Matching Items (5)
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- All Subjects: Power Electronics
- Creators: Tsakalis, Konstantinos
- Creators: Baxter, Leslie C
Description
A new photovoltaic (PV) array power converter circuit is presented. The salient features of this inverter are: transformerless topology, grounded PV array, and only film capacitors. The motivations are to reduce cost, eliminate leakage ground currents, and improve reliability. The use of Silicon Carbide (SiC) transistors is the key enabling technology for this particular circuit to attain good efficiency.
Traditionally, grid connected PV inverters required a transformer for isolation and safety. The disadvantage of high frequency transformer based inverters is complexity and cost. Transformerless inverters have become more popular recently, although they can be challenging to implement because of possible high frequency currents through the PV array's stay capacitance to earth ground. Conventional PV inverters also typically utilize electrolytic capacitors for bulk power buffering. However such capacitors can be prone to decreased reliability.
The solution proposed here to solve these problems is a bi directional buck boost converter combined with half bridge inverters. This configuration enables grounding of the array's negative terminal and passive power decoupling with only film capacitors.
Several aspects of the proposed converter are discussed. First a literature review is presented on the issues to be addressed. The proposed circuit is then presented and examined in detail. This includes theory of operation, component selection, and control systems. An efficiency analysis is also conducted. Simulation results are then presented that show correct functionality. A hardware prototype is built and experiment results also prove the concept. Finally some further developments are mentioned.
As a summary of the research a new topology and control technique were developed. The resultant circuit is a high performance transformerless PV inverter with upwards of 97% efficiency.
Traditionally, grid connected PV inverters required a transformer for isolation and safety. The disadvantage of high frequency transformer based inverters is complexity and cost. Transformerless inverters have become more popular recently, although they can be challenging to implement because of possible high frequency currents through the PV array's stay capacitance to earth ground. Conventional PV inverters also typically utilize electrolytic capacitors for bulk power buffering. However such capacitors can be prone to decreased reliability.
The solution proposed here to solve these problems is a bi directional buck boost converter combined with half bridge inverters. This configuration enables grounding of the array's negative terminal and passive power decoupling with only film capacitors.
Several aspects of the proposed converter are discussed. First a literature review is presented on the issues to be addressed. The proposed circuit is then presented and examined in detail. This includes theory of operation, component selection, and control systems. An efficiency analysis is also conducted. Simulation results are then presented that show correct functionality. A hardware prototype is built and experiment results also prove the concept. Finally some further developments are mentioned.
As a summary of the research a new topology and control technique were developed. The resultant circuit is a high performance transformerless PV inverter with upwards of 97% efficiency.
ContributorsBreazeale, Lloyd C (Author) / Ayyanar, Raja (Thesis advisor) / Karady, George G. (Committee member) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This study explores the psychophysical and neural processes associated with the perception of sounds as either pleasant or aversive. The underlying psychophysical theory is based on auditory scene analysis, the process through which listeners parse auditory signals into individual acoustic sources. The first experiment tests and confirms that a self-rated pleasantness continuum reliably exists for 20 various stimuli (r = .48). In addition, the pleasantness continuum correlated with the physical acoustic characteristics of consonance/dissonance (r = .78), which can facilitate auditory parsing processes. The second experiment uses an fMRI block design to test blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) changes elicited by a subset of 5 exemplar stimuli chosen from Experiment 1 that are evenly distributed over the pleasantness continuum. Specifically, it tests and confirms that the pleasantness continuum produces systematic changes in brain activity for unpleasant acoustic stimuli beyond what occurs with pleasant auditory stimuli. Results revealed that the combination of two positively and two negatively valenced experimental sounds compared to one neutral baseline control elicited BOLD increases in the primary auditory cortex, specifically the bilateral superior temporal gyrus, and left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; the latter being consistent with a frontal decision-making process common in identification tasks. The negatively-valenced stimuli yielded additional BOLD increases in the left insula, which typically indicates processing of visceral emotions. The positively-valenced stimuli did not yield any significant BOLD activation, consistent with consonant, harmonic stimuli being the prototypical acoustic pattern of auditory objects that is optimal for auditory scene analysis. Both the psychophysical findings of Experiment 1 and the neural processing findings of Experiment 2 support that consonance is an important dimension of sound that is processed in a manner that aids auditory parsing and functional representation of acoustic objects and was found to be a principal feature of pleasing auditory stimuli.
ContributorsPatten, Kristopher Jakob (Author) / Mcbeath, Michael K (Thesis advisor) / Baxter, Leslie C (Committee member) / Amazeen, Eric L (Committee member) / Dorman, Michael F. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Following the success in incorporating perceptual models in audio coding algorithms, their application in other speech/audio processing systems is expanding. In general, all perceptual speech/audio processing algorithms involve minimization of an objective function that directly/indirectly incorporates properties of human perception. This dissertation primarily investigates the problems associated with directly embedding an auditory model in the objective function formulation and proposes possible solutions to overcome high complexity issues for use in real-time speech/audio algorithms. Specific problems addressed in this dissertation include: 1) the development of approximate but computationally efficient auditory model implementations that are consistent with the principles of psychoacoustics, 2) the development of a mapping scheme that allows synthesizing a time/frequency domain representation from its equivalent auditory model output. The first problem is aimed at addressing the high computational complexity involved in solving perceptual objective functions that require repeated application of auditory model for evaluation of different candidate solutions. In this dissertation, a frequency pruning and a detector pruning algorithm is developed that efficiently implements the various auditory model stages. The performance of the pruned model is compared to that of the original auditory model for different types of test signals in the SQAM database. Experimental results indicate only a 4-7% relative error in loudness while attaining up to 80-90 % reduction in computational complexity. Similarly, a hybrid algorithm is developed specifically for use with sinusoidal signals and employs the proposed auditory pattern combining technique together with a look-up table to store representative auditory patterns. The second problem obtains an estimate of the auditory representation that minimizes a perceptual objective function and transforms the auditory pattern back to its equivalent time/frequency representation. This avoids the repeated application of auditory model stages to test different candidate time/frequency vectors in minimizing perceptual objective functions. In this dissertation, a constrained mapping scheme is developed by linearizing certain auditory model stages that ensures obtaining a time/frequency mapping corresponding to the estimated auditory representation. This paradigm was successfully incorporated in a perceptual speech enhancement algorithm and a sinusoidal component selection task.
ContributorsKrishnamoorthi, Harish (Author) / Spanias, Andreas (Thesis advisor) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Tepedelenlioğlu, Cihan (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This dissertation examines modeling, design and control challenges associatedwith two classes of power converters: a direct current-direct current (DC-DC) step-down (buck)
regulator and a 3-phase (3-ϕ) 4-wire direct current-alternating current
(DC-AC) inverter. These are widely used for power transfer in a variety of industrial
and personal applications. This motivates the precise quantification of conditions
under which existing modeling and design methods yield satisfactory designs, and
the study of alternatives when they don’t. This dissertation describes a method
utilizing Fourier components of the input square wave and the inductor-capacitor (LC)
filter transfer function, which doesn’t require the small ripple approximation. Then,
trade-offs associated with the choice of the filter order are analyzed for integrated buck
converters with a constraint on their chip area. Design specifications which would
justify using a fourth or sixth order filter instead of the widely used second order
one are examined. Next, sampled-data (SD) control of a buck converter is analyzed.
Three methods for the digital controller design are studied: analog design followed
by discretization, direct digital design of a discretized plant, and a “lifting” based
method wherein the sampling time is incorporated in the design process by lifting
the continuous-time design plant before doing the controller design. Specifically,
controller performance is quantified by studying the induced-L2 norm of the closed
loop system for a range of switching/sampling frequencies. In the final segment of
this dissertation, the inner-outer control loop, employed in inverters with an
inductor-capacitor-inductor (LCL) output filter, is studied. Closed loop sensitivities for the
loop broken at the error and the control are examined, demonstrating that traditional
methods only address these properties for one loop-breaking point. New controllers
are then provided for improving both sets of properties.
ContributorsSarkar, Aratrik (Author) / Rodriguez, Armando A (Thesis advisor) / Si, Jennie (Committee member) / Mittelmann, Hans D (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This thesis addresses the design and control of three phase inverters. Such inverters are
used to produce three-phase sinusoidal voltages and currents from a DC source. They
are critical for injecting power from renewable energy sources into the grid. This is
especially true since many of these sources of energy are DC sources (e.g. solar
photovoltaic) or need to be stored in DC batteries because they are intermittent (e.g. wind
and solar). Two classes of inverters are examined in this thesis. A control-centric design
procedure is presented for each class. The first class of inverters is simple in that they
consist of three decoupled subsystems. Such inverters are characterized by no mutual
inductance between the three phases. As such, no multivariable coupling is present and
decentralized single-input single-output (SISO) control theory suffices to generate
acceptable control designs. For this class of inverters several families of controllers are
addressed in order to examine command following as well as input disturbance and noise
attenuation specifications. The goal here is to illuminate fundamental tradeoffs. Such
tradeoffs include an improvement in the in-band command following and output
disturbance attenuation versus a deterioration in out-of-band noise attenuation.
A fundamental deficiency associated with such inverters is their large size. This can be
remedied by designing a smaller core. This naturally leads to the second class of inverters
considered in this work. These inverters are characterized by significant mutual
inductances and multivariable coupling. As such, SISO control theory is generally not
adequate and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) theory becomes essential for
controlling these inverters.
used to produce three-phase sinusoidal voltages and currents from a DC source. They
are critical for injecting power from renewable energy sources into the grid. This is
especially true since many of these sources of energy are DC sources (e.g. solar
photovoltaic) or need to be stored in DC batteries because they are intermittent (e.g. wind
and solar). Two classes of inverters are examined in this thesis. A control-centric design
procedure is presented for each class. The first class of inverters is simple in that they
consist of three decoupled subsystems. Such inverters are characterized by no mutual
inductance between the three phases. As such, no multivariable coupling is present and
decentralized single-input single-output (SISO) control theory suffices to generate
acceptable control designs. For this class of inverters several families of controllers are
addressed in order to examine command following as well as input disturbance and noise
attenuation specifications. The goal here is to illuminate fundamental tradeoffs. Such
tradeoffs include an improvement in the in-band command following and output
disturbance attenuation versus a deterioration in out-of-band noise attenuation.
A fundamental deficiency associated with such inverters is their large size. This can be
remedied by designing a smaller core. This naturally leads to the second class of inverters
considered in this work. These inverters are characterized by significant mutual
inductances and multivariable coupling. As such, SISO control theory is generally not
adequate and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) theory becomes essential for
controlling these inverters.
ContributorsSarkar, Aratrik (Author) / Rodriguez, Armando A. (Thesis advisor) / Si, Jennie (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015