Power electronics and automation

group leader

prof. Dinko Vukadinović, PhD

associates

prof. Mateo Bašić, PhD
prof. Slavko Vujević, PhD
assist. prof. Ivan Grgić, PhD

Research topics

  1. Power electronics converters in renewable energy systems
  2. Control systems with induction machines
  3. Applications of artificial intelligence in control

Description of laboratory and equipment

The Power Electronics Research Laboratory is equipped with the following main laboratory equipment:

  • dSpace DS1103 controller board
  • dSpace DS1104 controller boards
  • dSpace MicroLabBox system
  • power analyzer Fluke Norma 4000
  • power analyzer R&S HMC8015
  • Programmable DC power supply Chroma 62050H-600S
  • Tektronix MDO 3014 oscilloscope
  • Siglent SDS1104X-E oscilloscopes
  • Siglent SDS5034X oscilloscope
  • LEM IT 60-S current sensors
  • LEM CV 3-500 voltage sensors
  • Fluke 80i-110s current clamps
  • Four-quadrant converters (Siemens)
  • Torque transducers Magtrol TMB 308 and Magtrol TM 308
  • Programmable DC power supply SL50-30 (Magna-Power Electronics)
  • 300 V battery system
  • 3.39 kW load resistors
  • Testo865 thermal imaging camera
  • electronic loads iTECH IT8615
  • Testec TT-CC 770 current clamps
  • LARA 100 power box
  • Hyundai N700 inverter rated at 5.5 kW

Contacts with academic and other institutions

  • VNU University of Engineering and Technology, Faculty of Information Technology (VNU-UET), Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Thái Nguyên University (TNU), Vietnam
  • Duy Tân University, Institute for Research and Development, Da Nang, Vietnam
  • École Supérieure des Sciences Appliquées d’Alger, Algeria
  • University of Cádiz, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Algeciras, Department for electrical technology, Spain
  • Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Vienna, Austria

 

project title

Electricity Production in Urban Areas using Solar and Wind Power (ELSOWIN)

Description of research in a 5-year term

During this period, an electricity generation system will be investigated, which includes a wind turbine (WT) with a self-excited induction generator (SEIG) and a switched reluctance generator, a photovoltaic (PV) system, batteries, and supercapacitors as power sources. The proposed system will be investigated both in the standalone and grid-tied mode. Research can be divided into the following guidelines:

  1. Research in the field of induction machine control and switched reluctance generator. The application of the model predictive control in an induction machine’s indirect field-oriented control system will be investigated. The part of the control system based on the model predictive control will consider machine magnetic saturation, machine iron losses, and additional losses. The individual justification of considering the mentioned effects and their influence on the machine efficiency, the average switching frequency of the converter, and the total harmonic distortion factor of the phase currents will be analyzed. A voltage control system of a switching reluctance generator will also be investigated, taking into account mutual inductances of adjacent windings, iron losses and remanent magnetic flux.
  2. Research in the field of PV systems. The research will be conducted on a quasi-Z-source inverter powered by a PV system. The focus of the research will be on finding the maximum power point of the PV system at different temperatures and irradiances, as well as under partial shading conditions.
  3. Research in the field of battery system modeling. An algorithm will be developed to track the state of charge (SOC) of the batteries during system operation. In addition, an algorithm for the estimation of the battery system state of health (SOH) will be developed.
  4. Power flow management in the analyzed electricity generation system. Strategies for managing the power flow of the entire system will be developed taking into account the available power from the PV and WT systems, and also the SOC and SOH of the battery system. A new optimization algorithm with two distinct fuzzy-logic optimizations will be developed: one for maximizing the wind energy and the other for minimizing the SCIG losses. The measurement of wind speed, WT torque, SEIG electrical power, and PV current will be avoided by utilizing the same input signal (i.e., qZSI’s input power) for all the optimization algorithms, thus increasing the system’s reliability and reducing the cost of implementation.
  5. Research in the field of the quasi-Z-source inverter and Split-Source inverter. A laboratory setup of the quasi-Z-source bidirectional inverter will be designed, and a laboratory setup of the Split-Source inverter will be designed.