Optimization Study for Integration of Wide-Band-Gap-Based Power Electronic Building Blocks into Shipboard Power Systems
Abstract
The purpose of the proposed work is to provide ONR with assistance in identifying an optimalapproach for integrating novel modular converters based on WBG PEBB~s into shipboard powerplatforms. This will be done by studying the underlying relationships between the characteristicsof various system structures (WBG devices, module housings, bus interconnections, heat sinks,dielectric standoffs, etc.) and the sensitivity of the most important converter performance metrics(power density, efficiency, total volume, etc.) to variations in these characteristics. It isenvisioned that this work will elucidate which of the underlying physics-based trade-offs (whichare known to exist for such systems) are most important; and will enable the reduction of thesemost important trade-offs to simple scaling relationships which can ultimately be implemented inthe Ship Smart System Design (S3D) environment for assisting in ship architecture and designactivities. Although the existence of such trade-offs is already well-known, this work advancesthe Navy~s planning capabilities in two specific ways. First, the details of these trade-offs andtheir impact on system behavior at the converter level and above have not been quantified,particularly for WBG-based systems. Second, the trade-off studies which have been performedto date for WBG devices (e.g. [6]) have not considered the practical constraints imposed by theshipboard environment. Examples of such constraints may include dielectric spacing, EMIthresholds, thermal loading, etc. Omitting consideration of such constraints could lead to anover-optimistic estimation of the performance of the WBG-based converter; as these factors mustbe carefully considered when integrating these systems into the shipboard environment; anddoing so can impose a substantial penalty in terms of power density.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141612940
Entities
People
- Andy Lemmon
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Alabama