Abstract
With the aim towards lighter and more efficient electrical systems in future aircraft, design of DC/DC converters with high efficiency, power density and improved thermal management becomes necessary. This paper investigates the detailed design of isolated bidirectional DC/DC converters for more electric aircraft (MEA). Use of wide bandgap (WBG) devices to enhance system efficiency is considered. A transformer optimization technique based on switching frequency for different converter topologies is investigated. The control strategy of the discussed configurations are verified in the PLECS simulation environment. Dual active bridge (DAB), input-series output-parallel (ISOP), neutral point clamped (NPC) and active neutral point clamped (ANPC) converters are considered to exploit benefits offered by WBG devices for MEA. A comparison is performed in terms of efficiency, thermal management, power density and electromagnetic interference (EMI). The results indicate that the ANPC converter is better for efficiency, thermal management and power density. The DAB converter showed similar results to the ISOP with the DAB yielding higher efficiency. The NPC and ANPC configurations resulted in the best EMI performance. The NPC converter proved to be the least effective solution with regard to efficiency, thermal management and power density.
Highlights
As the trend of electrified transportation, as a means to mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, spreads outside the automotive sector, the concept of more electric aircraft (MEA) is gaining traction
Since the topologies use wide bandgap (WBG) devices and operate at high frequencies, the converters will be compared at a high level in terms of electromagnetic interference (EMI)
Stability of MEA power systems, along with protection of the MEA power grid fall under the reliability study which is outside the scope of this paper
Summary
As the trend of electrified transportation, as a means to mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, spreads outside the automotive sector, the concept of more electric aircraft (MEA) is gaining traction. The design of aircraft has changed with the substitution of traditional hydraulic or pneumatic actuators with electrical systems. With the need for reduced weight, size and energy loss in electrical systems along with increased power levels, new electric network in aircraft require a standard 350 Vdc and 540 Vdc (+/− 270 Vdc), known as the HVDC voltage. From the high voltage (HV) bus, the 28 Vdc bus, referred to as the low voltage direct current (LVDC) network is generated. Most of the electric loads used in MEA are designed for a nominal voltage of 28 V [2] An example of such load is the onboard control units. The conversion from the +/− 270 Vdc bus to 28 V occurs through a DC/DC converter These converters have transformers, providing galvanic isolation between the high voltage and low voltage buses
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