Recently, greater attention has been paid to the high-speed generator for its many merits, such as ease of installation, high efficiency and high power density. However, due to their high fundamental frequency, careful consideration needs to be given to both electromagnetic and mechanical design issues. This paper deals with the comparison of two types of permanent magnet high-speed machines. Specifically, the effect of the permanent magnet magnetization pattern on the rotor losses is investigated. On the basis of analytical field analysis and the 2-D finite element method, this paper predicts the flux harmonics and rotor losses under the no-load condition. It is shown that the Halbach magnetization is superior to parallel magnetization in terms of producing rotor losses.

This paper presents methods to improve performance of the power supply system in a NASA deep space explorer. In the Stirling engine driven reciprocating Brushless DC (BLDC) generator, the accurate position information of the prime mover is important to diagnose the performance of the engine and prevent distortion of the output power. Since sensors to detect the position are fragile and unreliable, and conventional sensorless techniques have drawbacks in the low speed region, a novel sensorless position detection technique for the prime mover has been proposed and verified. Another major issue of the generator for the spacecraft is power density maximization. The mass of the power system is important to the mass of the satellite. Therefore, the components of the spacecraft should be lightweight. Conventional rectification methods cannot achieve the maximum power possible due to non-optimal current waveforms. The optimal current waveform for maximizing power density and minimizing machine size and weight in a nonsinusoidal power supply system has been derived, incorporated in a control system, and verified by simulation work.

Switched reluctance motors have received much attention as a driving means for various industrial applications because they have simple construction, low cost and high efficiency. Nevertheless, the requirements of drive converters make it difficult to lower the overall system cost as compared with the DC motor application. Single phase switched reluctance motors (SPSRMs) provide a solution to the high cost problem since the number of switching power devices can be reduced and consequently the trials for application are increased. However, research involving SPSRMs, especially in the area of design work, is insufficient. This paper introduces a novel design methodology of single phase SRM. The design work for SPSRM comprises the determination of many variables such as stator and rotor pole arc as well as on, off and so on. Managing all variable combinations leads to lengthy computation time and a fault in the design process. For that reason, a reliable technique and brief procedure term are required in SPSRM design.

The objective of this paper is to provide a comparison between the Line Start Permanent Magnet, Skeleton type Brushless DC, and the Snail-cam type Switched Reluctance Motor. These motors are compared under the same load characteristic as the cooling fan motor of a refrigerator. The comparison consists of speed, output power, efficiency, copper loss, and cost for three different motors. For the given application, the results provide an indication of the best machine suited with respect to performance and cost.

This paper presents a prototype of three-phase current source zero voltage soft-switching PWM controlled PFC rectifier with Single Active Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Snubber (ARCS) circuit topology. The proposed three-phase PFC rectifier with sinewave current shaping and unity power factor scheme can operate under a condition of Zero Voltage Soft Switching (ZVS) in the main three phase rectifier circuit and zero current soft switching (ZCS) in auxiliary snubber circuits. The operating principle and steady-state performances of the proposed three-phase current source soft-switching PWM controlled PFC rectifier controlled by the DSP control implementation are evaluated and discussed on the basis of the experimental results of this active rectifier setup.

This paper presents and analyses protection schemes for a series active compensator, which consists of a Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) or a hybrid active power filter. The proposed series active compensator operates as a high impedance "k(D)" for the fundamental components of the power frequency during over current conditions in the distribution system. Two control strategies are proposed in this paper. The first strategy detects the fundamental source current using the p-q theory. The second strategy detects the fundamental component of the load current in the Synchronous Reference Frame (SRF). When over currents occur in the power distribution system momentarily, the proposed schemes protect the series active compensator without the need for additional protection circuits, and achieves excellent transient response. The validity of the proposed protection schemes is investigated through simulation and compared with experimental results using a hybrid active power filter systems.

Cost effective simulation schemes for Wind Power Generation Systems (WPGS) considering wind turbine types, generators and load capacities have been strongly investigated by researchers. As an alternative, a true weather condition based simulation method using a real-time digital simulator (RTDS) is experimented in this paper for the online real-time simulation of the WPGS. A stand-alone WPGS is, especially, simulated using the Simulation method for WPGS using Real Weather conditions (SWRW) in this work. The characteristic equation of a wind turbine is implemented in the RTDS and a RTDS model component that can be used to represent any type of wind turbine in the simulations is also established. The actual data related to weather conditions are interfaced directly to the RTDS for the purpose of online real-time simulation of the stand-alone WPGS. The outcomes of the simulation demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed simulation scheme. The results also signify that the cost effective verification of efficiency and stability for the WPGS is possible by the proposed real-time simulation method.