Wide input-voltage range boost three-level DC-DC converter with quasi-Z source for fuel cell vehicles

To solve the problem of the mismatched voltage levels between the dynamic lower voltage of the fuel cell stack and the required constant higher voltage (400V) of the DC link bus of the inverter for fuel cell vehicles, a Boost three-level DC-DC converter with a diode rectification quasi-Z source (BTL-DRqZ) is presented in this paper, based on the conventional flying-capacitor Boost three-level DC-DC converter. The operating principle of a wide range voltage-gain for this topology is discussed according to the effective switching states of the converter and the multi-loop energy communication characteristic of the DRqZ source. The relationship between the quasi-Z source net capacitor voltages, the modulation index and the output voltage, is deduced and then the static and dynamic self-balance principle of the flying-capacitor voltage is presented. Furthermore, a Boost three-level DC-DC converter with a synchronous rectification quasi-Z source (BTL-SRqZ) is additionally proposed to improve the conversion efficiency. Finally, a scale-down 1.2 kW BTL-SRqZ prototype has been created, and the maximum efficiency is improved up to 95.66% by using synchronous rectification. The experimental results validate the feasibility of the proposed topology and the correctness of its operating principles. It is suitable for the fuel cell vehicles

A novel 24-slots14-poles fractional-slot concentrated winding topology with low space harmonics for electrical machines

This paper proposes a novel winding layout for the machines with fractional-slot concentrated windings (FSCW) using a stator shifting concept and non-overlapping windings, with which all the non-working harmonics will be completely cancelled or significantly reduced. First, the basic winding layout with a 24slot 14pole machine to reduce the significant 1st sub-harmonic will be presented for machines with single layer (SL) windings. From this, a novel double layer (DL) winding layout using the stator shifting concept will be introduced. By adopting two SL winding sets with a 105deg mechanical angle shift with respect to each other, it is not necessary to use overlapping windings. With this configuration, the 1st sub-harmonic will be completely cancelled and the parasitic 5th harmonic will be significantly reduced. Hence, the rotor losses, specifically magnet loss will be significantly reduced. Finally, two PM machines with different DL winding layout, viz., conventional 12slot 14pole and 24slot 14pole machine, will be designed and compared to validate the advantages of this winding topology

Numerical simulation of hydraulic fracture propagation under energy supplement conditions

After the long-term production, due to the influence of low-pressure and low-stress fields in the near-well area, the reversion and propagation of new fractures after temporary plugging is short. It is difficult for the new fracture to extend to the remaining oil enrichment areas on both sides of the primary fractures, resulting in a low increase in the bandwidth of the fracture group after repeated fracturing, which affects the reservoir utilization. In the early stage of repeated fracturing, a large amount of pre-fracturing fluid is injected to supplement the energy of the fractures and rapidly increase the pore pressure in the local range, weakening rock strength and change the pore structure. In addition, the combination of energy replenishment and reservoir stimulation, coupled reconstruction of the seepage field and stress field, promotes the effective propagation of new fractures. However, in the process of increasing formation energy, the propagation law of hydraulic fractures and natural fractures is not clear. In this paper, the model of tight sandstone reservoir in the HQ block of Ordos Basin was established with the finite element software ABAQUS, based on the effective stress principle and the theoretical method of fluid-solid coupling numerical simulation. The propagation of a single hydraulic fracture and the interaction between hydraulic fracture and natural fracture under the condition of energy increase was investigated to better guide the field operation. The results show that for every 1 MPa pressure increase in a single hydraulic fracture, the fracture length increases by 0.62 m and the maximum fracture width decreases by 0.09 mm. When the formation energy increases by 6 MPa, the time for the hydraulic fracture to reach the intersection point with the natural fracture is shortened by 10 %, and the length of the natural fracture is 2.16 times compared with the case of 3 MPa energy increase

Observation of TeV gamma rays from the Cygnus region with the ARGO-YBJ experiment

We report the observation of TeV gamma-rays from the Cygnus region using the ARGO-YBJ data collected from 2007 November to 2011 August. Several TeV sources are located in this region including the two bright extended MGRO J2019+37 and MGRO J2031+41. According to the Milagro data set, at 20 TeV MGRO J2019+37 is the most significant source apart from the Crab Nebula. No signal from MGRO J2019+37 is detected by the ARGO-YBJ experiment, and the derived flux upper limits at 90% confidence level for all the events above 600 GeV with medium energy of 3 TeV are lower than the Milagro flux, implying that the source might be variable and hard to be identified as a pulsar wind nebula. The only statistically significant (6.4 standard deviations) gamma-ray signal is found from MGRO J2031+41, with a flux consistent with the measurement by Milagro.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Observation of TeV gamma-rays from the unidentified source HESS J1841-055 with the ARGO-YBJ experiment

We report the observation of a very high energy \gamma-ray source, whose position is coincident with HESS J1841-055. This source has been observed for 4.5 years by the ARGO-YBJ experiment from November 2007 to July 2012. Its emission is detected with a statistical significance of 5.3 standard deviations. Parameterizing the source shape with a two-dimensional Gaussian function we estimate an extension \sigma=(0.40(+0.32,-0.22}) degree, consistent with the HESS measurement. The observed energy spectrum is dN/dE =(9.0-+1.6) x 10^{-13}(E/5 TeV)^{-2.32-+0.23} photons cm^{-2} s^{-1} TeV^{-1}, in the energy range 0.9-50 TeV. The integral \gamma-ray flux above 1 TeV is 1.3-+0.4 Crab units, which is 3.2-+1.0 times the flux derived by HESS. The differences in the flux determination between HESS and ARGO-YBJ, and possible counterparts at other wavelengths are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, have been accepted for publication in Ap

Long-term monitoring of the TeV emission from Mrk 421 with the ARGO-YBJ experiment

ARGO-YBJ is an air shower detector array with a fully covered layer of resistive plate chambers. It is operated with a high duty cycle and a large field of view. It continuously monitors the northern sky at energies above 0.3 TeV. In this paper, we report a long-term monitoring of Mrk 421 over the period from 2007 November to 2010 February. This source was observed by the satellite-borne experiments Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and Swift in the X-ray band. Mrk 421 was especially active in the first half of 2008. Many flares are observed in both X-ray and gamma-ray bands simultaneously. The gamma-ray flux observed by ARGO-YBJ has a clear correlation with the X-ray flux. No lag between the X-ray and gamma-ray photons longer than 1 day is found. The evolution of the spectral energy distribution is investigated by measuring spectral indices at four different flux levels. Hardening of the spectra is observed in both X-ray and gamma-ray bands. The gamma-ray flux increases quadratically with the simultaneously measured X-ray flux. All these observational results strongly favor the synchrotron self-Compton process as the underlying radiative mechanism.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figure

Mean Interplanetary Magnetic Field Measurement Using the ARGO-YBJ Experiment

The sun blocks cosmic ray particles from outside the solar system, forming a detectable shadow in the sky map of cosmic rays detected by the ARGO-YBJ experiment in Tibet. Because the cosmic ray particles are positive charged, the magnetic field between the sun and the earth deflects them from straight trajectories and results in a shift of the shadow from the true location of the sun. Here we show that the shift measures the intensity of the field which is transported by the solar wind from the sun to the earth.Comment: 6 papges,3 figure

Proton-air cross section measurement with the ARGO-YBJ cosmic ray experiment

The proton-air cross section in the energy range 1-100 TeV has been measured by the ARGO-YBJ cosmic ray experiment. The analysis is based on the flux attenuation for different atmospheric depths (i.e. zenith angles) and exploits the detector capabilities of selecting the shower development stage by means of hit multiplicity, density and lateral profile measurements at ground. The effects of shower fluctuations, the contribution of heavier primaries and the uncertainties of the hadronic interaction models, have been taken into account. The results have been used to estimate the total proton-proton cross section at center of mass energies between 70 and 500 GeV, where no accelerator data are currently available.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure