Alireza Bakhshai

An adaptive notch filter for frequency estimation of a periodic signal

Online frequency estimation of a pure sinusoidal signal is a classical problem that has many practical applications. Recently an ANF with global convergence property has been developed for this purpose. There exist some practical applications in which signals are not pure sinusoidal and contain harmonics. Therefore, online frequency estimation of periodic but not necessarily sinusoidal signals espoused by such applications becomes quite important. This note presents an alternative stability analysis for a modified ANF that permits the presence of harmonics in the incoming signal. Also, this stability analysis is simpler and alleviates the problem complexity even in the case of pure sinusoidal signal. Simulation results confirm theoretical issues.

A Novel ZVZCS Full-Bridge DC/DC Converter Used for Electric Vehicles

This paper presents a novel ZVZCS full-bridge DC/DC converter, which is able to process and deliver power efficiently over very wide load variations. The proposed DC/DC converter is part of a plug-in AC/DC converter used to charge the traction battery (high voltage battery) in an electric vehicle. The key challenge in this application is operation of the full-bridge converter from absolutely no-load to full-load conditions. In order to confirm reliable operation of the full-bridge converter under such wide load variations, the converter should not only operate with soft-switching from full load to no-load condition with satisfactory efficiency for the full range of operation, but also the voltage across the output diode bridge needs to be clamped to avoid any adverse voltage overshoots arising during turn-OFF of the output diodes as commonly found in regular full bridge converters. In order to achieve such stringent requirements and high reliability, the converter employs a symmetric passive near lossless auxiliary circuit to provide the reactive current for the full-bridge semiconductor switches, which guarantees zero voltage switching at turn-ON times for all load conditions. Moreover the proposed topology is based on a current driven rectifier in order to clamp the voltage of the output diode bridge and also satisfy ZVZCS operation of the converter resulting in superior efficiency for all load conditions. In this paper operation of the converter is presented in detail followed by analytical design procedure. Experimental results provided from a 3KW prototype validate the feasibility and superior performance of the proposed converter.

A Fast and Accurate Synchronization Technique for Extraction of Symmetrical Components

This paper introduces an approach for the real-time extraction of the frequency, phase angle, and symmetrical components of the grid signal, which is of great importance for many applications in power systems such as power quality and protection. The proposed method is based on the concept of the adaptive notch filter that provides a fast and accurate estimation of the symmetrical components in the presence of frequency and amplitude variations. In addition, the system offers a high degree of immunity and insensitivity to power system disturbances, harmonics, and other types of pollutions that exist in the grid signal. The simplicity of the structure makes the method suitable for both software and hardware implementations. Moreover, this very simple and very powerful tool can be used as a synchronization technique, which further simplifies the control issues currently challenging the integration of distributed energy technologies into the electricity grid. Mathematical derivations are presented to describe the principles of operation, and experimental results confirm the validity of the analytical work.

A Load Adaptive Control Approach for a Zero-Voltage-Switching DC/DC Converter Used for Electric Vehicles

This paper presents a load adaptive control approach to optimally control the amount of reactive current required to guarantee zero-voltage switching (ZVS) of the converter switches. The proposed dc/dc converter is used as a battery charger for an electric vehicle (EV). Since this application demands a wide range of load variations, the converter should be able to sustain ZVS from full-load to no-load condition. The converter employs an asymmetric auxiliary circuit to provide the reactive current for the full-bridge semiconductor switches, which guarantees ZVS at turn-on times. The proposed control scheme is able to determine the optimum value of the reactive current injected by the auxiliary circuit in order to minimize extra conduction losses in the power MOSFETs, as well as the losses in the auxiliary circuit. In the proposed approach, the peak value of the reactive current is controlled by controlling the switching frequency to make sure that there is enough current to charge and discharge the snubber capacitors during the deadtime. In addition, some practical issues of this application (battery charger for an EV) are discussed in this paper. Experimental results for a 2-kW dc/dc converter are presented. The results show an improvement in efficiency and better performance of the converter.

A Nonlinear Adaptive Synchronization Techniquefor Grid-Connected Distributed Energy Sources

This letter introduces a new adaptive notch filtering (ANF) approach as a powerful tool for synchronization of converter-interfaced distributed generation systems that can potentially stimulate much interest in the field and provide improvement solutions for both grid-connected and stand-alone (islanding operation) modes of micro-grids. The proposed technique is simple and offers a high degree of immunity and insensitivity to power system disturbances, harmonics and other types of pollution that exist in the grid signal. A modified structure of the ANF-based synchronization technique is capable of decomposing three-phase quantities into symmetrical components, extracting harmonics, tracking the frequency variations, and providing means for voltage regulation and reactive power control. A prominent advantage of the proposed scheme is that it does not require a phase-locked loop for the synchronization. In addition, this very simple and very powerful power signal processor will simplify the control issues currently challenging the integration of distributed energy technologies onto the electricity grid. All converter-interfaced equipment, such as flexible AC transmission systems, custom power controllers, and active power filters, will benefit from this technique. Theoretical analysis is presented and the performance of the method is evaluated through simulation.

Addressing DC Component in PLL and Notch Filter Algorithms

This paper presents a method for addressing the dc component in the input signal of the phase-locked loop (PLL) and notch filter algorithms applied to filtering and synchronization applications. The dc component may be intrinsically present in the input signal or may be generated due to temporary system faults or due to the structure and limitations of the measurement/conversion processes. Such a component creates low-frequency oscillations in the loop that cannot be removed using filters because such filters will significantly degrade the dynamic response of the system. The proposed method is based on adding a new loop inside the PLL structure. It is structurally simple and, unlike an existing method discussed in this paper, does not compromise the high-frequency filtering level of the concerned algorithm. The method is formulated for three-phase and single-phase systems, its design aspects are discussed, and simulations/experimental results are presented.

Estimation of Power System Frequency Using an Adaptive Notch Filter

An algorithm based on the concept of adaptive notch filter (ANF) is proposed for estimation of power system frequency. The ANF is a second-order notch filter that is further furnished with a nonlinear differential equation to update the frequency. Performance of the algorithm is compared with that of a newly introduced algorithm which is based on using an enhanced phase-locked loop (PLL) system. Unlike the PLL-based frequency estimator, the proposed algorithm does not employ voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). This makes its structure much simpler for implementations. Transient response of the proposed estimator is faster than the PLL-based estimator. Computer simulations are presented to highlight the usefulness of this approach in estimating near nominal and off nominal power system frequency

Time-Domain Signal Analysis Using Adaptive Notch Filter

Noise reduction and signal decomposition are among important and practical issues in time-domain signal analysis. This paper presents an adaptive notch filter (ANF) to achieve both these objectives. For noise reduction purpose, the proposed adaptive filter successfully extracts a single sinusoid of a possibly time-varying nature from a noise-corrupted signal. The paper proceeds with introducing a chain of filters which is capable of estimating the fundamental frequency of a signal composed of harmonically related sinusoids, and of decomposing it into its constituent components. The order of differential equations governing this algorithm is 2n+1, where n is the number of constituent sinusoids that should be extracted. Stability analysis of the proposed algorithm is carried out based on the application of the local averaging theory under the assumption of slow adaptation. When compared with the conventional Fourier analysis, the proposed method provides instantaneous values of the constituting components. Moreover, it is adaptive with respect to the fundamental frequency of the signal. Simulation results verify the validity of the presented algorithm and confirm its desirable transient and steady-state performances as well as its desirable noise characteristics

An adaptive filter for synchronous extraction of harmonics and distortions

This paper provides an adaptive filter for synchronous detection and extraction of harmonics. The filter can be used as integral part of the control system of a power electronic apparatus (e.g., STATCOM, APF, and UPFC) to generate the desired control signals. Stability and convergence analyses of the adaptive filter are presented based on the dynamical systems theory. Performance of the filter is verified as a means for reference signal generation in a shunt active power filter.

Problems of Startup and Phase Jumps in PLL Systems

An adaptive phase-locked loop (PLL) structure is proposed which offers fast and smooth tracking of phase-angle jumps. Correlatively, it offers soft startup stage and avoids undesired frequency swings caused by phase jumps. The adaptive mechanism adjusts the gain of frequency estimation loop in order to mitigate large transients of frequency during sudden phase angle variations. This reduces the coupling of phase and frequency variables and allows tremendously faster and smoother estimation of both variables. The proposed adaptive mechanism can be applied to different PLL and adaptive notch-filter systems three of which including the enhanced PLL (EPLL), the synchronous reference frame PLL (SRF-PLL), and the second order generalized integrator frequency-locked loop (SOGI-FLL) are studied in this paper.