A Novel Identification Method of Thermal Resistances of Thermoelectric Modules Combining Electrical Characterization Under Constant Temperature and Heat Flow Conditions

The efficiency of a Thermoelectric Module (TEM) is not only influenced by the material properties, but also by the heat losses due to the internal and contact thermal resistances. In the literature, the material properties are mostly discussed, mainly to increase the well-known thermoelectric figure of merit ZT. Nevertheless, when a TEM is considered, the separate characterization of the materials of the p and n elements is not enough to have a suitable TEM electrical model and evaluate more precisely its efficiency. Only a few recent papers deal with thermal resistances and their influence on the TEM efficiency; mostly, the minimization of these resistances is recommended, without giving a way to determine their values. The aim of the present paper is to identify the internal and contact thermal resistances of a TEM by electrical characterization. Depending on the applications, the TEM can be used either under constant temperature gradient or constant heat flow conditions. The proposed identification approach is based on the theoretical electrical modeling of the TEM, in both conditions. It is simple to implement, because it is based only on open circuit test conditions. A single electrical measurement under both conditions (constant-temperature and constant-heat) is needed. Based on the theoretical electrical models, one can identify the internal and thermal resistances

Study by modeling and simulation of open-switch fault diagnosis for five-level converters

In this paper, an open-switch fault diagnosis method for five-level H-Bridge Neutral Point Piloted (HB-NPP) or T-type converters is proposed. While fault tolerant operation is based on three steps (fault detection, fault localization and system reconfiguration), a fast fault diagnosis, including both fault detection and localization, is mandatory to make a suitable response to an open-circuit fault in one of the switches of the converter. Furthermore, fault diagnosis is necessary in embedded and safety critical applications, to prevent further damage and perform continuity of service.In this paper, we present an open-switch fault diagnosis method, based on the switches control orders and the observation of the converter output voltage level. In five-level converters such as HB-NPP and T-type topologies, some switches are mostly 'on' at the same time. Therefore, the fault localization is quite complicated. The fault diagnosis method we proposed is capable to detect and localize an open-switch fault in all cases. Computer simulations are carried out by using Matlab Simulink and SimPowerSystem toolbox to validate the proposed approach

Thermoelectric Generator for Waste Energy Recovery in Transport

Waste heat present in exhaust gas produced from various industrial processes or internal combustion engines in transport are a reservoir of untapped energy [...

Contribution à l'étude des convertisseurs statiques AC-DC-AC tolérants aux défauts

Les convertisseurs statiques triphasés AC/DC/AC à structure tension sont largement utilisés dans de nombreuses applications de puissance. La continuité de service de ces systèmes ainsi que leur sécurité, leur fiabilité et leurs performances sont aujourd'hui des préoccupations majeures de ce domaine lié à l'énergie. En effet, la défaillance du convertisseur peut conduire à la perte totale ou partielle du contrôle des courants de phase et peut donc provoquer de graves dysfonctionnements du système, voire son arrêt complet. Afin d'empêcher la propagation du défaut aux autres composants du système et assurer la continuité de service en toute circonstance lors d'une défaillance du convertisseur, des topologies de convertisseur "fault tolerant" associées à des méthodes efficaces et rapides de détection et de compensation de défaut doivent être mises en oeuvre. Dans ce mémoire, nous étudions la continuité de service de trois topologies de convertisseurs AC/DC/AC avec ou sans redondance, lors de la défaillance d'un de leurs interrupteurs. Deux applications sont ciblées : l'alimentation d'une charge RL triphasée et un système éolien de conversion de l'énergie basé sur une MADA. Un composant FPGA est utilisé pour la détection du défaut, afin de réduire autant que possible son temps de détection. Des variantes permettant d'optimiser la méthode de détection de défaut sont également proposées et évaluées. Les trois topologies de convertisseurs proposées, associées à leurs contrôleurs, ont été validées de la modélisation/ simulation à la validation sur banc de test expérimental, en passant par le prototypage "FPGA in the Loop" du FPGA, destiné plus spécifiquement à la détection du défautAC/DC/AC converters are widely being used in a variety of power applications. Continuity of service of these systems as well as their reliability and performances are now of the major concerns. Indeed, the failure of the converter can lead to the total or partial loss of the control of the phase currents and can cause serious system malfunction or shutdown. Thus, uncompensated faults can quickly endanger the system. Therefore, to prevent the spread of the fault to the other system components and to ensure continuity of service, fault tolerant converter topologies associated to quick and effective fault detection and compensation methods must be implemented. In this thesis, we present the continuity of service of three AC/DC/AC fault tolerant converters with or without redundancy, in the presence of a fault in one of their switches. Two types of applications are studied: the supply off a three-phase charge and a wind energy conversion system based on a DFIG. An FPGA based implementation is used for fault detection, in order to reduce the detection time as much as possible. Three optimizations in the fault detection method are also presented. During these researches, the three proposed converter topologies and their controllers are validated in simulations and also experimentally, while being validated in a "FPGA in the Loop" prototypingMETZ-SCD (574632105) / SudocNANCY1-Bib. numérique (543959902) / SudocNANCY2-Bibliotheque electronique (543959901) / SudocNANCY-INPL-Bib. électronique (545479901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Service Continuity of PV Synchronous Buck/Buck-Boost Converter with Energy Storage†

Numerous advantages offered by Photovoltaic (PV) generation systems coupled with the increasing power demands for clean energy put PV systems in the front of many research works. For stand-alone applications powered with PV systems, the reliability of the power conversion stage is essential to ensure the continuous supply of energy. Therefore, in the case of any failure occurring in the power conversion stage, it is mandatory to provide remedial actions to guarantee the service continuity of the produced electrical power. This paper analyses the service continuity of a two-stage buck/buck-boost converter with energy storage, driven with synchronous control. The initial two-stage converter is made fault-tolerant and robust to failures of its two switches by adding only one additional switch associated with two diodes. In this study, only open-circuit switch faults are considered. The proposed fault-tolerant circuit and the initial one have the same electrical behavior when synchronous control is used. The applied synchronous control in both healthy conditions and post-fault operation ensures the same functionalities without degrading the system’s performances. The proposed two-stage synchronously-controlled circuit is validated through simulation in the cases of open circuit faults on the two switches of the initial converter. The obtained results show the feasibility of the proposed functional redundancy and the continuity of operation at full power after switch fault diagnosis

Equivalent Electrical Circuits of Thermoelectric Generators under Different Operating Conditions

Energy harvesting has become a promising and alternative solution to conventional energy generation patterns to overcome the problem of supplying autonomous electrical systems. More particularly, thermal energy harvesting technologies have drawn a major interest in both research and industry. Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) can be used in two different operating conditions, under constant temperature gradient or constant heat flow. The commonly used TEG electrical model, based on a voltage source in series with an electrical resistance, shows its limitations especially under constant heat flow conditions. Here, the analytical electrical modeling, taking into consideration the internal and contact thermal resistances of a TEG under constant temperature gradient and constant heat flow conditions, is first given. To give further insight into the electrical behavior of a TEG module in different operating conditions, we propose a new and original way of emulating the above analytical expressions with usual electronics components (voltage source, resistors, diode), whose values are determined with the TEG’s parameters. Note that such a TEG emulation is particularly suited when designing the electronic circuitry commonly associated to the TEG, to realize both Maximum Power Point Tracking and output voltage regulation. First, the proposed equivalent electrical circuits are validated through simulation with a SPICE environment in static operating conditions using only one value of either temperature gradient or heat flow. Then, they are also analyzed in dynamic operating conditions where both temperature gradient and heat flow are considered as time-varying functions

Real-time power switch fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant operation in a DFIG-based wind energy system

As wind energy production increases, reliability and fault-tolerant operation capability of wind energy systems are becoming more important. Modern wind energy production systems use power electronic converters which are unfortunately proved to be one of their most fragile parts and responsible for most of the system downtime. Real-time fault monitoring, fault diagnosis and proper system reconfiguration in these converters are therefore mandatory for fault-tolerant operation of the converter and the whole system. In this paper, a comprehensive fault-tolerant power electronics interface for wind energy systems with doubly-fed induction generators is presented and validated. The same power production capability will be guaranteed. The proposed solution also includes a robust and very fast open-circuit switch fault diagnosis algorithm, which is not sensitive to the operation conditions and is therefore suitable for this application. Simulation, Hardware in the Loop validation and experimental tests are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach

Energy management and control of a stand-alone photovoltaic/ultra capacitor/battery microgrid

International audienc

Equivalent Two Switches and Single Switch Buck/Buck-Boost Circuits for Solar Energy Harvesting Systems

International audienceIn this paper, a comparative analysis has been presented of two equivalent circuits of non-isolated buck/buck-boost converters under synchronous control, used in a stand-alone Photovoltaic-battery-load system. The first circuit consists of two cascaded buck and buck-boost classical converters with two controllable switches. The buck converter is used to extract the maximum power of the Photovoltaic source, and the buck-boost converter is applied for the output voltage level control. The second circuit consists of a proposed converter with a single controllable switch. In both cases, the switching frequency is used to track the maximum power point and the duty ratio controls the output voltage level. Selected simulation results and experimental tests confirm that the two conversion circuits have identical behavior under synchronous control. This study shows that the single switch converter has a lower size and cost, but it is limited in the possible control strategy