Patrick Wheeler

By Imayavaramban Munuswamy and Patrick W. Wheeler

This proposed chapter discusses three methods that do not allow regenerative power from the matrix converter (MC) motor drive onto the aircraft power supply. According to aerospace power quality specifications, the regenerative power must be dissipated in the drive itself to avoid instability problem in aircraft power supply. These are bidirectional switch (BDS) method, input power clamp (IPC) method, and standard clamp circuit (SCC) method for aerospace applications. To identify regeneration in a matrix converter drive, two novel techniques are proposed. These are power comparison technique (PC) and input voltage reference technique (IVR). In both techniques, output power of MC and direction of speed, these factors are used to detect regeneration in MC drive. The electrical braking is important in many aerospace applications such as surface actuation and air-to-air (in-flight) refueling system. Therefore, the inherent regeneration capability of the matrix converter drive is not desirable for aerospace applications so it has to be avoided. The proposed methods are demonstrated through detailed simulation results and experimental verification. In order to prove the proposed methods with novel techniques, a 7.5-kW matrix converter fed 4-kW induction motor (IM) with inertial load has experimentally implemented. The obtained results using BDS method with PC technique proved avoiding regeneration with a matrix converter is feasible. This chapter is valuable for 150-kVA matrix converter for high-power application.

Part of the book: Aerospace Engineering