Electronic Vehicles (EVs) are a key element of carbon emission reduction strategies and pivotal to contributing to sustainable development. Operating solely on electrical energy, eliminating the need for petrol or diesel, EVs leave a significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Underscoring the impact of EVs on the environment, advanced research is conducted to improve the efficacy and reliability of EVs.
On this note, a research team from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering – Dr Tarkeshwar Mahto, Dr Somesh Vinayak Tewari, Dr Ramanjaneya Reddy and PhD scholar Ms K Mounika Nagabushanam has published a paper titled “High Gain Bi-directional KY converter for low power EV Applications” in the Q1 journal Energy having an Impact Factor of 9. Their research work focuses on the development of a bi-directional DC-DC converter that can be used in EVs for integration of battery to traction motor.
Abstract
In electric vehicles (EVs), the type of electric motor and converter technology have a significant impact on regulating the operational characteristics of the vehicle. Therefore, in this work, the modified bi-directional KY converter (BKYC) is proposed for EV applications. The main contributions of the proposed converter are high step-up/step-down conversion gain, bi-directional power flow, simplified control structure, continuous current, common ground, low volume, and high efficiency. An inductor on either side of the converter ensures continuous current flow and passive components are arranged to operate in series to offer high step-up/step-down conversion. The charging and discharging operations, steady-state analysis, and design process of the proposed converter are discussed in detail and compared with similar bi-directional converter topologies. Further, the efficiency analysis of the proposed converter is presented, and it was found that the efficacy is 95.51% in the charging operation and 96.52% in the discharging operation. The simulations are carried out using MATLAB/Simulink environment. Further, a prototype of a modified bi-directional KY converter is implemented with a TMS320F28335 processor and validated with theoretical and simulation counterparts.
Explanation of the Research in Layperson’s Terms
Electric vehicles (EVs) are built with traction motors, charging circuits, energy storage devices, and lighting systems. Each runs at a different voltage and has a different power level. Various power electronic converters are used to integrate the individual components of an electric vehicle. An electric vehicle (EV) runs primarily on battery power, which can be obtained from on-board charging or charging stations. The battery has a voltage range of 24 to 48 volts. The traction motor, coupled to a DC link bus with a voltage range of 400V to 600V, needs to receive this energy. Consequently, it is necessary to integrate a power converter to raise the voltage from lower voltage batteries to a higher voltage DC link. Additionally, energy lost during motor running can be used to charge batteries to improve the efficiency of the electric vehicle. Therefore, a separate power electronic converter is required for the power flow from the motor to the battery. The primary output of our study is the development of a bi-directional DC-DC converter that facilitates power flow from the battery to the motor and motor to the battery with the necessary voltage gains while maintaining improved efficiency and low cost.
The main challenges in EV technology are battery deterioration due to frequent charging and discharging and the volume of the power converter. The research team plans –
- To work on the noise reduction methods that are brought on by regeneration action
- To work on various control techniques to keep the DC link voltage of the propulsion system constant