An All-Electric-Aircraft Tailored SiC-Based Power Factor Correction Converter with Adaptive DC-Link Regulator

Gianluca Brando, Adolfo Dannier, Andrea Del Pizzo and Marino Coppola
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Gianluca Brando: Department of Electrical Engineering and IT, DIETI, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy
Adolfo Dannier: Department of Electrical Engineering and IT, DIETI, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy
Andrea Del Pizzo: Department of Electrical Engineering and IT, DIETI, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy
Marino Coppola: Power Naples Prototype Laboratory, PNP LAB srl, 80122 Naples, Italy

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: In recent years the aerospace industry has made a growing effort to develop a quieter and more environmentally friendly aircraft. In particular, several research activities have been focused on innovative solutions aimed at the design/optimization of an on-board electric system fully compatible with this new approach. A first important step in the evolution towards an All Electric Aircraft (AEA) is the replacement of the hydraulic actuators with fully electric ones. The transition process is not easy to carry out, since weight, size and reliability represent highly critical issues for aircraft applications. In this context, the significant improvements in semiconductor technologies can be exploited as a critical means to overcome the constraints mentioned. Indeed, this work proposes a Silicon Carbide (SiC) based Power Factor Correction (PFC) converter, whose design and control have been tailored in order to properly supply a wide range of on-board Electro-Mechanical Actuators (EMA). In particular, while the adopted circuit topology allows for power factor correction and bi-directional power flow, the SiC technology, thanks to the higher efficiency with respect to other semiconductor-based technologies, leads to a significant reduction in the overall system weight/volume. Furthermore, to meet the strict requirements in terms of dynamic and steady state performance imposed by the application, a novel adaptive regulator is conceived. A reduced-scale laboratory prototype of the SiC-based converter (3 kVA) is realized in order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed design and control approach.

Keywords: power factor correction (PFC); SiC (Silicon Carbide); aircraft applications; adaptive regulator; deadbeat control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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