Isolated Wired and Wireless Battery Charger with Integrated Boost Converter for PHEV and EV Applications

Vehicle charging and vehicle traction drive components can be integrated for multi-functional operations, as these functions are currently operating independently. While the vehicle is parked, the hardware that is available from the traction drive can be used for charging. The only exception to this would be the dynamic vehicle-charging concept on roadways. WPT can be viewed as a revolutionary step in PEV charging because it fits the paradigm of vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) wirelessly. WPT charging is convenient and flexible not only because it has no cables and connectors that are necessary, but due more to the fact that charging becomes fully independent. This is possibly the most convenient attribute of WPT as PEV charging can be fully autonomous and may eventually eclipse conductive charging. This technology also provides an opportunity to develop an integrated charger technology that will allow for both wired and wireless charging methods. Also the integrated approach allows for higher charging power while reducing the weight and volume of the charger components in the vehicle. The main objective of this work is to design, develop, and demonstrate integrated wired and wireless chargers with boost functionality for traction drive to provide flexibility to the EV customers

Silicon Carbide GTO Thyristor Loss Model for HVDC Application

With the increase in use of power electronics in transmission and distribution applications there is a growing demand for cost effective and highly efficient converters. Most of the utility applications have power electronics integrated in the system to improve the efficiency and functionality of the existing system. The development of semiconductor devices is vital for the growth of power electronic systems. Modern technologies like voltage source converter (VSC) based HVDC transmission has been made possible with the advent of power semiconductor devices like IGBT and GTO thyristor with their high power handling capability. Various material limitations of silicon power semiconductor devices have led to the development of wide bandgap semiconductors such as SiC, GaN, and diamond. Silicon carbide is the most advanced amongst the available wide bandgap semiconductors and is currently in the transition from research to manufacturing phase. This project presents the modeling and design of a loss model of 4H-SiC GTO thyristor device, and the effect of device benefits at system level are studied. The device loss model has been developed based on the device physics and device operation, and simulations have been conducted for various operating conditions. The thesis focuses on the study of a comparison between silicon and silicon carbide devices in terms of efficiency and system cost savings for HVDC transmission system