Research and Realization of High-Power Medium-Voltage Active Rectifier Concepts for Future Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Generation

Trentin, Andrew; Sala, Giacomo; Tarisciotti, Luca; Galassini, Alessandro; Degano, Michele; Connor, Peter H.; Golovanov, Dmitry; Gerada, David; Xu, Zeyuan; La Rocca, Antonino; Eastwick, Carol N.; Pickering, Stephen J.; Wheeler, Patrick; Clare, Jon C.; Gerada, Chris

Abstract

In this article, we describe the research and development of a 3 kV active rectifier for a 4 MW aerospace generator drive system demonstrator. The converter is fed by a multiphase high-speed/high-frequency permanent magnet generator. The main aim of the work is to demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of an MW-class generator system meeting future hybrid-electric propulsion requirements. A concept with multiple and isolated three-phase systems feeding different power buses is proposed to meet the availability requirements. Multiple converters (one for each three-phase system) are connected in series and/or in parallel to achieve the rated power and dc-link voltage. This article describes the key design concepts and the development and testing of the converter to meet the challenging application requirements. Reduced power tests are carried out on a full-scale 4 MW converter prototype, validating the proposed design. The work represents a step forward in terms of voltage, power, and output frequency with respect to the state-of-the-art.

Citation

Trentin, A., Sala, G., Tarisciotti, L., Galassini, A., Degano, M., Connor, P. H., Golovanov, D., Gerada, D., Xu, Z., La Rocca, A., Eastwick, C. N., Pickering, S. J., Wheeler, P., Clare, J. C., & Gerada, C. (2021). Research and Realization of High-Power Medium-Voltage Active Rectifier Concepts for Future Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Generation. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 68(12), 11684-11695. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2020.3040692

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 8, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 3, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Deposit Date: Dec 17, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 18, 2020
• Journal: IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
• Print ISSN: 0278-0046
• Electronic ISSN: 1557-9948
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 68
• Issue: 12
• Pages: 11684-11695
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2020.3040692
• Keywords: Hybrid Electric Aircraft; High-Power Generation Systems; High-Power High-Voltage Converter Design; Multiphase Drives; Aerospace Generation Drives; Variable Speed Drives
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5154762
• Publisher URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9280429
• Additional Information: © 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.