Development of Universal Controller Architecture for SiC Based Power Electronic Building Blocks
Abstract
Present trends indicate shipboard energy management systems will contain increasing numbers of power electronic devices. System designers require an open and hierarchical power electronics system architecture with standardized modules and control interfaces in order to explore the design space effectively. There has been progress in this area due to continued research and development of the power electronics building blocks (PEBB) concept. However, there are many different control architectures for power electronics systems. In order to address the issue of custom control systems for each design, recent work has presented the concept of the universal control architecture (UCA) in an attempt to standardize the control interfaces. The UCA has defined levels corresponding to system level functions, application or mid-level functions, and low-level control functions. Recent developments in SiC power devices promise to yield PEBBs with far greater switching frequencies than Si based devices resulting in an order of magnitude reduction of control system time scales as compared to converter systems utilizing conventional IGBT based PEBBs. In addition there have also been advancements in highly modularized converter systems with hundreds of PEBBs such as the Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC). Both of those trends present the need to evaluate architecture tradeoffs and communication requirements for hardware realizations of the Universal Controller Architecture. This project proposes to develop a Universal Controller suitable for SiC based PEBB converters as part of a coordinated effort by the University of South Carolina, CPES and GE Global Research. CPES and GE Global Research will develop 1KV SiC (PEBB 1000) and 6kV SiC (PEBB 6000) based power modules respectively on a separate effort. The control architecture and implementation for PEBB 1000 will be jointly developed by USC and CPES with the focus of CPES at the hardware control layer and USC at the application control layer. Overlap and coordination will primarily occur at the middle control layers. USC will also investigate the appropriate partitioning and interface requirements between the system and application control layers for systems of power electronic converters so that the minimum set of system level to application level control interfaces is compatible across all power electronic controllers. This will provide flexibility of system design and operation for distributed converter systems, such as a shipboard APS, so that a more flexible energy management capability is achieved for naval electric distribution systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512346
Entities
People
- Herbert L. Ginn
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of South Carolina