Performance Comparison of Circuits for Pole‐Mounted STATCOM Using SiC Devices

The recent years have seen an increasing trend in the cumulative installed capacity of distributed generators. As a result, voltage management may become difficult in existing power distribution systems in the future. A STATCOM (STAtic synchronous COMpensator) is a promising option for solving this problem because it can control reactive power rapidly and continuously. For a distribution system, STATCOM needs to be pole‐mounted to realize its low cost. However, a transformer for a STATCOM is large and heavy, and hence it is difficult to install a STATCOM on a distribution pole. We adopt a transformerless STATCOM to reduce STATCOM size and use SiC devices with low‐loss performance to obtain a more compact and efficient STATCOM. There are a large number of circuits available for a STATCOM, and there has been considerable research on performance comparisons among these circuits. However, these comparisons were drawn under different conditions, including switching frequency and level number for the circuits. In addition, these comparisons do not include the use of SiC devices. We made an equitable comparison for a 100 kVa pole‐mounted STATCOM using SiC devices. We discuss the performance and characteristics of each circuit in terms of efficiency and volume.     

Complementary characterization methods for Lithium-ion Polymer secondary battery modeling

This paper deals with the electrical modeling of Lithium-ion Polymer battery, from complementary characterization tests. The first aim of this work is to understand the electrical behavior of this battery through experimentations in the same environmental conditions as the final application’s ones. The second goal of this work is to identify battery models with different precision levels and to implement them in specific models of the considered aircraft electrical network. In this paper, two equivalent electrical circuit models are presented: a quasi-static model, which is functional and sufficient for the electrical energy management in the aircraft; a dynamic model, which is behavioral and necessary for the analysis of the embedded network quality. The identification of their parameters is carried out with adapted characterization tests, such as chronopotentiometry at constant current and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy at different temperatures. The complementarity of these tests is particularly underlined in this paper because it is useful for the parameter identification. The results from model simulation and from experimentation are compared through a mission profile and are analyzed. Eventually, this paper presents complete experimental data for a commercial 4.8 Ah Lithium-ion Polymer battery including the temperature influence.     

Root cause analysis of process fault conditions on an industrial concentrator circuit by use of causality maps and extreme learning machines

Model-based fault diagnosis tends to be too expensive or time-consuming to apply in the mineral processing industries, owing to the complexity and variability of operations. In contrast, data-based methods are inexpensive, but do not exploit the availability of first principle knowledge of plant operations. In this investigation, the use of process causality maps in conjunction with data-based fault diagnosis is considered as a hybrid methodology that can leverage the advantages of both approaches. Extreme learning machine algorithms are used to implement the data-based component of the approach. These algorithms can be deployed rapidly on large-scale systems and have the ability to deal with highly nonlinear systems. Two different variants are considered, viz. one used in combination with principal component analysis, as well as one with a bagging algorithm for fault diagnosis and applied to an industrial concentrator circuit in South Africa. The use of process causality maps led to significantly more effective fault diagnosis, while the use of extreme learning machines in combination with principal component analysis likewise allowed markedly better fault detection and diagnosis. In contrast, fault diagnosis with the bagging approach did not perform particularly well, owing to the high degree of correlation between the variables, which made it difficult to isolate individual causal variables.     

Sol-gel processed high-k aluminum oxide dielectric films for fully solution-processed low-voltage thin-film transistors

High-k oxide dielectric films have attracted intense interest for thin-film transistors (TFTs). However, high-quality oxide dielectrics were traditionally prepared by vacuum routes. Here, amorphous high-k alumina (Al₂O₃) thin films were prepared by the simple sol-gel spin-coating and post-annealing process. The microstructure and dielectric properties of Al₂O₃ dielectric films were systematically investigated. All the Al₂O₃ thin films annealed at 300–600?°C are in amorphous state with ultrasmooth surface (RMS ~ 0.2?nm) and high transparency (above 95%) in the visible range. The leakage current of Al₂O₃ films gradually decreases with the increase of annealing temperature. Al₂O₃ thin films annealed at 600?°C showed the low leakage current density down to 3.9?×?10^?7 A/cm² at 3?MV/cm. With the increase of annealing temperature, the capacitance first decreases then increases to 101.1?nF/cm² (at 600?°C). The obtained k values of Al₂O₃ films are up to 8.2. The achieved dielectric properties of Al₂O₃ thin films are highly comparable with that by vapor and solution methods. Moreover, the fully solution-processed InZnO TFTs with Al₂O₃ dielectric layer exhibit high mobility of 7.23?cm² V^?1 s^?1 at the low operating voltage of 3?V, which is much superior to that on SiO₂ dielectrics with mobility of 1.22?cm²/V^?1 s^?1 at the operating voltage of 40?V. These results demonstrate that solution-processed Al₂O₃ thin films are promising for low-power and high-performance oxide devices.     

State of charge estimation method based on the extended Kalman filter algorithm with consideration of time-varying battery parameters

In developing battery management systems, estimating state-of-charge (SOC) is important yet challenging. Compared with traditional SOC estimation methods (eg, the ampere-hour integration method), extended Kalman filter (EKF) algorithm does not depend on the initial value of SOC and has no accumulated error, which is suitable for the actual working condition of electric vehicles. EKF is a model-based algorithm; the accuracy of SOC estimated by this algorithm was greatly influenced by the accuracy of battery model and model parameters. The parameters of battery change with many factors and exhibit strong nonlinearity and time variance. Typical EKF algorithm approximates battery as a linear, time-invariant system; however, this approach introduces estimation errors. To minimize such errors, previous studies have focused on improving the accuracy of identifying battery parameters. Although studies on battery model with time-varying parameters have been carried out, few have studied the combination of time-varying battery parameters and EKF algorithm. A SOC estimation method that combines time-varying battery parameters with EKF algorithm is proposed to improve the accuracy of SOC estimation. Battery parameter data were obtained experimentally under different temperatures, SOC levels, and discharge rates. The results of parameter identification are made into a data table, and the battery parameters in the EKF system matrix are updated by looking up the data in the table. Simulation and experimental results shown that, average error of SOC estimated by the proposed algorithm is 2.39% under 0.9 C constant current discharge and 2.4% under 1.3 C, which is 1.91% and 2.35% lower than that of EKF algorithm with fixed battery parameters. Under intermittent discharge with constant current (1.1 C) and capacity (10%), the average error of SOC estimated by the proposed algorithm is 1.4%, which is 0.3% lower than that of EKF algorithm with fixed battery parameters. The average error of SOC estimated by the proposed algorithm under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) is 1.6%, which is 0.2% lower than that of EKF algorithm with fixed battery parameters. Relative to the EKF algorithm with fixed battery parameters, the proposed EFK algorithm with time-varying battery parameters yields higher accuracy.     

Aluminiumhydroxychlorid-Flockungsmittel aus dem Kupferrecycling aus Abfällen der Leiterplattenproduktion

The production of printed circuit boards using the printing process produces considerable quantities of copper-containing etching solutions. The copper is recovered from the ammoniacal etching baths by cementation with aluminum waste at ≥ 99 % Cu yield rates. Instead of the usual landfilling, the aluminum-containing solution is processed into a coagulant which can be used in the treatment of mining tailings and wastewater. The aluminum oxychloride produced in this way was characterized in detail and its effectiveness as a flocculant for a finely dispersed system (kaolin suspension) was investigated and confirmed in a jar test.     

Equivalent circuit representation of a vortex-induced vibration-based energy harvester using a semi-empirical lumped parameter approach

Small-scale wind energy harvesting from vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) has been introduced in recent years as a renewable power source for microelectronics and wireless sensors. Previous studies have focused on modeling and optimizing the VIV-based piezoelectric energy harvester (VIVPEH) structures and simplified the complicated interface circuits as pure resistors with an alternating current (AC) output. In practice, an AC output is required to be transformed into a direct current (DC) followed by further regulations before being used for real applications. Incorporating the rectification and regulation, traditional theoretical and numerical models will become extremely cumbersome and even impossible. To address this issue, this work proposes an equivalent circuit model (ECM) for a typical VIVPEH. The Scanlan-Ehsan aerodynamic force model is employed to describe the fluid-structure interaction. Wind tunnel experiments are carried out to validate the derived model. The performances of the VIVPEH with AC and DC interface circuits are subsequently analyzed and compared to understand the influences of these circuits on the operational wind speed bandwidth, power output, vibration amplitude, and electrical damping.     

0.2 m高分辨率数字聚焦双侧向测井仪发射电路设计

针对0.2m高分辨率数字聚焦双侧向测井仪器的理论条件和工程需要,设计了发射电路,包括信号源与功率控制、基于电流源输出的模式1(35 Hz)和模式3(140 Hz)信号发射、基于电压源输出的模式2(280 Hz)信号发射、辅助监督等单元电路,确保三种模式同时工作、互不干扰以及辅助聚焦,三个模式的信号发射功率能够自动控制。室内测试与现场应用均表明,所设计的发射电路适用于0.2 m高分辨率数字聚焦双侧向测井仪器,测量值准确可靠,能够为油田薄层识别、饱和度求取以及水淹层判别提供准确可靠的高分辨率电阻率测井资料。     

Implementation of pseudo-linear feedback shift register-based physical unclonable functions on silicon and sufficient Challenge–Response pair acquisition using Built-In Self-Test before shipping

We implemented pseudo-linear feedback shift-register-based physical unclonable functions (PL-PUFs) on silicon and analyzed their performances in terms of reproducibility, uniqueness, and resistance to machine-learning attacks. A PL-PUF is compact and high-throughput PUF, slightly oversensitive to voltage fluctuations. To overcome this drawback, we developed a capturing signal generation circuit that was tolerant to the reproducibility degradation caused by supply voltage changes. We also implemented a Built-In Self-Test (BIST) circuit with an irreversible destruction mechanism to enable exceedingly fast challenge–response pairs (CPRs) for the PUFs before shipping. After the CPRs were evaluated, the BIST circuit became invulnerable to exploitation by attackers.     

质子交换膜燃料电池电化学阻抗谱弛豫时间分布研究

电化学阻抗谱技术能够获取燃料电池不同频率阻抗，但对阻抗的构成缺乏进一步解析，难以直接构建精准的等效电路模型进行阻抗拟合分析，而弛豫时间分布（Distribution of relaxation time，DRT）方法不需要定义特定的等效电路模型，即可解析燃料电池不同时间常数的极化过程。针对实验室用质子交换膜燃料电池，在不同运行条件下对其进行阻抗谱测量，并通过Kramers-Kronig关系验证所记录阻抗数据的质量。基于DRT分析方法，系统地解释阻抗谱中各频段阻抗对应的物理或化学意义。研究表明，该电池的电化学阻抗谱主要由3个不同时间常数频段的极化阻抗构成，通过与运行条件相关性的系统分析，确定低频段阻抗为氧气在多孔介质中的传输阻碍，中频段阻抗为与氧还原反应有关的电荷传递阻碍，中高频段阻抗为阴极催化剂层中的质子传输阻碍。为进一步确定DRT分析结果的合理性，采用等效电路模型拟合测量的阻抗数据，辨识的电阻元件参数变化趋势与DRT分析结果一致。