Multi-Stage, Multi-Phase, High Efficiency, Intelligent, Electrical Energy Conversion Unit for Navy and USMC

The Navy and USMC desire innovative technology solutions to upgrade its electrical energy conversion capabilities in order to reduce volume, weight, and cost for efficiently executing land- and sea-based operations. Global Technology Connection, Inc. (GTC) in collaboration with its university and industrial partners, established the feasibility of developing a high power density, high efficiency universal power converter based upon matrix converter concepts in Phase I. The development of the universal power converter during the Phase II program will focus on three key areas: (1) electronics and hardware design, (2) control and firmware design, and (3) thermal management design. The electronics and hardware design will be optimized for high efficiency, high power density and 2-man portable weight with universal power conversion at a wide range of input and output voltages. The advanced digital controls and the real-time noninvasive prognostic / diagnostic capability for the power electronics and attached electrical machines will be implemented in a microcontroller, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or a digital signal processing (DSP) system based upon the computational, memory and switching frequency requirements of the power converter. The advanced thermal management will combine the basic fluid and thermal dynamics of convection cooling with thermal energy harvesting capability of Thermo-Electric Generators (TEG).