Design and Analysis of Electrical Power and Communication Systems for 3U SeaLion CubeSat Mission

Old Dominion University (ODU) Space Systems students in conjunction with the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) are designing and developing a 3U Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) CubeSat mission aptly named SeaLion. This work specifically details the design of the Electrical Power System (EPS) and Communication System of the satellite. Electrical power in orbit is a precious commodity and must be carefully regulated and distributed to ensure the satellite’s operational health. Commonly, CubeSat electrical power is retained in orbit via outward facing solar cells and stored in onboard rechargeable batteries. This thesis proposes using non-rechargeable primary battery cells and custom hardware to maximize operational time with strict Very Low orbital lifetime constraints. Primary battery cell choice and the encompassing battery power supply design with reliability features are provided. Major functions of the EPS including voltage and current regulation and circuit protection and monitoring are also designed and analyzed for performance and reliability. The communication system consists of two half-duplex radios centered in the UHF and S-Band frequency bands to communicate with the Virginia CubeSat Constellation (VCC) and Mobile CubeSat Command and Communications (MC3) ground station networks, respectively. The design and analysis provided show the viability and cost efficiency of using primary cells and custom and readily available hardware for Very Low Earth Orbit CubeSat missions

Novel power conditioning circuits for piezoelectric micro power generators

Advanced low power devices promote the development of micro power generators (MPGs) to replace the batteries to power them. Due to the trend in decreasing integrated circuit (IC) supply voltages, power supply designers are facing more and more serious challenges. The objective of this research is to design a power conditioning circuit (PCC) for use in conjunction with low voltage microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based Palouse Piezoelectric Power (P3) micro heat engine power generation systems. The PCC enables maximum power extraction from a piezoelectric MPG. The proposed PCC includes a rectifier stage and a regulator stage. The rectifier stage is based on the synchronous rectification technique. The dc-dc regulator is a charge pump-based step-down converter. Interleaved discharge (ID) is proposed to reduce the output voltage ripple significantly, without sacrificing the converter efficiency. The proposed step-down charge pump is analyzed with state-space averaging. In order to facilitate the PSpice simulation of the lead zirconate titanate (PZT) membrane, a simplified PZT model was developed. Both the rectifier and the charge pump are simulated with PSpice. Simulations show that the interleaved discharge method takes full advantage of the step-down charge pump structure, and provides flexibilities to the design of step-down charge pumps. The designed 200mW 5V/1.2V charge pump has an efficiency of 92.2%, with reduced output ripple. Proof-of-concept demonstration of the proposed PCC includes a 4-stage completely passive charge pump driving an analog wristwatch, proving proper operation of the entire P3 micro power system. A maximum output power of 18.8mW has been extracted from a single piezoelectric MPG, with 92% efficiency in the rectifier stage. Arbitrary waveform generator representation (AWGR) of the piezoelectric membrane is also presented. AWGR facilitates ongoing tests and demonstrates the feasibility of cascading many MPGs to extract additional power

Electronic system modelling of UT pulser-receiver and the electron beam welding power source

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Engineering and awarded by Brunel University.Continuous improvements to industrial equipment used in essential industrial applications are a key for the commercial success to the equipment manufacturers. Industrial applications always demand optimum performance and reliability and almost all equipment used in industrial applications is complex and are very expensive to replace. Often modifications to hardware and retrofitting additional hardware are encouraged by most equipment manufacturers and operators. The complexity of these systems however, makes assessment of modifications and design change difficult. This research implemented system modelling techniques to overcome this issue, by developing virtual test platforms of two distinctive industrial systems for enhancement assessment. The two distinctive systems were the electronic equipment called pulser-receiver used in ultrasonic non-destructive testing of safety critical oil & gas pipelines and a high voltage power supply used in high energy electron beam welding. Optimisation with emphasis on portability of the pulser-receiver and rapid weld recovery after a flashover fault condition in the electron beam welding application required assessment before design changes were made to hardware. SPICE based simulators LTSpice and PSpice were used to model and simulate the pulser-receiver and the welding power supply respectively. All the models were evaluated appropriately against theoretical data and published datasheets. However, validation of low level component models developed in the research against measurement data at a component level suffered due to system complexity and resource constraints. Close mapping of simulation results to measurement data at a system level were obtained. The research helped build up a wealth of knowledge in the development of circuit simulation models that can be analysed in the time domain with no non-convergent issues. Simulation settings were relaxed without compromising accuracy of model performance.The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Board (EPSRC) and TWI Ltd

Investigation of surge propagation in transient voltage surge suppressors and experimental verification

An on-going question in the field of surge protection study is how to predict incipient failure of power electronics in the event of a short time, high voltage, and high energy transient surge propagation. The work presented in this thesis addresses the above question by investigating how a high voltage transient surge, whose duration is in the microseconds range, will propagate through the two-level transient voltage suppressor system that is intended to protect sophisticated electronics situated close to the service entrance of a building. In this work the energy patterns relevant to the individual components of the system are evaluated using numerical methods and some of the results are also compared with those obtained using SPICE simulations. Although several mathematical models for surge protection components are discussed in the literature and some device specific ones are provided by manufacturers, there is no evidence to show that a complete analysis, using any such model, has been performed to predict the energy absorptions and associated time lags between the components in a TVSS. Numerical simulation techniques using MATLAB are used to estimate the energy absorption and associated time delays in relation to the propagated transient surge, in individual components of a transient voltage surge suppressor. This study develops mathematical models for particular nonlinear transient surge absorbing elements, specifically for the metal oxide varistor and transient voltage suppressor diode, formulates the state equations which are used to numerically simulate several instances of the transient voltage surge suppressor system, and presents simulation results. All results are validated experimentally using a lightning surge simulator. The outcomes established using the two approaches indicate that the theoretical energy calculations are within 10% of the experimental validations for the metal oxide varistor, which is the main energy absorbing element in the system. The remaining energy distributions in the line-filter components and the transient voltage suppressor diode, which are at least 10 times smaller, are all within 20% of the experimental results. The times at which, the metal oxide varistor and the transient voltage suppressor diode switches to heavy conduction mode are also simulated accurately

Large step down voltage converters for desalination

One percent of the world's drinking water is currently desalinated, and this will have to increase to 14% by 2025. Desalination is energy intensive, having significant commercial and ecological implications. One of the most promising methods of desalination is capacitive deionisation which only uses 1kWh/m3 but requires a voltage of less than 1.8V at currents of up to 1000A This thesis produced hardware capable of creating 550A at a voltage of 1.8V, giving over a 1kW power rating, with an input voltage of 340V dc. The converter designed was a bidirectional asymmetrical half-bridge flyback converter allowing for isolation at these high step down ratios. The converter was used to charge a bank of 17,000F supercapacitors from 0V to 1.8V, with an initial charging step down ratio in excess of 340:1 falling to 190:1 as the load charged. A novel Asymmetrical Half-Bridge Coupled-Inductor Buck converter is presented as the ideal solution for large step-down ratios with analysis comparing the ability to efficiently step down a voltage with other common converters, the buck and flyback converters. A comparison between a single-ended coupled-inductor buck converter employing a buck-boost voltage clamp and the novel asymmetrical half-bridge coupled-inductor buck converter circuit shows that the asymmetrical half-bridge converter is a more efficient circuit as leakage energy is recovered; the switch voltages are clamped to within the dc voltage rating of the bridge and the control strategy is simple. Passive and active snubbers are reviewed for efficiency, switch ratings and management of the effects of leakage inductance and compared against the novel designs presented. In the desalination application isolation is required so the flyback circuit is used. An isolated three switch bidirectional converter is constructed using silicon carbide MOSFETs and diodes switching at 40kHz. The converter uses novel current measuring techniques, an on-board microprocessor and closed loop control designed into the final DC-DC converter.One percent of the world's drinking water is currently desalinated, and this will have to increase to 14% by 2025. Desalination is energy intensive, having significant commercial and ecological implications. One of the most promising methods of desalination is capacitive deionisation which only uses 1kWh/m3 but requires a voltage of less than 1.8V at currents of up to 1000A This thesis produced hardware capable of creating 550A at a voltage of 1.8V, giving over a 1kW power rating, with an input voltage of 340V dc. The converter designed was a bidirectional asymmetrical half-bridge flyback converter allowing for isolation at these high step down ratios. The converter was used to charge a bank of 17,000F supercapacitors from 0V to 1.8V, with an initial charging step down ratio in excess of 340:1 falling to 190:1 as the load charged. A novel Asymmetrical Half-Bridge Coupled-Inductor Buck converter is presented as the ideal solution for large step-down ratios with analysis comparing the ability to efficiently step down a voltage with other common converters, the buck and flyback converters. A comparison between a single-ended coupled-inductor buck converter employing a buck-boost voltage clamp and the novel asymmetrical half-bridge coupled-inductor buck converter circuit shows that the asymmetrical half-bridge converter is a more efficient circuit as leakage energy is recovered; the switch voltages are clamped to within the dc voltage rating of the bridge and the control strategy is simple. Passive and active snubbers are reviewed for efficiency, switch ratings and management of the effects of leakage inductance and compared against the novel designs presented. In the desalination application isolation is required so the flyback circuit is used. An isolated three switch bidirectional converter is constructed using silicon carbide MOSFETs and diodes switching at 40kHz. The converter uses novel current measuring techniques, an on-board microprocessor and closed loop control designed into the final DC-DC converter

ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION OF CONDUCTED EMI IN SWITCHED-MODE POWER SUPPLIES

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH