Development of a Modular Educational Kit for Research and Teaching on Power Electronics and Multilevel Converters

Wilson C Sant'Ana,Fabio M Steiner,Isac A S Areias,Levy E L Oliveira,Daniel A Arantes,Erik L Bonaldi,Germano Lambert-Torres,Frederico O Assuncao,Luiz E Borges-Da-Silva,Bruno R Gama

doi:10.1109/access.2021.3112531

Wilson C Sant'Ana, Fabio M Steiner + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2021.3112531

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Journal: IEEE Access	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2021
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Federal University of Itajubá

Abstract

This paper presents the detailed project of a modular educational kit to be used in research and teaching activities in the area of power electronics - with emphasis on applications in medium voltage multilevel converters. The half bridge topology has been chosen for the submodules, as they can be arranged together in a multitude of other topologies. A system composed by a mother board and daughter cards is presented. A DSP control card and a FPGA System-On-Module are inserted in the mother board in order to control the half bridge submodules. The targets of this project are applications in medium voltage - hence, the communication between the submodules and the FPGA/DSP is performed through optical fibers. Also a self power system is presented for the submodules, in order for them to operate at floating potentials. Experimental results have been presented for the most usual topologies of converters, including a Modular Multilevel Converter operating at 2000V.

Highlights

C ONVERTERS based on power electronics have had an unquestionable role in the electric power system in the last decades
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS In order to show the versatility of the half-bridge SM boards and their potential of use on a wide range of projects, some of the most usual topologies in power electronics have been tested
This paper presented the project and the applicability of a modular educational kit to be used by research personnel and in laboratory classes in power electronics

Summary

Introduction

C ONVERTERS based on power electronics have had an unquestionable role in the electric power system in the last decades. An early prototype of a series active power filter for distribution systems in 13.8kV has been developed by their researchers in [7] a step-up transformer (with 220:13800 ratio) had been used and this had resulted in elevated currents at the low voltage side. The Institute has partnered in the project of a peak-shaving equipment with energy storage on batteries, for distribution systems in 13.8kV [8] - still using a coupling transformer - using a multilevel topology (Cascaded H Bridge) on the converter, which resulted in a smaller transformer ratio (2400:13800) and decreased the current rating on the semiconductors. The limitation to increase even further the number of cascaded bridges (reducing even further the transformer ratio) had been the number of PWM channels available at the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) boards. It had become evident the necessity to use a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) to perform the PWM operations - since these devices have a multitude of programmable digital pins avail-

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