An Extremely High Power Density Asymmetrical Back-to-Back Converter for Aerospace Motor Drive Applications

Yifan Zhang, Chushan Li, David Xu, Wuhua Li, Jian Zhang, Hao Ma and Xiangning He
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Yifan Zhang: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310081, China
Chushan Li: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310081, China
David Xu: College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B2K3, Canada
Wuhua Li: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310081, China
Jian Zhang: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310081, China
Hao Ma: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310081, China
Xiangning He: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310081, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: Higher-voltage-standard and higher-power-rating aerospace power systems are being investigated intensively in the aerospace industry to address challenges in terms of improving emissions, fuel economy, and also cost. Multilevel converter topologies become attractive because of their higher efficiency under high-voltage and high-switching-frequency conditions. In this paper, an asymmetrical-voltage-level back-to-back multilevel converter is proposed, which consists of a five-level (5L) rectifier stage and a three-level (3L) inverter stage. Based on the comparison, such an asymmetrical back-to-back structure can achieve high efficiency and minimize the converter weight on both rectifier and inverter sides. A compact triple-surface-mounted heatsink structure is designed to realize high density and manufacturable thermal management. This topology and structure are evaluated with a full-rating prototype. According to the evaluation, the achieved power density is 2.61 kVA/kg, which is 30% higher than that of traditional solutions. The efficiency at the rated power of the back-to-back system is 95.8%.

Keywords: more electric aircraft (MEA); multilevel converter; high power density (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: 2020
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