Applications of Power Converter in Electric Transportation and Renewable Energy Harvesting

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Electronics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 11440

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Information Technology, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
Interests: power electronics; high-frequency converter topology; control and applications in renewable generation

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Guest Editor
School of Electrical and Power Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: design and control of special motor drive, and its applications in Electric Vehicle (EV); renewable energy generation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Interests: condition monitoring of electric machines; modern smart/micro grids; engineering pedagogy; real-time simulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

To overcome energy crises and promote environment protection, efficient utilization of renewable energy and transportation electrification have become two important scientific research topics, in which power electronics converters are playing a vital role.

To deal with the high dynamics of renewable energy, power converters have to be able to provide high voltage gain as well as relatively stable output. To improve power utilization, MPPT (maximum power point tracking) is an essential control feature for renewable generation systems. Energy storage systems are also required in distributed generation systems to keep the bus voltage stable during low-input–high-demand periods. Conventional transformers are gradually being replaced by high-frequency isolated electronics transformers with bidirectional DC/DC converters as the core.

The electrification of transportation can be achieved by applying power converters and new motor drives in electric vehicles, electric vessels and electric aircraft. Electric vehicles can also be used to exchange energy and information with the local grid through V2G technology. As well as achieving high power efficiency and low emissions, new motor drives would greatly enhance the controllability and mechanical flexibility of electric vehicles, electric vessels and electric aircraft.

Therefore, the proposed Special Issue will focus on the “Applications of Power Converter in Electric Transportation and Renewable Energy Harvesting”. We are sincerely seeking contributions from authors around the world to share their innovative results of their latest findings with other researchers and related industries.

Topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • On-board and off-board battery chargers;
  • Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) techniques;
  • MPPT for wind/photovoltaic/thermo-electric/fuel-cell generation;
  • Bi-directional DC/DC converters for charging/discharging, static electronic transformers;
  • Special motor drives for electric vehicles, electric vessels and electric aircraft;
  • High-gain converters for renewable energy harvesting;
  • Battery management systems and battery storage systems for EV and MEA.

Prof. Dr. Xiaodong Li
Prof. Dr. Hao Chen
Dr. Thirumarai-Chelvan Ilamparithi
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2377 KiB  
Article
Analysis and Design of a High-Frequency Isolated Dual-Transformer DC-DC Resonant Converter
by Yinan Li, Rui Wang, Liping Zhong, Limin Mao, Chuan Sun, Xiaodong Li and Song Hu
Electronics 2023, 12(1), 103; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12010103 - 27 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2296
Abstract
This paper presents the operation, analysis, design, simulation, and experimental results for a proposed Dual-Transformer DC-DC Resonant Converter (DTRC). A three-arm bridge is employed on the input side and an H-type bridge is employed on the output side of the DTRC, and the [...] Read more.
This paper presents the operation, analysis, design, simulation, and experimental results for a proposed Dual-Transformer DC-DC Resonant Converter (DTRC). A three-arm bridge is employed on the input side and an H-type bridge is employed on the output side of the DTRC, and the two bridges are connected with two high-frequency (HF) transformers. By optimizing the ratio k of the two HF transformers, the proposed DTRC has a lower boundary power for losing zero-voltage switching (ZVS). That means the DTRC has a wider ZVS operation range and lower switching loss when compared with a traditional soft-switching pulse width modulation (PWM) resonant converter. The operation principle, power transfer, ZVS characteristics, and design procedures are analyzed in detail. Both simulation and experimental results prove the feasibility and superiority of the proposed Dual-Transformer DC-DC Resonant Converter. Full article
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21 pages, 4529 KiB  
Article
Analysis and Verification of a Half-Dual Bridge Resonant Converter with Voltage Match Modulation
by Rui Wang, Yinan Li, Chuan Sun, Song Hu, Xiaodong Li, Wu Chen and Gang Lv
Electronics 2022, 11(17), 2675; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11172675 - 26 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2256
Abstract
To overcome the weakness of the narrow conversion gain of dual bridge resonant converter, a half-dual bridge resonant converter (H-DBRC) with voltage match modulation (VMM) is proposed and implemented for wide voltage range applications. The H-DBRC, including a full bridge on the primary [...] Read more.
To overcome the weakness of the narrow conversion gain of dual bridge resonant converter, a half-dual bridge resonant converter (H-DBRC) with voltage match modulation (VMM) is proposed and implemented for wide voltage range applications. The H-DBRC, including a full bridge on the primary side and a half bridge on the secondary side, is adopted to realize the bidirectional power flow and wide voltage operation. Owing to the synergy between the H-DBRC structure and VMM strategy, the converter can operate in full-bridge state and half-bridge state with maximized ZVS (zero-voltage switching) operation and minimized circulating current. The steady-state analysis is performed and the solutions for both forward and backward modes could be obtained uniformly by using the fundamental harmonics approximation approach. The soft-switching characteristics, implementation process and design example are analyzed in detail. Finally, to confirm the theoretical analysis and feasibility, both simulation and experimental verifications are demonstrated in this paper. Since the converter consistently achieves voltage-matching operation, the optimal ZVS range can be obtained when the voltage gain M is between 0.5 to 1. Moreover, the economic cost and control complexity are greatly reduced because only six switches are required in the converter. Full article
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17 pages, 2746 KiB  
Article
An Interleaved Two Switch Soft-Switching Forward PWM Power Converter with Current Doubler Rectifier
by Khairy Sayed and Ahmed G. Abo-Khalil
Electronics 2022, 11(16), 2551; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11162551 - 15 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3181
Abstract
Forward converters have been broadly used in the power supply industry due to their simplicity, worthy efficiency, and low cost. A novel prototype soft-switched zero-voltage and zero-current ZVZC PWM DC-DC power converter with low voltage/current stresses is introduced for telecommunication power feeding in [...] Read more.
Forward converters have been broadly used in the power supply industry due to their simplicity, worthy efficiency, and low cost. A novel prototype soft-switched zero-voltage and zero-current ZVZC PWM DC-DC power converter with low voltage/current stresses is introduced for telecommunication power feeding in this paper. A new two-switch interleaved forward converter circuit is introduced to minimalize current circulation with no supplementary auxiliary snubber circuits. This converter circuit includes some outstanding benefits such as reduced components, improved efficiency, high power density and economic circuit configurations for high power conditioning applications. The simple operation principle is demonstrated on the basis of steady-state analysis. Furthermore, the effective feasibility of the proposed circuit topology is evaluated and verified practically for a 500 W–100 kHz prototype breadboard. The operation principle and steady-state characteristics are demonstrated from a theoretical point of view. To verify the practical effectiveness of the proposed power converter, a 500 W–100 kHz prototype converter using ultrafast IGBTs is implemented for a distributed telecommunication energy plant. The studied soft-switching converter is evaluated in comparison with the previously-proposed PWM converters in terms of voltage, current stresses, and operating efficiency. Full article
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17 pages, 8314 KiB  
Article
Transient Modulation for the Step-Load-Change Process in a Dual-Bridge Series Resonant Converter
by Hui Xu, Shengzhi Zhou, Xiaodong Li, Hao Chen and Song Hu
Electronics 2022, 11(5), 822; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11050822 - 6 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2076
Abstract
A phase-shifted dual-bridge series resonant DC-DC converter (DBSRC) is a competitive candidate for applications of an energy storage system. At the request of a step-load-change command such as the start-up and power-level change, the converter may suffer from large-amplitude transient oscillations due to [...] Read more.
A phase-shifted dual-bridge series resonant DC-DC converter (DBSRC) is a competitive candidate for applications of an energy storage system. At the request of a step-load-change command such as the start-up and power-level change, the converter may suffer from large-amplitude transient oscillations due to improper transient modulation. Furthermore, the DC bias current and overshoot current/voltage in the resonant tank and transformer caused by oscillations may result in transformer saturation and poor dynamic performance. To solve these problems, two fast transient modulation (FTM) methods are proposed in this paper. First, based on the steady-state analysis of the converter with phase-shift control, the current and voltage trajectory of the resonant capacitor can be obtained. Then, the detailed principles of two FTM methods are explained for achieving a smooth transition. Through the adjustment of the durations of the adjacent switching intervals temporarily, the transient trajectory can be predicted and is expected to match the destination trajectory within one switching period. Consequently, the proposed FTM methods enable the converter to move from one steady state to another instantly and the step-load-change transition can be an overshoot-free procedure. Finally, both simulation and experimental tests prove that the two modulation methods can effectively eliminate DC bias current and overshoot current/voltage in the DBSRC transient process and obtain a fast transient response. Full article
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