AC-DC Power Electronic Converters with Wide Bandgap Devices

具有宽带隙器件的 AC-DC 电力电子转换器

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-04118
• 负责人: Moschopoulos, Gerry
• 金额: $ 3.35万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=752205
• 关键词: AC; DC; Power; Electronic; Converters

AC-DC power electronic converters are the main interface between the AC utility grid and any electrical equipment or product as it is rare for the grid voltage to directly match the requirements of any load; they can also be used to extract electrical energy generated from wind turbines. These converters convert AC voltage into DC voltage that can then be directly fed to a load or to a voltage bus from which other power converters that power other loads can be fed from. They can be supplied by a single-phase input such as a wall outlet for low-power applications or a three-phase input for high-power applications. Given the widespread use of electrical products and loads today, AC-DC converters are a must in any modern industrial society. Any improvement in their cost or efficiency would benefit society as money would be saved, the need for new conventional, environmentally unfriendly fossil fuel power plants would be reduced, and energy obtained from renewable, green energy sources would be used more efficiently. The field of power electronics is currently undergoing a revolution due to the development of wide bandgap semiconductor devices made from silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) material. These devices perform better than traditional silicon (Si) devices and it is expected that they will eventually replace Si devices in commercial power electronic converters as they become more widely available, as more and more power electronic designers gain confidence in their reliability, and as their cost matches those of Si devices. Power converter designs, however, have not yet taken full advantage of the superior performance of these new devices and thus most designs are still based on Si technology. For the most part, designers are simply taking traditional Si converter designs and implementing them with the newer wide bandgap technology; they have not been taking full advantage of the benefits of the new technology. In the proposed project, new AC-DC power converter topologies with SiC and GaN technology will be investigated and developed, and the performance of older, well-established topologies will be reassessed, in light of recent advances in power semiconductor technology. The novelty will be in the originality and improvement in cost and/or efficiency of the proposed alternatives to existing converters. The research will be lead to better performing AC-DC converters that are smaller, lighter, and more efficient than presently existing AC-DC converters. The results of the research will result in energy and cost savings, improvements in renewable energy technology that will facilitate the implementation of this technology in society, and less reliance and stress on an already over-taxed utility grid. The proposed research will also help strengthen Canadian capabilities in the area of power electronics and train highly qualified personnel to develop multidisciplinary electrical engineering skills for the 21st century.

交直流电力电子变换器是交流电网与任何电气设备或产品之间的主要接口，因为电网电压很难直接匹配任何负载的要求；它们也可以用来提取风力涡轮机产生的电能。这些转换器将交流电压转换成直流电压，然后可以直接馈送到负载或电压总线，其他电源转换器可以从该电压总线馈送其他负载。它们可以由单相输入供电，如用于低功率应用的墙壁插座或用于大功率应用的三相输入。鉴于今天电气产品和负载的广泛使用，AC-DC转换器在任何现代工业社会都是必须的。成本或效率的任何改善都将使社会受益，因为这样可以节省资金，减少对新的传统的、对环境不友好的化石燃料发电厂的需求，并且从可再生的、绿色的能源中获得的能源将得到更有效的利用。由于碳化硅（SiC）和氮化镓（GaN）材料制成的宽带隙半导体器件的发展，目前电力电子领域正在经历一场革命。这些器件比传统的硅（Si）器件性能更好，随着它们变得更广泛使用，随着越来越多的电力电子设计人员对其可靠性有信心，并且随着它们的成本与硅器件相匹配，预计它们最终将取代商业电力电子转换器中的硅器件。然而，功率转换器的设计还没有充分利用这些新器件的优越性能，因此大多数设计仍然基于硅技术。在大多数情况下，设计人员只是简单地采用传统的Si转换器设计并使用较新的宽带隙技术实现它们；他们没有充分利用新技术的好处。在拟议的项目中，将研究和开发具有SiC和GaN技术的新型AC-DC功率转换器拓扑，并根据功率半导体技术的最新进展重新评估旧的，成熟的拓扑的性能。新颖性将在于现有转换器的替代方案的原创性和成本和/或效率的改进。这项研究将导致性能更好的交流-直流转换器，比目前现有的交流-直流转换器更小，更轻，更高效。研究结果将导致能源和成本的节约，可再生能源技术的改进，这将促进这项技术在社会上的实施，并减少对已经负担过重的公用事业电网的依赖和压力。拟议的研究还将有助于加强加拿大在电力电子领域的能力，并为21世纪培养高素质的人才，发展多学科电气工程技能。