Highly Efficient and Reliable AC-DC Power Converters for Next-Generation Linear Colliders

50931-98-I Highly Efficient and Reliable AC-DC Power Converters for Next-Generation Linear Colliders--American Research Corporation of Virginia, 1509 Fourth Street, P.O. Box 3406, Radford, VA 24141-4617; (540) 731-0655 Dr. Russell J. Churchill, Principal Investigator Dr. Russell J. Churchill, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER82527 Amount: $75,000 Future research in High Energy Physics requires an electron-positron linear collider ten times the size of present-generation linear accelerators. A fundamental component of such a next-generation system is a very stable, highly efficient, extremely reliable and cost effective 5kW AC-DC power converter. These requirements necessitate a new design approach since present technology will not achieve the desired goals. This project will develop a novel matrix converter circuit topology combined with monolithic magnetic modular packaging to achieve an extremely compact, high power, high efficiency and high reliability 5kW AC-DC power supply. Control concepts, component selection, and matrix redundancy will enable development of a 100,000 hour mean-time-between-failures system with hot-swappable capability. During Phase I, the power converter topologies, control strategies and power supply-bus interfaces will be designed and validated using computer simulation. An engineering model will be constructed and tested to verify key design goals including efficiency, reliability, hot-swappability, output stability, size and cost effectiveness. This would enable the development and implementation of a prototype system in Phase II. Commercialization Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Development of the 5 kW AC-DC power converter would fill a major power conversion gap by efficiently providing for higher DC power applications. Besides becoming an integral part of the DOE Next Generation Linear Collider, other applications include avionics, radar, automobiles, communications, computing and spacecraft._