Abstract
Harmonics generated from power electronic converters will impose significant power quality challenges to the electric grid onboard future aircraft. In this article, we propose an innovative modulation scheme that enables using a buck–boost dc–dc converter as a harmonic absorber. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a hybrid power generation system involving a high-speed electrical generator and a high voltage battery is introduced. The electrical generator is connected to a dc bus through an ac–dc converter and the battery to the dc bus with a dc–dc converter. For the studied hybrid power generation system, it is identified that the first carrier frequency side-band harmonic ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">f<sub>c</sub></i> -3 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">f<sub>0</sub></i> ) from the ac–dc converter is most relevant and is targeted for cancellation. For the control of the dc–dc converter, a new modulation technique, called equal-gate-width modulation is proposed. It allows active control of the magnitude and phase angle of some specific harmonic components from a dc–dc converter. By properly tuning the phase angle and amplitude, the controlled harmonics can thus be used to cancel harmonics from other converters on a common dc bus. Without losing generality, this article focuses on the development of this specific harmonic cancellation scheme and the effectiveness of our proposed methods has been demonstrated using experimental results.
Highlights
MORE electric aircraft (MEA) concept has become one of the major trends in aerospace development due to decreased fuel consumption, low maintenance cost, etc [1][2]
This paper aims to fill the gap and use a buck-boost DC-DC converter as an active harmonic sink for the DC power system
We focus on some specific harmonic component, the proposed method can essentially be used to suppress any harmonic component of interest by changing the phase angle and frequency of the carrier signal as well as the position of ’on’ switching states of power devices in one cycle within the DC-DC converter
Summary
MORE electric aircraft (MEA) concept has become one of the major trends in aerospace development due to decreased fuel consumption, low maintenance cost, etc [1][2]. This paper aims to fill this gap and propose a simple method that can suppress the switching harmonics of the current flowing into the capacitor. Additional switching devices were added to the system and harmonics on capacitors were effectively reduced with an adjustable switching operation of the extra switches This method requires extra elements and increases the cost and complexity of the electrical systems. We focus on some specific harmonic component, the proposed method can essentially be used to suppress any harmonic component of interest by changing the phase angle and frequency of the carrier signal as well as the position of ’on’ switching states of power devices in one cycle within the DC-DC converter.
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