Research

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." - Wernher von Braun

Research Themes

Our research aims to address fundamental questions in the area of power electronics.

Power Conversion for e-Mobility

We develop power-conversion-based solutions for electromobility to enable the widespread adoption of electrified transportation systems.

We have developed a 1.2 kW multi-port off-board charger for electric 2/3-wheelers. The multiport charger has three output ports, allowing it to charge three electric 2/3-wheelers simultaneously. Additionally, each output port can accommodate a wide range of battery voltages (40-85 V) and current levels. The developed technology addresses the challenge of establishing unified public charging or battery swapping stations.

We have also developed a 10 kW reconfigurable charger, compatible with electric 2/3/4-wheelers. The charger facilitates the simultaneous charging of three 2/3-wheeler (battery voltage 40-85 V) or a single 4-wheeler (battery voltage 250-450 V) and is thus interoperable across different EV segments. The charger comprises three modular power converter building blocks. The modular approach and reconfiguration of the charging ports reduce the efforts and costs associated with redesigning the chargers tailored for each vehicle class.

10 kW modular charger for E2W/E3W/E4W

1.2 kW multiport charger for E2W/E3W

Tests with commercial E2W

Coil design for inductive WPT

Multiport Power Conversion

Multiport power converters can be used to interface multiple energy sources, energy storage systems, loads and the grid. Multiport converters can reduce redundant power processing and can reduce the overall system cost by virtue of component sharing. We are looking into circuit topologies, modelling, and controlling multiport converters for interfacing renewable energy sources and battery energy storage with AC and DC grids.

Multiport DC/DC converter

Multiport AC/DC converter

Power Magnetics

Power magnetics constitute roughly 50% - 60% of the weight and volume of state-of-the-art power electronic converters. Design optimisation of power magnetics is critical to enable highly efficient and power-dense converters. An accurate understanding of component-level characteristics is crucial for developing highly efficient and power-dense converters for weight-critical applications.

We have developed a new multilevel magnetic component tester circuit and testbench to characterise high-frequency magnetics for power electronics applications. The proposed circuit topology is reconfigurable, enabling the testing of magnetics under various excitation conditions, including triangular flux, trapezoidal flux, the presence of DC bias, and a combination of low-frequency and high-frequency excitations. Furthermore, the proposed topology enables the popular two-winding-based measurement approach to quantify the core losses.

We look at empirical and data-driven approaches for high-fidelity magnetic loss modelling. We have combined both to create an Empirical Model Informed Neural Network (EMPINN) model, which outperforms state-of-the-art core loss estimation methods.

Magnetics Tester

Power Stage for the Magnetics Tester

EMPINN model for core loss estimation

Partial Power Processing

Power electronic converters that are only rated to handle a fraction of the system power are called partial (also known as differential or fractional) power processing (PPP) converters. Partial power processing enables high-efficiency power conversion solutions with a reduced footprint.

We are focused on leveraging the concept of PPP in various power electronic applications, including electric vehicle fast charging, solar photovoltaic systems, and battery management.

Reconfigurable partial power converter and laboratory testbench

High-Frequency Power Conversion

With the advent of wide band-gap semiconductors like Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN), the boundaries of power conversion are being pushed in terms of voltage, frequency and power. However, as we move towards compact, high-efficiency converters enabled by wide-band-gap semiconductors, we must tackle several challenges, such as EMI/EMC and thermal management.

We are exploring the design of power conversion systems operating at kHz to MHz scales for various weight-critical applications.

We have developed an ultra-low power series resonant converter-based auxiliary power supply for a sensing application with high isolation requirements. A split planar high-frequency transformer design is utilised to achieve a high isolation voltage of 25 kVpk. High isolation requirements are met by physically isolating the primary and secondary PCB-based coils and using a resin to encapsulate the entire transformer. The converter is switched at 400 kHz.

400 kHz resonant converter with high isolation capability

Microgrids

Distributed Generation (DG) systems based on renewable energy resources are gaining popularity due to their ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. With the steady increase in DG systems, microgrids (MG) play a key role in integrating scattered energy resources.

MGs are integral to electrified transportation systems like all-electric aircraft, all-electric ships, and electric vehicle charging station infrastructures. We are exploring various aspects of MGs to understand futuristic power distribution systems.

Representative Single Bus DC Microgrid

Control and Stability of Power Electronic Systems

In complex power electronic systems, the interactions among different power converters can give rise to system-level stability challenges. Analyzing these interactions is often tricky due to the non-linear nature of power converters.

We look at modeling approaches combined with advanced feedback control-based solutions to develop stabilization strategies to enhance the stability of future power electronic systems.

Feedback control-based solutions

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse