Guest Professorship Power Electronics
In the last years the development of power electronics has considerably moved forward. The application areas in power supply engineering range from switching power supply to big static transducers, to linking of electric grids and in drive engineering to all types of speed and torque control in various types of electric machines.
Nowadays, rapid development is characterised by frequent appearance of new switch and control concepts, which in many cases can be easily implemented and utilized. The concepts often differ significantly in terms of external technical parameters of application but also in terms of attrition, electromagnetic compatibility, noise and cost behaviour.
As a wide engineering field the aspects of power electronics range from microelectronic control to performance of the special power semiconductors and to conceptual and technical analysis of switch gear and its external co-operation.
Hence, the field has specialized on the specific research areas of network-coupled power electronics:
Coupling of Grids, Stability of Grids and creation of self-sustaining Grids.
Electric grids are connected with power electronics regardless whether it is generation of regenerative power, uninterrupted power supply, frequency converter for 16,7‑Hz-railroad network or high voltage continuous current transmission. Power electronics operates as an independent source in the system of grids. The core issue here is the design and control of converters and systems. In this process a problem-free co-operation of various electric generators plays a decisive role, be it rotating generators and power invertors in traditional power generation, and in decentralized and regenerative power generation equipment, such as equipment for mains operation, as nullification machines, active filters and flexible rotary current carrier systems (FACTS).
Two and four-quadrant line power convertor with minor system perturbation
Rectifiers and grid linked power inverters, starting from middle range of performance, are still predominately used in simple diode and thyristor switchers, in which low attrition and costs can hardly be achieved through new switch typologies. Only cooperation with other benefits of pulsed rectifier structures such as minor system perturbation, extended and flexible voltage adjustment, energy recovery systems (four-quadrant operation) or an economy of traditional transformers, allows a change in this application area.
Bonding of energy storage into power supply system
A continuous and uninterrupted supply and steady, fluctuation free consumption serve each other, because power should be constantly generated and provided at the time, which is demanded by the consumption. Storage of electrical power is absolutely not possible and involves almost always conversion into other power forms and adjustment of voltage, current and frequency.
Extraction and bonding of stored power in electric grids greatly influenced the concept of existing power supply systems. Uninterrupted power supply and other current grids can not be implemented without energy storage. Not until regenerative generator exceeds a certain scale in a grid structure, will this be efficiently connected with the storage possibilities of electrical power.
The university has possibilities to develop, design and test converters for various applications. Testing equipment allows experiments in low voltage as well as high voltage fields with output of many hundred kilowatts.
