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1 | Introduction to Medium-and High-Power Switching Converters |
1.1 MARKET FOR MEDIUM- AND HIGH-POWER CONVERTERS
1.1.1 TECHNOLOGY STATUS
Power electronic converters have been one of the fastest-growing market sectors in the electronics industry over the last 40 years [1]. Power electronic devices are at the heart of many modern industrial and consumer applications and account for $18 billion per year in direct sales, with an estimated $570 billion through sales of other products that include power electronic modules.
The main application areas for power electronics are in power quality and protection, switch-mode power conversion, batteries, and portable power sources, automotive electronics, solar energy technology, communications power, and motion control (classification similar to a Darnell Group market report). The technology behind most products within these markets is on the saturation side of the performanceās S-curve. The industryās efforts are concentrated in optimization of production and cost efficiency. The Organization of Electronics Manufacturers (OEM) has shown a clear trend for the power supply sector to stay away from custom-designed products and to optimize the standard, modified standard, and modular configurable products.
In power electronics, technology has developed under the pressure of the industryās needs, and there are many excellent papers written both by industry and university peers over more than 30 years. In synchronous with the technology status, current academic efforts target organization of information, book and tutorial writing, as well as improving the educational means. Moreover, there are new emerging regions of the world, and an ever-increasing number of new students in engineering in new places. This moves the focus of large corporations from achieving the technological leadership toward global market supremacy by production volume, diversity, and global and regional coverage.
Such an impressive count of sources of information may be overwhelming. However, each publication has its own goals, from basic student education textbooks, to industrial design handbooks, or niche tutorials. It is the intention of the present book to understand current technology within a business perspective and to present the existing engineering hands-on knowledge in an organized manner. This book focuses on medium- and high-power converters and the main applications at this power level are
ā¢ High-voltage DC transmission lines
ā¢ Locomotives
ā¢ Ship propulsion
ā¢ Large- or medium-sized uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems
ā¢ Motor control from horsepower range to multi-MVA
ā¢ Propulsion of electric or hybrid vehicles
ā¢ Servo-drives, robot, or welding machine systems
ā¢ Elevator systems
ā¢ Distributed generation for renewable energy sources
ā¢ Appliances, air conditioners, refrigerators, microwave ovens, and washing machines
ā¢ Automobile electronics, power steering, power windows, doors, or seats
ā¢ Switch-mode power supply for industrial applications
ā¢ Consumer electronics, power supplies for VCR, TV sets, and radio
ā¢ Distribution systems for computers
Since the book deals with intimate details of designing and working with power electronic converters at medium- and high-power levels, without too much details at the application level, this introductory chapter briefly discusses the most attractive and emerging applications.
The introduction to the first edition has insisted on a series of market realities and numbers since the beginning of the twenty-first century which quest for technological leadership corporations still have. Such commitment for technological performance has generally favored a mathematical approach, a competition based on quantities explicitly shown both in market and technological achievements. Currently, we are witnessing a shift from the interest for quantitative expression of success toward the interest in global coverage and image. The newest financial annual reports of many corporations are less rich in numeric data and more informative on the geopolitical plans of the corporation. Sensitive to this trend, the introduction of the current edition of this book will review more the major technological achievements and less the market numerical data.
The most advanced efforts in power electronics are covering the following activities:
ā¢ Semiconductors
ā¢ Application development and assimilation of SiC/GaN devices
ā¢ New generations of power ICs, taking advantage of new IC technology platforms
ā¢ Low-power converters
ā¢ Digital power supplies, especially those used for server/computer applications
ā Processor power controller with Intel VR10/11, or AMD VID support
ā Digital power supply with communication, and variable voltage controller, multiple operation modes
ā Generate and/or meet new standards, at the cross-disciplinary field between power supplies and servers/computers
ā¢ Lower-voltage output, for newer generations of processors (like 100 A at 1 V)
ā¢ Lower-voltage input for energy harvesting devices such as thermo-electric generators
ā¢ Conventional low-voltage applications
ā¢ Improved power density and efficiency (sustaining efforts at system level, including thermal management)
ā¢ Use of new materials in passive components (magnetics and capacitors), with redesign at the converter level to accommodate their peculiar performance
ā¢ Generate and/or meet standards derived from the saturation of performance
ā¢ Application development
ā Light systems, including multiple LEDs
ā Energy management in automotive systems, with networks of multiple motor drives
ā¢ Given the existing production lines operating at high volume, we have efforts in reliability and protectionāmodels, calculations, physics of failure
ā¢ Medium-voltage converters
ā¢ Improved power density and efficiency (sustaining efforts at system level, including thermal management)
ā¢ New topologies and afferent control for better use of energy while taking advantage of the existing saturation limits of performance if sustaining would not do it, need to cross fieldsāyou need to be really good to see it at the system level
ā¢ Application development
ā Smart grid, including communications along the transmission of energy, for better energy management
ā New products, for energy metering, sensing, production, storage, and transfer
ā New algorithms for software calculation of various performance indices
ā Application development and assimilation of power converter technology (motor drives) within HVAC and refrigeration systems (fairly new product applications)
ā This may require novel and appropriate control algorithms
ā Integration of renewable energy sources
ā Photovoltaics
ā Wind, sun, and waterāthis topic slowly moves into sustaining mode
ā¢ Given the existing production lines operating at high volume, we have efforts in reliability and protectionāmodels, calculations, and physics of failure
ā¢ High-voltage converters
ā¢ Introduction/design of new power semiconductor devices
ā¢ More power electronic control of energy, including active filters, STATCOM devices, power quality controllers, and so on
ā¢ Inventive protection devices for high-voltage environment
ā¢ Brand new applications in experimental physics and medical equipment
ā¢ HV pulse power, plasma science, and scanning microscope systems
ā¢ Laser diode, LED, or other projection lamps
1.1.2 TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION SYSTEMS
The most important current application for power electronic systems lies within the electrification of the transportation systems.
1.1.2.1 Automotive
With a continuously evolving market and a continuous demand for new vehicles, the automotive sector embraces more and more electronic-based features. They range from entertainment systems to propulsion systems. This market is expected to double its growth rate in the coming years (from 2005 to 2015). A study [2] states an annual growth rate of 15.5% for the automotive sector, that is the strongest growth market.
These are new divisions for the power electronics market, but they must develop quickly due to the increased demand for efficiency, comfort, and safety. Another study has counted about 80 small-power drives, including two modern cars, in a middle-class American...
