronic traction transformer (PETT) for a 15-kV 16.7-Hz railway grid has been newly developed, commissioned, and installed on the test locomotive, where the PETT is presently in use. The design and development of the PETT are described in two parts of this paper. The details related to the 1.2-MVA medium voltage (MV) PETT prototype, including the electrical design of the power circuit, the sizing and characterization of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) devices, the design of the medium-frequency transformer, the cooling system design, insulation coordination, and protection, are presented in this part, while the preceding paper deals with the overall system requirements and control system design based on the low-voltage (LV) PETT prototype. The identical control hardware and software from the LV PETT prototype were used for the MV PETT prototype, thus reducing significantly commissioning time. The experimental results obtained during the testing are presented to demonstrate the performance of the developed MV PETT prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of power converters is very important in maximizing the power transfer from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, or even a hydrogen-based fuel cell to the utility grid. An LCL filter is often used to interconnect an inverter to the utility grid in order to filter the harmonics produced by the inverter. Although there is an extensive amount of literature available describing LCL filters, there has been a gap in providing a systematic design methodology. Furthermore, there has been a lack of a state-space mathematical modeling approach that considers practical cases of delta- and wye-connected capacitors showing their effects on possible grounding alternatives. This paper describes a design methodology of an LCL filter for grid-interconnected inverters along with a comprehensive study of how to mitigate harmonics. The procedures and techniques described in this paper may be used in small-scale renewable energy conversion systems and may be also retrofitted for medium- and large-scale grid-connected systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of three-dimensional (3D) thermal simulations of magnetic components for power converters is limited to validation of final designs due to time consumption. A two-step homogenization is proposed to simplify them, while keeping good accuracy. The required equations and some guidelines are described in this paper. It can be applied to solid round wire, litz wire, or foil wound magnetic components. Considerations to extend its use to transformers, including the use of interleaving techniques and insulating tape, are explained. This method can reduce the computation time of 3-D simulations (seven times faster than usual simulations) while the convergence is assured even for complex structures or cases with litz wire. Finally, the method is experimentally validated with DC and AC excitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the design methodology of switched-tank converter (STC) is presented. The power loss breakdown analysis is conducted to point out the directions and paths for components optimization. It is revealed that the switching device conduction loss, printed circuit board (PCB) loss, and inductor loss become significant when output power is >150 W. Power loss of four switches is calculated and compared for switching device selection. The resonant capacitor is carefully designed to meet both current stress and ripple requirements. On the other hand, optimal design of the resonant inductors and PCB layout are fully investigated. The core loss model is provided, and different core materials are compared to minimize the core loss. Besides, a fine-tuned inductor winding structure is designed to achieve the lowest winding loss. Furthermore, PCB layout is optimized to get short loop length for each operation state. In addition to the hardware level optimization, an improved control method is proposed, in which the conduction time of switching devices is tuned to mitigate the circulating power. To verify the optimization work, a prototype of STC is built and tested. The experimental results indicate that a state-of-the-art performance of 98.71% efficiency and a 1000 W/in3 high power density is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development of a Class-D full-bridge zero-voltage switching (ZVS) inverter, applicable to wireless power transfer (WPT) systems, operating at 13.56 MHz switching frequency with dynamic dead-time control (DDTC). Resonant-coupled WPT systems are being designed at ultrahigh switching frequencies to reduce the size of the wireless link and the passive components. Maintaining ZVS while controlling the output power delivered to a fixed or variable load is one of the major challenges of designing inverters at multi-MHz switching frequencies. DDTC is the approach deployed in this paper to sustain soft switching of a Class-D full-bridge inverter over the full range of output power while regulating the input dc bus voltage. Simulation results are presented to show that dynamically controlling the dead-time during input dc bus voltage variations reduces switch-node voltage overshoot, prevents large current spikes in the switching devices, and reduces associated high switching loss. Practical results obtained show that DDTC reduces switch-node voltage overshoot, increases the inverter efficiency, and reduces the steady-state temperature of the inverter during output power regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the power density of a power converter has many benefits for systems integration. Aspects such as thermal management, weight, conformation to mounting locations, and the footprint of the converter all become critical factors as systems continue to scale down in size. The flying capacitor multilevel converter topology is of interest because it has characteristics which contribute to high power density. This paper presents a quasi-square-wave zero-voltage switching (ZVS) multilevel dc–dc converter. ZVS greatly reduces switching losses and enables high-frequency operation of the converter. A hardware prototype is implemented, built on a flexible polyimide substrate circuit board. Experimental results show a peak system efficiency above 98.1%, an effective switching frequency of up to 3 MHz, and a power output of 250 W. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new isolated single-stage single-switch power-factor-correction (S4 PFC) driver for supplying light-emitting diodes (LEDs) without electrolytic capacitor. In the proposed LED driver, the switch turns on under zero current switching (ZCS) condition. Also, it turns on at a voltage less than its nominal voltage stress, and therefore, the switch capacitive turn-on loss decreases too much extent. The leakage energy is absorbed, so there are no voltage spikes across the switch when the switch turns off. In this paper, operating principles of the proposed driver are discussed, and design considerations are presented. Also, a laboratory prototype for supplying a 21 W/30 V LED module from 220 Vrms/50\,\rm Hz ac mains is implemented, and experimental results are presented to verify the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we propose a novel ac/dc bridgeless and contactless energy transmission system. The coreless planar transformer and magnetic dipole moment are applied to transmit electrical energy in a noncontact method. In addition, the input ac current of the proposed converter has effective power factor correction. Simultaneously, the primary-side switches have zero-voltage switching, and the secondary-side diodes have zero-current switching. Thus, the power quality and efficiency of the proposed system can be upgraded. Furthermore, the proposed system can increase the transmission distance with the voltage multiplier receiver connected at the rear of the secondary-side coreless planar transformer. Power transmission and circuit operation are described in this paper. Finally, a prototype system is constructed, and its validity has been confirmed with experimental and practical measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the design optimization of single- and dual-band inductively source degenerated field-effect transistor low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) using an analytical formula of noise parameters derived through a noise transformation matrix. The dual-band LNA design can be directly expanded from the single-band LNA design using a noise transformation matrix. The derived noise formulas of LNAs reveal that a simultaneous noise and input match (SNIM) can be obtained at a single frequency for a single-band LNA. For a concurrent dual-band LNA, the simultaneous noise match cannot be achieved at two different operating frequencies and thus a balanced design in noise performance is developed using a noise transformation matrix. This paper demonstrates a 5-GHz single-band and a 2.4/5-GHz concurrent dual-band two-stage single-voltage-supply LNA using 0.15-\mu\m depletion-mode pseudomorphic HEMT technology to verify design methodology. The inductively source-degenerated common-source amplifier is applied at the input stage. The 5-GHz common-source common-drain (CS-CD) LNA shows 1.4-dB noise figure (NF) with an SNIM. Moreover, the 2.4/5-GHz CS-CD concurrent dual-band LNA has a balanced noise performance of 2.2-dB NF at 2.4 GHz and 2.0-dB NF at 5 GHz, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]