Hybrid power management system using fuel cells and batteries

In the future, hybrid power management systems using fuel cells (FCs) and batteries will be used as the driving power systems of ships. These systems consist of an FC, a converter, an inverter, and a battery. In general, an FC provides steady-state energy; a battery provides the dynamic energy in the start state of a ship for enabling a smooth operation, and provides or absorbs the peak or dynamic power when the load varies and the FC cannot respond immediately. The FC voltage range is very wide and depends on the load; Therefore, the FC cannot directly connect to the inverter. In this paper, we propose a power management strategy and design process involving a unidirectional converter, a bidirectional converter, and an inverter, considering the ship’s operating conditions and the power conditions of the FC and the battery. The presented experimental results were verified through a simulation

Quantum-based Mechanical Force Realization in Pico-Newton Range

We propose mechanical force realization based on flux quantization in the pico-Newton range. By controlling the number of flux quantum in a superconducting annulus, a force can be created as integer multiples of a constant step. For a 50 nm-thick Nb annulus with the inner and outer radii of 5 $\mu$m and 10 $\mu$m, respectively, and the field gradient of 10 T/m the force step is estimated to be 184 fN. The stability against thermal fluctuations is also addressed.Comment: 5 pages; 4 figure