SBIR Phase I: Universal Power Converter for AC-DC, DC-DC, DC-AC and AC-AC Applications

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，它将成为整个电力转换行业的一站式电力转换解决方案。所提出的功率转换器可以在单级中直接转换AC-DC、DC-DC、DC-AC和AC-AC的电能，而不需要中间的AC或DC环节。该电源转换器可以以固定频率、变频或直流电压作为输入，并可在输出端提供另一固定频率、变频或直流电压。可升压或降压，功率可在该功率转换器中来回流动。在一个硬件中拥有所有的电力转换功能，只需更改软件，就可以满足几乎所有的电力转换应用，如飞机/航天器/船舶、混合动力/电动汽车、可再生能源、自动化工业和几乎所有其他电力转换需求。市场研究机构估计，到2020年，电力转换器市场的价值将达到650亿美元，这种技术有可能成为大规模生产的商品，实际上可以在所有行业大幅降低电力转换器的成本。因此，这一一站式功率转换器解决方案的商业影响将是显著的。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将推出一种单级功率变换的多功能功率转换器。通过采用双向四象限宽带隙开关、输入和输出智能滤波器、先进的脉宽调制和整流方案，将实现更高效、更坚固、占用空间更小、重量更轻的功率转换器，它将以更快的速度将功率从输入转换到输出，降低损耗，同时不需要任何庞大的DC或AC连接。通过在给定时间操作较少数量的半导体开关，功率转换器的损耗和尺寸将减小。通过智能滤波器，将在输入和输出端实现高质量的电能质量。这种功率转换器的多功能使用将在系统层面上减少飞机/航天器/船舶中的机载功率转换器数量，从而在燃油经济性方面提供多倍的好处。损失越小，功率消耗就越低，体积和重量越小，有效载荷越小，从而提高燃油经济性。通过减少车载电源转换器的数量，车载重量将进一步减轻。因此，总体燃油经济性将得到显著改善。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that it will serve as a one-stop power conversion solution across the power conversion industries. The proposed Power Converter can convert power directly from AC-DC, DC-DC, DC-AC and AC-AC in a single stage without an interim AC or DC link. The said power converter can take fixed frequency, variable frequency or DC voltage as input and can deliver another fixed frequency, variable frequency or DC voltage at the output. The voltage can be stepped up or down and the power can flow back and forth in the said power converter. Having all the power conversion features in one hardware can serve almost all power conversion applications such as aircraft/spacecraft/ship, hybrid/electrical vehicle, renewable energy, automation industry and almost all other power conversion needs by a mere change of software. Such technology has a potential to become a mass-produced commodity and in effect the cost of the power converter can be dramatically reduced across all industries, Market research organization has estimated that by 2020, the power converter market will be valued at $65 billion. Therefore, the commercial impact of this one stop power converter solution will be significant.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will introduce a multifunctional power converter with single stage power conversion. By employing bi-directional 4-quadrant wide band gap switch, intelligent filters at input and output, advanced pulse width modulation and commutation scheme a more efficient, robust, smaller foot print, low-weight power converter will be realized which will convert power from input to output much faster with reduced loss and at the same time it will not need any bulky DC or AC link in between. By operating less number of semiconductor switches at a given time the loss and size of the power converter will be reduced. By having intelligent filter, high power quality at the input and output will be achieved. The multifunctional use of this power converter will cut down the number of on board power converters in aircraft/spacecraft/ship in a system level which will provide multi-fold benefit in terms of fuel economy. By having less loss, the power consumption will be reduced and by having smaller size and weight the payload will be less, which will improve the fuel economy. By reducing number of on board power converters the on-board weight will be reduced further. Therefore, overall fuel economy will be significantly improved.