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Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F: Electrical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2019) | Viewed by 40095

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Prof. Dr. Gorazd Štumberger

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Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 46, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
Interests: design; optimization; modeling and control of electric devices; machines, drives, and power system elements; electric power generation, transmission, and distribution; renewable energy sources and distributed generation; smart grids and microgrids; energy management systems
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Prof. Dr. Boštjan Polajžer

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Head of the Power Engineering Institute, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 46, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
Interests: electric machines and drives; electrical power quality; electrical power system protection and control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

At the present time, energy efficiency is one of the topics that cannot be avoided when dealing with electric devices, machines, drives, and systems. On the one hand, the products that do not achieve minimal efficiencies defined by standards cannot be sold; on the other hand, each increase in energy efficiency decreases energy consumption and, through it, the energy supply costs. Moreover, on a global level, the improvements in energy efficiency reduce energy demand and increase energy supply and thus indirectly reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses.

Improvements in energy efficiency can be achieved with different passive or active measures for the reduction of losses. Therefore, this Special Issue focuses on, but is not limited to, the following approaches for the reduction of losses in electric devices, machines, and drives:

new, improved, and further developed principles of operations;
applications of new or further developed materials or combinations of materials;
new solutions in design and further development of existing designs;
novelties and improvements in the modelling of electric devices, machines, and drives, their components, and applied materials;
further developed or new components of electric devices, machines, and drives;
novelties and improvements in the field of control;
novelties in the field of coordination and management related to individual devices, machines, drives, and systems consisting of them.

Prof. Dr. Gorazd Štumberger
Prof. Dr. Boštjan Polajžer
Guest Editors

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

energy efficiency
electric devices
electric machines
electric drives
advanced materials
design
modelling
control
energy management

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 2218 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Induction Machine Control for a Wide Range of Drive Requirements

by Bojan Grčar, Anton Hofer and Gorazd Štumberger

Energies 2020, 13(1), 175; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13010175 - 31 Dec 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1838

Abstract

In this paper, a method for induction machine (IM) torque/speed tracking control derived from the 3-D non-holonomic integrator including drift terms is proposed. The proposition builds on a previous result derived in the form of a single loop non-linear state controller providing implicit rotor flux linkage vector tracking. This concept was appropriate only for piecewise constant references and assured minimal norm of the stator current vector during steady-states. The extended proposition introduces a second control loop for the rotor flux linkage vector magnitude that can be either constant, programmed, or optimized to achieve either maximum torque per amp ratio or high dynamic response. It should be emphasized that the same structure of the controller can be used either for torque control or for speed control. Additionally, it turns out that the proposed controller can be easily adapted to meet different objectives posed on the drive system. The introduced control concept assures stability of the closed loop system and significantly improves tracking performance for bounded but arbitrary torque/speed references. Moreover, the singularity problem near zero rotor flux linkage vector length is easily avoided. The presented analyses include nonlinear effects due to magnetic saturation. The overall IM control scheme includes cascaded high-gain current controllers based on measured electrical and mechanical quantities together with a rotor flux linkage vector estimator. Simulation and experimental results illustrate the main characteristics of the proposed control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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14 pages, 2812 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of the Winding Arrangement on Efficiency of the Resistance Spot Welding Transformer

by Gašper Habjan and Martin Petrun

Energies 2019, 12(19), 3735; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12193735 - 30 Sep 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3999

Abstract

In this paper, the impact of the winding arrangement on the efficiency of the resistance spot welding (RSW) transformer is presented. First, the design and operation of the transformer inside a high power RSW system are analyzed. Based on the presented analysis, the generation of imbalanced excitation of the magnetic core is presented, which leads to unfavorable leakage magnetic fluxes inside the transformer. Such fluxes are linked to the dynamic power loss components that significantly decrease the efficiency of the transformer. Based on the presented analysis, design guidelines to reduce the unwanted leakage fluxes are pointed out. The presented theoretical analysis is confirmed by measurements using a laboratory experimental system. The presented experimental results confirm that the proposed improved winding arrangement increased the efficiency of the transformer in average for 6.27%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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22 pages, 19040 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Magnetically Nonlinear Dynamic Models of Synchronous Machines and Experimental Methods for Determining Their Parameters

by Gorazd Štumberger, Bojan Štumberger and Tine Marčič

Energies 2019, 12(18), 3519; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12183519 - 12 Sep 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2295

Abstract

This paper deals with rotary and linear synchronous reluctance machines and synchronous permanent magnet machines. It proposes a general method appropriate for determining the two-axis dynamic models of these machines, where the effects of slotting, mutual interaction between the slots and permanent magnets, saturation, cross-saturation, and—in the case of linear machines—the end effects, are considered. The iron core is considered to be conservative, without any losses. The proposed method contains two steps. In the first step, the dynamic model state variables are selected. They are required to determine the model structure in an arbitrarily chosen reference frame. In the second step, the model parameters, described as state variable dependent functions, are determined. In this way, the magnetically nonlinear behavior of the machine is accounted for. The relations among the Fourier coefficients of flux linkages and electromagnetic torque/thrust are presented for the models written in dq reference frame. The paper presents some of the experimental methods appropriate for determining parameters of the discussed dynamic models, which is supported by experimental results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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14 pages, 2522 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sensorless PMSM Drive Implementation by Introduction of Maximum Efficiency Characteristics in Reference Current Generation

by Željko Plantić, Tine Marčič, Miloš Beković and Gorazd Štumberger

Energies 2019, 12(18), 3502; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12183502 - 11 Sep 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2510

Abstract

This paper presents the efficiency improvement in a speed closed-loop controlled permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) sensorless drive. The drive efficiency can be improved by minimizing the inverter and the PMSM losses. These can be influenced by proper selection of DC-bus voltage and switching frequency of the inverter. The direct (d-) and quadrature (q-) axis current references generation methods, discussed in this paper, further improve the efficiency of the drive. Besides zero d-axis current reference control, the maximum torque per ampere (MTPA) characteristic is normally applied to generate the d- and q-axis current references in vector controlled PMSM drives. It assures control with maximum torque per unit of current but cannot assure maximum efficiency. In order to improve efficiency of the PMSM drive, this paper proposes the generation of d- and q-axis current references based on maximum efficiency (ME) characteristic. In the case study, the MTPA and ME characteristics are theoretically evaluated and determined experimentally by measurements on discussed PMSM drive. The obtained characteristics are applied for the d- and q-axis current references generation in the speed closed-loop vector controlled PMSM drive. The measured drive efficiency clearly shows that the use of ME characteristic instead of MTPA characteristic or zero d-axis current in the current references generation improves the efficiency of PMSM drive realizations with position sensor and without it—sensorless control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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27 pages, 17286 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modular Rotor Single Phase Field Excited Flux Switching Machine with Non-Overlapped Windings

by Lutf Ur Rahman, Faisal Khan, Muhammad Afzal Khan, Naseer Ahmad, Hamid Ali Khan, Mohsin Shahzad, Siddique Ali and Hazrat Ali

Energies 2019, 12(8), 1576; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12081576 - 25 Apr 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4634

Abstract

This paper aims to propose and compare three new structures of single-phase field excited flux switching machine for pedestal fan application. Conventional six-slot/three-pole salient rotor design has better performance in terms of torque, whilst also having a higher back-EMF and unbalanced electromagnetic forces. Due to the alignment position of the rotor pole with stator teeth, the salient rotor design could not generate torque (called dead zone torque). A new structure having sub-part rotor design has the capability to eliminate dead zone torque. Both the conventional eight-slot/four-pole sub-part rotor design and six-slot/three-pole salient rotor design have an overlapped winding arrangement between armature coil and field excitation coil that depicts high copper losses as well as results in increased size of motor. Additionally, a field excited flux switching machine with a salient structure of the rotor has high flux strength in the stator-core that has considerable impact on high iron losses. Therefore, a novel topology in terms of modular rotor of single-phase field excited flux switching machine with eight-slot/six-pole configuration is proposed, which enable non-overlap arrangement between armature coil and FEC winding that facilitates reduction in the copper losses. The proposed modular rotor design acquires reduced iron losses as well as reduced active rotor mass comparatively to conventional rotor design. It is very persuasive to analyze the range of speed for these rotors to avoid cracks and deformation, the maximum tensile strength (can be measured with principal stress in research) of the rotor analysis is conducted using JMAG. A deterministic optimization technique is implemented to enhance the electromagnetic performance of eight-slot/six-pole modular rotor design. The electromagnetic performance of the conventional sub-part rotor design, doubly salient rotor design, and proposed novel-modular rotor design is analyzed by 3D-finite element analysis (3D-FEA), including flux linkage, flux distribution, flux strength, back-EMF, cogging torque, torque characteristics, iron losses, and efficiency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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25 pages, 6254 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Neural Network-Based Model Reference Adaptive System for Torque Ripple Reduction in Sensorless Poly Phase Induction Motor Drive

by S. Usha, C. Subramani and Sanjeevikumar Padmanaban

Energies 2019, 12(5), 920; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12050920 - 09 Mar 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2401

Abstract

This paper proposes the modified, extended Kalman filter, neural network-based model reference adaptive system and the modified observer technique to estimate the speed of a five-phase induction motor for sensorless drive. The proposed method is generated to achieve reduced speed deviation and reduced torque ripple efficiently. In inclusion, the result of speed performance and torque ripple under parameter variations were analysed and compared with the conventional direct synthesis method. The speed estimation of a five-phase motor in the four methods is analysed using MATLAB Simulink platform, and the optimum method is recognized using time domain analysis. It is observed that speed error is minimized by 60% and torque ripple is reduced by 75% in the proposed method. The hardware setup is carried out for the optimized method identified. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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20 pages, 2299 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water and Energy Efficiency Improvement of Steel Wire Manufacturing by Circuit Modelling and Optimisation

by Muriel Iten, Miguel Oliveira, Diogo Costa and Jochen Michels

Energies 2019, 12(2), 223; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12020223 - 11 Jan 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5398

Abstract

Industrial water circuits (IWC) are frequently neglected as they are auxiliary circuits of industrial processes, leading to a missing awareness of their energy- and water-saving potential. Industrial sectors such as steel, chemicals, paper and food processing are notable in their water-related energy requirements. Improvement of energy efficiency in industrial processes saves resources and reduces manufacturing costs. The paper presents a cooling IWC of a steel wire processing plant in which steel billets are transformed into wire. The circuit was built in object-oriented language in OpenModelica and validated with real plant data. Several improvement measures have been identified and an optimisation methodology has been proposed. A techno-economic analysis has been carried out to estimate the energy savings and payback time for the proposed improvement measures. The suggested measures allow energy savings up to 29% in less than 3 years’ payback time and water consumption savings of approximately 7.5%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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22 pages, 7418 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Torque Distribution Algorithm for an Independently Driven Electric Vehicle Using a Fuzzy Control Method: Driving Stability and Efficiency

by Jinhyun Park, In Gyu Jang and Sung-Ho Hwang

Energies 2018, 11(12), 3479; https://doi.org/10.3390/en11123479 - 13 Dec 2018

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3822

Abstract

In this paper, an integrated torque distribution strategy was developed to improve the stability and efficiency of the vehicle. To improve the stability of the low friction road surface, the vertical and lateral forces of the vehicle were estimated and the estimated forces were used to determine the driving torque limit. A turning stability index comprised of vehicle velocity and desired yaw rate was proposed to examine the driving stability of the vehicle while turning. The proposed index was used to subdivide turning situations and propose a torque distribution strategy, which can minimize deceleration of the vehicle while securing turning stability. The torque distribution strategy for increased driving stability and efficiency was used to create an integrated torque distribution (ITD) strategy. A vehicle stability index based on the slip rate and turning stability index was proposed to determine the overall driving stability of the vehicle, and the proposed index was used as a weight factor that determines the intervention of the control strategy for increased efficiency and driving stability. The simulation and actual vehicle test were carried out to verify the performance of the developed ITD. From these results, it can be verified that the proposed torque distribution strategy helps solve the poor handling performance problems of in-wheel electric vehicles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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24 pages, 7131 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Analytical Subdomain Model of Torque Dense Halbach Array Motors

by Moadh Mallek, Yingjie Tang, Jaecheol Lee, Taoufik Wassar, Matthew A. Franchek and Jay Pickett

Energies 2018, 11(12), 3254; https://doi.org/10.3390/en11123254 - 22 Nov 2018

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6509

Abstract

A two-dimensional mathematical model estimating the torque of a Halbach Array surface permanent magnet (SPM) motor with a non-overlapping winding layout is developed. The magnetic field domain for the two-dimensional (2-D) motor model is divided into five regions: slots, slot openings, air gap, rotor magnets and rotor back iron. Applying the separation of variable method, an expression of magnetic vector potential distribution can be represented as Fourier series. By considering the interface and boundary conditions connecting the proposed regions, the Fourier series constants are determined. The proposed model offers a computationally efficient approach to analyze SPM motor designs including those having a Halbach Array. Since the tooth-tip and slots parameters are included in the model, the electromagnetic performance of an SPM motor, described using the cogging torque, back-EMF and electromagnetic torque, can be calculated as function of the slots and tooth-tips effects. The proposed analytical predictions are compared with results obtained from finite-element analysis. Finally, a performance comparison between a conventional and Halbach Array SPM motor is performed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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14 pages, 2562 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Analysis of Torque Ripple and Cogging Torque Reduction in Electric Vehicle Traction Platform Applying Rotor Notched Design

by Myeong-Hwan Hwang, Hae-Sol Lee and Hyun-Rok Cha

Energies 2018, 11(11), 3053; https://doi.org/10.3390/en11113053 - 06 Nov 2018

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 5713

Abstract

Drive motors, which are used in the drive modules of electric cars, are interior permanent magnet motors. These motors tend to have high cogging torque and torque ripple, which leads to the generation of high vibration and noise. Several studies have attempted to determine methods of reducing the cogging torque and torque ripple in interior permanent magnet motors. The primary methods of reducing the cogging torque involve either electric control or mechanical means. Herein, the authors focused on a mechanical method to reduce the cogging torque and torque ripple. Although various methods of reducing vibration and noise mechanically exist, there is no widely-known comparative analyses on reducing the vibration and noise by designing a notched rotor shape. Therefore, this paper proposes a method of reducing vibration and noise mechanically by designing a notched rotor shape. In the comparative analysis performed herein, the motor stator and rotor were set to be the same size, and electromagnetic field analysis was performed to determine a notch shape that is suitable for the rotor and that generates reasonable vibration and noise. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency in Electric Devices, Machines and Drives)

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