Engineering Research Equipment Grant: Power Electronics Research Equipment

这项设备赠款提案旨在支持托莱多大学的电力电子研究。电力电子学是一个快速发展的电气工程专业领域，它研究能够在高功率水平下有效处理电能的电子电路。将支持的两个研究项目是适用于太空应用(如NASA的空间站)的高功率因数整流器和大功率开关转换器。整流器将公用事业配电系统的交流电转换为直流电，供计算机、变速电机和其他电子设备使用。然而，简单的整流器会产生相对较大的电流来处理功率。这项研究寻求先进的电路设计，在相同的功率下吸引更低的交流线路电流。NASA的空间站最初将使用100千瓦的配电系统。这将需要电子转换器来提高或降低直流电压电平，或者将直流转换为交流电力。托莱多大学的研究人员正在寻找可以在恶劣的外层空间环境中长时间无人值守的电子转换器。所要求的设备满足了这些研究项目的专门测量和测试需求。

This equipment grant proposal is intended to support power electronics research at the University of Toledo. Power electronics is a rapidly- growing electrical-engineering specialty area which deals with electronic circuits capable of efficiently processing electrical energy at high power levels. Two research projects to be supported are the high-power-factor rectifier and high-power switching converters suitable for application in space (such as NASA's space station). Rectifiers convert AC power from the utility distribution system into DC power for use by computers, variable-speed motors and other electronic equipment. However, simple rectifiers draw relatively large currents for the amount of power being processed. This research seeks advanced circuit designs which draw lower AC line currents for equal amounts of power. NASA's space station will initially use a 100 kilowatt power distribution system. This will require electronic converters to raise or lower DC voltage levels, or convert DC to AC power. The researchers at the University of Toledo are looking for electronic converters which can perform unattended for long periods of time in the hostile environment of outer-space. The equipment requested meets the specialized measurement and testing needs of these research projects.