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Efficiency and Performance Optimization of State-of-the-Art "Multi-Phase, -Level, -Cell, -Port, -Motor" Electrical Drives and Renewable Energy Systems

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F: Electrical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2021) | Viewed by 21272

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy
2. Department of Engineering Sciences Division for Electricity Research, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Interests: power electronic circuits and power electronic converters for renewable energy sources and electrical drives; multilevel and multicell converters
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: multilevel converters; analysis of harmonic distortion produced by power converters and electrical drives; modulation techniques; converter control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Algoritmi Research Centre, Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: power electronics converters; electric mobility; renewable energy sources; digital control techniques; smart grids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
School of Electrical Engineering, Department of Power Converters and Electrical drives, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: energy efficient application and control of electrical drives; multi-motor electrical drives; multi-phase electrical drives and power converters in industry and renewables

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Guest Editor
Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK
Interests: multi-port machines; reluctance machine drives; control and applications of doubly-fed motors and generators; wind energy conversion systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increasing concerns about on-going climate change have stimulated the recently growing interest in new and innovative green (e.g., low-carbon) energy technologies, which are becoming more and more affordable. This fact has brought about an inevitable need to investigate ways for efficiency and overall performance optimizations in energy generation and consumption as their implementation can lead to reduced CO2 emissions and environmental quality improvements. Energy efficiency is also one of the main subjects of consideration when it comes to electrical machines, motor drives, and power electronics, especially bearing in mind that a significant portion (about 40%) of electrical energy is being consumed by electric motors in industry. Moreover, the widespread use of power electronics enables cost savings and minimization of losses in both variable speed drive and generator applications. The development of novel materials such as technologies based on a wide-bandgap has allowed further reductions in the system size and increased efficiency, offering generally enhanced performance with the latest advances in "multi-phase, -level, -cell, -port, -motor” topologies. On the other hand, electrical machines have been traditionally used for both generation and consumption, so increasing attention has been consequently paid and ample research efforts made to boosting energy efficiency through innovations in design, control, performance, and exploitation, particularly focusing on emerging concepts in the automotive and renewable energy sectors.

This Special Issue will consolidate works on the technological advances and performance optimization methods in the areas of power electronics, electrical machines, and multi-motor drives, with “energy efficiency” as the main common theme and keyword objective. Even though the latter term is versatile and can cover a large variety of devices, the emphasis here will be on electrical drives and power converters deployed for energy generation and/or consumption.

Therefore, we kindly invite prospective authors to contribute to this Special Issue. Papers concerned with, but not limited in scope to, the following topics would be welcome:

  • Innovations in energy generation including renewable energy systems: high-efficiency multi-port and/or multi-phase electrical machines and drives, highly-efficient power converters, high-density power converters, specifically considering multi-level topologies, and pertaining modulation strategies, and/or control techniques;
  • Efficiency and/or other performance improvements of industrial multi-motor drives;
  • Advances in electro-mechanical energy conversion devices: high-efficiency electric machines and drives, foremost multiphase designs and high-speed applications, highly-efficient power converters, in particular focusing on multilevel and hybrid topologies, modulation and/or control methodologies;
  • Innovative materials in electrical drives and power semiconductors (e.g., silicon carbide and gallium nitride);
  • Investigation of hybrid power electronics converters and hybrid switches (e.g., SiC MOSFET and IGBT);
  • Power electronics technologies for electrical propulsion and innovative bi-directional (G2V/V2G) battery charging systems with an emphasis on the transportation electrification.

Dr. Jelena Loncarski
Dr. Vito Giuseppe Monopoli
Dr. Vítor Monteiro
Dr. Leposava Ristić
Dr. Milutin Jovanovic
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 167 KiB  
Editorial
Efficiency and Performance Optimization of State-of-the-Art “Multi-Phase, -Level, -Cell, -Port, -Motor” Electrical Drives and Renewable Energy Systems
by Jelena Loncarski, Vito Giuseppe Monopoli, Vitor Monteiro, Leposava Ristic and Milutin Jovanović
Energies 2022, 15(16), 5945; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15165945 - 17 Aug 2022
Viewed by 1228
Abstract
This Special Issue was intended to consolidate the most recent advances in the field of power electronics for electric drives and renewable energy sources [...] Full article

Research

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22 pages, 13018 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Modeling and Control of BDFRG under Unbalanced Grid Conditions
by Taufik Taluo, Leposava Ristić and Milutin Jovanović
Energies 2021, 14(14), 4297; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144297 - 16 Jul 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2457
Abstract
The Brushless Doubly-Fed Reluctance Generator (BDFRG) is a potential alternative to the Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) in wind power applications owing to its reasonable cost, competitive performance, and high reliability. In comparison with the Brushless Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (BDFIG), the BDFRG is [...] Read more.
The Brushless Doubly-Fed Reluctance Generator (BDFRG) is a potential alternative to the Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) in wind power applications owing to its reasonable cost, competitive performance, and high reliability. In comparison with the Brushless Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (BDFIG), the BDFRG is more efficient and easier to control owing to the cage-less rotor. One of the most preferable advantages of BDFRG over DFIG is the inherently better performance under unbalanced grid conditions. The study conducted in this paper showed that conventional vector control of the BDFRG results in excessive oscillations of the primary active/reactive power, electromagnetic torque, and primary/secondary currents in this case. In order to address such limitations, this paper presented a new control strategy for the unbalanced operation of BDFRG-based wind generation systems. A modified vector control scheme was proposed with the capability to control the positive and the negative sequences of the secondary currents independently, thus greatly reducing the adverse implications of the unbalanced supply. The controller performance has been validated by simulations using a 1.5 MW BDFRG dynamical model built upon the positive and negative sequence equations. The main benefits of the new control strategy are quantified in comparison with conventional PI current control design. Full article
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17 pages, 988 KiB  
Article
Comparative Study of Classical and MPC Control for Single-Phase MMC Based on V-HIL Simulations
by Milovan Majstorovic, Marco Rivera, Leposava Ristic and Patrick Wheeler
Energies 2021, 14(11), 3230; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14113230 - 31 May 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3101
Abstract
The operation of single-phase Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) is analyzed in the paper. A mathematical model of the converter is developed and described, based on which the structure and selection of parameters for Classical Control and Optimal Switching State Model Predictive Control (OSS-MPC) [...] Read more.
The operation of single-phase Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) is analyzed in the paper. A mathematical model of the converter is developed and described, based on which the structure and selection of parameters for Classical Control and Optimal Switching State Model Predictive Control (OSS-MPC) are defined. Additionally, the procedure for the determination of circuit parameters, such as submodule capacitance and arm inductance, is described and carried out. The listed control methods are designed and evaluated in Virtual Hardware-in-the-Loop together with single-phase MMC power circuit, regarding three control objectives: AC current control, voltage balancing control and circulating current control. Control methods are evaluated for both steady-state and transient performance and compared based on nine criteria: AC current reference tracking, THD of AC current and voltage, submodule capacitor voltage balancing, total submodule voltage control, circulating current magnitude and THD, number of control parameters and computational complexity. This is the first time that a fair comparison between Classical Control and MPC is considered in literature, resulting in superior performance of both control methods regarding four different criteria and the same performance regarding AC current reference tracking. Full article
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26 pages, 7827 KiB  
Article
A Design Method for the Cogging Torque Minimization of Permanent Magnet Machines with a Segmented Stator Core Based on ANN Surrogate Models
by Elia Brescia, Donatello Costantino, Paolo Roberto Massenio, Vito Giuseppe Monopoli, Francesco Cupertino and Giuseppe Leonardo Cascella
Energies 2021, 14(7), 1880; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14071880 - 29 Mar 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3051
Abstract
Permanent magnet machines with segmented stator cores are affected by additional harmonic components of the cogging torque which cannot be minimized by conventional methods adopted for one-piece stator machines. In this study, a novel approach is proposed to minimize the cogging torque of [...] Read more.
Permanent magnet machines with segmented stator cores are affected by additional harmonic components of the cogging torque which cannot be minimized by conventional methods adopted for one-piece stator machines. In this study, a novel approach is proposed to minimize the cogging torque of such machines. This approach is based on the design of multiple independent shapes of the tooth tips through a topological optimization. Theoretical studies define a design formula that allows to choose the number of independent shapes to be designed, based on the number of stator core segments. Moreover, a computationally-efficient heuristic approach based on genetic algorithms and artificial neural network-based surrogate models solves the topological optimization and finds the optimal tooth tips shapes. Simulation studies with the finite element method validates the design formula and the effectiveness of the proposed method in suppressing the additional harmonic components. Moreover, a comparison with a conventional heuristic approach based on a genetic algorithm directly coupled to finite element analysis assesses the superiority of the proposed approach. Finally, a sensitivity analysis on assembling and manufacturing tolerances proves the robustness of the proposed design method. Full article
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23 pages, 5177 KiB  
Article
Variable Structure Control of a Small Ducted Wind Turbine in the Whole Wind Speed Range Using a Luenberger Observer
by Diego Calabrese, Gioacchino Tricarico, Elia Brescia, Giuseppe Leonardo Cascella, Vito Giuseppe Monopoli and Francesco Cupertino
Energies 2020, 13(18), 4647; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13184647 - 7 Sep 2020
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4213
Abstract
This paper proposes a new variable structure control scheme for a variable-speed, fixed-pitch ducted wind turbine, equipped with an annular, brushless permanent-magnet synchronous generator, considering a back-to-back power converter topology. The purpose of this control scheme is to maximise the aerodynamic power over [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a new variable structure control scheme for a variable-speed, fixed-pitch ducted wind turbine, equipped with an annular, brushless permanent-magnet synchronous generator, considering a back-to-back power converter topology. The purpose of this control scheme is to maximise the aerodynamic power over the entire wind speed range, considering the mechanical safety limits of the ducted wind turbine. The ideal power characteristics are achieved with the design of control laws aimed at performing the maximum power point tracking control in the low wind speeds region, and the constant speed, power, and torque control in the high wind speed region. The designed control laws utilize a Luenberger observer for the estimation of the aerodynamic torque and a shallow neural network for wind speed estimation. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified through tests in a laboratory setup. Moreover, a comparison with other solutions from the literature allowed us to better evaluate the performances achieved and to highlight the originality of the proposed control scheme. Full article
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Review

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30 pages, 11810 KiB  
Review
Low-Voltage GaN FETs in Motor Control Application; Issues and Advantages: A Review
by Salvatore Musumeci, Fabio Mandrile, Vincenzo Barba and Marco Palma
Energies 2021, 14(19), 6378; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14196378 - 6 Oct 2021
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 5681
Abstract
The efficiency and power density improvement of power switching converters play a crucial role in energy conversion. In the field of motor control, this requires an increase in the converter switching frequency together with a reduction in the switching legs’ dead time. This [...] Read more.
The efficiency and power density improvement of power switching converters play a crucial role in energy conversion. In the field of motor control, this requires an increase in the converter switching frequency together with a reduction in the switching legs’ dead time. This target turns out to be complex when using pure silicon switch technologies. Gallium Nitride (GaN) devices have appeared in the switching device arena in recent years and feature much more favorable static and dynamic characteristics compared to pure silicon devices. In the field of motion control, there is a growing use of GaN devices, especially in low voltage applications. This paper provides guidelines for designers on the optimal use of GaN FETs in motor control applications, identifying the advantages and discussing the main issues. In this work, primarily an experimental evaluation of GaN FETs in a low voltage electrical drive is carried out. The experimental investigation is obtained through two different experimental boards to highlight the switching legs’ behavior in several operative conditions and different implementations. In this evaluative approach, the main GaN FETs’ technological aspects and issues are recalled and consequently linked to motion control requirements. The device’s fast switching transients combined with reduced direct resistance contribute to decreased power losses. Thus, in GaN FETs, a high switching frequency with a strong decrease in dead time is achievable. The reduced dead time impact on power loss management and improvement of output waveforms quality is analyzed and discussed in this paper. Furthermore, input filter capacitor design matters correlated with increasing switching frequency are pointed out. Finally, the voltage transients slope effect (dv/dt) is considered and correlated with low voltage motor drives requirements. Full article
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