CRADA Final Report for CRADA Number ORNL98-0521 : Development of an Electric Bus Inverter Based on ORNL Auxiliary Resonant Tank (ART) Soft-Switching Technology

Abstract

The Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center (PEEMRC) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has for many years been developing technologies for power converters for motor drives and many other applications. Some of the research goals are to improve efficiency and reduce audible and electromagnetic interference noise generation for inverters and the driven loads. The converters are being required to produce more power with reduced weight and volume, which requires improvements in heat removal from the electronics, as well as improved circuit designs that have fewer electrical losses. PEEMRC has recently developed and patented a soft-switching inverter topology called an Auxiliary Resonant Tank (ART), and this design has been tested and proven at ORNL using a 10-kW laboratory prototype. The objective of this project was to develop, test, and install the ART inverter technology in an electric transit bus with the final goal of evaluating performance of the ORNL inverter under field conditions in a vehicle. A scaled-up inverter with the capacity to drive a 22-e bus was built based on the 10-kW ORNL laboratory prototype ART soft-switching inverter. Most (if not all) commercially available inverters for traction drive and other applications use hard-switching inverters. A Cooperative Research andmore » Development Agreement was established with the Chattanooga Area Regional Transit Authority (CARTA), the Electric Transit Vehicle Institute (ETVI), and Advanced Vehicle Systems (AVS), all of Chattanooga, along with ORNL. CARTA, which maintains and operates the public transit system in Chattanooga, provided an area for testing the vehicle alongside other similar vehicles in the normal operating environment. ETVI offers capabilities in standardized testing and reporting and also provides exposure in the electric transit vehicle arena for ORNL's technologies. The third Chattanooga partner, (AVS) manufactures all-electric and hybrid electric transit buses using inverter drive systems from several manufacturers. AVS provided help in field installation, and parts for laboratory testing. A 100-kW field-ready unit was developed, tested in an ORNL laboratory, and installed and successfully operated in a CARTA bus in Chattanooga. The tests on the vehicle were performed at a CARTA maintenance facility and at a l-mile test track in Chattanooga managed by CARTA.« less