LEGO-Like Development of Complex Power Electronics Systems: research and Demonstration
Abstract
When converters are developed based on power electronic devices, they have advantages in terms of efficiency, power density, flexibi""lity, etc. These converters have been widely and successfully used for energy conversion in modern power systems. A power electronic" system consisted of multiple converters and could range from a piece of equipment to a large-scale converter-interfaced microgrid." Traditionally, a significant amount of time and cost are repeatedly invested in equipment development to meet various specification""s. It is also well-known thatconverter-interfaced microgrids are hard to control due to the reduced inertia, increased uncertaintie""s, and wide range of operations. The developed control solutions for such microgrids must be fast and accurate to counteract the com"plexities and to fully utilize the capability of the power electronic techniques. There is a pressing need to simplify the development and control of power electronic systems.The PIs propose to investigate the concept of Lego-like development of power electronic" systems, i.e., piecing together a power electronic system with high-performance building blocks (modular power converters). Materia"lizing the appealing concept requires investigating many key enabling techniques for both algorithm design and hardware development." According to the proposal, PIs will investigate a new control scheme that can improve flexibility, reliability, energy efficiency," and dynamic performance. Control objectives of its function modules will be well defined to proactively minimize the impacts of unc"ertainties with generations and loads. At upper control level, distributed consensus-based optimization algorithms will be developed"" to achieve high energy efficiency and static stability. At lower control level, decentralized output constraint control algorithms"" will be developed to guarantee convergence and transient response. Finally, the designed algorithms will be implemented with dual-c"ore DSP based control boards and tested with equipment/microgrid developed with wide-bandgap device-based modular converters.The developed techniques will have higher technology readiness level (TRL) compared to those techniques that were only evaluated through s"imulations. By integrating advanced software and hardware designs, potentials of complex power electronic systems can be fully unloc""ked. The project will bring about a Lego-like learning experience to teaching, reduce time and cost with development of power electr""onic systems, and expedite the adoption of promising wide bandgap devices. The project can bridge the gaps among multiple research d""isciplines of experimental (power electronics), analytical (power systems), and theoretical (controls). The proposed research can si"gnificantly lower development and maintenance costs and improve flexibility and reliability of Navy shipboard power systems. The PIs~ solid track record on theoretical studies and testbed development makes them the ideal team to explore this challenging interdisciplinary project.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 26, 2018
- Source ID
- N000141812185
Entities
People
- Wenxin Liu
Organizations
- Lehigh University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy