BLDC Motor Driven Solar PV Array Fed Water Pumping System Employing Zeta Converter

Abstract— 

This paper proposes a solar photovoltaic (SPV) array fed water pumping system utilizing a zeta converter as an intermediate DC-DC converter in order to extract the maximum available power from the SPV array. Controlling the zeta converter in an intelligent manner through the incremental conductance maximum power point tracking (INC-MPPT) algorithm offers the soft starting of the brushless DC (BLDC) motor employed to drive a centrifugal water pump coupled to its shaft. Soft starting i.e. the reduced current starting inhibits the harmful effect of the high starting current on the windings of the BLDC motor. A fundamental frequency switching of the voltage source inverter (VSI) is accomplished by the electronic commutation of the BLDC motor, thereby avoiding the VSI losses occurred owing to the high frequency switching. A new design approach for the low valued DC link capacitor of VSI is proposed. The proposed water pumping system is designed and modeled such that the performance is not affected even under the dynamic conditions. Suitability of the proposed system under dynamic conditions is demonstrated by the simulation results using MATLAB/Simulink software.

Transient Stability Enhancement of Doubly Fed Induction Machine-Based Wind Generator by Bridge-Type Fault Current Limiter

Abstract—Transient stability is a major concern for doubly fed induction machine (DFIM). A DFIM-based wind generator is readily affected by faults at the grid side as its stator windings are interfaced to grid. However, the wind generators need to remain connected and continue operation during faults at the grid side according to the grid code requirements. Therefore, it is important to enhance the transient stability of the DFIM-based wind generators. To achieve enhanced transient stability of the DFIM, a bridge-type fault current limiter (BFCL) is proposed in this study. Symmetrical as well as unsymmetrical faults were applied to the test system to check the efficacy of the BFCL in transient stability enhancement. Simulations were carried out in Matlab/Simulink environment. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed BFCL, its performance is compared with that of the series dynamic braking resistor (SDBR). Simulation results show that the BFCL is a very effective device to attain better stabilization of the DFIM and outperforms the SDBR in all aspects.

A Family of Isolated Buck-Boost Converters Based on Semiactive Rectifiers for High-Output Voltage Applications

Abstract—

A systematic method for developing isolated buck-boost (IBB) converters is proposed in this paper, and single-stage power conversion, soft-switching operation, and high-efficiency performance can be achieved with the proposed family of converters. On the basis of a nonisolated two-switch buck-boost converter, the proposed IBB converters are generated by replacing the dc buck-cell and boost-cell in the non-IBB converter with the ac buck-cell and boost-cell, respectively. Furthermore, a family of semiactive rectifiers (SARs) is proposed to serve as the secondary rectification circuit for the IBB converters, which helps to extend the converter voltage gain and reduce the voltage stresses on the devices in the rectification circuit. Hence, the efficiency is improved by employing a transformer with a smaller turns ratio and reduced parasitic parameters, by using low-voltage rating MOSFETs and diodes with better switching and conduction performances. A full-bridge IBB converter is proposed and analyzed in detail as an example. The phase-shift modulation strategy is applied to the full-bridge IBB converter to achieve IBB conversion. Moreover, soft-switching performance of all active switches and diodes can be achieved over a wide load and voltage range by the proposed converter and control strategy. A 380-V-output prototype is fabricated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed family of IBB converters, the SARs, and the control strategies.

High-Efficiency Coupled-Inductor-Based Step-Down Converter

Abstract—

This study mainly investigates a high-efficiency single-input multiple-output (SIMO) step-down converter. The proposed converter can step down the voltage of a high-voltage dc bus generated by the rectifier of an ac utility power to a controllable low-voltage output terminal and middle-voltage output terminals. In this study, a coupled-inductor-based SIMO step-down converter utilizes two power switches with the properties of voltage clamping for the middle-voltage switch, and soft switching for all power switches due to the appropriate choice of the corresponding device specifications. As a result, the leakage inductor energy of the coupled inductor can be recycled, and the voltage spikes on power switches can be alleviated. Moreover, the switching losses can be significantly decreased because of all power switches with zero-voltage-switching features. Therefore, the objectives of high-efficiency power conversion, high step-down ratio, and various output voltage with different levels can be obtained. The effectiveness of the proposed SIMO step-down converter is verified by experimental results of a converter prototype in practical applications.

Improved ZVS Three-Level DC–DC Converter With Reduced Circulating Loss

Abstract—

An improved three-level (TL) dc–dc converter is proposed in this paper. The converter contains two transformers. Like the conventional TL dc–dc converter, there are no additional switches on the primary side of the transformer. The rectifier stage is composed of four diodes in the center-tapped rectification. On the primary side of the transformer, the two transformers are connected in series. The middle node of the two transformers is connected to the neutral point of the split flying capacitors. Because it cooperates with the four-diode rectifier stage, the circulating current on the primary side of the transformer decays to zero during the freewheeling period. The zero-voltage switching (ZVS) of the leading switches is determined by energy stored in the output filter inductor, which is similar to the conventional TL converter. The ZVS of the lagging switches is determined by the energy stored in the magnetizing inductor of a transformer, rather than the energy stored in the leakage inductor. The proposed converter can reduce the output filter inductance. Because of the advantages given above, the efficiency of the proposed converter is far better than that of traditional methods. Finally, a 1-kW prototype was built to verify the performance of the proposed converter.

A Modified Dual Active Bridge Converter With Hybrid Phase-Shift Control for Wide Input Voltage Range

Abstract—

By inserting a small inductor between the transformer center tap and the midpoint of two split output capacitors in the dual active bridge (DAB) topology, this paper proposes a modified DAB converter for wide-input applications. A hybrid phase-shift (HPS) control scheme is proposed to allow all power switches to achieve practical ZVS over the full operating range; thereby, significantly minimizing the switching losses and alleviating electromagnetic interference. Moreover, the proposed control scheme does not significantly increase the conduction losses in comparison with the extended phase-shift (EPS) control. Therefore, the modified DAB can operate efficiently. The topology derivation and description are first presented. Then, the EPS and triple phase-shift (TPS) modulations are applied, and the corresponding operating principles and characteristics, including the soft-switching, power transfer, and root-mean-square current, are investigated in detail. To achieve practical ZVS operation of all switches over full operating range, while minimizing the conduction losses, the EPS and TPS are combined, and an HPS control scheme is proposed. Finally, experimental results from a 1.4-kW converter prototype with 200–400-V input and 400-V output are presented to verify the feasibility and advantages of the converter and control.

Soft-Switching Step-Up Converter With Ripple-Free Output Current

Abstract—

A soft-switching step-up converter with ripple-free output current is proposed. This converter is based on a voltage-boosting converter, named KY converter. Thus, the proposed converter has features of KY converter such as clamped switch voltage stresses to input voltage, nonpulsating output current and fast transient response. In addition, by utilizing an auxiliary circuit, the zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) of power switches is achieved. Therefore, the switching loss is reduced and the system efficiency is improved. Moreover, the auxiliary circuit cancels out the filter inductor current ripple. Then, ripple-free output current is achieved. The operational principle and a steady-state analysis of the proposed converter are provided in detail. In order to verify the theoretical analysis, experimental results based on a 60 W prototype at a constant switching frequency of 200 kHz are presented.