A Novel Multilevel Inverter Circuit for the Performance Enhancement of Direct Torque Controlled Induction Motor

Induction motor is the most sought after motor in the industry for excellent performance characteristics and robustness. Developments in the Power Electronic circuitry have revolutionised the induction motor industry leading to the developments in various control strategies and circuits for motor control. Direct Torque Control (DTC) is one of the excellent control strategies preferred by industries for controlling the torque and flux in an induction machine. The main drawback of DTC is the presence of torque ripple which is slightly more than the acceptable limit. There are various parameters that introduce ripples in the electromagnetic torque, one of them being the type of inverter circuit. There are various types of inverter circuits available and the effect of each of them in the production of torque ripple is different. This work is an attempt to identify the influence of various multilevel inverter circuits on the torque ripple level and to propose the best inverter circuit. The influence of multilevel diode clamped inverter and cascaded H bridge inverter circuits on torque ripple minimization, is analysed using simulation studies for identifying the most suitable multilevel inverter circuit which gives minimum torque ripple. The results obtained from the simulation studies are validated by hardware implementation on 0.75 kW induction motor.

Hybrid Control Strategy for Matrix Converter Fed Wind Energy Conversion System

In this paper, a hybrid control strategy for a matrix converter fed wind energy conversion system is presented. Since the wind speed may vary, output parameters like power, frequency and voltage may fluctuate. Hence it is necessary to design a system that regulates output parameters, such as voltage and frequency, and thereby provides a constant voltage and frequency output from the wind energy conversion system. Matrix converter is used in the proposed solution as the main power conditioner as a more efficient alternative when compared to traditional back-back converter structure. To control the output voltage, a vector modulation based refined control structure is used. A power tracker is included to maximize the mechanical output power of the turbine. Over current protection and clamp circuit input protection have been introduced to protect the system from over current. It reduces the spikes generated at the output of the converter. The designed system is capable of supplying an output voltage of constant frequency and amplitude within the expected ranges of input during the operation. The matrix converter control using direct modulation method, modified Venturini modulation method and vector modulation method was simulated, the results were compared and it was inferred that vector modulation method was superior to the other two methods. With the proposed technique, voltage transfer ratio and harmonic profile have been improved compared to the other two modulation techniques. The behaviour of the system is corroborated by MATLAB Simulink, and hardware is realized using an FPGA controller. Experimental results are found to be matching with the simulation results.

Triboelectric nanogenerator with mechanical switch and clamp circuit for low ripple output

For new renewable clean energy,triboelectric nanogenerators(TENGs)have shown great potential in response to the world energy crisis.Nevertheless,the alternating-current signal generated by a TENG needs to be converted into a direct-current signal to be effective in applications.Therefore,a power management circuit,comprising a clamp rectifier circuit and a mechanical switch,is proposed for the conversion and produces a signal having a low ripple coefficient.The power management circuit adopts a clamp circuit as the rectifier circuit to increase the rectified voltage,and reduces the loss resulted from the components by reducing the use of discrete components;the electronic switch in the buck regulator circuit is replaced with a mechanical switch to reduce cost and complexity.In a series of experiments,this power management circuit displayed a stable output voltage with a ripple voltage of 0.07 V,crest factor of 1.01,and ripple coefficient of 2.2%.The TENG provides a feasible method to generate stable electric energy and to supply power to low-consumption electronic devices.

A low leakage power-rail ESD detection circuit with a modified RC network for a 90-nm CMOS process

An electrostatic discharge （ESD） detection circuit with a modified RC network for a 90-nm process clamp circuit is proposed. The leakage current is reduced to 4.6 nA at 25 ℃. Under the ESD event, it injects a 38.7 mA trigger current into the P-substrate to trigger SCR, and SCR can be turned on the discharge of the ESD energy. The capacitor area used is only 4.2 μm2. The simulation result shows that the proposed circuit can save power consumption and layout area when achieving the same trigger efficiency, compared with the previous circuits.

A novel high performance ESD power clamp circuit with a small area

A MOSFET-based electrostatic discharge （ESD） power clamp circuit with only a 10 ns RC time constant for a 0.18-μm process is proposed. A diode-connected NMOSFET is used to maintain a long delay time and save area. The special structure overcomes other shortcomings in this clamp circuit. Under fast power-up events, the gate voltage of the clamp MOSFET does not rise as quickly as under ESD events, the special structure can keep the clamp MOSFET thoroughly off. Under a falsely triggered event, the special structure can turn off the clamp MOSFET in a short time. The clamp circuit can also reject the power supply noise effectively. Simulation results show that the clamp circuit avoids fast false triggering events such as a 30 ns/1.8 V power-up, maintains a 1.2 μs delay time and a 2.14 μs turn-off time, and reduces to about 70% of the RC time constant. It is believed that the proposed clamp circuit can be widely used in high-speed integrated circuits.