A power factor correction with two‐input current mode using voltage doubler rectifier

For rectifier circuits with a small capacity, such as those for consumer electronics and appliances, capacitor input‐type rectifier circuits are generally used. Consequently, various harmonics generated within the power system become a serious problem. Various studies of this effect have been reported. However, most of these employ switching devices, such as FETs and the like. The absence of switching devices makes systems more tolerant to overload, and brings low radio noise benefits. We propose a power factor correction scheme using a voltage doubler rectifier without switching devices. In this method, the input current is divided into two periods, where one period charges the small input capacitor and the other charges the large output capacitor. By dividing the input current into two different modes, the current conduction period can be widened and harmonics can largely be canceled between the two modes. Hence, the harmonic characteristics can be significantly improved, whereby the lower‐order harmonics, such as the fifth and seventh orders, are much reduced. The results are confirmed by theoretical and experimental implementations. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 137(3): 52–58, 2001     

Proposal of voltage transient sag compensator with controlled gradational voltage

This paper presents a new concept for a voltage transient sag compensator and the experimental result of its 400‐V‐class compensator. This compensator is composed of the series connection of some inverter units with gradational output voltages. Because each output voltage is different by 2ⁿ times, an approximate sinusoidal voltage is generated by controlling operation of each inverter and compensates voltage sag of the power line. The compensator can be directly installed in a power line without an insertion transformer and a large filter, and thus it is expected to be a compact and economical system. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 154(3): 65–72, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20289     

Control of fault current limiter by series‐connected voltage sag compensator

This paper describes a control scheme of fault current limiter by series voltage injection. The current limiter proposed in this study is based on the use of a SMES‐based series‐connected voltage sag compensator, which has been previously studied by the authors, for controlling fault current caused by short circuit on the load side. An algorithm for fast discriminating between power system voltage sag and load‐side short circuit is proposed for the equipment to correctly function either for voltage sag compensation or for fault current limiting purpose. Furthermore, a new control strategy based on output voltage phase control of the series compensator is proposed for current limiting with good waveform characteristics and low active power absorption. Experimental results demonstrated the validity of the proposed strategy. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 155(2): 64–72, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20128     

Configuration of a voltage sag compensator by use of a micro‐SMES and experimental results

A voltage sag compensating using a micro‐SMES is presented. Based on previous works, we have carried out experiments for voltage sag compensation on the laboratory‐built system in order to validate the proposed minimum energy injection voltage sag compensation algorithm. To improve the compensating performance of the system, two‐degree‐of‐freedom voltage control is proposed. In this paper, the circuit configuration and feedback voltage control system of the compensator are described and the experimental results are reported. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 148(2): 84–92, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10267     

Flywheel size design considerations and experimental verification using a 50‐kW system for voltage sag compensator with flywheel induction motor

Flywheel energy storage systems can be used as an uninterrupted power supply system because they are environmentally friendly and have high durability. The use of a simple voltage sag compensator with a low‐speed heavy flywheel and a low‐cost squirrel‐cage induction motor/generator is proposed. First, the ability of the proposed system to maintain the load voltage at 100% when the grid is experiencing voltage sag is validated experimentally. Next, design guidelines for the flywheel stored energy are discussed. Experimental verification of a 50‐kW‐class system is carried out, and the results show good agreement with the developed design guidelines. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 181(1): 36–44, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.21252     

A PWM-controlled rectifier step up/down output voltage with a high power factor

It is desirable that the rectifier that is an ac-to-dc converter, have the characteristics of fast response and the wide range of the output voltage control, and the sinusoidal source current waveform. In this paper, a step up/down output voltage PWM-controlled rectifier is proposed. The features of the proposed rectifier are as follows. (1) The calculation of pulsewidth is based on the geometrical technique and the source current can be inphase with the source voltage. (2) The output voltage is controlled from about zero to more than the maximum value of the source voltage. The aforementioned features are clarified by simulation and the steady-state characteristics are discussed. Further, these results are verified in experiment using the microprocessor-based control system.     

A pulsed power supply with sag compensation using controlled gradational voltage

A pulsed power supply with sag compensation using controlled gradational voltage to increase the flatness of output waveforms has been developed. The sag compensation circuit consists of compensation units connected in series. Each compensation unit consists of capacitances, diodes, and semiconductor switches. The capacitances of each unit are charged with different voltages by 2ⁿ(V₀,2V₀,4V₀,…). The compensation voltage, which has 2ⁿ?1 steps, is generated by switching the semiconductor switches of each unit in a binary sequence. Using this method, compensation voltage waveforms up to 6.2 kV with 31 steps can be obtained with five compensation units. The sag compensation circuit has been adapted to a direct switch‐type pulsed power supply, which generates 7 kV pulsed voltage with a pulse width of 700µs, thus realizing sag compensation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 150(4): 54–63, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20017     

Development of voltage sag compensator and UPS using a flywheel induction motor and an engine generator

Flywheel energy storage systems are attracting attention as uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) from the viewpoint of environmental friendliness and high durability performance. Using a low‐speed, heavy flywheel and a low‐cost squirrel‐cage induction motor/generator, two applications are proposed: (1) an 11‐kW voltage sag compensator using a capacitor self‐excited induction generator without semiconductor converters and (2) a UPS composed of the flywheel system and an engine generator. Based on experimental results, an ideal voltage sag compensator and UPS are realized by the low‐technology flywheel system. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 167(1): 74– 81, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20784     

Load voltage compensation using series–shunt power converter

This paper presents a method of amplitude control and unbalance compensation of the load voltage using a series–shunt power converter. The series power converter works to obtain a constant balanced sinusoidal load voltage. The shunt converter regulates the DC link voltage and compensates for the reactive current of the source within the rated current of the converter. To design the required capacity for the series–shunt power converter, the relation between the converter capacity and the load power factor at constant compensation voltage is introduced. The required capacity of the series–shunt power converter is reduced by more than 50% compared with that of a conventional series power converter. The effectiveness of the proposed load voltage compensation technique using the series–shunt power converter is verified by experiments. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 136(3): 39–48, 2001     

具有谐波抑制及功率因数校正的并联补偿电路

介绍在交流侧并联补偿电源的方法消除整流二极管加电容滤波电源电路中的电流谐波,提高电源交流侧的功率因数。文中用电压提升电路作为补偿电源,在补偿电源中用脉宽调制(PWM)和电流闭环的方法实现电流跟踪,使流入补偿电源的电流按给定的波形变化,从而使流入组合电源的总电流恢复成正弦波形,同时也使电源的功率因数近似为1。     

An ultralow‐capacitance bidirectional punch‐through transient voltage suppressor

A bidirectional punch‐through transient voltage suppressor based on a five‐layer N⁺⁺P⁺PP⁺N⁺⁺ structure is developed. By realizing the device using a 12‐finger layout, transmission line pulse measurements indicate that the device has met the IEC61000‐4‐2 standard with electrostatic discharge robustness of ±8 kV and has an ultralow capacitance value of less than 0.17 pF. Under 3.3 V forward or reverse bias, the device exhibits a leakage current of less than 2 nA. These excellent figures suggest that the developed structure is well suited for actual system‐level protection applications. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

新型静止无功补偿器稳定系统电压的研究

介绍一种基于PWM技术的新型静止无功补偿器。研究该补偿器在稳定系统电压方面的作用,分别对它在小扰动和大扰动情况下的工作状况进行分析,证明在工作范围内新型静止无功补偿器对系统电压有很大的支撑作用,可有效稳定系统电压。该补偿器具有结构简单、控制方便、响应速度快等特点。采用单机无穷大系统对补偿器进行开环和闭环控制仿真研究,验证该补偿器能维持装设点的电压并提高其电压稳定性。     

Dual voltage converter with improved power factor and enabling voltage control

In this paper, a novel version of the dual voltage converter is presented with improved voltage regulation and enabling a wide range of voltage control by using self-turn-off devices (power transistors) instead of diodes. Further, this system operates with unity displacement factor. We have obtained the analytical expressions of this circuit. The results are, however, quite complex. We could calculate values of the voltage and current waveforms by using a computer. The calculated values are essentially in agreement with the experimental values. Experimentally, an ideal load characteristic with null voltage regulation was obtained by the conduction angle control for power transistors. Further, a wide range of voltage from 220 V to 39 V was obtained. A disadvantage for this system is the requirement for snubber circuits with a larger value of capacitor in order to suppress the surge voltages at turn-off periods.     

一种恒压输出的高功率因数开关电源设计

基于具有PFC功能的SA7527控制芯片,设计了一款恒压输出的高功率因数开关电源。在阐述系统工作原理的基础上,重点对单端反激拓扑结构中兼具储能电感作用的高频变压器这一核心部件进行了设计。实验研究结果表明该开关电源在输入电压宽范围变化的情况下,可实现稳定的电压输出,最高功率因数可达0.95。     

Current waveform control of a high‐power‐factor rectifier circuit for harmonic suppression of voltage and current in a distribution system

This paper presents the input current waveform control of the rectifier circuit which realizes simultaneously the high input power factor and the harmonics suppression of the receiving‐end voltage and the source current under the distorted receiving‐end voltage. The proposed input current waveform includes the harmonic components which are in phase with the receiving‐end voltage harmonics. The control parameter in the proposed waveform is designed by examining the characteristics of both the harmonic suppression effect in the distribution system and the input power factor of the rectifier circuit. The effectiveness of the proposed current waveform has been confirmed experimentally. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 140(4): 62–71, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10046     

A constant DC voltage control‐based strategy for an active power quality compensator in electrified railways with improved response

This paper proposes a constant DC voltage control‐based strategy for an active power quality compensator (APQC) used in electrified railways. The proposed strategy consists of only an I‐PD‐based constant DC capacitor voltage control with an added moving‐average type low‐pass filter (LPF). The added LPF improves the response of the constant DC capacitor voltage control for the APQC. Thus we offer the simplest control method for the APQC used in electrified railways with improved response. The basic principle of the proposed control strategy is discussed in detail, and then confirmed by digital computer simulation using the PSIM software. A prototype experimental model is constructed and tested. Experimental results demonstrate that balanced source currents with unity power factor are obtained on the primary side of the Scott transformer in the traction substation systems, improving the response by one‐fourth as compared to that of the previously proposed control method. © 2012 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A new single‐phase multilevel converter topology with reduced power electronic devices,voltage rating on switches,and power losses

In this paper, a new extended single‐phase structure for multilevel converter is presented which consists of several bidirectional and unidirectional switches along with dc voltage sources. To generate all possible levels at output voltage waveform, 2 methods are presented for determination of the amplitudes of dc voltage sources. The proposed structure is compared with traditional cascade H‐bridge multilevel converter and other recently proposed structures in terms of the number of power electronic components, voltage rating on switches, and power losses. Based on the comparison results, it is demonstrated that the proposed structure needs minimum number of IGBTs, gate drivers, and anti‐parallel diodes. Moreover, the voltage rating on bidirectional and unidirectional switches in the proposed structure is less than other similar topologies. Also, power losses analysis on the proposed topology is investigated. It is shown that the power loss of proposed topology is less than H‐bridge multilevel converter topology. The number of on‐state switches in the current path of proposed topology is much lower than other topologies which lead to the reduction of voltage drop on the switches and power losses. Both experimental and simulation works are provided to verify the performance of the presented structure.     

A novel slip‐power recovery system using a PWM boost rectifier

A novel compact slip‐power recovery system having sinusoidal rotor currents is proposed. In this system, a PWM boost rectifier is used as a substitute for a diode rectifier and a boost chopper in a conventional compact slip‐power recovery system. The conventional compact system has the disadvantage that it has a rectangular rotor current, and a motor torque with large ripple, because a diode rectifier remains in the system. Also, the rotor current cannot reach the current reference value near the synchronous speed, because the voltage drop caused by the resistance of the semiconductor devices and so on cannot be neglected when the rotor voltage becomes smaller near the synchronous speed. The use of the system proposed in this paper has solved these problems. The effectiveness of the proposed system was verified through computer simulations and experiments. As a result, the proposed system brings the sinusoidal rotor current, the small torque ripple, and wide controllable range near the synchronous speed. © 2002 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 139(2): 52–60, 2002; DOI 10.1002/eej.10012     

Series resonant high‐voltage DC–DC converter with reduced component count

This paper proposes a novel zero‐current‐switching series resonant high‐voltage DC–DC converter with reduced component count. The series resonant inverter in the proposed topology has two power switches (insulated‐gate bipolar transistors, IGBTs), two resonant capacitors, and only one high‐voltage transformer (HVT) with center‐tapped primary windings. The power switches are connected in the form of a half‐bridge network. The leakage inductances of the transformer's primary windings together with the resonant capacitors form two series resonant circuits. The series resonant circuits are fed alternately by operating the power switches with interleaved half switching cycle. The secondary winding of the HVT is connected to a bridge rectifier circuit to rectify the secondary voltage. The converter operates in the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) and its output voltage is regulated by pulse frequency modulation. Therefore, all the power switches turn on and off at the zero‐current switching condition. The main features of the proposed converter are its lower core loss, lower cost, and smaller size compared to previously proposed double series resonant high voltage DC–DC converters. The experimental results of a 130‐W prototype of the proposed converter are presented. The results confirm the excellent operation and performance of the converter. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Changes in capacitance and dielectric dissipation factor of water‐treed XLPE with applied voltage

The capacitance C and dielectric dissipation factor tan δ of a water‐treed XLPE sheet sample have been measured under the application of 100 V or 1 kV at 60 Hz. The values of C and tan δ at 1 kV are much larger than those at 100 V. The value of tan δ gradually decreases with the length of exposure to a voltage of 1 kV. On the other hand, C is almost constant versus the exposure time. The results have been discussed on the basis of a model in which filling of channels interconnecting voids by water is taken into account. It has been found that the increase of C and tan δ is caused by the growth of the water‐filled channel region on the application of voltage. The gradual decrease in tan δ with the exposure time is explained by the change in the conductivity of the water‐filled channel region, as a result of which the relaxation time shifts to higher frequencies. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 144(1): 12–20, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10160