The single-phase brushless doubly-fed machine as a generator for wind turbines

This paper proposes a single-phase variant of the Brushless Doubly-Fed Machine, the Single-Phase BDFM, SPB. Like the BDFM it is a variable speed generator which requires a converter rated at only a fraction of the machine rating, using structure with no brushes. Unlike the BDFM, most of its power is delivered directly into a single-phase grid connection. As such it is a potential replacement for PM generators in small-ish wind turbines, potentially with a much lower cost. In this paper we give details of its operation, with reference to results from the first prototype SPB. We also suggest how it may be controlled, again with experimental results. © 2011 IEEE.

Dual gate photo-thin film transistor with high photoconductive gain for high reliability, and low noise flat panel transparent imager

In this presentation, we report excellent electrical and optical characteristics of a dual gate photo thin film transistor (TFT) with bi-layer oxide channel, which was designed to provide virgin threshold voltage (V T) control, improve the negative bias illumination temperature stress (NBITS) reliability, and offer high photoconductive gain. In order to address the photo-sensitivity of phototransistor for the incoming light, top transparent InZnO (IZO) gate was employed, which enables the independent gate control of dual gate photo-TFT without having any degradation of its photosensitivity. Considering optimum initial V T and NBITS reliability for the device operation, the top gate bias was judiciously chosen. In addition, the speed and noise performance of the photo-TFT is competitive with silicon photo-transistors, and more importantly, its superiority lies in optical transparency. © 2011 IEEE.

A fast 600-V Tandem PiN Schottky (TPS) rectifier with ultra-low on-state voltage

The Tandem PiN Schottky (TPS) rectifier features lowly-doped p-layers in both active and termination regions, and is applied in 600-V rating for the first time. In the active region, the Schottky contact is in series connection with a transparent p-layer, leading to a superior forward performance than the conventional diodes. In addition, due to the benefit of moderate hole injection from the p-layer, the TPS offers a better trade-off between the on-state voltage and the switching speed. The active p-layer also helps to stabilise the Schottky contact, and hence the electrical data distributions are more concentrated. Regarding the floating p-layer in the termination region, its purpose is to reduce the peak electric fields, and the TPS demonstrates a high breakdown voltage with a compact termination width, less than 70% of the state-of-the-art devices on the market. Experimental results have shown that the 600-V TPS rectifier has an ultra-low on-state voltage of 0.98 V at 250 A/cm 2, a fast turn-off time of 75 ns by the standard RG1 test (I F=0.5A, I R=1A, and I RR=0.25A) and a breakdown voltage over 720 V. It is noteworthy that the p-layers in the active and termination regions can be formed at no extra cost for the use of self-alignment process. © 2012 IEEE.

Machine Vision-Based Infrastructure As-Built Documentation Using Edge Points

The existing machine vision-based 3D reconstruction software programs provide a promising low-cost and in some cases automatic solution for infrastructure as-built documentation. However in several steps of the reconstruction process, they only rely on detecting and matching corner-like features in multiple views of a scene. Therefore, in infrastructure scenes which include uniform materials and poorly textured surfaces, these programs fail with high probabilities due to lack of feature points. Moreover, except few programs that generate dense 3D models through significantly time-consuming algorithms, most of them only provide a sparse reconstruction which does not necessarily include required points such as corners or edges; hence these points have to be manually matched across different views that could make the process considerably laborious. To address these limitations, this paper presents a video-based as-built documentation method that automatically builds detailed 3D maps of a scene by aligning edge points between video frames. Compared to corner-like features, edge points are far more plentiful even in untextured scenes and often carry important semantic associations. The method has been tested for poorly textured infrastructure scenes and the results indicate that a combination of edge and corner-like features would allow dealing with a broader range of scenes.

Design and testing of a 250 kW medium-speed Brushless DFIG

This paper presents the design and testing of a 250 kW medium-speed Brushless Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (Brushless DFIG), and its associated power electronics and control systems. The experimental tests confirm the design, and show the system's steady-state and dynamic performance. The medium-speed Brushless DFIG in combination with a simplified two-stage gearbox promises a low-cost low-maintenance and reliable drive train for wind turbine applications.

Large-eddy simulations and measurements of a small-scale high-speed coflowing jet

Measurements and predictions are made of a short-cowl coflowing jet with a bypass ratio of 8:1. The Reynolds number is 300,000, and the inlet Mach numbers are representative of aeroengine conditions. The low Reynolds number of the measurements makes the case well suited to the assessment of large-eddy-simulation-related strategies. The nozzle concentricity is carefully controlled to deal with the emerging metastability issues of jets with coflow. Measurements of mean quantities and turbulence statistics are made using both laser Doppler anemometry and particle image velocimetry. The simulations are completed on 6× 106, 12× 106, and 50 × 106 cell meshes. To overcome near-wall modeling problems, a hybrid large-eddy-simulation-Reynolds-averaged-Navier-Stokesrelated method is used. The near-wall Reynolds-averaged-Navier-Stokes layer is helpful in preventing nonphysical separation from the nozzle wall.Copyright © 2010 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.

Comparison of les to LDA and PIV measurements of a small scale high speed coflowing jet

Measurements and predictions are made of a short cowl co-flowing jet with a bypass ratio of 8:1. The Reynolds number for computations and measurements are matched at 300,000 and the Mach numbers representative of realistic jet conditions with core and co flow velocities of 240m/s and 216m/s respectively. The low Reynolds number of the measurements makes the case well suited to the assessment of large eddy resolving computational strategies. Also, the nozzle concentricity was carefully controlled to deal with the emerging metastability issues of jets with coflow. Measurements of mean quantities and turbulence statistics are made using both two dimensional coincident LDA and PIV systems. The computational simulations are completed on a modest 12×106 mesh. The simulation is now being run on a 50×106 mesh using hybrid RANSNLES (Numerical Large Eddy Simulation). Close to the nozzle wall a k-l RANS model is used. For an axisymmetric jet, comparison is made between simulations which use NLES, RANSNLES and also a simple imposed velocity profile where the nozzle is not modeled. The use of a near wall RANS model is shown to be beneficial. When compared with the measurements the NLES results are encouraging. Copyright © 2008 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.

The investigation of sweeping speed on the magnetization of a 2 inches diameter YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin film with the circular-type magnetic flux pump

A circular-type magnetic flux pump (CTMFP) device was built to study the flux dynamics on a 2-inch-diameter YBCO thin film. This CTMFP is composed of two CTMFP coils, with each CTMFP coil containing concentric three-phase windings and a dc winding. We connected the three-phase windings to the output of a commercial inverter. By changing the output frequency of the inverter, the sweeping speed of the circular-shaped travelling magnetic wave can be changed. The connection of the phase coils follows the forward consequence, so that the circular-shaped travelling magnetic wave travels inward to the center. The output frequency f was changed from f = 0.01 to 1000.0 Hz. The YBCO sample was sandwiched between the two CTMFP coils to experience the circular-shaped travelling magnetic wave. It was found that the increase of the flux density in the center of the film is independent of the sweeping frequency. In high frequency f = 1000.0Hz, even if the waveform had changed a lot, the increment is still the same as in low frequencies. © 2012 IEEE.

Low-order modelling of the response of ducted flames in annular geometries

The adoption of lean premixed prevaporised combustion systems can reduce NOx emissions from gas turbines, but unfortunately also increases their susceptibility to thermoacoustic instabilities. Initially, acoustic waves can produce heat release fluctuations by a variety of mechanisms, often by perturbing the equivalence ratio. If correctly phased, heat release fluctuations can subsequently generate more acoustic waves, which at high amplitude can result in significant structural damage to the combustor. The prediction of this phenomenon is of great industrial interest. In previous work, we have coupled a physics based, kinematic model of the flame with a network model to provide the planar acoustic response necessary to close the feedback loop and predict the onset and amplitude of thermoacoustic instabilities in a lab-scale, axisymmetric single burner combustor. The advantage of a time domain approach is that the modal interaction, the influence of harmonics, and flame saturation can be investigated. This paper extends this approach to more realistic, annular geometries, where both planar and circumferential modes must be considered. In lean premixed prevaporised combustors, fluctuations in equivalence ratio have been shown to be a dominant cause of unsteady combustion. These can occur, for example, due to velocity perturbations in the premix ducts, which can lead to equivalence ratio fluctuations at the fuel injectors, which are subsequently convected downstream to the flame surfaces. Here, they can perturb the heat release by locally altering the flame speed, enthalpy of combustion, and, indirectly, the flame surface area. In many gas turbine designs, particularly aeroengines, the geometries are composed of a ring of premix ducts linking a plenum and an annular combustor. The most unstable modes are often circumferential modes. The network model is used to characterise the flow response of the geometry to heat fluctuations at an appropriate location, such as the fuel injectors. The heat release at each flame holder is determined in the time domain using the kinematic flame model derived, as a function of the flow perturbations in the premix duct. This approach is demonstrated for an annular ring of burners on a in a simple geometry. The approach is then extended to an industrial type gas turbine combustor, and used to predict the limit cycle amplitudes. Copyright © 2012 by ASME.

Sensorless commutation of a two-phase linear machine for marine renewable power generation

A sensorless scheme is presented for a two-phase permanent-magnet linear machine targeted for use in marine wave-power generation. This is a field where system reliability is a key concern. The scheme is able to extract the effective inductance and back-emf of the machine's phases simultaneously from measurements of the current ripple present on the power electronic converter. These measurements can then be used to estimate position. An enhancement to the scheme in the presence of spatially-varying mutual inductance between phases allows more accurate and reliable tracking from indutance-based measurements than would otherwise be expected. This scheme is able to operate at any speed including, critically, when stationary. Experimental results show promise for the scheme, although some work to reduce the level of noise would be desirable. © 2013 IEEE.

Scalable, low-energy hybrid photonic space switch

A scalable monolithically integrated photonic space switch is proposed which uses a combination of Mach-Zehnder modulators and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) for improved crosstalk performance and reduced switch loss. This architecture enables the design of high-capacity, high-speed, large-port count, low-energy switches. Extremely low crosstalk of better than -50 dB can be achieved using a 2 × 2 dilated hybrid switch module. A 'building block' approach is applied to make large port count optical switches possible. Detailed physical layer multiwavelength simulations are used to investigate the viability of a 64 × 64 port switch. Optical signal degradation is estimated as a function of switch size and waveguide induced crosstalk. A comparison between hybrid and SOA switching fabrics highlights the power-efficient, high-performance nature of the hybrid switch design, which consumes less than one-third of the energy of an equivalent SOA-based switch. The significantly reduced impairments resulting from this switch design enable scaling of the port count, compared to conventional SOA-based switches. © 1983-2012 IEEE.

Design and testing of a medium-speed 250 kW Brushless DFIG

This paper presents the design and testing of a 250 kW medium-speed Brushless Doubly-Fed Generator (Brushless DFIG), and its associated power electronics and control systems. The experimental tests confirm the design, and show the system's steady-state and dynamic performance. The medium-speed Brushless DFIG in combination with a simplified twostage gearbox promises a low-cost low-maintenance and reliable drive train for wind turbine applications.

Electromagnetic-thermal design optimization of the brushless doubly fed induction generator

In view of its special features, the brushless doubly fed induction generator (BDFIG) shows high potentials to be employed as a variable-speed drive or wind generator. However, the machine suffers from low efficiency and power factor and also high level of noise and vibration due to spatial harmonics. These harmonics arise mainly from rotor winding configuration, slotting effects, and saturation. In this paper, analytical equations are derived for spatial harmonics and their effects on leakage flux, additional loss, noise, and vibration. Using the derived equations and an electromagnetic-thermal model, a simple design procedure is presented, while the design variables are selected based on sensitivity analyses. A multiobjective optimization method using an imperialist competitive algorithm as the solver is established to maximize efficiency, power factor, and power-to-weight ratio, as well as to reduce rotor spatial harmonic distortion and voltage regulation simultaneously. Several constraints on dimensions, magnetic flux densities, temperatures, vibration level, and converter voltage and rating are imposed to ensure feasibility of the designed machine. The results show a significant improvement in the objective function. Finally, the analytical results of the optimized structure are validated using finite-element method and are compared to the experimental results of the D180 frame size prototype BDFIG. © 1982-2012 IEEE.

Performance analysis and testing of a 250 kW medium-speed brushless doubly-fed induction generator

This study presents the performance analysis and testing of a 250 kW medium-speed brushless doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), and its associated power electronics and control systems. The experimental tests confirm the design, and showthe system's steady-state and dynamic performance and grid low-voltage ride- through capability. The medium-speed brushless DFIG in combination with a simplified two-stage gearbox promises a low-cost low-maintenance and reliable drivetrain for wind turbine applications. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2013.

800V lateral IGBT in bulk Si for low power compact SMPS applications

An 800V rated lateral IGBT for high frequency, low-cost off-line applications has been developed. The LIGBT features a new method of adjusting the bipolar gain, based on a floating N+ stripe in front of the P+ anode/drain region. The floating N+ layer enhances the carrier recombination at the anode/drain side of the drift region resulting in a very significant decrease in the turn-off speed and substantially lower overall losses. Switching speeds as low as 140ns at 25oC and 300ns at 125oC have been achieved with corresponding equivalent Rdson at 125oC below 90mω.cm2. A fully operational AC-DC converter using a controller with an integrated LIGBT+depletion mode MOSFET chip has been designed and qualified in plastic SOP8 packages and used in 5W, 65kHz SMPS applications. The device is fabricated in 0.6μm bulk silicon CMOS technology without any additional masking steps. © 2013 IEEE.