Three beneficiaries of project-oriented education in power electronics

peer reviewedPower Electronics education at the University of Liège exhibits a particular feature, in that a person from industry is directly involved in the teaching of the introductory Power Electronics course since academic year 2007-2008. Together with him, we teach this subject making use of a project-oriented method. After two years of this experience, it is now of great interest to analyze the main benefits of this method for the students, the teaching team at the University and the company involved in the teaching process. In this paper we present through an example the method that is being used. We mention some interesting technical problems encountered by the students during their project work. We also present the evolution of the method from the first year of application in 2007-2008 to the forthcoming third year in 2009-2010.OptiSHE

Co-simulation of Electromagnetic Transients and Phasor Models of Electric Power Systems

This study investigates and improves methods used for the combination of phasor and electromagnetic transients time domain simulations of power systems. It involves the study of the protocols of computation, the comparison of the different kinds of boundary conditions used to represent one sub-system when simulating the other, and the interfacing of phasor and electromagnetic transients models. The Nordic system has been used to realize the tests. Illustrative simulation results are reported for the case of a single and of multiple boundary buses between the sub-systems

A multirate approach to combine electromagnetic transients and fundamental-frequency simulations

peer reviewedAbstract--- A new multi-rate technique is proposed to combine fundamental-frequency simulation (typical of stability studies) with electromagnetic transients simulation. The objective of this hybrid approach is to obtain more accurate simulations than with the fundamental-frequency approximation, while saving computing time by applying the detailed model to a subsystem only, in some neighbourhood of the disturbance. It also allows to remove some limitations of fundamental-frequency simulation, such as the difficulty of simulating unbalanced faults. A relaxation technique is used to iterate between both models with simple interfacing. Preliminary results obtained with a 74-bus test system are presented, together with a comparison with full electromagnetic transients simulation

Cooperation with industry and project-oriented education in power electronics

peer reviewedFor the first time during year 2007-2008, a complete design of a DC/DC converter, based on specifications only, was asked to the students following the basic Power Electronics course at University of Liège. This very realistic pedagogical way of teaching helped the students to be autonomous, to learn project and team work.Pour la première fois au cours de l’année académique 2007-2008, une réalisation complète d’un convertisseur DC/DC, sur base des seules spécifications, a été demandée aux étudiants qui suivent à l’Université de Liège le cours de base d’Electronique de Puissance (30h+30h). Ce dispositif pédagogique très réaliste a permis aux étudiants d’être plus autonomes, de se former à la gestion de projet ainsi qu’au travail en équipe. Après adaptation, cette approche sera appliquée à un Baccalauréat de Promotion Sociale en électronique

Combining Full Transients and Phasor Approximation Models in Power System Time Simulation

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Optimized Waveform Relaxation Methods for Modeling Electromagnetic Field-Circuit Problems

peer reviewedThe convergence of classical and optimized waveform relaxation methods is compared for the simulation of field-circuit problems, where a finite element solver is used for the solution of the field problem and a circuit simulator is used for the electronic circuit