Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

High power converters have found a wide range of applications in almost every industry sector. With recent technological advancements, power converters in the megawatt range are expanding into many new application areas. One of the important applications is variable speed motor drives that are increasingly used in the industries to conserve energy, increase productivity and improve product quality. Other important applications are renewable energy systems, petrochemical, cement, mining, metal, paper and pulp, power and energy, marine, and transportation systems. However, there are many technically challenging issues in developing the medium-voltage (2.3 - 15 kV), high-power converters with application-specific control systems that are efficient, reliable, and cost-effective. After extensive interaction with Canadian medium-voltage (MV) drive industry experts, I found a growing demand for high-power 15 kV-class transformerless MV drives to meet the present industry needs. During the next five years of NSERC Discovery Grant program, I will focus on the research and development of an innovative 15 kV-class transformerless MV drive technology. This research program will address three research objectives: 1) innovation of efficient and cost-effective high-power converters for 15 kV-class drives, 2) design of reliable and high-performance model predictive control schemes for 15 kV-class drive and 3) transformerless high-power medium-voltage drive system. The proposed research provides vital knowledge and practical solutions to the technical problems facing today's industry. Through industry collaboration, the research outcomes will be transferred to the Canadian electric drive industries for commercialization, benefiting the Canadian economy. Also, the highly qualified persons will be trained to develop analytical and computer simulation skills, communication skills, technical writing and presentation skills and testing/experimental skills.