Energy-efficiency of electrical machine and drive with SiC transitors
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | ATLAS COPCO INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUE AKTIEBOLAG - R&D Mechatronics |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 300 000 |
| Project duration | June 2015 - June 2016 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
The purpose of the study was to point out potential system benefits of using SiC Power MOSFET:s instead of conventional IGBT:s in nutrunner systems. This study focused on the reduction of total system size by using higher switching frequency, enabled by SiC Mosfet technology. The study can conclude that the total motor-drive system weight can be significantly reduced by using SiC transistors.
Expected long term effects
The study can conclude that the total motor-drive system weight can be more than halved by using SiC technology since the filter becomes unnecessary. This means a large step closer to integration of the inverter and motor. It also improves system reliability since fewer components are involved. More compact and thus more competitive products are expected in the future. An unexpected finding was that the motor design has a significant impact on the inverter losses.
Approach and implementation
A power measurement setup for system analysis of inverter-fed nutrunner systems was developed. The impact of increased switching frequency on motor losses using motor prototypes with different parameter variations was investigated. A SiC-based system was compared to a conventional IGBT-based system with respect to power losses and total weight.