State-of-art on permanent magnet brushless DC motor drives

Permanent magnet brushless DC (PMBLDC) motors are the latest choice of researchers due to their high efficiency, silent operation, compact size, high reliability and low maintenance requirements. These motors are preferred for numerous applications; however, most of them require sensorless control of these motors. The operation of PMBLDC motors requires rotor-position sensing for controlling the winding currents. The sensorless control would need estimation of rotor position from the voltage and current signals, which are easy to be sensed. This paper presents a state of art on PMBLDC motor drives with emphasis on sensorless control of these motors

PFC bridge converter for voltage-controlled adjustable-speed PMBLDCM drive

In this paper, a buck DC-DC bridge converter is used as a power factor correction (PFC) converter for feeding a voltage source inverter (VSI) based permanent magnet brushless DC motor (PMBLDCM) drive. The front end of the PFC converter is a diode bridge rectifier (DBR) fed from single phase AC mains. The PMBLDCM is used to drive the compressor of an air conditioner through a three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) fed from a variable voltage DC link. The speed of the air conditioner is controlled to conserve energy using a new concept of voltage control at a DC link proportional to the desired speed of the PMBLDC motor. Therefore, VSI operates only as an electronic commutator of the PMBLDCM. The current of the PMBLDCM is controlled by setting the reference voltage at the DC link as a ramp. The proposed PMBLDCM drive with voltage control-based PFC converter was designed and modeled. The performance is simulated in Matlab-Simulink environment for an air conditioner compressor load driven through a 3.75 kW, 1500 rpm PMBLDC motor. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed speed control scheme, the evaluation results demonstrate improved efficiency of the complete drive with the PFC feature in a wide range of speed and input AC voltage

Multiphase flow and phase change in microgravity: Fundamental research and strategic research for exploration of space

NASA is preparing to undertake science-driven exploration missions. The NASA Exploration Team's vision is a cascade of stepping stones. The stepping-stone will build the technical capabilities needed for each step with multi-use technologies and capabilities. An Agency-wide technology investment and development program is necessary to implement the vision. The NASA Exploration Team has identified a number of areas where significant advances are needed to overcome all engineering and medical barriers to the expansion of human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. Closed-loop life support systems and advanced propulsion and power technologies are among the areas requiring significant advances from the current state-of-the-art. Studies conducted by the National Academy of Science's National Research Council and Workshops organized by NASA have shown that multiphase flow and phase change play a crucial role in many of these advanced technology concepts. Lack of understanding of multiphase flow, phase change, and interfacial phenomena in the microgravity environment has been a major hurdle. An understanding of multiphase flow and phase change in microgravity is, therefore, critical to advancing many technologies needed. Recognizing this, the Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR) has initiated a strategic research thrust to augment the ongoing fundamental research in fluid physics and transport phenomena discipline with research especially aimed at understanding key multiphase flow related issues in propulsion, power, thermal control, and closed-loop advanced life support systems. A plan for integrated theoretical and experimental research that has the highest probability of providing data, predictive tools, and models needed by the systems developers to incorporate highly promising multiphase-based technologies is currently in preparation. This plan is being developed with inputs from scientific community, NASA mission planners and industry personnel. The fundamental research in multiphase flow and phase change in microgravity is aimed at developing better mechanistic understanding of pool boiling and ascertaining the effects of gravity on heat transfer and the critical heat flux. Space flight experiments conducted in space have shown that nucleate pool boiling can be sustained under certain conditions in the microgravity environment. New space flight experiments are being developed to provide more quantitative information on pool boiling in microgravity. Ground-based investigations are also being conducted to develop mechanistic models for flow and pool boiling. An overview of the research plan and roadmap for the strategic research in multiphase flow and phase change as well as research findings from the ongoing program will be presented

Workshop on Research for Space Exploration: Physical Sciences and Process Technology

This report summarizes the results of a workshop sponsored by the Microgravity Research Division of NASA to define contributions the microgravity research community can provide to advance the human exploration of space. Invited speakers and attendees participated in an exchange of ideas to identify issues of interest in physical sciences and process technologies. This workshop was part of a continuing effort to broaden the contribution of the microgravity research community toward achieving the goals of the space agency in human exploration, as identified in the NASA Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) strategic plan. The Microgravity program is one of NASA'a major links to academic and industrial basic research in the physical and engineering sciences. At present, it supports close to 400 principal investigators, who represent many of the nation's leading researchers in the physical and engineering sciences and biotechnology. The intent of the workshop provided a dialogue between NASA and this large, influential research community, mission planners and industry technical experts with the goal of defining enabling research for the Human Exploration and Development of Space activities to which the microgravity research community can contribute

Fuzzy pre-compensated PI control of active filters

This paper deals with a new and improved control technique for shunt active filters (AF) used for compensating unwanted harmonic currents injected in the mains due to nonlinear varying loads. This work is motivated by the need to find a permanent solution to the rigorous hit and trial method for evaluating system parameters in an indirect control of AF. A fuzzy pre-compensated PI (Proportional-Integral) controller is used to fuzzify the reference DC voltage of AF to the controller input so that the overshoots and undershoots in its DC link voltage are minimized and the settling time is improved. A three-phase diode rectifier with R-L (Resistive-Inductive) load is used as a non-linear load to study the effectiveness of the proposed controller of the AF. Robustness to filter parameter variations, insensitivity to controller parameter variations, and transient response has been taken as performance evaluation parameters. The results are shown through simulations in Matlab using power system block sets to demonstrate the capability of the proposed controller of the AF

Control of DSTATCOM in 3-Phase 3-Wire Distribution System using Modified IcosØ Algorithm

In this paper, a 3-leg VSC (voltage source converter) based DSTATCOM (Distribution Static Compensator) is used for load compensation in 3-phase 3-wire distribution system. The control algorithm is based on IcosØ algorithm. This modified IcosØ algorithm is used for extracting the reference source currents for Power Factor Correction, Load Balancing and Voltage Regulation at PCC (point of common coupling). For various load conditions such as a reactive linear load, an unbalanced load and a non-linear load, Simulations are performed for Power Factor Correction (PFC) mode and Zero Voltage Regulation (ZVR) mode in MATLAB environment using SIMULINK and SimPowerSystem toolbox. Steady state and dynamic results on a developed hardware prototype of DSTATCOM are also presented to validate the control algorithm for DSTATCOM. Keywords-DSTATCOM, Control algorithm, Power quality, Nonlinear load, Load balancing, Harmonics compensation, Voltage regulation

Pulse multiplication in autotransformer based AC-DC converters using a zigzag connection

This paper deals with pulse multiplication in zigzag connected autotransformer based 12-pulse AC-DC converters feeding vector controlled induction motor drives (VCIMD) for improving the power quality at the point of common coupling (PCC) without using a Zero-Sequence-Blocking-Transformer (ZSBT). The proposed 24-pulse AC-DC converter is based on the principle of DC ripple re-injection technique for pulse multiplication and harmonic mitigation. The design of the autotransformer is carried out for the proposed AC-DC converter and the effect of load variation on VCIMD is also studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed AC-DC converter. Test results from a laboratory developed prototype, along with simulated results, are presented to validate the design and model of the proposed 24-pulse AC-DC converter

Modeling of 18-pulse STATCOM for power system applications

A multi-pulse GTO based voltage source converter (VSC) topology together with a fundamental frequency switching mode of gate control is a mature technology being widely used in static synchronous compensators (STATCOMs). The present practice in utility/industry is to employ a high number of pulses in the STATCOM, preferably a 48-pulse along with matching components of magnetics for dynamic reactive power compensation, voltage regulation, etc. in electrical networks. With an increase in the pulse order, need of power electronic devices and inter-facing magnetic apparatus increases multi-fold to achieve a desired operating performance. In this paper, a competitive topology with a fewer number of devices and reduced magnetics is evolved to develop an 18-pulse, 2-level + 100MVAR STATCOM in which a GTO-VSC device is operated at fundamental frequency switching gate control. The inter-facing magnetics topology is conceptualized in two stages and with this harmonics distortion in the network is minimized to permissible IEEE-519 standard limits. This compensator is modeled, designed and simulated by a SimPowerSystems tool box in MATLAB platform and is tested for voltage regulation and power factor correction in power systems. The operating characteristics corresponding to steady state and dynamic operating conditions show an acceptable performance

Battery energy storage based voltage and frequency controller for isolated pico hydro systems

This paper deals with an integrated voltage and frequency (VF) controller for isolated asynchronous generators (IAG) driven by a constant power pico-hydro uncontrolled turbine feeding three-phase four-wire loads. The proposed VF controller is used to control the frequency and voltage of an IAG with load leveling. Such a VF controller is also known as an integrated electronic load controller (IELC) which is realized using an isolated star/polygon transformer with a voltage source converter (VSC) and a battery at its DC bus. The proposed generating system with a VFC is modeled and simulated in MATLAB along with Simulink and Simpower system (SPS) toolboxes. The simulated results are presented to demonstrate the performance of an isolated asynchronous generator feeding three-phase four-wire loads with neutral current compensation

Stand-alone wind energy conversion system with an asynchronous generator

This paper deals with a stand-alone wind energy conversion system (WECS) with an isolated asynchronous generator (IAG) and voltage and frequency (VF) control feeding three-phase four-wire loads. The reference generator currents are estimated using the instantaneous symmetrical component theory to control the voltage and frequency of an IAG system. A three-leg voltage source converter (VSC) with an isolated star/delta transformer is used as an integrated VSC. An integrated VSC with a battery energy storage system (BESS) is used to control the active and reactive powers of the WECS. The WECS is modeled and simulated in MATLAB using the Simulink and the Sim Power System (SPS) toolboxes. The proposed VF controller functions as a voltage and frequency regulator, a load leveler, a load balancer and a harmonic eliminator in the WECS. A comparison is made on the rating of the VSC with and without ac capacitors connected at the terminals of an IAG. Simulation and test results are presented to verify the control algorithm