Shivang Agrawal with adviser A. Banerjee A brushless doubly-fed machine (BDFM) is an attractive option for megawatt-scale turbo-electric propulsion systems due to use of a partially-rated power converter, reduced maintenance, and absence of permanent magnets. However, BDFRMs have inherently poor torque density and high torque-ripple because of using a sub-optimal rotor. We have proposed an […]
Analysis and Design of Pulse De-icing on Electric Aircraft
Mingrui Zhu with adviser A. Stillwell Under extreme cold conditions, a de-icing or de-frosting method is needed to maintain the safe operation of electric aircraft. Therefore, a pulse de-icing method is proposed as an alternative to the traditional chemical method (by spraying defrosting fluid) because of its overall energy savings and environmental benefits. We completed […]
Investigating Optimal Inverter Topologies for Electric Aviation Applications
Arjit Bali with adviser A. Stillwell Achieving high power density is crucial for electric aviation applications. Having a high system voltage (in the kilovolt range) allows us to save weight by having lower current rated conductors. However, presently we do not have a lot of switching devices that support such high voltages and hence there […]
Flow-Boiling of Hydrogen as Cooling Method for Superconducting Windings
Joshua Feldman with adviser K. Haran Interest in electric aircraft has grown as the aviation industry seeks to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Large commercial passenger planes will require electric motors with high specific powers to achieve payload and range targets competitive with that of conventional aircraft. The use of superconducting windings could enable […]
System-Aware Optimization of Electric Machines for Regional Aircraft Propulsion Applications
Anubhav Bose with Advisor Prof. Kiruba Haran FᴜᴛPʀIɴᴛ50 is an EU funded collaborative research project set out to identify and develop technologies and configurations that will accelerate the entry-into-service of a commercial hybrid-electric aircraft in a class of up to 50 seats by 2035/40. A new type of hybrid-electric 50-seat class aircraft being more fuel […]
Motor Winding Reliab
Anjana Samarakoon with adviser K. Haran Ever increasing interest in aircraft electrification has given rise to economical and reliability challenges, especially reliability of electrical motors used for propulsion and the electrical insulation system (EIS) of the whole drive train. The objective of this research is to understand the reliability of motor winding insulation used in […]
Ensuring Reliability of Motor-Winding Insulation for Urban Air-Taxi Applications
Maxwell Lewis with adviser K. Haran A significant challenge in developing electrified propulsion systems is ensuring the reliability of motor-winding insulation. In an urban air-taxi application, a motor responsible for propulsion will be operating under a unique mission profile. Traditionally, an aircraft has a brief acceleration and climbing period and remains in a steady-state operating […]
Variable-Pole Induction Machines Drives for Electric Vehicles
Elie Libbos with advisor A. Banerjee Electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains require power-dense and efficient motors, operating over a wide speed range. The induction machine (IM) offers a cost-effective and reliable alternative to permanent magnet-based solutions. Our proposed solution is to co-design a toroidally-wound IM and an 18-leg drive to electronically vary the IM pole count […]
Power-Flow Modeling for Inverter-based Systems
PhD student Temitope Amuda with advisor A. Domínguez-García Commercial power-flow solvers compute the solution to single slack-based power-flow problem using conventional approaches such as the Newton-Raphson or Gauss-Seidel method. In the conventional power-flow formulation, a single bus with a fixed normalized voltage and angle is dedicated to carry all the slack in the network. Alternatively, […]
Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop testing of a Centralized Scheduler for Microgrid Operations
PhD student Siddhartha Nigam with advisor A. Domínguez-García Effective operation of microgrids requires a control architecture that implements multiple (and sometimes conflicting) control functions: (1) Frequency control, (2) Voltage control, (3) Optimal asset dispatch, (4) Provision of ancillary services, (5) Optimal power flow, and (6) Synchronization. In my previous work, we have reported on the […]