Stabilization of Power Supply for the Shinkansen with Power Converters

In the Tokaido Shinkansen, rolling stock types have been unified as an inverter controlled type, which was introduced after Series 300. As a result, the input power factor of the main converter used in the rolling stock has been controlled to 1. In accordance with this change, the role of reactive compensation of static var compensators (SVC) has shifted from the load power of trains to the power consumed by the reactance in the electrical power system. Therefore, when taking into consideration the aging of power converters, it is time to reassess their layout and the configuration for the future of the Tokaido Shinkansen. We reassessed the equipment configuration, capacity, and layout of power converters and verified the impact on the stabilization of the power supply when introducing self‐commutated power converters.     

现代轨道交通与交流传动互馈试验台

回顾了轨道交通电牵引传动的发展历程,说明了电力电子技术对牵引传动的重要影响.介绍了一种新型的"双逆变器-电机"能量互馈式交流传动试验系统.文中讨论了该试验系统的构成与运行原理,分析了其高效节能、控制灵活等优点,并给出了部分实验结果.最后提出了一种直线电机传动的互馈试验台的建设方案.     

A new variable‐speed,constant‐frequency,stand‐alone power generating system

Variable‐speed and constant‐frequency power generating systems using rotor excitation of the wound‐rotor induction machines have been used for such applications as variable‐speed pump generators and flywheel energy storage systems. However, the stand‐alone generating system of this type has only been reported and has not yet been practically used. On the other hand, the stand‐alone generating systems using diesel engines have been widely used for emergency supplies of plants or isolated islands and so on. However, in these cases, synchronous generators are usually used. If the output frequency is to be kept constant, there is the need to control the speed of the engine using a high‐performance governor. Even then, the output frequency changes in the case of a sudden load change. This paper proposes a new stand‐alone power generating system. In this system, the constant‐frequency output voltage can be obtained even though rotor speed changes by several percent. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 146(2): 75–85, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10191     

Development of gate drive circuit for next‐generation ultrahigh‐speed switching devices

This paper describes a gate drive circuit which is capable of driving an ultrahigh‐speed switching device and of suppressing high‐frequency noise caused by its high dV/dt ratio of 104 V/μs order. SiC (silicon carbide)‐based power semiconductor devices are very promising as next‐generation ultrahigh‐speed switching devices. However, one of their application problems is how to drive them with less high‐frequency noise without sacrificing their ultrahigh‐speed operation capability. The paper proposes a new gate drive circuit specialized for such devices, which charges and discharges the input capacitance of the device by using an impulse voltage generated by inductors. This ultrahigh‐speed switching operation causes a high‐frequency common‐mode noise current in the gate drive circuit, which penetrates an isolated power‐supply transformer due to the parasitic capacitance between the primary and the secondary windings. In order to overcome this secondary problem, a toroidal multicore transformer is also proposed in the paper in order to reduce the parasitic capacitance drastically. By applying the former technique, the turn‐on time and turn‐off time of the power device were shortened by 50% and by 20%, compared with a conventional push‐pull gate drive circuit, respectively. In addition, the latter technique allows reduction of the peak common‐mode noise current to 25%, compared with the use of a conventional standard utility power‐supply transformer. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 176(4): 52–60, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21124     

Converter Using SiC‐MOSFET for Ultra‐High‐Speed Elevator

In this study, we developed a converter based on SiC (Silicon Carbide)‐MOSFET for use in ultra‐high‐speed elevators, with a reduced volume of 15% compared with the conventional converter. We succeeded in reducing the power loss of the converter unit by 56% compared to the conventional converter in one round trip under high temperature condition. Recently, because of their useful characteristics, wide‐gap semiconductors, such as SiC and GaN, have gained considerable attention for use in various applications in the power electronics systems. Therefore, we studied the use of a converter in elevator systems based on SiC‐MOSFET. We used a 1200 V/800 A SiC‐MOSFET module for the converter unit. We developed a prototype of the converter unit and the control panel by applying for the SiC‐MOSFET module for an ultra‐high‐speed elevator. As a result, the setting area of the control panel (main part) becomes less than 43% of the conventional panel. We tried to demonstrate the working of a 68‐kW elevator by applying the prototype control panel. Because of the characteristic of the switching loss of SiC‐MOSFET, the power loss of the converter unit has almost no dependence on temperature. An energy‐saving effect of approximately 17% was achieved in the total elevator system in one round trip under high‐temperature condition.     

Permanent magnet synchronous motors using primarily reluctance torque

Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) are widely used in many applications as high‐performance variable‐speed drives. In traction drives, such as those used for electric vehicles or for the compressor drives of air conditioners, a wide constant‐power speed range and high‐efficiency operation are desired. The aim of this paper is to develop a high‐performance PMSM that offers high‐efficiency performance in the high‐speed region, including light‐load conditions, as well as a wide constant‐power speed range. Simulations show that the proposed interior PMSM, which produces chiefly reluctance torque and in which the permanent magnet flux assists torque production, is capable of meeting the above performance requirements. A prototype PMSM is designed in accordance with this new design concept and several drive tests are carried out. The saliency ratio of the prototype IPMSM is about 5, and, as a result, reluctance torque is the principal torque component, representing more than 70% of total torque. The prototype IPMSM can attain a constant‐power speed range of up to 5:1 with high‐efficiency drive in the high‐speed, constant‐power region. The proposed IPMSM is suitable for variable‐speed drives requiring high‐speed, constant‐power operation. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 134(3): 60–68, 2001     

Maximum output power control system of variable‐speed small wind generators

This paper proposes a maximum output power control system for variable‐speed small wind generators. The proposed control system adjusts the rotational speed of a single‐phase AC generator to the optimum rotational speed, which yields the maximum output power according to the natural wind speed. Since this adjustment is performed on‐line in order to adapt to variations in wind speed, the rotational speed of the single‐phase AC generator is adjusted by controlling the generated current flowing in an FET (field‐effect transistor) device, serving as the generated power brake, which is linked directly to the single‐phase AC generator. In order to reduce heat loss from the FET device, a PWM (pulse width modulation) controller is introduced. An experimental model of the proposed control system was built and tested, and the validity and practicality of the proposed control system were confirmed by the experimental results. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(1): 9–17, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20692     

Speed estimation method for ultrahigh‐speed induction machine utilizing rotor slot harmonics appearing in neutral point voltage

Recently the development of power electronics technology has made it possible to realize ultrahigh‐speed drives, and ultrahigh‐speed drives promise to be useful in various applications. This research aims at sensorless control drive of an induction machine in the ultrahigh‐speed region by utilizing rotor slot harmonics, which occur due to the structure of the induction machine. In this paper, we focus on the slot harmonics which appear in the neutral point voltage, and we propose a method for detection of the slot harmonics voltage and a speed estimation method utilizing the FFT with limitation of the detection band. The effectiveness of the proposed method and the possibility of speed sensorless control with the proposed method are illustrated through speed estimation results obtained both offline and online. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 176(3): 59–68, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21120     

Dynamics of PFC power converters subject to time‐delayed feedback control

Power factor correction converters are power electronics circuits used as AC‐DC power supplies. These systems are well known to exhibit nonlinear phenomena such as subharmonic oscillations and chaotic regimes. These undesirable behaviors increase the THD and therefore can jeopardize enormously the system performances. In this paper, time delay feedback control is applied to stabilize a two‐stage power factor correction AC‐DC converter when it exhibits these instabilities under traditional controllers. This control technique introduces many advantages to the most and widely used average current mode control through widening the stability domain of the system. By appropriately selecting the time delay feedback gain and the time delay period, the undesirable subharmonic components are eliminated, whereas the desired ones remain unchanged. A harmonic balance approach is used for studying the dynamics of the system under the new control scheme and to obtain the stabilization domain. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Low‐Speed,High‐Torque Motor Drive Using a Modular Multilevel Cascade Converter Based on Triple‐Star Bridge Cells (MMCC‐TSBC)

This paper provides an experiment‐based discussion on a modular multilevel cascade converter based on triple‐star bridge cells (MMCC‐TSBC) for a low‐speed high‐torque motor drive. The TSBC is a direct ac‐to‐ac power converter capable of achieving bidirectional power flow as well as drawing and feeding three‐phase sinusoidal input (supply‐side) and output (motor‐side) currents with any power factor at both sides. This paper discusses active dc‐capacitor‐voltage control applied to the low‐speed, high‐torque motor drive. A specially designed downscaled system combining a 320‐V, 38‐Hz, 6‐pole, 15‐kW induction motor with a 400‐V, 15‐kW TSBC is constructed and tested to confirm the validity of the motor drive. Experimental waveforms obtained from the downscaled system confirm stable operation with the rated load torque across a range from a standstill to the rated speed, including satisfactory start‐up performance.     

A new current control method for energy‐efficient/wide‐speed‐range drive of permanent magnet synchronous motor

This paper proposes a new current control method for energy‐efficient and/or wide‐speed‐range drive of salient‐pole permanent magnet synchronous motors. The proposed method is distinguished from conventional ones by the following features. (1) The original command is a signed current norm. (2) The exact d‐axis and q‐axis current commands that perform energy‐efficient and/or wide‐speed‐range drive are analytically and simply determined from the singed current norm command. (3) For speed control mode, the system turns out to be nonlinear, but its stability can be guaranteed based on Popov's stability theorem. (4) It can be applied for a mode similar to torque control. (5) Current limitation can be carried out accurately but very simply. Concrete analytical d‐axis and q‐axis current commands are presented, which satisfy exactly one of three optimum current control codes such as maximum torque, maximum power factor, and voltage limitation. A design method for PI speed controller that guarantees system stability is also presented. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 161(3): 66–77, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20305     

Adaptive hysteresis band current control‐based power conditioner to improve the power quality of V/V railway supply system

With rapid development of high‐speed and high‐power railway systems, power quality problems such as negative sequence current, reactive power, and harmonic current caused by electric locomotives become more and more critical. Recently, a new low‐cost railway power conditioner has been proposed to solve the power quality problems in traction substations based on a half bridge converter. In this paper, an adaptive hysteresis current controller is presented to limit switching frequency variations in the half bridge converter‐based railway power compensators (HB‐RPC). Adaptive hysteresis current controller instantaneously calculates the hysteresis bandwidth which results in smoother and more constant switching frequency. In order to maintain the normal operation of HB‐RPC, compensation reference currents are extracted by considering DC‐link stabilization energy, DC‐link capacitors voltage balance, and instantaneous power theory. Also, a dynamic reference design approach has been used to regulate the DC‐link capacitor voltage. Finally, the simulation results in MATLAB\Simulink software have effectively verified the proposed control method.     

Flywheel‐based AC cache power for stand‐alone power systems

Stand‐alone power systems (SPS) are attracting more and more interest with the global move toward distributed generation (DG). Without strong support from the power grid, they suffer from poor load‐following capability at varying loads. A cache power that has fast response and high energy efficiency is demanded. As a solution, this paper provides an AC power technology based on flywheel energy storage. Different from the other DC generation technologies such as electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) or superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), the proposed flywheel system generates AC power and therefore can be directly connected to the power line without any power semiconductors. Furthermore, the proposed technology realizes power in/out automatically in response to the frequency/voltage variation of the power line. Therefore, this system has the advantages of robustness, simplicity, and fast response. Besides, by getting rid of power semiconductors, the proposed flywheel system has a good overload capability as high as two to three times. We prove by simulation and experimentation the validity and effectiveness of the proposed technology to provide cache power for stand‐alone power systems. © 2013 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

220,000‐r/min, 2‐kW PM motor drive for turbocharger

This paper describes an ultrahigh‐speed permanent‐magnet synchronous motor drive, which is embedded in a turbocharger of an internal‐combustion engine. The electrical drive makes it possible to enhance output power of the turbocharger in a motoring mode and to retrieve combustion energy from exhaust gas in a regenerating mode. Computer simulations and experimental tests are conducted to examine various operation characteristics of a prototype. The experimental data demonstrate 220,000‐r/min operation at 2.2‐kW inverter output power, in good agreement with the simulation results and proving the feasibility of the proposed system. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 161(3): 31–40, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20408     

Control schemes and transient characteristics of a high‐speed phase shifter for power flow control in power transmission systems

In recent years, attention has been paid to the concept of FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission Systems), along with significant progress in power electronic technology. A high‐speed phase shifter, which is one of the most promising devices in the FACTS concept, has the potential of power flow control and/or voltage stability in power transmission systems. In this paper, theory and experiment reveal that conventional high‐speed phase shifters may cause power swings in a transient state as a result of coupling between instantaneous active and reactive power control loops. Thus, two new control schemes for a high‐speed phase shifter are proposed to achieve both power flow control and power swing damping. The second proposed control scheme is based on the control scheme of an already proposed series active filter. Simulated and experimental results agree well with analytical results, not only in steady states but also in transient states. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 128(2): 74–82, 1999     

高速动车组牵引变流器热容量

在分析高速动车组牵引变流器冷却系统结构及工作原理的基础上,利用ANSYS软件构建了冷却系统中空气—水热交换器的有限元仿真模型,对热交换器温度场及空气流场进行了仿真研究;为了验证更高运行速度下高速动车组牵引变流器冷却系统能否满足散热需求,设计并搭建了牵引变流器热容量测试平台,利用该测试平台在武广客运专线对CRH3型高速动车组牵引变流器温升参数及冷却系统通风量进行了动态测试研究。试验结果表明在高速运行工况下,牵引变流器冷却系统进风量将减小,但CRH3型高速动车组牵引变流器冷却系统仍然能满足动车组以330km/h高速持续运行的要求,试验测试结果验证了仿真结果的正确性。在国内首次对高速动车组牵引变流器热容量进行了实车测试研究,为新一代时速380km/h高速动车组的设计奠定了一定的理论和实践基础。     

A new generalized high‐frequency voltage injection method and mirror‐phase estimation method for sensorless drive of salient‐pole PMSMSs

This paper proposes a new generalized high‐frequency voltage injection method for sensorless drive of salient‐pole permanent‐magnet synchronous motors. The injected high‐frequency voltage has a unique spatially‐rotating elliptical shape, with the amplitudes of both the major and minor axes varying with the motor speed, and can be designed by selecting a design parameter. The high‐frequency current caused by the injected voltage, which has information on the rotor phase to be estimated, is speed‐independent, that is, is not affected by the motor speed at all. Consequently, the rotor phase can be estimated in a wide speed range from zero to the rated speed. By selection of the design parameter, the properties of the high‐frequency current can be adjusted appropriately to the associated motor‐drive system consisting of a motor and an inverter. As a versatile phase estimation method for estimating rotor phase using the high‐frequency current, the “mirror‐phase estimation method” is reconstructed and reproposed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 168(3): 67–82, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20803     

交流调速系统及相应电力电子技术的发展综述

综述了交流电机调速系统的发展及电力电子技术对其发展的推动作用,并论述了交流调速对电力电子技术的要求及反作用,对两者的发展进行了展望。     

轨道交通电气化专辑主编评述

轨道交通列车牵引系统控制性能与供电质量提升是电气化铁路发展永恒的主题,轨道交通电气化是实现铁路性能提升、多拉快跑、绿色高效的必由之路,以电力电子、电机驱动、现代控制与信息技术为核心的科学技术推动了轨道交通电气化的快速发展。近年来,随着新型电力电子器件、先进控制技术、智能检测与健康诊断理论的发展,功率器件应用及其可靠性评估、牵引变流控制与调制技术、高性能牵引电机驱动技术、新型供电与牵引传动拓扑等成为当前的研究热点,并受到了学术界及工业界的持续关注。《电源学报》特别推出轨道交通电气化专辑,以期推进轨道交通牵引变流驱动控制及其应用的难点和热点问题探讨。     

A New Self‐Tuning Power‐Factor‐Based Vector Control Method for Efficient Wide‐Speed Range Sensorless Drive of Permanent‐Magnet Synchronous Motors

As a simple sensorless vector control method for permanent‐magnet synchronous motor (PMSMs), a power‐factor‐based vector control (PFVC) method has been reported. This method has the attractive characteristics that three functions such as current limit, efficiency and sensorless drive can be performed simultaneously in a simple manner. However, it was developed under the assumption that there is no practical voltage limit, and that it cannot be applied over the rated speed. This paper proposes a new PFVC method that allows PMSMs to be driven even over the rated speed under application of a practical voltage limit, while keeping the desired characteristics. The effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed method are verified through extensive experiments.