Course syllabus for Applied power electronics: Devices and implementations

The course syllabus contains changes
See changes

Course syllabus adopted 2021-02-10 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameTillämpad kraftelektronik: komponenter och implementering
  • CodeENM071
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPEPO
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyElectrical Engineering
  • DepartmentELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 21130
  • Open for exchange studentsYes

Credit distribution

0121 Examination 7.5 c
Grading: TH		 7.5 c
  • 02 Jun 2022 am J
  • 08 Okt 2021 pm J
  • 25 Aug 2022 pm J

In programmes

Examiner

Go to coursepage (Opens in new tab)

Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

Power electronic converters
In addition to this course the student should fulfill the course specific prerequisites for MPEPO in the Admission Regulations.

Aim

The aim of this course is that the students should develop and demonstrate an enhanced knowledge regarding power electronic components as well as the design and applications of power electronic converters. In the area of components it is particularly the semiconductors for power electronics that are studied. The aim is to highlight their properties from a power electronic perspective and how these affect the converter design.

The converter design includes design of driver circuits of various quality and for various applications, design of snubber circuits for improved EMI and loss operation, thermal calculations and considerations and converter topologies utilizing soft-switching and resonant circuits. The aim is to study other aspects of the converter design, besides the selection of the component ratings of the main circuit, which needs to be considered in order to obtain a well functioning converter design.

In the field of applications different applications of power electronic equipment connected to the grid are studied, such as HVDC (both classical and modern VSC-based), FACTS equipment, power factor correctors, UPS and power conditioners.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

• Describe turn-on and turn-off transients of a MOSFET using equivalent circuit models.
• Design drive circuits for MOSFET and IGBT transistors, for driving and condition monitoring.
• Describe how turn-on, turn-off and overvoltage snubber circuits are designed and how they operate.
• Calculate component values for turn-on, turn-off and overvoltage snubbers based on circuit requirements.
• Analyze the oscillations over a switching component in a real circuit and design a snubber circuit that reduces the oscillations. The improvements are also to be implemented on a real circuit.
• Theoretically describe the function of a control circuit for a dc/dc-converter. Design and practically put a control circuit into operation and determine suitable component values in order to obtain voltage regulation, current mode control and over-current protection.
• Calculate the current and voltage wave-forms in load-resonant (SLR), zero-voltage swtiching (ZVS) and zero-current switching(ZCS) resonant converters with the knowledge of initial current and voltage values.
• Describe important aspects regarding power quality/EMI/EMC such as requirements, propagation, generation, effect and mitigation, as well as how to conduct measurements in such an environment.
• Perform simplified calculations on how inductively and capacitively coupled disturbances propagate from source to victim.
• Choose suitable filters for DC/DC-converters, grid connections and EMI-mitigation.
• Describe how a diode, thyristor, GTO, BJT, IGBT, IGCT and a MOSFET are designed and how they operate.
• Describe and conduct base calculations on different PFC circuit as well as isolated dc/dc converters such as the DAB and the current doubler.
• Conduct thermal calculations on passive and active components.
• Make base life-time calculations based on temperature profiles.
• Describe inverters for drive systems and grid connected applications. Conduct loss calculations and describe the impact on the dc-link capacitor as well as surrounding components.
• Describe the usage of energy storage systems (e.g. batteries and supercapacitors) in power electronic applications.
• From an engineering point of view, be able to identity and select suitable components so that the demands are satisfied for the analyzed converter with respect to e.g. size and losses.
• Model power electronic circuits using Spice based program and simulate and analyze impact on circuit performance and electrical stress on circuit components.

Content

Lectures and tutorials:
  • Gate drivers: for bipolar transistors, MOSFETs, thyristors and GTOs, unipolar and bipolar driving, control circuits.
  • Snubber circuits: turn-on, turn-off and over-voltage snubbers. Lossless and RCD snubbers. Snubber design for various applications.
  • Soft-switching converters: Series and parallel resonant converters, zero-switching current and voltage converters (ZVS, ZCS).
  • Control of DC/DC-converters: Usage and design of a control IC, current and voltage protection, voltage and current control.
  • Power electronic apparatus connected to the grid: Power factor corrector circuits & power conditioners.
  • Harmonics: origin, impact and filtering of harmonics. EMI considerations.
  • Construction and behavior of semiconductor devices: diodes, thyrsitors, GTOs, MOSFETs, BJTs, IGBTs and MOSFETs.
  • Various PFC circuits and insulated dc/dc converters, such as the DAB and the current doubler.
  • Thermal calculations on passive and active components, Cooling systems.
  • Life-time modelling based on thermal profiles
  • Motor drives and grid connected inverters - loss determination and impact on dc-link capacitor as well as on the rest of the dc-system.
Project (compulsory):
A compulsory project work including experimental work on the design of a power electronic converter. as well as circuit design, modelling and simulation. The measured, calculated and simulated results of the project shall be presented in a written report.

Organisation

The course comprises of ca 19 lectures (2 x 45 min), 13 tutorials (2 x 45 min), one practical laboratory project work (28 h).

Literature

Mohan, Undeland, Robbins, Power Electronics, Converters, applications and design, Wiley 2003, 3rd ed.

Examination including compulsory elements

Written examination and approved project work including written report. Grades: Fail, 3, 4 or 5. 80 % of the grading comes from the exam and 20% from the practical project. The written exam must be passed in order to be approved on the course.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.

The course syllabus contains changes

  • Changes to examination:
    • 2021-09-21: Grade raising Changed to grade raising by GRULG