1

1 Three-phase DC-AC inverter
1.1 Simulation & Explanation

The circuit seen in fig 1 is a three-phase inverter which allows current to be
changed from AC to DC. The table below further describes the components of
the circuit.
Name Components Description
Act as a switch controlled by

Transistor
PWM, only allows current in
diode one direction
Three-phase Pulse width modifier provides a

sinusoidal three phase sinusoidal AC
PWM input controls switching speed
Represents the load of the

Resistor circuit as it has resistance
These provide a ‘shortcut’

connecting parts of the circuit
On-page
to allow for more organized
connector circuit diagrams and more
convenient connections
Table 1 Component breakdown of 3-phase AC-DC converter
The advantages of using transistor diodes include their fast switching,

simplicity of circuit, high operating frequency, and the large element capacity.
They act as switches, are easy to control and only allow current to flow
through them in one direction (Hughes and Drury, 2019)
Fig. 1 Three-phase DC-AC Inverter
that for transistor pairs in series, one has a not gate and the other remains
normal to ensure that both cannot be switched on at the same time. This is to
ensure that there is no short and allow the converter to work.
Referring to fig 1, V1 provides a DC Input source but if there is no current

flowing through the bases of the transistors, then no current can pass through
them. The signals from U1 control the switching of the transistor diodes,
causing current to flow from the source, through the most positive transistor,
to the load, through to the most negative transistor. Observe the graph in fig
2, where the three-phase waveform can be seen and the transistor switching.
Therefore, the voltage experienced by the load (resistors) would look like the
peaks of fig 2 strung together.
Fig. 2 Graph of current output of PWM against Fig. 3 Graph of output voltage against input
theta, and when the transistor diode will be voltage of the 3-phase AC-DC inverter
switched on referring to fig. 1
Fig. 4 Graph of RMS of input & output power against the voltage input
1.2 Discussion & Analysis

V1 is changed with increments of 10 volts, the behaviour of the 3-phase
inverter can be further understood. The rms measurements of output voltage
and input & output power can be compared. Fig. 3 demonstrates that the
output voltage is directly proportional to the input voltage and is therefore
predictable as the gradient is equal throughout. Fig 4. allows us to compare
the rms of the input and output powers experienced. The efficiency is
calculated as 86.7% and remains constant with increase in voltage. This
confirms that efficiency remains constant with increase in input voltage.
The output power is calculated as follows:

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝑟𝑚𝑠( √3𝑉𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃)
Efficiency is calculated as:

𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝜂 =
𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
2 Regenerative Braking
The main purpose of the regenerative braking system is for the motor to work in
induction mode during braking, which causes a change of polarity and current to flow
into the circuit to charge up an energy storage device. This energy will then be used
during acceleration.
Name Component Description

Arbitrary load is rotating
mechanism directly connected
AC motor & to motor.
arbitrary load Motor in rive mode when input
from voltage source causes the
motor to work
Motor in induction/generator
mode during regenerative
braking and negative torque
causes energy generated from
the motor to flow into the circuit
and charge the ultracapacitor
AC generated from motor is

Inverter DC-
converted into DC to charge
AC the battery & ultracapacitor
3-phase
sinusoidal Explained in part A
PWM
Bi-directional converters allow

step-up & step-down to provide
Buck-boost
for the high & low voltages
converter required by different parts
(motor, ultracapacitor, battery)
Uses voltage sources, gates &

switches control switching of
Buck-boost
the buck-boost converter and
controller control on whether step-up or
step-down
Short term energy storage

system for energy gained
Ultracapacitor during braking. It discharges
this energy during acceleration.
In this circuit, the battery is
represented as multiple
Battery capacitors to observe the
effects on the circuit of
acceleration & braking
Fig. 5 Proposed regenerative braking circuit
Fig. 6 Block diagram of regenerative braking circuit
2.1 Circuit description

In the circuit displayed in fig. 5, the arbitrary load would be where the
electromagnetic energy is generated during braking. The current from this is
passed through the inverter to change from AC of motor to DC which can be
stored by the battery & ultracapacitor bank after passing through the DC-DC
converters.
Bi-directional buck boost controller to allow the conversion of high voltage to

low voltage and vice versa to provide for the input requirements of the
ultracapacitor, battery and motor inputs and outputs, and controller is used to
control whether step-up or step-down.
Discharging
Charging begins
Ultracapacitor
discharging begins
Discharging
Ultracapacitor fully
Charging begins discharged, charging starts
Fig. 7 Charging and discharging in circuit (PR1 is battery pack and PR2 is ultracapacitor)
2.2 Analysis & discussion

A transient analysis of the circuit is performed in multisim to observe how the
regenerative braking system works. It can be seen that there is an increase in
power of the ultracapacitor when the switch between the motor and arbitrary
load are connected. This demonstrates that whilst the motor is in drive mode,
the ultracapacitor is being charged. When the switch, a decrease in the
ultracapacitor power is seen, which is when discharging is occurring,
providing the motor with additional energy.
There is a high level of fluctuation seen during charging of the ultracapacitor.

This is due to the use of the 3-phase asynchronous motor which is sending
current towards the ultracapacitor when it is in induction mode. There is low
fluctuation when the ultracapacitor is in discharge mode as there is no longer
use of 3-phase as it sends current through to the motor.
3 Suggested improvements & Limitations
There are always practical limitations when considering simulated circuits.
Firstly, the control of the regenerative braking system proves to be quite
difficult involving the use of sensors and having to adapt to different situations.
It is also important to note that very low induction occurs when braking at low
speeds and hence it is difficult to actually conserve the energy at times (Peng
et al., 2018).
In this circuit, it is also noted that it is assumed that all the energy is
conserved and transformed back into electrical energy. In reality, this is not
the case. There are losses associated with friction and heat and it is difficult to
conserve the energy efficiently (Dixon and Ortuzar, 2001).
Fig. 8 An attempt was made to make use of PID controller and PWMs, but this proved to make the
simple regenerative circuit a lot more complex
4 REFERENCES
Dixon W. and Ortuzar M. (2001) Ultracapictors + DC-DC converters in regenerative
braking system. Catholic university of Chile. Available at doi: 0885/8985/02/
Hughes A. and Drury B. (2019) Electric Motors and Drives. 5th edn.
Peng H., Wang J., Shen W., Shi D. and Hang Y. (2018) ‘Controllable regenerative
braking process for hybrid battery-ultracapacitor electric drive systems’. Available at
doi: 10.1049/iet-pel.2018.5685
Final word count: 969 words (excluding captions)

1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1 Three-phase DC-AC inverter

1.1 Simulation & Explanation

Name Components Description

Act as a switch controlled by

Three-phase Pulse width modifier provides a

Represents the load of the

These provide a ‘shortcut’

The advantages of using transistor diodes include their fast switching,

Referring to fig 1, V1 provides a DC Input source but if there is no current

1.2 Discussion & Analysis

The output power is calculated as follows:

Efficiency is calculated as:

Name Component Description

AC generated from motor is

Bi-directional converters allow

Uses voltage sources, gates &

Short term energy storage

Fig. 6 Block diagram of regenerative braking circuit

2.1 Circuit description

Bi-directional buck boost controller to allow the conversion of high voltage to

2.2 Analysis & discussion

There is a high level of fluctuation seen during charging of the ultracapacitor.

Final word count: 969 words (excluding captions)

You might also like