Power Electronics and Applications

Background

Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies

School of Electrical and Information Engineering

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Outline

1 Introduction to power electronics

2 Common research and development subjects of power electronics
3 Fundamental of DC and AC
4 Galvanic Isolation
5 Examples of system architecture of power electronics
6 Software tools for simulation and computer aided design
7 Experiment and Test Plan
8 Design Case and Linear Power Conversion
Series voltage regulator
Shunt regulator diode
9 Ideal Power Conversion and Free of Power Loss
10 Characteristics of passive components
11 Evolution into switching mode converter
12 Summary

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 Section 1

Introduction to power electronics

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Section 1 Introduction to power electronics

Power electronics use solid-state technology to produce power conversion from one
form to another in terms of voltage and current .
keywords! exam question? give more examples!

Commonly considered as the interface and bridge between Power Engineering and
Electronics Engineering.

Rapid growth resulted from:

Advance in power semiconductor devices to achieve high-efficient, reliable, and
flexible power conversion;
Trend towards modernized electrical systems ⇐⇒ ‘smart’ + ‘green’;
Distributed and renewable power generation + more and more energy storage;
Advance and maturity in control technologies makes power electronics more
practical to be integrated with power systems;
Demand for high-efficient power supply systems to reduce loss and pollution.

“Converter” is a general term referred to power electronic devices.

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Section 1 Introduction to power electronics

The “battle of the currents” refers to the significant debate and competition of
electric power transmission systems in the USA, either AC or DC, in the
1880s.

Thanks to the early development of power transformers, AC was more

cost-effective and efficient than DC to be transmitted, and won the battle.

Lack of power electronics contributed to the loss of DC in the past.

With the latest power electronics, DC will come back:

high voltage DC (HVDC) - long-distance power transmission;

more DC-based power generation, transmission, distribution, and applications;
more sources and loads based on DC;
simple without headache regarding frequency stability, power factor,
synchronization, and interconnection.

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Section 1 Introduction to power electronics

Conversion for power systems is based on centralized generation.

Modernized power systems increase with distributed generation and prosumers

Power electronics and control engineering eventually play a critical role for the
transition from the traditional into modern electrification.

Knowledge of power electronics essential to all power engineers!

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Section 1 Classification

Exam question?
Classified by the form of input and output: Classification by active power flow:
Unidirectional
Bidirectional - rechargeable battery
AC/DC conversion (rectifier)

DC/DC conversion By voltage level of applications:

Extra low voltage (ELV): < 50V
Low voltage (LV): 50-1000 V
DC/AC conversion (inverter)
Medium voltage (MV): 1-35 kV
High voltage (HV): 35-230 kV
AC/AC conversion Extra high voltage (EHV): > 230 kV

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Section 1 Examples of power electronics and applications

Telecommunication ELV power supplies for ICT devices of:

Uninterrupted power supply Computers, e.g. laptops or desktops;

DC power supply Cell phone and tablet

Residential apps Transportation - electric vehicles and ships

Modern appliances, e.g. Drive and power management systems;

microwave, induction cooker; Battery management
High efficient lighting, LED;
Utility - electric power grid
Residential PV systems
Power conditioning for renewable, PV and wind;
Aerospace Power conversion of AC/DC/AC for high-voltage
Power supply for space direct current (HVDC);
shuttles, stations, and Solid-state transformers in medium voltage level;
satellites;
Utilization of energy storage, e.g. rechargeable
Modern aircraft power system batteries.

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Section 1 Interdisciplinary nature of power electronics

The subject covers many technologies more than power and electronics!

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 Section 2

Common research and development subjects of power electronics

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Section 2 Common research and development subjects of power electronics

System architecture study: transition from AC to DC or both?

Advance in control engineering to improve performance, e.g. power quality

and efficiency, for power conversion.

High performance material technology to improve performance in power

conversion, e.g. wide-bandgap.

Advanced simulation technique for balancing the speed and accuracy.

Software for Electronic Computer Aided design (ECAD), e.g. Altium Designer.

Improvement of power converter topologies should show the balance of:

Power conversion efficiency (η = Pout /Pin );
Power quality in both input and output port;
Cost effectiveness, reliability, and robustness;
Size and weight - power density.

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 Section 3

Fundamental of DC and AC

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Section 3 Characteristics of DC and AC

Direct current (DC): current flows one direction only, no zero crossing!

Perfect DC is constant in value or a straight line shown by waveform.

Alternating current (AC), is an electric current in which the flow of electric change
periodically reverses direction in both [+] and [-].

Nominal AC mainly refers to the sinusoidal waveform, periodical zero-crossing.

AC
or
DC?

exam?
RMS

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Section 3 Characteristics of DC and AC

Power quality of DC based on the weight of the fundamental frequency, 0 Hz.

Power quality of AC based on the weight of the sine wave with the
fundamental frequency component, which is not 0 Hz.

Using pure sinusoidal waveform as the norm or ideal, other AC forms or

components described by the harmonic distortion.

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Section 3 More terms to describe AC voltage and current

The common frequency of the AC electrical system varies by countries, but

most refer to either 50 or 60 hertz, called as line frequency (LF) or low
frequency (LF).

In off-grid systems, the AC frequency is unnecessarily bound to the LF, e.g.

commercial airplanes, 400 Hz is available for better utilization.

1
RT 1
RT
VAVG = T 0 v(t)dt IAVG = T 0 i(t)dt Average for AC?

Due to the complication of DC, AC, and various periodic waveforms for
voltage and current, Root mean square (RMS) is defined as:
q R q R
1 T 1 T
VRMS = T 0 v2 (t)dt IRMS = T 0 i2 (t)dt.

RMS values create equivalence among various voltage and current signals.

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 Section 4

Galvanic Isolation

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Section 4 Galvanic Isolation

Galvanic isolation refers to the power conversion that provides full dielectric isolation -
does not electrically contact!

For safety to prevent electric shock!

For functional grounding to achieve safety and reliability!

through magnetic field through the light path

capacitive isolation

Converters are separated by the galvanic isolation: non-isolated and isolated

topology.

Magnetic field is the most common path for power converters!

Exam question - why galvanic isolation is sometimes important for power conversion?

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 Section 5

Examples of system architecture of power electronics

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Section 5 Diagrams of DC/DC, DC/AC, AC/AC, and AC/DC

Power conversion is needed to match electric power among different sources,

transmission, and loads, in term of voltage, current and frequency.

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 Section 6

Software tools for simulation and computer aided design

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Section 6 Software tools for simulation and computer aided design

Electronic design automation (EDA) is also referred to as electronic computer-aided

design (ECAD).

SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) is a general-purpose,

open source analog electronic circuit simulator, which was released by University of
California in 1970s. The original version was coded in FORTRAN and used nodal
analysis to construct the circuit equations.

For simulation
OrCAD EE PSpice and PSIM by Powersim
LTspice by Linear Technology and PLECS by Plexim GmbH (Switzerland);
Simscape Power Systems - MATLAB / Simulink - MathWorks and Quebec Hydro

Designing printed circuit board (PCB)

EAGLE by CadSoft Computer(Students can get free software for 3 years)
Circuit maker and Altium Designer (former Protel), Altium Limited of Australia
OrCAD PCB Designer by Cadence

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Section 6 History of Altium and Protel (Source: Wikipedia and www.altium.com)

Altium Limited was found in Australia that was well known as “Protel” before.
The founder is Nicholas Martin, who was an electronics designer working at
the University of Tasmania in the 1980s.
In 1985 the company launched the DOS based PCB design tool known as
"Protel", which was widely used in industry since then.
In 1991, the company moves its head quarter to the USA and launches Protel
for Windows, the world first Microsoft Windows-based PCB design system.
Protel 98 was launched in 1998, a powerful 32-bit design suite for Microsoft
Windows NT/95/98.
In 1999, the company became a public listed company on the Australian
Securities Exchange (ASX).
In 2002, the software was called Protel DXP, and renamed to Altium Designer
after then.
In 2014, the head quarter was moved to San Diego.

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 Section 7

Experiment and Test Plan

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Section 7 Other information

Where to buy components:

www.digikey.com.au/; au.mouser.com; au.element14.com

Typical equipments for practising power electronics:

Desktop or portable multimeters
Oscilloscope with various probes for
voltage and current measurement Programmable load for AC and DC
Computer with ECAD and simulation Soldering machine and repair station
software
Impedance analyzer or LCR meter
DC and AC programmable power supply
Function generators
Data logger for long-term measurement
Thermal imager or thermal meter

For measurement, it is important to understand the terms of resolution,

accuracy, range, and bandwidth.

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Section 7 Experiment and Test Plan

Different from power engineering research, most power electronic developments

need prototyping and experimental test.

Different from electronics, power electronics deal with significant voltage and current
⇐⇒ danger.

When circuit voltage is higher than 50 V, special attention should be given.

A careful test plan and step-by-step checklist should be always developed and
followed, which can save time, money, and even life.

A good practice during development and prototyping is to decouple the circuit that
allows to test each unit separately before final assembly test.

Test points for sensing voltage, current, and temperature should be reserved in the
prototyping stage.

Dedicated printed circuit board (PCB) with proper layout should be used for
high-performance converter design.

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Section 7 Printed circuit boards and component mounting

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are usually required by power electronics, which
connect all electronic components together and provide mechanical support.
Most PCB is based on non-conductive substrate, e.g. glass epoxy.

Surface-mount technology (SMT)

Metal backed PCBs can be manufactured with aluminum or copper metal.

Aluminium PCB shows good thermal conductivity, required by LED lighting.

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Section 7 Safety

Power electronics deal with significant voltage and current.

Electrical shock may take a life, e.g., > 50 V to adults!

Even working with extra low voltage circuit, e.g. < 50 V, exploding
components and arcing circuits can cause blindness and severe burns;

Burning components and arcing lead to fire;

Battery can result in serious danger, e.g., Samsung Note 7 and Boeing 787;

Battery + fuse!

Repairing damaged circuits is difficult, so make it right in one shot!

A test plan or checklist before you turn on switches!

Be calm, relaxed and prepared, while working with power electronics.

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 Section 8

Design Case and Linear Power Conversion

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Section 8 Extra low voltage example - USB car charger

Input voltage: 12 V nominal from a power plug from your car;

Output voltage: 5 V constant at USB terminal

Output current: up to 500 mA to slowly charge a cell phone.

USB chargers used in old cars

DC/DC voltage converter needed;

Design the circuit with common

ground

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Section 8 Design Case and Linear Power Conversion - Series voltage regulator

=⇒
=⇒

78M05 is also called as series pass regulator or linear regulator, which can
automatically maintain the output voltage to the constant level of 5 V.

The operation of series voltage regulator, 78M05, can be equivalent to

automatically adjusted resistor to fix the output voltage.

Specification of 78M05:
Output 5 V ±2%; Internal thermal overload protection;
Rated output current: 500 mA; Internal short circuit current limiting.

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Section 8 Series voltage regulator for USB car charger

Voltage drop across the 78M05 changes to maintain the constant output
voltage of 5 V at the output terminal, which is equivalent to an adaptive
resistance in series.

Ohm Law:
The transistor is operated in the linear region for voltage dividing, 12 - 5 = 7 V.
In case of variation of the input, the output voltage is sensed and fed back to
controller for adjustment.
Fast dynamic response; simple circuit and low noise;
Minimal filtering requirements; low efficiency only good for extremely
The conversion efficiency? low power applications.

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Section 8 Shunt regulator diode

Opposite to the series voltage regulator, shunt regulator is another way to

maintain constant output voltage.

Shunt regulator diode, TL431 series, is a popular chip and commonly used for
programmable voltage references in many modern applications.

The 2.5 V reference port makes it programmable to obtain variable voltage

level across anode and cathode.

Rating of TL431:
Current limit: 100-150 mA;

Voltage limit: 36 V

It is flexible and precise that is widely used to replace conventional Zener

diode for voltage reference.

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Section 8 Linear power conversion - Shunt regulator diode

VO is programmable by resistance ratio between R1 and R2 .

Output current should be limited by R0 to be under 100 mA, which determines

the resistance of R0 .

R0 forms the voltage dividing

network between the input and
output.

Significant power loss can be

expected on R0 .

Forming a 2.5 V reference is

simple!

High loss is expected for linear

regulators!

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 Section 9

Ideal Power Conversion and Free of Power Loss

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Section 9 Ideal Power Conversion

Stable and robust operation regardless of any disturbance or any non-ideal

environment;

Conversion efficiency to be close to 100%;

High power quality appearing at all converter terminals referred to the nominal
form of DC or AC;

Accurate and fast command following regarding the regulation of voltage,

current, and power;

A fast and robust response to reject all sorts of disturbance;

High power density to forge a small size and efficient operation;

Low cost without compromising the lifespan;

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Section 9 Application of on/off cycle control - concept of equivalent energy transfer

“When electric power is needed, turn on the switch, otherwise, turn off!”
Old cooktop or oven toaster with temperature setting:
Using single pole double throw (SPDT) relay.
‘AC’ =⇒ Temperature ⇑; ‘BC’ =⇒ Temperature ⇓
www.amazon.com/ Simple timer for on/off switch of burner -“click” sound!
Equivalent circuit: »Energy consumption determined by the duty cycle of “ON” time.
Temperature sensed and regulated by the timer operation.
Burner with adjustable temperature control (timer for ON/OFF).
Simple but meets basic cooking requirement.
Discontinuous ON/OFF waveform of VO ; temperature?

Thermal inertia referred to ‘property’ of a material that expresses the degree of slowness
with which its temperature reaches that of the ‘environment’

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 Section 10

Characteristics of passive components

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Section 10 Characteristics of passive components

Component Unit Characteristics

vR
Ideal resistor Ω vR = RiR or iR =
R
diL 1 R
Ideal inductor H vL = L or iL = vL dt
dt L
dvC 1R
Ideal capacitor F iC = C or vC = iC dt
dt C
vp NP ip NS
Ideal transformer = and = −
vs NS is NP

Examples of non-ideal factors with real-world passive components:

low resistance within the capacitor and inductor
inductance within resistor and capacitor
leakage inductance and series resistance within transformer
core loss of magnetic material

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Section 10 Characteristics of passive components - inductor

diL
Since vL = L , the derivation feature shows that the voltage across
dt
inductors can reach infinity value in theory, and the values depend on the
changing rate of the through current, iL .

1R
Since iL = vL dt, the integral feature shows that the inductor can prevent
L
sudden current variation and keep current flow smooth.

The inductor voltage level and polarity can change dramatically and fast
against any sudden variation of the through current. dangerous!

The stored energy of inductor is in current form:

1
EL = Li2L
2

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Section 10 Characteristics of passive components - capacitor

dvC
Since iC = C , the derivation feature shows that the current through
dt
capacitors can reach infinity value in theory, and the values depend on the
changing rate of the cross voltage, vC .

Special attention should be given to the capacitor when it is suddenly

short-circuited. Inrush current is dangerous!

The stored energy of capacitor is in voltage form:

1
EC = CVC2
2
The same attention should be given to the sudden break of inductor current
since it causes over-voltage damage without an evacuation path.

Accordingly, the inductor current and capacitor voltage are generally smooth
and steady that are the representative variables for circuit analysis.

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Section 10 Characteristics of passive components - LCR circuit

Both L and C show features to store electric energy and smoothen current
and voltage, respectively.
The output voltage becomes smooth since high-frequency noise or ripple can
be mitigated by the LC filter.

The LC circuit is widely used for

low-pass filtering in power electronics.

diL dvo vo
L = vsw − vo Co = iL −
dt dt R
Due to the presence of L and C, the Input voltage, vsw , coupled with HF
differential equation can be derived: ripples
dvo vo
iL = Co + Output voltage vo
dt R
2
d vo L dvo
LCo 2 + + vo = vsw Dynamic analysis can show the
dt R dt low-pass filtering effect.

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Section 10 LCR circuit

Laplace transformation is a tool in frequency domain, which is commonly

used for continuous-time dynamic analysis.

With the differential equation, the transfer

function can be derived as

Vo (s) 1
= 2
Vsw (s) LCO s + (L/R)s + 1
Undamped natural
A standard 2nd order transfer equation is frequency:
derived and presents low-pass
characteristics. 1
ωn = √
LC
Vo (s) 1/LC
= 2
Vsw (s) s + (1/RC)s + 1/LC Damping ratio:
Vo (s) ωn2 r
= 2 1 L
Vsw (s) s + (2ξωn )s + ωn2 ξ=
2R C

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Section 10 Dynamics of the second-order filter

In control engineering, the transfer function of standard 2nd-order system is

ωn2
represented by: G0 = 2
S + 2ξωn s + ωn2
ωn : undamped natural frequency
ξ: damping factor or damping ratio
ωn is an indicator of the cut-off frequency in low-pass filters.
ξ represents how much damping the circuit is. Low value or lightly damped
indicates high chance of oscillation, which is not preferred.
1
Undamped natural frequency in the LCR circuit: ωn = √
LC
r
1 L
Damping ratio in the LCR circuit: ξ =
2R C
LCR parameter effect:

L ↑⇒ ωn ↓; C ↑⇒ ωn ↓; L ↑⇒ ξ ↑; C ↑⇒ ξ ↓; R ↑⇒ ξ ↓

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Section 10 Bode diagram to illustrate damping and low-pass characteristics

ωn = 18.26k rad/s;

Damping factors ξ =
0.5477
0.2739
0.1095

Bandwidth:
22.17k rad/s = 3.53 kHz
44.34k rad/s
110.85k rad/s

The value of L/C ratio affects the damping factor and the calculation of L × C
determines the undamped natural frequency.
LCR circuit is commonly applied to various converter topologies with either DC or AC
output.

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 Section 11

Evolution into switching mode converter

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Section 11 Evolution into switching mode converter

ON/OFF switching produces pulsed voltage waveform that is useful for controlling
power flow from source to load.
Most electrical loads prefer to be supplied by constant voltage.
A low pass filter or smoothing circuit, formed by LC, can be added, to stop
high-frequency pulsed signal and output smooth voltage.

The circuit becomes the schematic of non-isolated buck converter.

Switching frequency is used to size the LC parameters for effective filtering.
Ideally, the switch, L and Co cause no power loss!
100% efficiency in theory =⇒ modern power electronics!
It can be used for the USB car charger with significantly low power loss in
comparison with the series voltage regulator or shunt regulator.

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 Section 12

Summary

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Section 12 Summary

The course was develop in a way to bridge textbook information and practical
applications.

Some materials are unavailable in textbooks since they are based on practical
experience as an electrical engineer.

The concept of modern power electronics will be emphasized, which is

unavailable in other textbooks.

The beginning of this presentation introduces the basics of power electronics.

Several system architectures are demonstrated to show different applications.

Based on a design example, the series voltage regulator is introduced and

designed.

Shunt voltage regulator is also briefly discussed, e.g. the popular chip, LT431.

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Section 12 Summary

Due to the significant loss of series voltage regulator and shunt voltage
regulator, the switching mode converter is demanded.

High-efficiency conversion requirement leads to the on/off switching

technology.

Passive components, resistor, inductor, capacitor, and transformer are

reviewed.

Typical LCR circuit is a smoothing circuit, dynamically analyzed as the

2nd-order low-pass filter and demonstrated for simulation.

di
Never try to stop inductor current since the “kick back” voltage by vL = L
dt
can go significantly high and cause immediate damage.

Always think to create a fast route to evacuate inductor current in any

switching circuit.

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Section 12 Summary

Shortage of charged capacitor can result in significant current and damage

dv
due to ic = C .
dt
Special protection should be always given when battery is used in circuit
design.

Accidents have been reported for Boeing 787 and Samsung Note 7 due to the
lithium-ion battery problem and poor power electronic design.

All experimental work should be properly planned and tested by formal

procedure.

Rating for voltage and power of each component used in power electronics
should be respected.

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Section 12 Summary

Detailed description is available in the textbook.

Problems for Practice:

Find more power electronic applications in real world.

Search which industry using power supplies rated as 400 Hz AC as the
fundamental frequency. Explain the constraint and advantage.
Search online to find the principle of induction cooking and explain the
difference from the microwave cooking.
Search online to find reasons why galvanic isolation is important for certain
applications.

Answer will be given within tutorials.

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