|
A specific focus onelectronic
converters and motors as may be found on military vessels was re-established
by the ECE Department in
1991 with an initial investment from NAVSEA03 and matching funds from the
school. Since 1992, more than seventy
students, overwhelmingly US Navy, have graduated from NPS via the completion of
a power systems thesis. These graduates are populating billets responsible for
Navy decisions and acquisitions concerning the electric warship. Most of the
theses efforts required hardware construction as well as simulation validation
for completion.
Since that time faculty involved in power
systems engineering has been actively involved in research projects
concerning naval shipboard power, which include traditional high power dc/dc
converters, soft-switching inverters and phase-controlled rectifiers along with
more exotic topologies such as Science Applications International Corporation’s
(SAIC) Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM) technology. The PFM, now known as the
AC-Link, is a commercial product line via Princeton Power Systems (PPS). Aspects
of the above research comprise both control and hardware development. Other past
research projects included funding from Integrated Power System (IPS), Power
Electronic Building Blocks (PEBB) and Integrated Fight-Through Power (IFTP)
programs.
Current funding in the power systems area includes ONR’s Fuel
Cell program and ongoing development efforts for DDX. Research efforts have also
produced a DSP controller for a 625kW fuel cell inverter with a power-section
constructed by PSG, and the development of a 36.5MW homopolar motor drive are
under way.
|
