8 topics with abstracts

Rapid prototyping for the development of powertrain control systems

ABSTRACT There is enormous downward pressure on cost and the time to develop powertrain control systems. Today's automotive programs have aggressive timing, technically complex powertrains and demanding performance targets. Success depends upon producing well engineered powertrain control systems with cost and performance in careful balance. To help this one of the most important quality tools that can be applied during thedevelopment process is rapid prototyping. This provides quantitative engineering data at an early stage and an effective lever to take time and effort out of the development process. This paper explores the role of rapid prototyping in the upfront investigation phase associated with system definition, design and analysis, where a fast, but structured process is needed to progress from customer and legal requirements, associated with the vehicle platform, the market and business factors, to the point in the vehicle development program where the hardware and software are principally fixed and only relatively small modifications can be made. It is suggested that the use of rapid prototyping must be considered carefully alongside the use of CASE and CACSD tools, in order to provide the overall environment in which to engineer the architecture of the control system and develop its functionality and performance. The particular information transferred between these tools, the timing of this and the deliverables made to other parts of the vehicle development program are crucial to a successful implementation

Wide area power grid health state diagnosis and early warning system based on fault power flow fingerprint identification and MAS technology
ABSTRACT The stability and security of the power grid is deteriorated due to the recent largescale power gridinterconnection and the power marketing. The stability character of the power grid becomes complex more and more. The new theory and technique need to be applied to diagnose the real-time state of the power grid in order to ensure the safe and economical operation of the power grid. The power flow fingerprint character during the normal and fault state is analyzed and the power grid health diagnosis repository with the Self-learning ability is constituted. The diagnosis method adaptable for the wide area power grid health state diagnosis is put forward in the paper. The power flow character is extracted using AFIS technology, and the intelligent matching arithmetic is used to diagnose the power grid health state, so the power grid health state factor and the uncertain probability distributing between the failure and symptom is present. The early warning and decision support architecture is constructed based on the Power Flow Fingerprint Identification and MAS Technology. The health diagnosis results can be integrated with the other intelligent diagnosis results and can alarm the dispatcher using the technology of visualization. The application of power flow fingerprint identification technique to diagnose the health state of the power grid can eliminate the potential fault in the power grid and prevent the happening of the paroxysmal accident.

Non-grid-connected wind power strategic significance and path on the super large scale wind power utilization
ABSTRACT Wind power integration into the power grid is the only application mode of worldwide large-scale wind farms. The high instability of wind could cause a drastic fluctuation of wind power, which has restrained the contribution ratio of wind power to the power grid within 8-10% if there is no gas-fired power or hydro-power for peak shaving. It has become a tough worldwide problem. In the next 4-6 years with global large-scale wind powerdevelopment, it is inevitable that the difficulties to integrate into the power grid will appear, which seriously restricts the development of global wind power industry. The proposed new application mode of non-grid-connected wind power fully takes into account the wind power characteristics, and breaks the single on-gridapplication mode of large-scale wind power. By the necessary technical innovation and integration, the non-grid-connected mode directly couples wind power with high-energy consumption industries (such as electrolytic aluminum, chlor-alkali, hydrogen production by water electrolysis, seawater desalination and coal chemicals, etc.), so as to build several green heavy chemical industry parks. It will explore a diversified development method of large-scale wind power to solve the application problem of super-large-scale wind power.

The single-processor concept for protection and control of circuit breakers in low-voltage switchgear
ABSTRACT Protection of low-voltage circuits has been a key area of research and continuous improvement since the invention of electricity. In the current state of the art, fuses and circuit breakers protect individual circuits. These devices, in turn, use many different kinds of trip mechanisms, operating in various modes that require sensing the current that travels through the circuits. Communication networks and external relays are sometimes used to enhance selectivity and provide better protection. In this paper, the authors explore a protection-and-control architecture based on a single processor that provides all the protection and control functions for a lineup of low-voltage switchgear. We demonstrate how this method of protection changes the paradigm from individual circuit protection to system protection, while cost-effectively and significantly increasing system reliability and protection.

Innovation to reality - introducing state-of-the-art protection and monitoring to existing low-voltage switchgear
ABSTRACT A large array of components with communications capabilities exists for constructing protection, monitoring, and control systems for power distribution equipment (switchgear). While most of these components or devices perform multiple functions, a typical application will contain at least several different devices that must be interconnected to function as a complete system. An example might be multifunction meters coupled with multifunction protective relays, and a programmable logic controller

for a complete system. Could it be possible to take the functions of multiple microprocessor-based devices and combine those functions into a single-processor system? Would the new system be able to execute instructions for fast acting overcurrent protectionwhile gathering simultaneous metering data from every circuit breaker in the equipment line-up? In this paper, the authors discuss a unique approach to low-voltage switchgear protection and the process of transitioning this concept to a realworld application. The paper describes the architecture and functionality of this approach and explains how a centrally controlled system can provide advanced monitoring and protection functions much more effectively than existing systems. Installation and field-testing are important steps in the process of introducing new technology. This paper will describe why retrofitting an existing switchgear lineup may be preferable to starting with new switchgear. It will also describe the considerable planning involved in the retrofit process to minimize the effect on the customer's operations. The paper concludes with a discussion of how well the system functioned in an actual operating environment.

Active Power Management of Electric Power System Using Emerging Power Electronics Technology
ABSTRACT Operation of today's very large scale and interconnected electric power systems depends critically on the devices that facilitate management of power flow on the grid. These devices can be based on passive components such as capacitor and inductor, or rely on the solid state power electronics technology to achieve much faster control bandwidth. Widely known as FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission system) devices, these powerelectronics controllers can regulate voltage and improve stability, hence increasing power flow capability, or they can be used to directly control the power flow, or they can be used to separate regional grid from each other to reduce the interactions between these grids. More advanced applications include the incorporation of energy storage to shape the peak power requirement and to smooth the power output of large wind farms. While the benefit of an actively managed power grid is well understood, widespread use of power electronics controllers in electric power grid is still limited. The main reason behind this is the higher cost and perceived lower reliability. In this paper, the authors will discuss emerging power electronics controllers that are under development at Semiconductor Power Electronics Center of NC State University, and explain how these developments will facilitate wider and broader applications.

Plug and play power electronics interface applied in microgrid

ABSTRACT Microgrid is predicted to drastically change the whole grid and offer a wide application domain for powerelectronics. The interface between distributed energy resource (DER) and the grid is usually through powerelectronics device, which controls the current drawn from the grid and can be driven to optimize the power flow, improve voltage stability and increase distribution efficiency. To achieve the autonomous control of the microgrid, the plug and play(PnP) power electronics interface for DER is a good solution

to support device self-identification and system resources assignment. In the paper, the hardware architecture is built by using integrated power electronics module and a novel hierarchical software architecture is proposed by standardizing interfaces between levels. The experimental results indicate the benefits of the PnP power electronics interface. The proposed architecture with high level of flexibility, modularity can benefit the PnP property and paves the way towards future PnP power electronics interface in microgrid.

Chip-scale packaging of power devices and its application in integrated power electronics modules
ABSTRACT A power electronics packaging technology utilizing chip-scale packaged (CSP) power devices to build three-dimensional (3-D) integrated power electronics modules (IPEMs) is presented in this paper. The chip-scale packaging structure, termed die dimensional ball grid array (D2BGA), eliminates wire bonds by using stacked solder joints to interconnect power chips. D2BGA package consists of a power chip, inner solder caps, high-lead solder balls, and molding resin. It has the same lateral dimensions as the starting power chip, which makes high-density packaging and module miniaturization possible. This package enables the power chip to combine excellent thermal transfer, high current handling capability, improved electrical characteristics, and ultralow profile packaging. Electrical tests show that the VCE(sat) and on-resistance of the D2BGA high speed insulated-gate-bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are improved by 20% and 30% respectively by eliminating the device wirebonds and other external interconnections, such as the leadframe. In this paper, we present the design, reliability, and processing issues of D2BGA package, and the implementation of these chip-scale packaged power devices in building 30 kW half-bridge power converter modules. The electrical and reliability test results of the packaged devices and the power modules are reported