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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 (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 45431

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ui-Min Choi

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Guest Editor

Department of Electronics & IT Media Engneering, Seoul National University of Science & Technolgy, Seoul, Korea
Interests: power electronics; renewable energy; reliability engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Power electronic systems play an important role in a wide range of applications such as renewable energy generation, power transmission, automotive, railway and industrial motor drives for efficient energy generation, distribution and consumption. As power electronic systems have gradually gained an important status, their reliability has become an important issue, since they are regarded as one of the most unreliable parts in a variety of whole systems. A paradigm shift in reliability research in power electronics is going on in terms of the design methodologies, reliability testing concepts, and robustness validation approaches of power electronic components to systems.

Prospective authors are invited to submit original contributions or survey papers for publication in Energies. Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

Design for reliability in power electronics—robustness and reliability design
Stressors and failure mechanisms of power electronic components and systems—impact and status
Robustness and reliability validation testing
Lifetime modeling and prediction of power electronic components and systems
Life cycle cost analysis of power electronic systems
Condition monitoring in power electronic systems
Optimization for reliability in power electronics
Reliability in emerging power devices (e.g. SiC, GaN)
Handling reliability in embarked systems: automotive, aircraft and space applications
Fault-tolerant strategies and advanced control of power electronic converters
Other related topics

Prof. Dr. Ui-Min Choi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Power electronics applications
Reliability of power electronic components and systems
Design for reliability
Lifetime modeling and assessment
Reliability testing
Condition monitoring
SiC and GaN

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 3297 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Cycling in Converter IGBT Modules with Different Cooling Systems in Pitch- and Active Stall-Controlled Tidal Turbines

by Faisal Wani, Udai Shipurkar, Jianning Dong and Henk Polinder

Energies 2021, 14(20), 6457; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14206457 - 9 Oct 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2491

Abstract

This paper compares active and passive cooling systems in tidal turbine power electronic converters. The comparison is based on the lifetime of the IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) power modules, calculated from the accumulated fatigue due to thermal cycling. The lifetime analysis accounts for the influence of site conditions, namely turbulence and surface waves. Results indicate that active cooling results in a significant improvement in IGBT lifetime over passive cooling. However, since passive cooling systems are inherently more reliable than active systems, passive systems can present a better solution overall, provided adequate lifetime values are achieved. On another note, the influence of pitch control and active speed stall control on the IGBT lifetime was also investigated. It is shown that the IGBT modules in pitch-controlled turbines are likely to have longer lifetimes than their counterparts in active stall-controlled turbines for the same power rating. Overall, it is demonstrated that passive cooling systems can provide adequate cooling in tidal turbine converters to last longer than the typical lifetime of tidal turbines (>25 years), both for pitch-controlled and active speed stall-controlled turbines. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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27 pages, 7405 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Humidity in Power Converters of Wind Turbines—Field Conditions and Their Relation with Failures

by Katharina Fischer, Michael Steffes, Karoline Pelka, Bernd Tegtmeier and Martin Dörenkämper

Energies 2021, 14(7), 1919; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14071919 - 30 Mar 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4195

Abstract

Power converters in wind turbines exhibit frequent failures, the causes of which have remained unexplained for years. Field-experience based research has revealed that power- and thermal-cycling induced fatigue effects in power electronics do not contribute significantly to the field failures observed. Instead, clear seasonal failure patterns point to environmental influences, in particular to humidity, as a critical stressor and likely driver of converter failure. In addition to the electrical operating conditions, it is therefore important to also identify and characterize the climatic conditions that power converters in wind turbines are exposed to, both as a contribution to root-cause analysis and as a basis for the derivation of suitable test procedures for reliability qualification of components and systems. This paper summarizes the results of field-measurement campaigns in 31 wind turbines of seven different manufacturers spread over three continents. The temperature and humidity conditions inside the converter cabinets are characterized and related to the environmental conditions of the turbines and to their operation. The cabinet-internal climate is found to be subject to pronounced seasonal variations. In addition to the site-specific ambient climatic conditions and the operation of the turbines, the converter cooling concept is identified to significantly influence the climatic conditions inside the power cabinets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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11 pages, 1132 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reliability Characterization of Gallium Nitride MIS-HEMT Based Cascode Devices for Power Electronic Applications

by Surya Elangovan, Stone Cheng and Edward Yi Chang

Energies 2020, 13(10), 2628; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13102628 - 21 May 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4415

Abstract

We present a detailed study of dynamic switching instability and static reliability of a Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor High-Electron-Mobility-Transistor (MIS-HEMT) based cascode switch under off-state (negative bias) Gate bias stress (V_{GS, OFF}). We have investigated drain channel current (I_{DS, Max}) collapse/degradation and turn-on and rise-time (t_R) delay, on-state resistance (R_DS-ON) and maximum transconductance (G_{m, max}) degradation and threshold voltage (V_TH) shift for pulsed and prolonged off-state gate bias stress V_{GS, OFF}. We have found that as stress voltage magnitude and stress duration increases, similarly I_{DS, Max} and R_DS-ON degradation, V_TH shift and turn-on/rise time (t_R) delay, and G_{m, max} degradation increases. In a pulsed off-state V_{GS, OFF} stress experiment, the device instabilities and degradation with electron trapping effects are studied through two regimes of stress voltages. Under low stress, V_TH shift, I_DS collapse, R_DS-ON degradation has very minimal changes, which is a result of a recoverable surface state trapping effect. For high-stress voltages, there is an increased and permanent V_TH shift and high I_{DS, Max} and R_DS-ON degradation in pulsed V_{GS, Stress} and increased rise-time and turn-on delay. In addition to this, a positive V_TH shift and G_{m, max} degradation were observed in prolonged stress experiments for selected high-stress voltages, which is consistent with interface state generation. These findings provide a path to understand the failure mechanisms under room temperature and also to accelerate the developments of emerging GaN cascode technologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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22 pages, 2017 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lifetime Analysis of IGBT Power Modules in Passively Cooled Tidal Turbine Converters

by Faisal Wani, Udai Shipurkar, Jianning Dong, Henk Polinder, Antonio Jarquin-Laguna, Kaswar Mostafa and George Lavidas

Energies 2020, 13(8), 1875; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13081875 - 12 Apr 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3506

Abstract

Thermal cycling is one of the major reasons for failure in power electronic converters. For submerged tidal turbine converters investigating this failure mode is critical in improving the reliability, and minimizing the cost of energy from tidal turbines. This paper considers a submerged tidal turbine converter which is passively cooled by seawater, and where the turbine has fixed-pitch blades. In this respect, this study is different from similar studies on wind turbine converters, which are mostly cooled by active methods, and where turbines are mostly pitch controlled. The main goal is to quantify the impact of surface waves and turbulence in tidal stream velocity on the lifetime of the converter IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) modules. The lifetime model of the IGBT modules is based on the accumulation of fatigue due to thermal cycling. Results indicate that turbulence and surface waves can have a significant impact on the lifetime of the IGBT modules. Furthermore, to accelerate the speed of the lifetime calculation, this paper uses a modified approach by dividing the thermal models into low and high frequency models. The final calculated lifetime values suggest that relying on passive cooling could be adequate for the tidal converters as far as thermal cycling is concerned. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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14 pages, 5247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Evaluation of Lifetime of Three-Level Inverters in Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems

by Ui-Min Choi and June-Seok Lee

Energies 2020, 13(5), 1227; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13051227 - 6 Mar 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3617

Abstract

The cost of the PV energy reduction is still required to increase the penetration level of PV systems in the energy market. The reliability of PV inverters is one of the important aspects to be enhanced in order to reduce the cost of PV energy, since it is closely related to the maintenance cost and the annual energy production. In this paper, the lifetime of NPC and T-type inverters, which are three-level inverter topologies that are widely used for PV systems, are comparatively evaluated with a 30 kW grid-connected PV system. It is performed by focusing on power devices since the power electronic components of both converters are the same except for the power devices. Therefore, this result can represent the comparison of the reliability performance of the NPC and T-type inverters. The power loss and temperature distributions of power devices are analyzed and their efficiencies are compared at different power levels with different switching frequencies. The lifetimes of the reliability-critical power devices in the NPC and T-type inverters are estimated, respectively with a one-year mission profile of the PV system, and the results are compared. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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20 pages, 6578 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Heat-Pipe Cooling System Design Processes in Railway Propulsion Inverter Considering Power Module Reliability

by June-Seok Lee and Ui-Min Choi

Energies 2019, 12(24), 4676; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12244676 - 9 Dec 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2912

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of the heat-pipe cooling system design processes on the reliability of the power module in a railway propulsion inverter was investigated. The existing design processes for the heat-pipe cooling system guarantee that the junction temperature of power devices does not exceed the maximum allowable junction temperature when the railway propulsion inverter operates under its mission profile; therefore, each step of the design process was reviewed to analyze the effect of the heat-pipe cooling system. Based on the processes, in the calculation for the required thermal resistance of the heat-pipe cooling system, two difference losses were considered with the thermal resistances of the insulated gate bipolar mode transistor (IGBT) module and the thermal grease at an interface between the baseplate of IGBT module and heat-pipe cooling system. The control scheme and mission profile of the train were taken into account to calculate the power losses. Then, the designed heat-pipe cooling systems were compared in terms of the size and weight. In addition, the junction temperatures and lifetimes of the power module with heat-pipe cooling systems designed by different power losses were estimated and compared. Finally, guidelines for a heat-pipe system cooling design are proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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18 pages, 8257 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Aging-Degree Evaluation Method for IGBT Bond Wire with Online Multivariate Monitoring

by Zilang Hu, Xinglai Ge, Dong Xie, Yichi Zhang, Bo Yao, Jian Dai and Fengbo Yang

Energies 2019, 12(20), 3962; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12203962 - 18 Oct 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4816

Abstract

The aging fracture of bonding wire is one of the main reasons for failure of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). This paper proposes an online monitoring method for IGBT bonding wire aging that does not interfere with the normal operation of the IGBT module. A quantitative analysis of aging degree was first performed, and the results of multivariate and univariate monitoring were compared. Based on the relationship between the monitoring parameters and the aging of the IGBT bonding wire, gradual damage of the IGBT bond wire was implemented to simulate aging failure and obtain the aging data. Moreover, the change of junction temperature was considered to regulate monitoring parameters. Then, the aging degree was evaluated by an artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm. The experimental results showed the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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17 pages, 1666 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Improved Assessment Method for FMEA for a Shipboard Integrated Electric Propulsion System Using Fuzzy Logic and DEMATEL Theory

by Sheng Liu, Xiaojie Guo and Lanyong Zhang

Energies 2019, 12(16), 3162; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12163162 - 16 Aug 2019

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3832

Abstract

Shipboard integrated electric propulsion systems (IEPSs) are prone to suffer from system failures and security threats because of their complex functional structures and poor operational environments. An improved assessment method for failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), integrating fuzzy logic and decision–making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) theory, is proposed to enhance the system’s reliability and handle the correlation effects between failure modes and causes. In this method, information entropy and qualitative analysis are synthesized to determine the credibility weights of domain experts. Each risk factor and its relative importance are evaluated by linguistic terms and fuzzy ratings. The benchmark adjustment search algorithm is designed to obtain the alpha-level sets of fuzzy risk priority numbers (RPNs) for defuzzification. The defuzzified RPNs are regarded as the inputs for the DEMATEL technique to investigate the causal degrees of failure modes and causes. Accordingly, the risk levels of the failure modes are prioritized with respect to the causal degrees. The practical application to the typical failure modes of the propulsion subsystem is provided. The assessment results show that this system contributes to risk priority decision-making and disastrous accident prevention. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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14 pages, 4292 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Efficiency Bi-Directional Single-Phase AC/DC Converter Design and Field Application for LVDC Distribution

by Juyong Kim, Hongjoo Kim, Jintae Cho and Youngpyo Cho

Energies 2019, 12(11), 2191; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12112191 - 8 Jun 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3003

Abstract

This paper describes the design and field application of a high-efficiency single-phase AC/DC converter that is suitable for distribution lines. First, an appropriate AC/DC converter was designed in consideration of the environment of the application system. In order to ensure high efficiency and high reliability, we designed an optimum switching element and capacitor suitable for the converter, and the protection element of the AC/DC converter was designed based on these elements. The control function for the power converter suitable for an LVDC distribution system is proposed for highly reliable operation. The AC/DC converter was manufactured based on the design and its performance was verified during application in an actual low-voltage DC (LVDC) distribution grid through tests at the demonstration site. The application to a DC distribution system in an actual grid is very rare and it is expected that it will contribute to the expansion of LVDC distribution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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20 pages, 6558 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A 3D Thermal Network Model for Monitoring Imbalanced Thermal Distribution of Press-Pack IGBT Modules in MMC-HVDC Applications

by Yao Chang, Wuhua Li, Haoze Luo, Xiangning He, Francesco Iannuzzo, Frede Blaabjerg and Weixing Lin

Energies 2019, 12(7), 1319; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12071319 - 5 Apr 2019

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6724

Abstract

In this paper, the impact of a double-sided press-pack insulated-gate-bipolar-transistor (PP IGBT) cooling structure on its thermal impedance distribution is studied and explored. A matrix thermal impedance network model is built by considering the multi-chip thermal coupling effect for the collector side of the PP IGBT. Moreover, a verification has been made by comparing the proposed matrix thermal network model and the conventional lumped RC network model provided by the manufacturer. It is concluded that the collector side has lower thermal resistance and dissipates about 88% of the heat generated by the IGBT chips inside the module. Then, a modular-multilevel-converter high-voltage-direct-current (MMC-HVDC)-based type test setup composed of the press-pack IGBT stacks is established and the junction temperature is calculated with the proposed thermal model and verified by temperature measurements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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Review

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20 pages, 3288 KiB

Open AccessReview

Overview of Control Algorithm Verification Methods in Power Electronics Systems

by Paweł Szcześniak, Iwona Grobelna, Mateja Novak and Ulrik Nyman

Energies 2021, 14(14), 4360; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144360 - 19 Jul 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3436

Abstract

The paper presents the existing verification methods for control algorithms in power electronics systems, including the application of model checking techniques. In the industry, the most frequently used verification methods are simulations and experiments; however, they have to be performed manually and do not give a 100% confidence that the system will operate correctly in all situations. Here we show the recent advancements in verification and performance assessment of power electronics systems with the usage of formal methods. Symbolic model checking can be used to achieve a guarantee that the system satisfies user-defined requirements, while statistical model checking combines simulation and statistical methods to gain statistically valid results that predict the behavior with high confidence. Both methods can be applied automatically before physical realization of the power electronics systems, so that any errors, incorrect assumptions or unforeseen situations are detected as early as possible. An additional functionality of verification with the use of formal methods is to check the converter operation in terms of reliability in various system operating conditions. It is possible to verify the distribution and uniformity of occurrence in time of the number of transistor switching, transistor conduction times for various current levels, etc. The information obtained in this way can be used to optimize control algorithms in terms of reliability in power electronics. The article provides an overview of various verification methods with an emphasis on statistical model checking. The basic functionalities of the methods, their construction, and their properties are indicated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reliability of Power Electronic Systems)

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