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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

Development of a uninterrupted power system: ac and dc to dc converter

This program covered the design, fabrication and testing of an advanced development model uninterrupted power system. The input and output requirements imposed on the power processor were specified such that the unit is electrically interchangeable with existing power systems used by the Federal Aviation Administration in installations which have a history of failure due to electrical transient conditions. Input power is from either of two single-phase ac power sources or batteries with electronic selection and transfer between power sources. Battery reconditioning is automatic when either ac source is present. The output power is rated at 84OW; the nominal output is 24V at 35A. Within the 84OW limit, the regulated output voltage is adjustable from 22V to 30Vdc. Protection against continuous overloading or short circuit is provided. The unit is packaged in a standard 19-inch rack mount configuration with 7-inch panel height. Controls are on the front panel with power input and output through connectors on the rear surface. Cooling is by free convection from fin areas located on the side and rear panels. The packaged unit weighs 52.8 lbs., which can be reduced significantly if a three-phase ac power source is used.

Cronin, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Baseline tests of the Volkswagen transporter electric delivery van

The Volkswagen Transporter, an electric delivery van, was tested as part of an Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) project to characterize the state of the art of electric vehicles. The Volkswagen Transporter is a standard Volkswagen van that has been converted to an electric vehicle. It is powered by a 144-volt traction battery. A direct current (dc) chopper controller, actuated by a conventional accelerator pedal, regulates the voltage or power applied to the 16-kilowatt (21-hp) motor. The braking system uses conventional hydraulic braking in combination with an electric regenerative braking system. The Volkswagen vehicle performance test results are presented.

Soltis, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Lightweight Regulated Power Supply

Power-supply circuit regulates output voltage by adjusting frequency of chopper circuit according to variations. Currently installed in battery charger for electric wheelchair, circuit is well suited to other uses in which light weight is important - for example, in portable computers, radios, and test instruments.

Mclyman, C. W.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Simplified dc to dc converter

A dc to dc converter which can start with a shorted output and which regulates output voltage and current is described. Voltage controlled switches directed current through the primary of a transformer the secondary of which includes virtual reactance. The switching frequency of the switches is appropriately varied to increase the voltage drop across the virtual reactance in the secondary winding to which there is connected a low impedance load. A starting circuit suitable for voltage switching devices is provided.

Gruber, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Regulator Circuit For Bilateral Source/Load Power System

Circuit regulates output voltage whether current flows from left source/load to right load/source or vice versa. Overall system characterized as voltage-controlled current source with bilateral current capability. Additional feature of control circuit is that maximum current in either direction limited by limiting excursion of output voltage from zero-current value. Thus, external current-limiting circuitry not necessary.

Madden, George↗
NASA NTRS1975

Development of a breadboard design of a high-performance, high-reliability switching regulator

A comparison of two potential conversion methods, the series inverter and the inductive energy transfer (IET) conversion technique, is presented. The investigations showed that a characteristic of the series inverter circuit (high equalizing current values in each half cycle) could not be accomplished with available components, and the investigations continued with the IET circuit only. An IET circuit system was built with the use of computer-aided design in a 2, 4, and 8 stage configuration, and these stages were staggered 180, 90, and 45 degrees, respectively. All stages were pulsewidth modulated to regulate over an input voltage range from 200 to 400 volts dc at a regulated output voltage of 56 volts. The output power capability was 100 to 500 watts for the 2 and 8 stage configuration and 50 to 250 watts for the 4 stage configuration. Equal control of up to eight 45 degree staggered stages was accomplished through the use of a digital-to-analog control circuit. Equal power sharing of all stages was achieved through a new technique using an inductively coupled balancing circuit. Conclusions are listed.

Lindena, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

High-frequency ac power distribution in Space Station

A utility-type 20-kHz ac power distribution system for the Space Station, employing resonant power-conversion techniques, is presented. The system converts raw dc voltage from photovoltaic cells or three-phase LF ac voltage from a solar dynamic generator into a regulated 20-kHz ac voltage for distribution among various loads. The results of EASY5 computer simulations of the local and global performance show that the system has fast response and good transient behavior. The ac bus voltage is effectively regulated using the phase-control scheme, which is demonstrated with both line and load variations. The feasibility of paralleling the driver-module outputs is illustrated with the driver modules synchronized and sharing a common feedback loop. An HF sinusoidal ac voltage is generated in the three-phase ac input case, when the driver modules are phased 120 deg away from one another and their outputs are connected in series.

Tsai, Fu-Sheng↗
NASA NTRS1969

Magnetically coupled emission regulator

Magnetic coupling between input and power handling circuits isolates high voltage. A feedback regulator samples the ion source bias current and provides deviation signals to a magnetic amplifier pulse modulator. The pulse modulator controls the dc to ac power inverter which in turn, controls the emission current.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1973

Regulated dc-to-dc converter for voltage step-up or step-down with input-output isolation

A closed loop regulated dc-to-dc converter employing an unregulated two winding inductive energy storage converter is provided by using a magnetically coupled multivibrator acting as duty cycle generator to drive the converter. The multivibrator is comprised of two transistor switches and a saturable transformer. The output of the converter is compared with a reference in a comparator which transmits a binary zero until the output exceeds the reference. When the output exceeds the reference, the binary output of the comparator drives transistor switches to turn the multivibrator off. The multivibrator is unbalanced so that a predetermined transistor will always turn on first when the binary feedback signal becomes zero.

Feng, S. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Regulated dc-to-dc converter for voltage step-up or step-down with input-output isolation.

A dc-to-dc regulated-converter circuit employing duty-cycle control with variable on and variable off time has been presented. A unique feature of this converter is the method by which the bistable-comparator output controls the duty cycle of the power switching transistor through the action of the encoder. The utilization of minor-loop flux excursions of a saturable-core transformer in the encoder makes it feasible to extend the converter switching frequency considerably higher than would normally be possible. With this converter circuit, high and very-high frequency converter operations were explored.

Feng, S. Y. M.↗
NASA NTRS1973

High voltage solar cell power generating system for regulated solar array development

A laboratory solar power system regulated by on-panel switches has been delivered for operating high power (3 kw), high voltage (15,000 volt) loads (communication tubes, ion thrusters). The modular system consists of 26 solar arrays, each with an integral light source and cooling system. A typical array contains 2560 series-connected cells. Each light source consists of twenty 500 watt tungsten iodide lamps providing plus or minus 5 per cent uniformity at one solar constant. An array temperature of less than 40 C is achieved using an infrared filter, a water cooled plate, a vacuum hold-down system, and air flushing.

Levy, E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Lightweight Battery Charge Regulator Used to Track Solar Array Peak Power

A battery charge regulator based on the series-connected boost regulator (SCBR) technology has been developed for high-voltage spacecraft applications. The SCBR regulates the solar array power during insolation to prevent battery overcharge or undercharge conditions. It can also be used to provide regulated battery output voltage to spacecraft loads if necessary. This technology uses industry-standard dc-dc converters and a unique interconnection to provide size, weight, efficiency, fault tolerance, and modularity benefits over existing systems. The high-voltage SCBR shown in the photograph has demonstrated power densities of over 1000 watts per kilogram (W/kg). Using four 150-W dc-dc converter modules, it can process 2500 W of power at 120 Vdc with a minimum input voltage of 90 Vdc. Efficiency of the SCBR was 94 to 98 percent over the entire operational range. Internally, the unit is made of two separate SCBR s, each with its own analog control circuitry, to demonstrate the modularity of the technology. The analog controllers regulate the output current and incorporate the output voltage limit with active current sharing between the two units. They also include voltage and current telemetry, on/off control, and baseplate temperature sensors. For peak power tracking, the SCBR was connected to a LabView-based data acquisition system for telemetry and control. A digital control algorithm for tracking the peak power point of a solar array was developed using the principle of matching the source impedance with the load impedance for maximum energy transfer. The algorithm was successfully demonstrated in a simulated spacecraft electrical system at the Boeing PhantomWorks High Voltage Test Facility in Seattle, Washington. The system consists of a 42-string, high-voltage solar array simulator, a 77-cell, 80-ampere-hour (A-hr) nickel-hydrogen battery, and a constant power-load module. The SCBR and the LabView control algorithm successfully tracked the solar array peak power point through various load transients, including sunlight discharge transients when the total load exceeded the maximum solar array output power.

Soeder, James F.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Method and apparatus for electromagnetically braking a motor

An electromagnetic braking system and method is provided for selectively braking a motor using an electromagnetic brake having an electromagnet, a permanent magnet, a rotor assembly, and a brake pad. The brake assembly applies when the electromagnet is de-energized and releases when the electromagnet is energized. When applied the permanent magnet moves the brake pad into frictional engagement with a housing, and when released the electromagnet cancels the flux of the permanent magnet to allow a leaf spring to move the brake pad away from the housing. A controller has a DC/DC converter for converting a main bus voltage to a lower braking voltage based on certain parameters. The converter utilizes pulse-width modulation (PWM) to regulate the braking voltage. A calibrated gap is defined between the brake pad and permanent magnet when the brake assembly is released, and may be dynamically modified via the controller.

Davis, Donald R.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Distortion and regulation characterization of a Mapham inverter

Output voltage Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of a 20kHz, 6kVA Mapham resonant inverter is characterized as a function of its switching-to-resonant frequency ratio, f sub s/f sub r, using the EASY5 engineering analysis system. EASY5 circuit simulation results are compared with hardware test results to verify the accuracy of the simulations. The effects of load on the THD versus f sub s/f sub r ratio is investigated for resistive, leading, and lagging power factor load impedances. The effect of the series output capacitor on the Mapham inverter output voltage distortion and inherent load regulation is characterized under loads of various power factors and magnitudes. An optimum series capacitor value which improves the inherent load regulation to better than 3 percent is identified. The optimum series capacitor value is different than the value predicted from a modeled frequency domain analysis. An explanation is proposed which takes into account the conduction overlap in the inductor pairs during steady-state inverter operation, which decreases the effective inductance of a Mapham inverter. A fault protection and current limit method is discussed which allows the Mapham inverter to operate into a short circuit, even when the inverter resonant circuit becomes overdamped.

Sundberg, Richard C.↗
NASA NTRS2011

An Set-Free, All Digital Controlled Point-of-Load Regulator for Next Generation Power Systems: ADC-POL

This paper presents a digitally controlled programmable point-of-load regulator for next-generation power systems. A novel digital control scheme was designed to minimize single-event effect (SEE)-induced transient effects. By effectively programming the loop transmission, the POL can trade off transient response time with SET robustness. The IC works with 1 to 5.5 V input voltage, 1-4.5V regulated output voltage, high efficiency (peak efficiency at 94%) and power of up to 5 W. The design was fabricated in the AMI i2t100 0.7 mu m complimentary, metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process and characterized with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) pulsed laser system.

Digital Signal Processing (DP)↗
NASA NTRS1980

Voltage controller/current limiter for ac

Circuit protects ac power systems for overload failures, limits power surge and short-circuit currents to 150 percent of steady state level, regulates ac output voltage, and soft starts loads. Limiter generates dc error signal in response to line fluctuations and dumps power when overload is reached. Device is inserted between ac source and load.

Wu, T. T.↗