Power Electronic Transformer Research Articles

A Novel Shunt Zigzag Double-Tap Low-Harmonic Multi-Pulse Rectifier Based on a Three-Stage Power Electronic Phase-Shifting Transformer.

To solve the problem of the large size of traditional industrial frequency phase-shift transformers and the harmonic distortion of multi-pulse wave rectifier systems, this paper proposes a three-stage shunt zigzag power electronic phase-shift transformer based on a double-tap multi-pulse wave rectifier, which combines the power factor correction (PFC) converter with the voltage-type SPWM inverter circuit to form a power electronic converter to realize the frequency boost and power factor correction. Through AC-DC-AC conversion, the frequency of the three-phase AC input voltage is increased, the number of core and coil turns in the transformer is reduced to reduce the size of the phase-shifter transformer, a zigzag structure of the phase-shifter transformer is used to solve the unbalanced distribution of current between the diode bridges, and a passive harmonic suppression method on the DC side is used to generate a loop current by using a group of single-phase rectifier bridges to regulate the input line current of the phase-shifter transformer. The phase-shifted voltage is input into two three-phase diode rectifier bridges to rectify and supply power to the load. Simulation and semi-physical test results show that the proposed method reduces the total harmonic distortion (THD) value of the input current of the phase-shifted transformer to 7.17%, and the THD value of the grid-side input current is further reduced to 2.49%, which meets the harmonic standard and realizes the purpose of power factor correction as well as being more suitable for high-power applications.

Solid State Transformer: An Overview of Application and Advantages

Abstract: Solid-state transformer (SST), Electronic power transformer or Power electronic transformer (PET) contain the transformer inside the AC-TO-AC converters or DC-TO-DC converters. SST is type of electric power converter that replaces a conventational transformer used in electric power distribution.SST carries the full power and provides the electrical isolation. This paper gives the information of the solid state transformers advantages and applications

Power quality improvement of unipolar-input-bipolar-output DC transmission system via load power balancing

In DC transmission and distribution systems, both unipolar and bipolar transmission modes exist, and DC transformers used in these systems are also available in either unipolar or bipolar configurations. In actual systems, due to requirements such as economy, land occupation, and reliability, there is a tendency to use a system with unipolar input and bipolar output. However, the bipolar loads, if unbalanced, will lead to increased equipment costs and voltage imbalance, causing power quality problems. This paper defines the Power Unbalance Factor (PUF) to describe the power quality of the studied DC transmission system and presents an improved DC transformer topology based on a power balancing system. This topology realizes bipolar voltage balance and improves the power quality of the DC transmission system when the load is unbalanced. The influence of the proposed solution on the power design of the DC system is demonstrated through theoretical analysis, and its effectiveness for improving the DC power quality is verified by both simulations in MATLAB/Simulink environment and physical experiments. When the power electronic transformer needs to be overloaded, the proposed topology can reduce the design power of the two branches by using the difference power, which is economical.

High Frequency Breakdown Characteristics of Alumina Filler Content Epoxy Resin

Power electronic transformers have high insulation frequency and compact insulation structure, and insulation performance is one of the main factors restricting their further development. Epoxy resin is an important insulating material in the electrical industry, its thermal conductivity and mechanical properties can not meet the needs of high-frequency transformers, usually metal oxide (Al2O3, etc.) is added to form composite insulation material. It is of great reference value for the insulation design of power electronic transformer to study the insulation performance of composite insulation materials with different filler content ratio under high-frequency AC. The effects of power supply frequency and alumina filler content on the breakdown performance of the composite were investigated experimentally. The results show that the breakdown voltage of pure epoxy resin decreases exponentially with frequency. At any filler content, the breakdown voltage of epoxy resin decreases with the increase of frequency, and the decreasing trend gradually slows down when the frequency increases from 50Hz to 1000Hz, and the decreasing trend gradually increases when the frequency increases to 2000Hz. The breakdown voltage of epoxy resin showed a down-rise-down trend with the increase of filler content, and the effect of filler content on breakdown voltage gradually weakened with the increase of frequency.

A Novel Multiple-Medium-AC-Port Power Electronic Transformer

A Novel Multiple-Medium-AC-Port Power Electronic Transformer

Analysis of Parasitic Parameters and Winding Loss Characteristics of High-Frequency Transformer under Different Winding Structures

Abstract With the development of the smart grid and the increasing access of renewable energy to the distribution grid, the traditional AC power grid puts forward an urgent demand for power electronic transformer (PET). The high-frequency transformer (HFT) serves as the core equipment of PET, and its electromagnetic structure and parasitic parameters are the hot spot of study in the field of power electronics. In this paper, the parasitic parameters, winding loss, and leakage magnetic field characteristics of the 20 kHz, 20 kVA HFT are investigated under different winding structures. The results show that the higher the degree of crossover of HFT winding, the lower the leakage magnetic field. The cross winding reduces winding loss and leakage inductance, and also attenuates the impact of frequency variations. The higher the winding height, the lower the leakage inductance. As the insulation thickness increases, the leakage inductance rises. The distribution capacitance varies opposite to the leakage inductance. Based on the analysis of winding loss and parasitic parameters, as well as the consideration of insulation, the final winding layout, the height of winding and the thickness of insulation of the HFT are determined.

General calculation method of power boundary of multiport power electronic transformer

General calculation method of power boundary of multiport power electronic transformer

Reliability modeling and assessment of a community microgrid with electric vehicle charging station as a critical load

Microgrids are constituted of interconnected loads and dispersed energy resources. They increase the reliability of the power supply, decrease the cost of the per unit energy and support the green environment concept. Microgrids have gained importance due to their ability to deliver reliable energy and operate in both grid-connected and off-grid/island modes. Renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) and wind can be connected to the microgrid system to generate green energy. An electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) can be deployed in microgrids powered by renewable energy sources. An effective way to handle the rapidly rising load demand of electric vehicles (EVs) is to integrate EV recharge stations into microgrids. Due to the intermittent nature of solar PV and EV load's reliability, an evaluation of microgrids becomes challenging. Assessment of the components’ failure and their impact on the system reliability is proposed using different methods. Reliability Block Diagram (RBD), Markov Reliability Modeling (MRM) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) - Monte Carlo simulation are used for the Reliability Modeling of a community microgrid considering EVCS as a critical load. The mean time to failure (MTTF) is computed for the entire microgrid which includes PV, wind and fuel cell systems integrated into the grid with associated power electronic devices, transmission lines, transformers and point of common coupling (PCC). MATLAB software was used to program and study the reliability aspects of the microgrid. Using the FTA MCS technique and grid functions for 45 years with 20 % reliability, significant results were obtained in terms of a MTTF rate of 26.16 years.

A Simple Online Fault Location and Tolerant Control Strategy for Power Electronic Transformers With a Single IGBT Open-Circuit Fault

A Simple Online Fault Location and Tolerant Control Strategy for Power Electronic Transformers With a Single IGBT Open-Circuit Fault

Numerical Evaluation Methodology for Power Electronic Transformer Insulation Based on Space Charge Characteristics Under Combined HF Electrothermal Stress

Numerical Evaluation Methodology for Power Electronic Transformer Insulation Based on Space Charge Characteristics Under Combined HF Electrothermal Stress

Accurate and Efficient Simulation Models for Power Electronics Transformers Based on Series-Connected Active Unity Power Factor Rectifier Modules

This paper contributes an efficient simulation technique for input-series output-parallel multilevel power electronics transformers based on active unity-power-factor rectifiers as building blocks. The technical motivation of the work comes from the fact that the computational burden for the simulation of these technologies tends to become unaffordable as the number of modules grows when using commercial software blocksets. This paper presents a new method to drastically reduce the simulation complexity by simplifying the switching rules: in a three-phase circuit, each phase zero-crossing condition is implemented by a single and simple algebraic rule, so the complex calculations for determining the conduction state of each single diode are removed from the model. The computational enhancement and accuracy of the proposed technique are proved by experimental verification using a single-phase single-cell prototype together with multiple simulations of full-scale systems of different sizes.

Combined Control Strategy of Wind Storage Based on Power Electronic Transformer

Because of the inherent randomness and instability of the wind power generation system, the energy storage device and power electronic transformer are introduced into the wind power generation system to restrain the fluctuation of DC bus voltage and power junction, and improve the stability of the wind power generation system. This paper first introduces the basic characteristics of wind turbines and the basic idea of maximum wind energy capture and puts forward the control strategy of wind turbine side converter and grid side converter. Then the topological structure, mathematical model, and working principle of the power electronic transformer are described, and the control strategy of the power electronic transformer is proposed. Finally, the power electronic transformer is applied to the grid-connected wind storage system, and the grid-connected wind storage system model is built in MATLAB/Simulink platform, and the grid-connected control strategy under wind power fluctuation is simulated and verified. The simulation results show that the topology structure of the grid-connected wind storage system and the effectiveness of the grid-connected control strategy are proposed.

Passive Super-Twisting Second-Order Sliding Mode Control Strategy for Input Stage of MMC-PET

When the operating state of the power system changes, a modular multilevel converter power electronic transformer (MMC-PET) based on modular multilevel converters cannot perform efficient energy transfer and power conversion under conventional control strategies. To address the above problems, this paper proposes a passive, second-order super-helical sliding mode control strategy for MMC-PET by combining passive control and second-order super-helical sliding mode control with a stronger anti-interference capability. First, a Euler–Lagrange model based on positive and negative sequence separation is established according to the mathematical model of the MMC; second, the model of the system is passively analyzed, and a passive controller is designed according to its passivity, and the passive controller is further optimized by using the super-helical second-order sliding mode control, which improves the overall robustness and interference immunity; finally, the effectiveness and superiority of the super-twisting second-order sliding mode passive control strategy is demonstrated by verifying it through the construction of the MMC-PET simulation model and testing it under various non-ideal working conditions.

Single-Stage Matrix-Type Power Electronic Transformer With Reduced Switches

Single-Stage Matrix-Type Power Electronic Transformer With Reduced Switches

Research on Power Balance Control Method of Electronic Transformer

Aiming at the problem of poor output stability and power gain of the power electronic transformer of the microgrid energy storage system, a power balance control method for the power electronic transformer of the microgrid energy storage system based on parallel modular multi-level commutation control is proposed. The reactive power outer loop parameter fusion method is used to sample the power dynamic load parameters and information fusion processing for the transformers in the system. According to the static limit active power adjustment of the fuzzy parameter factors on the output voltage side of the DC port, the steady-state gain of the power electronic transformer of the microgrid energy storage system is calculated. The static current limiting adjustment method is used to construct the feedback compensation model of the power electronic transformer of the microgrid energy storage system. In the active power control loop, the optimal design of the power electronic transformer power balance control of the microgrid energy storage system is realized through transient stable power adjustment. The test results show that using this method to perform power balance control on the power electronic transformer of the microgrid energy storage system has high output stability and good active power balance, which improves the robustness and adaptability of the transformer balance control.

Analysis and Design of Independent DC Bus Structure Multiport Power Electronic Transformer Based on Maximum Power Transmission Capability of Low-Voltage DC Ports

Owing to the diverse connection configurations of dual active bridge converters, a multiplicity of low-voltage DC port structures are anticipated to emerge in the independent DC bus structure multiport power electronic transformer (IDBS-MPET). An inadequate low-voltage DC port structure exacerbates the power imbalance in IDBS-MPET, presenting a risk of overmodulation even when transmitting relatively low levels of power. To overcome this limitation, a design scheme of IDBS-MPET topology based on the maximum power transmission capability of the low-voltage DC ports is proposed in this paper. Three topology design rules are derived from the maximum power transmission capability results of more than 80 typical IDBS-MPET topologies. The symmetrical triple cross-phase connection structure, the symmetrical double cross-phase connection structure and the single-phase connection structure are sequentially identified as the three most optimal structures of low-voltage DC ports. By employing the proposed design methodology, each low-voltage DC port achieves its maximum power transfer capability relative to other configurations. The effectiveness of the proposed design scheme is validated by an optimal designed IDBS-MPET topology with six low-voltage DC ports.

Phase field model for electric-thermal coupled discharge breakdown of polyimide nanocomposites under high frequency electrical stress

In contrast to conventional transformers, power electronic transformers, as an integral component of new energy power system, are often subjected to high-frequency and transient electrical stresses, leading to heightened concerns regarding insulation failures. Meanwhile, the underlying mechanism behind discharge breakdown failure and nanofiller enhancement under high-frequency electrical stress remains unclear. An electric-thermal coupled discharge breakdown phase field model was constructed to study the evolution of the breakdown path in polyimide nanocomposite insulation subjected to high-frequency stress. The investigation focused on analyzing the effect of various factors, including frequency, temperature, and nanofiller shape, on the breakdown path of Polyimide (PI) composites. Additionally, it elucidated the enhancement mechanism of nano-modified composite insulation at the mesoscopic scale. The results indicated that with increasing frequency and temperature, the discharge breakdown path demonstrates accelerated development, accompanied by a gradual dominance of Joule heat energy. This enhancement is attributed to the dispersed electric field distribution and the hindering effect of the nanosheets. The research findings offer a theoretical foundation and methodological framework to inform the optimal design and performance management of new insulating materials utilized in high-frequency power equipment.

A comprehensive circuit and modulation design of mixed frequency conversion cascaded power electronic transformer

The power electronic transformer (PET) is one of the promising equipment of the energy Internet. In a distributed network, cascaded (cascaded full-bridge, CFB)-type PETs can withstand high-voltage stress and contain a low-voltage DC (LVDC) port, which provides access for distributed generation (DG). However, the hardware cost of the traditional CFB-type topologies remains high, and structure compactness can still be improved. The recently presented mixed-frequency conversion cascade PET (MFCC-PET) is one of the promising solutions. In this study, a comprehensive circuit design of MFCC-PET, a low-voltage distortion nearest-level pulse width modulation (NL-PWM), and a sub-module (SM) voltage balancing strategy for the proposed modulation method under mixed-frequency conversion are presented. A 100 V/2,000 W MFCC-PET prototype is built based on the above analysis and successfully placed into operation.

Low-Frequency Stability Analysis of Power Electronic Traction Transformer Based Train-Network System

Low-Frequency Stability Analysis of Power Electronic Traction Transformer Based Train-Network System

A Self-Restoring Fault-Tolerant Method for Controller Cooperation Simulation of Power Electronics Systems

Controller cooperation simulations of power electronics systems can be used to test control strategies and codes efficiently and safely. However, with the switching frequency increment of power electronics systems, the data interaction between actual controllers and simulators requires more software and hardware improvements to ensure its accurate execution. This paper presents an easy-realized self-restoring fault-tolerant method for controller cooperation simulation of power electronics systems without extra software and hardware improvements. The proposed method is built in a controller cooperation simulation system based on CPU simulators and realized by transitorily rematching the control information and simulation data based on the time difference between controllers and simulators. Moreover, the proposed method only needs to modify the peripheral communication calling program and does not need to modify the calculation programs of the simulator. A 20kHz power electronic transformer as an example is built on the cooperation simulation system with and without the proposed method and the experimental prototype to verify the effect of the proposed method. This paper helps to build a controller cooperation simulation system with a self-restoring fault-tolerant, and further provides a fast and effective design and analysis tool for control strategies and codes of power electronics systems.