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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Power Electronics Thermal Management Research: Annual Progress Report

The objective for this project is to develop thermal management strategies to enable efficient and high-temperature wide-bandgap (WBG)-based power electronic systems (e.g., emerging inverter and DC-DC converter). Reliable WBG devices are capable of operating at elevated temperatures (≥ 175 °Celsius). However, packaging WBG devices within an automotive inverter and operating them at higher junction temperatures will expose other system components (e.g., capacitors and electrical boards) to temperatures that may exceed their safe operating limits. This creates challenges for thermal management and reliability. In this project, system-level thermal analyses are conducted to determine the effect of elevated device temperatures on inverter components. Thermal modeling work is then conducted to evaluate various thermal management strategies that will enable the use of highly efficient WBG devices with automotive power electronic systems.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ubiquitous Power Electronics in Future Power Systems: Recommendations to fully utilize fast control capabilities

Power electronics is becoming ubiquitous in power systems because the rapid growth of variable renewable generation such as wind and solar, responsive load, electric vehicles, energy storage, as well as DC transmission. As a result, a high percentage of electricity will be generated, transmitted or consumed by power electronics in the future power system. Such a high penetration of power electronics is changing power system operation landscapes and dynamic characteristics. Two major kinds of impact are reduced system mechanical inertia by inverter-based resources displacing conventional generation and active participation of many distributed energy resources through inverters. This has caused significant reliability challenges for power system operation. The mitigation approach so far has mostly focused on accommodating power electronics inverters as passive devices or creating synthetic inertias to make inverter-based generation behaving as conventional generators. However, the high-speed control capabilities of power electronics present new opportunities for achieving an optimal performance beyond conventional power systems. A lower-inertia system can be more responsive for improving reliability, and distributed small resources can be more adaptive and scalable for better flexibility and resilience. Power electronic inverters are capable of multiple fast control functions. To fully utilized the ubiquitous power electronics in power systems requires technology advancements in the following areas: data and communications to capture the new dynamic behaviors introduced by power electronics; modeling and simulation to understand the behaviors of power electronics and its interactions with other components in the context of power systems; control and optimization methods for fully utilizing the capabilities of power electronics for a new paradigm of performance beyond the traditional inertia-heavy system; and significant upgrades in power electronics hardware to cater to the new control capabilities. If properly controlled and optimized, power electronics can help transform the power system to be responsive, adaptive, and scalable.

Huang, Zhenyu↗
DOE OSTI2018

Design of High Efficiency High Power Electron Accelerator Systems Based on Normal Conducting RF Technology for Energy and Environmental Applications

The goal of this project was to perform engineering design studies of three extremely high efficiency electron accelerators with the following parameters [1]: 2 MeV output beam energy and 1 MW average beam power; 10 MeV output energy and 10 MW; 10 MeV output energy and 1 MW. These linacs are intended for energy and environmental applications [2]. We based our designs on normal conducting radio-frequency technology. We have successfully reached this goal where we show rf-to-beam efficiency of 96.7 %, 97.2 %, and 79.6 % for these linacs.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Interactive Power to Frequency Dynamics Between Grid-Forming Inverters and Synchronous Generators in Power Electronics-Dominated Power Systems

With increased attention on grid-forming inverters as a power system stabilizing device during high shares of inverter-based resource operations, there is a present need for a transparent and methodical investigation of the inverted and direct power to frequency control capabilities and impacts of these devices on emerging power systems. Here, analysis of the frequency dynamics of the droop-controlled grid-forming inverter and the synchronous generator illuminates the inverted active power-frequency relationship and the frequency response order reduction, forming the basis for novel, nonlinear frequency control approaches. Device-level electromagnetic transient domain simulations corroborate the order-reduction findings, establish that a properly designed dc-side system has a negligible impact on power transfer and will not impede frequency regulation, and confirm the primary frequency response improvement with nonlinear control. Simulations of the 9- and 39-bus test systems validate the order reduction and associated decoupling of the nadir and rate of change of frequency in larger networks. Oscillatory mode analysis confirms the grid-forming benefit of increased damping; decreased damping is observed at shares above 80%, but not at 100%. Finally, simulations on a validated Maui power system model with a 96% of inverter-based resources model yield a trend toward a first-order response.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1977

A Theory of Control for a Class of Electronic Power Processing Systems: Energy-Storage DC-To-DC Converters

An analytically derived approach to the control of energy-storage dc-to-dc converters, which enables improved system performance and an extensive understanding of the manner in which this improved performance is accomplished, is presented. The control approach is derived from a state-plane analysis of dc-to-dc converter power stages which enables a graphical visualization of the movement of the system state during both steady state and transient operation. This graphical representation of the behavior of dc-to-dc converter systems yields considerable qualitative insight into the cause and effect relationships which exist between various commonly used converter control functions and the system performance which results from them.

Burns, W. W., III↗
DOE OSTI2022

Artificial Intelligence for Power Electronics in Electric Vehicles: Challenges and Opportunities

We report progress in the field of power electronics within electric vehicles has generally been driven by conventional engineering design principles and experiential learning. Power electronics is inherently a multidomain field where semiconductor physics and electrical, thermal, and mechanical design knowledge converge to achieve a practical realization of desired targets in the form of conversion efficiency, power density, and reliability. Due to the promising nature of artificial intelligence in delivering rapid results, engineers are starting to explore the ways in which it can contribute to making power electronics more compact and reliable. Here, we conduct a brief review of the foray of artificial intelligence in three distinct subtechnologies within a power electronics system in the context of electric vehicles: semiconductor devices, power electronics module design and prognostics, and thermal management design. The intent is not to report an exhaustive literature review, but to identify the state of the art and opportunities for artificial intelligence to play a meaningful role in power electronics design from a mechanical and thermal standpoint, as well as to discuss a few promising future research directions.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Loss Analysis and Mapping of a SiC MOSFET Based Segmented Two-Level Three-Phase Inverter for EV Traction Systems

Emerging wide-bandgap based power semiconductor devices are gaining popularity in power electronic systems for automotive applications with the aim of increased power density, reduced weight and increased efficiency. In this work, loss analysis and mapping of a segmented two-level inverter based on SiC MOSFETs are presented in order to identify the challenges in design of power electronics and electric machines for EV applications. The paper starts with description of the EV traction system that is chosen as the study case, followed by segmented inverter topology, power device selection and sizing. The theoretical switching, conduction and dead-time conduction loss analysis for the SiC MOSFETs in the segmented two-level inverter topology are presented under any given operating condition. The analysis is followed by loss mapping of the motor, inverter and overall EV traction system. The loss maps of the inverter and the motor show that each component has different thermal loading trends under given torque-speed characteristics. Therefore, various operating conditions have to be considered for the design of traction system components to ensure reliability and high performance, which are critical requirements for EV systems.

Gurpinar, Emre↗
NASA NTRS2006

Power Actuation and Switching Module Test Results

The X2000 Power System Electronics (PSE) is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) task to develop a new generation of power system building blocks for use on future deep-space missions. The effort includes the development of electronic components and modules that can be used as building blocks in the design of generic spacecraft power systems. All X2000 avionics components and modules are designed for use in centralized or distributed spacecraft architectures. The Power Actuation and Switching Module (PASM) has been developed under the X2000 program. This component enables a modular and scalable design approach for power switching applications, which can result in a wide variety of power switching architectures using this simple building block. The PASM is designed to provide most of the necessary power switching functions of spacecraft for various Deep Space missions including future missions to Mars, comets, Jupiter and its moons. It is fabricated using an ASIC process that is tolerant of high radiation. The development included two application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and support circuitry all packaged using High Density Interconnect (HDI) technology. It can be operated in series or parallel with other PASMs. It can be used as a high-side or low-side switch and it can drive thruster valves, pyrotechnic devices such as NASA standard initiators, bus shunt resistors, and regular spacecraft component loads. Each PASM contains two independent switches with internal current limiting and over-current trip-off functions to protect the power subsystem from load faults. During turnon and turnoff each switch can limit the rate of current change (di/dt) to a value determined by the user. Three-way majority-voted On/Off commandability and full switch status telemetry (both analog and digital) are built into the module. This paper is a follow up to the one presented at he IECEC 2004 conference that will include the lessons learned and test results from the development.

X2000↗
NASA NTRS1990

The Small Explorer power system

A direct-energy-transfer (DET) power system design with the battery connected directly to the bus was selected as the generic power system to satisfy the various Small Explorer spacecraft missions. The power system electronics (PSE) are designated to handle power levels up to a 250-W load with minimum changes in the electronics. The command and telemetry interface is through an optical MIL-STD-1773 interface that is contained in the PSE. The system provides high performance, low weight, and low EMI (electromagnetic interference) generation. The design and performance of the power system have been verified through analysis and extensive tests on a breadboard.

Dakermanji, George↗
NASA NTRS1998

Impact of Radiation Hardness and Operating Temperatures of Silicon Carbide Electronics on Space Power System Mass

The effect of silicon carbide (SiC) electronics operating temperatures on Power Management and Distribution (PMAD), or Power Conditioning (PC), subsystem radiator size and mass requirements was evaluated for three power output levels (100 kW(e) , 1 MW(e), and 10 MW(e)) for near term technology ( i.e. 1500 K turbine inlet temperature) Closed Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power systems with a High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) heat source. The study was conducted for assumed PC radiator temperatures ranging from 370 to 845 K and for three scenarios of electrical energy to heat conversion levels which needed to be rejected to space by means of the PC radiator. In addition, during part of the study the radiation hardness of the PC electronics was varied at a fixed separation distance to estimate its effect on the mass of the instrument rated reactor shadow shield. With both the PC radiator and the conical shadow shield representing major components of the overall power system the influence of the above on total power system mass was also determined. As expected, results show that the greatest actual mass savings achieved by the use of SiC electronics occur with high capacity power systems. Moreover, raising the PC radiator temperature above 600 K yields only small additional system mass savings. The effect of increased radiation hardness on total system mass is to reduce system mass by virtue of lowering the shield mass.

Juhasz, Albert J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Power Converter Topologies for Electrolyzer Applications to Enable Electric Grid Services

Hydrogen electrolyzers, with their operational flexibility, can be configured as smart dynamic loads which can provide grid services and facilitate the integration of more renewable energy sources into the electrical grid. However, to enable this ability, the electrolyzer system should be able to control both active and reactive power in coordination with the low-level controller of the electrolyzer via the power electronics system interface between the utility grid and electrolyzer. This paper discusses power converter topologies and the control scheme of this power electronics interface for electrolyzer applications to enable electricity grid services. For the sake of unity, in this paper, we consider the power converter system interfacing the utility grid at the line-to-line root mean square (RMS) value of 480 VAC-60 Hz and supplying to the 3500 A-750 kW PEM electrolyzer stack.

electrolyzer↗
NASA NTRS2012

Optimal Dynamic Sub-Threshold Technique for Extreme Low Power Consumption for VLSI

For miniaturization of electronics systems, power consumption plays a key role in the realm of constraints. Considering the very large scale integration (VLSI) design aspect, as transistor feature size is decreased to 50 nm and below, there is sizable increase in the number of transistors as more functional building blocks are embedded in the same chip. However, the consequent increase in power consumption (dynamic and leakage) will serve as a key constraint to inhibit the advantages of transistor feature size reduction. Power consumption can be reduced by minimizing the voltage supply (for dynamic power consumption) and/or increasing threshold voltage (V(sub th), for reducing leakage power). When the feature size of the transistor is reduced, supply voltage (V(sub dd)) and threshold voltage (V(sub th)) are also reduced accordingly; then, the leakage current becomes a bigger factor of the total power consumption. To maintain low power consumption, operation of electronics at sub-threshold levels can be a potentially strong contender; however, there are two obstacles to be faced: more leakage current per transistor will cause more leakage power consumption, and slow response time when the transistor is operated in weak inversion region. To enable low power consumption and yet obtain high performance, the CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) transistor as a basic element is viewed and controlled as a four-terminal device: source, drain, gate, and body, as differentiated from the traditional approach with three terminals: i.e., source and body, drain, and gate. This technique features multiple voltage sources to supply the dynamic control, and uses dynamic control to enable low-threshold voltage when the channel (N or P) is active, for speed response enhancement and high threshold voltage, and when the transistor channel (N or P) is inactive, to reduce the leakage current for low-leakage power consumption.

Duong, Tuan A.↗