Energy Conversion Systems for Embedded Applications

The place of electrical energy is preponderant in the development of transport such as, for example, aeronautics and automobiles. The strong environmental and economic constraints of these fields make it imperative to design and develop high power density converters with a high reliability rate.

This teaching unit will:

• To provide students with the key elements for the design, sizing, study and simulation of power converters used in embedded systems as well as other applications, such as the management of electrical energy in renewable or non-renewable energy production, transmission and control systems.
• Present the interest of converters for embedded systems that are continuously evolving towards all-electric and will make the link with the problems posed by the current reliability rates of power electronics.
• Introduce concepts for calculating a carbon footprint and eco-design. These design elements are now essential to design high-performance products and help the success of the energy transition.
• To give students skills on current power electronics devices and will allow them to better understand emerging converter structures.
• Present the constraints related to the use of passive components and more particularly magnetic components operating at high frequencies and which are absolutely necessary for the operation of these converters.

Students will have to be able to carry out a complete project based on a specific specification, which will lead them to study a regulated conversion structure in its entirety.

The practical work associated with the course will allow a better understanding of the technological barriers in the design of high-performance structures in power electronics.

This Teaching Unit will serve as a support for Master 2 projects.

At the end of the course and practical work, the final objective of this teaching unit is for the student to be able to respond to a specification by studying, developing and implementing a power converter for an on-board application. At the end of the course, students will be able to join the R&D department of a company or a research laboratory to design innovative high-power-to-weight converter structures.

The student will be aware of the impact of a converter and its components on the environment, and the problems associated with their reliability.

They can easily use circuit simulation software. He/she will be able to model a converter and implement its closed-loop control, and to this end will be able to study and dimension classic structures such as sinusoidal current absorption converters (PFC, PWM rectifiers, etc.), both isolated and non-isolated structures.

The student will be able to dimension the magnetic components used in power electronics converters, taking into account the intrinsic limits of the materials they are made of, and dealing with their imperfections (losses, limits) determined using abacuses or finite element software.

Finally, he or she will be familiar with the implementation of digital control systems used to develop and extend the performance of power converters.

Master 1 EEA or science and technology, or bac+5 training in applied physics or electrical engineering, with instruction in the basic principles of power electronics and power converters.

Knowledge of the intrinsic limits of high-frequency magnetic components.

Recommended prerequisites* :

Completion of UE HAE706E Systèmes de Conversion d'énergie in Master 1 EEA

Continuous assessment teaching unit

1. Introduction to converters for embedded systems. Examples. Reliability issues raised by power electronics (lifetime of power components, impact of faults on the environment). Carbon footprint and eco-design of a converter.
2. Power electronics simulation. Simulation software and applications (analog, digital).
3. Modeling and control of a static converter.
4. Single-phase and three-phase Power Factor Corrector (PFC). PWM rectifiers.
5. Non-isolated switching converters used to power complex digital circuits (VRM, interleaving). Isolated switching converters, reversible or not, used in on-board power networks.
6. Magnetic couplers in power converters. Definitions, characteristics. Applications
7. HF phenomena in magnetic components. Joule losses, iron losses, component sizing. Intrinsic operating limits. Characterization of an HF magnetic component
8. Design of a digital control circuit. Choosing and integrating the converter. Presentation of programmable components.

CM: 31h30

Practical work: 27h