SBIR Phase I: Universal Power Converter for AC-DC, DC-DC, DC-AC and AC-AC Applications

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that it will serve as a one-stop power conversion solution across the power conversion industries. The proposed Power Converter can convert power directly from AC-DC, DC-DC, DC-AC and AC-AC in a single stage without an interim AC or DC link. The said power converter can take fixed frequency, variable frequency or DC voltage as input and can deliver another fixed frequency, variable frequency or DC voltage at the output. The voltage can be stepped up or down and the power can flow back and forth in the said power converter. Having all the power conversion features in one hardware can serve almost all power conversion applications such as aircraft/spacecraft/ship, hybrid/electrical vehicle, renewable energy, automation industry and almost all other power conversion needs by a mere change of software. Such technology has a potential to become a mass-produced commodity and in effect the cost of the power converter can be dramatically reduced across all industries, Market research organization has estimated that by 2020, the power converter market will be valued at $65 billion. Therefore, the commercial impact of this one stop power converter solution will be significant. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will introduce a multifunctional power converter with single stage power conversion. By employing bi-directional 4-quadrant wide band gap switch, intelligent filters at input and output, advanced pulse width modulation and commutation scheme a more efficient, robust, smaller foot print, low-weight power converter will be realized which will convert power from input to output much faster with reduced loss and at the same time it will not need any bulky DC or AC link in between. By operating less number of semiconductor switches at a given time the loss and size of the power converter will be reduced. By having intelligent filter, high power quality at the input and output will be achieved. The multifunctional use of this power converter will cut down the number of on board power converters in aircraft/spacecraft/ship in a system level which will provide multi-fold benefit in terms of fuel economy. By having less loss, the power consumption will be reduced and by having smaller size and weight the payload will be less, which will improve the fuel economy. By reducing number of on board power converters the on-board weight will be reduced further. Therefore, overall fuel economy will be significantly improved.