Efficiency and power density improvement of grid-connected hybrid renewable energy systems utilizing high frequency-based power converters

High efficiency of power converters placed between renewable energy sources and the utility grid is required to maximize the utilization of these sources. Power quality is another aspect that requires large passive elements (inductors, capacitors) to be placed between these sources and the grid. The main objective is to develop higher-level high frequency-based power converter system (HFPCS) that optimizes the use of hybrid renewable power injected into the power grid. The HFPCS provides high efficiency, reduced size of passive components, higher levels of power density realization, lower harmonic distortion, higher reliability, and lower cost. The dynamic modeling for each part in this system is developed, simulated and tested. The steady-state performance of the grid-connected hybrid power system with battery storage is analyzed. Various types of simulations were performed and a number of algorithms were developed and tested to verify the effectiveness of the power conversion topologies. A modified hysteresis-control strategy for the rectifier and the battery charging/discharging system was developed and implemented. A voltage oriented control (VOC) scheme was developed to control the energy injected into the grid. The developed HFPCS was compared experimentally with other currently available power converters. The developed HFPCS was employed inside a microgrid system infrastructure, connecting it to the power grid to verify its power transfer capabilities and grid connectivity. Grid connectivity tests verified these power transfer capabilities of the developed converter in addition to its ability of serving the load in a shared manner. In order to investigate the performance of the developed system, an experimental setup for the HF-based hybrid generation system was constructed. We designed a board containing a digital signal processor chip on which the developed control system was embedded. The board was fabricated and experimentally tested. The system's high precision requirements were verified. Each component of the system was built and tested separately, and then the whole system was connected and tested. The simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the developed converter system for grid-connected hybrid renewable energy systems as well as for hybrid electric vehicles and other industrial applications.

Relative basicities of free base porphyrins; understanding the role of macrocyclic distortion

Porphyrins have been the center of numerous investigations in different areas of chemistry, geochemistry, and the life sciences. In nature the conformation of the porphyrin macrocycle varies, depending on the function of its apoenzyme. It is believed that the conformation of the porphyrin ring is necessary for the enzyme to achieve its function and modify its reactivity. It is important to understand how the conformation of the porphyrin ring will influence its properties. ^ In synthetic porphyrins particular conformations and ring deformations can be achieved by peripheral substitution, metallation, core substitution, and core protonation among other alterations of the macrocycle. The macrocyclic distortions will affect the ring current, the ability of pyrroles to intramolecularly hydrogen bond and the relative basicity of each of the porphyrins. To understand these effects different theoretical models are used. The ground state structure of each of 19 free base porphyrins is determined using molecular mechanics (MM+) and semiempirical methods (PM3). The energetics of deformation of the macrocyclic core is calculated by carrying out single point energy calculations for the conformation achieved by each synthetic compound. Enthalpies of solution and enthalpies of protonation of 10 porphyrins with varying degrees of macrocyclic deformation and varying electron withdrawing groups in the periphery are determined using solution calorimetry. Using Hess's Law, the relative basicity of each of the different free base porphyrins is calculated. NMR results are described, including the determination of free energies of activation of ring tautomerization and hydrogen bonding for several compounds. It was found that in the absence of electronic effects, the greater macrocyclic deformation, the greater the basicity of the porphyrins. This basicity is attenuated by the presence of electron withdrawing groups and ability to of the macrocycle to intramolecularly hydrogen bond. ^

Relative basicities of free base porphyrins : understanding the role of macrocyclic distortion

Porphyrins have been the center of numerous investigations in different areas of chemistry, geochemistry, and the life sciences. In nature the conformation of the porphyrin macrocycle varies, depending on the function of its apoenzyme. It is believed that the conformation of the porphyrin ring is necessary for the enzyme to achieve its function and modify its reactivity. It is important to understand how the conformation of the porphyrin ring will influence its properties. In synthetic porphyrins particular conformations and ring deformations can be achieved by peripheral substitution, metallation, core substitution, and core protonation among other alterations of the macrocycle. The macrocyclic distortions will affect the ring current, the ability of pyrroles to intramolecularly hydrogen bond and the relative basicity of each of the porphyrins. To understand these effects different theoretical models are used. The ground state structure of each of 19 free base porphyrins is determined using molecular mechanics (MM+) and semiempirical methods (PM3). The energetics of deformation of the macrocyclic core is calculated by carrying out single point energy calculations for the conformation achieved by each synthetic compound. Enthalpies of solution and enthalpies of protonation of 10 porphyrins with varying degrees of macrocyclic deformation and varying electron withdrawing groups in the periphery are determined using solution calorimetry. Using Hess's Law, the relative basicity of each of the different free base porphyrins is calculated. NMR results are described, including the determination of free energies of activation of ring tautomerization and hydrogen bonding for several compounds. It was found that in the absence of electronic effects, the greater macrocyclic deformation, the greater the basicity of the porphyrins. This basicity is attenuated by the presence of electron withdrawing groups and ability to of the macrocycle to intramolecularly hydrogen bond.