Design and characterisation of advanced magnetic material‐based core for isolated power converters used in wave energy generation systems

Abstract

The oceanic wave energy generation has been drawn significant attention in the field of power engineering recently. These generation systems are basically direct drive electrical power generators connected to the wave energy devices with the variable frequency drives (VFDs). This study proposes an application of high-frequency transformers at the output stages of VFDs for the galvanic isolation purpose among multiple output ports of VFDs in a wave farm. The design process of a highfrequency magnetic link involves multiphysics problems that entail complex tradeoffs between electrical and magnetic properties including efficiency. Moreover, the performance of the magnetic link depends on the switching characteristics of the power switching devices and various excitation signals. Therefore, extensive multiphysics research in the field of design and optimisation of magnetic links is needed to develop next-generation technologies. In this study, a finite-element method-based systematic process is presented for the design of amorphous alloy-based core of the high-frequency magnetic link. Two cores are developed and characterised in the laboratory. The characterised data obtained from the experiment can be used in the future design optimisation of other high-frequency magnetic links.

Power Losses Models for Magnetic Cores: A Review

“…FEM is a big world, as it was explained in the section before. Once the magnetic component’s design is complete (windings and core parameters) and validated in FEM; the next step consists in exporting the final FEM design to software like Simulink ® or Twin Builder ® , PSIM ® , to simulate it in a specific application and corroborate its correct performance [ 59 , 143 , 144 , 145 , 146 ].…”

A Review of Power Electronics for Nearshore Wave Energy Converter Applications

“…In [23], [46], [57]- [66], [47], [67]- [70], [48]- [50], [52]- [54], [56] a three-phase AC/DC/AC converter is used to dispatch power to the grid, and in [23], an active DC/AC converter is used as the control element. In [60], a single-phase AC/DC/AC converter is used.…”

Review of Isolated Matrix Inverters: Topologies, Modulation Methods and Applications

“…The isolated matrix converter prototypes reported in the literature have been mainly using ferrite RM cores for powers <1 kW and toroid or E cores for powers over one kilowatt. Improved transformer characteristics may be obtained with amorphous and nanocrystalline magnetic materials, which can result in core losses reduction by up to 70% than conventional solutions [144,145].…”