International Journal of Powertrains (6 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• Loss Assessment and Experimentation of Gallium Nitride based Integrated Charger for Electric Vehicles  
  by Kundan Kumar 
  Abstract: The research on electric vehicles (EVs) and their charging infrastructure are advancing very fast and the adoption of EVs can reduce the burden of fossil fuels, results in a green and healthy environment. The compact sizing and design of an efficient charging system are the major concerns that can be addressed by implementing an onboard integrated charger. The integrated charger works in two modes: the first one is charging mode when the vehicle is in a stationary position while the second one is the propulsion mode in which the vehicle is in motion. In this work, an integrated charger is explored using gallium nitride (GaN)-based semiconductor devices for propulsion as well as charging modes. Further, a scaled-down prototype of 400-watt GaN-based integrated charger is tested for both modes. The various performance results and efficiency of the integrated charger are presented. It is observed that the efficiency of the GaN-based integrated charger is on an average of 45% higher than Si and 23% higher than SiC which shows the dominance of GaN.
  Keywords: efficiency; gallium nitride; integrated charger; MOSFET; power losses; propulsion drive; silicon; silicon carbide.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2024.10061623
   
  
• Demand Response based Dynamic Economic Load Dispatch in a Microgrid with Modified Red Deer Algorithm  
  by Pothula Jagadeesh, Asapu Siva, Srinivas Nakka, Mohamed Thameem Ansari M 
  Abstract: On-site generation microgrids may be a viable option for powering remote areas without grids. These microgrids differ from electricity grid-connected ones. Microgrids without main grid connections employ the same energy management technologies as those connected, including economic dispatch and unit commitment modules. Dynamic economic load dispatch (DELD) in isolated microgrids is the study's goal. These microgrids use load shedding as a last resort to balance supply and demand, allowing responsive loads and renewable electricity to be curtailed. The quantity of electricity made by dispatchable distributed generators (DGs), power cut by renewable DGs, power shed, and demand cut are determined for each time period. The well-known modified red deer optimisation (MRDO) approach is utilised to solve the DELD problem. In a microgrid with two renewable DGs and four dispatchable DGs, MRDO beats PSO, and demand response considerably lowers microgrid maintenance costs.
  Keywords: microgrid; MG; particle swarm optimisation; PSO; demand response; modified red deer optimisation; MRDO; economic load dispatch.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2024.10063152
   
  
• Current Based Hybrid Protection Scheme Using Signal Processing Techniques for Utility Network with High Renewable Energy Generation  
  by Anup Kumar, Himanshu Sharma, Ram Mahia 
  Abstract: Current-based hybrid renewable energy (RE) protection scheme (HREPS) using Stockwell transform (ST), alienation coefficient (ACF) and Wigner distribution function (WDF) is designed for utility network with RE generation. HREPS is effective to detect faults like line to ground, line to line, line to line and ground, all lines and all lines and ground. This is identified by comparing peak magnitude of formulated hybrid RE fault index with RE threshold (RETH). Performance of HREPS is checked to detect faults during operating scenario like changing fault impedance, variations in fault incidence angle, and faults at different nodes of grid. HREPS effectively detects faultswith20dB SNR noise level, discriminates faults from operational events, and detects faults on a 33 kV practical grid. Faults are classified using numbers of faulty phases. Ground availability is recognised using hybrid RE ground fault index. Performance of HREPS is superior compared to protection scheme using discrete wavelet transform.
  Keywords: alienation coefficient; ACF; hybrid renewable energy protection scheme; HREPS; fault event; renewable energy Stockwell transform; utility network; Wigner distribution function; WDF.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2024.10064729
   
  
• Comparative analysis of the ISO Tolerance class of 3D-printed spur cylindrical gears produced with Material Extrusion (MEX) and Powder Bed fusion (PBF) techniques  
  by Christos Vakouftsis, Georgios Vasileiou, Georgios Kaisarlis, Christos Kalligeros, Christos Papalexis, Pavlos Zalimidis, Christopher Provatidis, Vasileios Spitas 
  Abstract: The present work correlates the printing accuracy of two major 3D-printing techniques applied for the production of spur gears by calculating the ISO tolerance class that defines the accuracy level of gears in all industrial applications. Specimens were produced using material extrusion MEX-TRB/P/ABS and powder bed fusion PBF-LB/P/PA22 techniques, evaluated by using a touch-probe coordinate measuring machine (CMM) with appropriate software and finally compared in terms of standards gear geometry errors and deviations. MEX-TRB produced specimens exhibited higher levels of accuracy and ISO quality class correspondingly. Both sets of specimens were found to comply with ISO Q12 or higher that greatly varies from the quality class of most metallic gears used in industrial applications. The printing parameters are detailed and discussed extensively in an attempt to provide insight on further research and process optimisation for the production of AM gears.
  Keywords: gears; 3D printing; material extrusion; MEX; powder bed fusion; PBF; ISO tolerance class; CMM; gear quality.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2024.10064740
   
  
• Distributed Multiobjective Predictive Control for Connected Electric Vehicles  
  by Yanhong Wu, Zhaofeng Gao, Xiulan Song, Ji Li, Quan Zhou, Hongming Xu 
  Abstract: This paper proposes a distributed multi-objective predictive control (DMPC) strategy to balance the conflicts among driving safety, comfort and economy of vehicular platoon. A vehicular platoon model is established to describe the characteristics of connected electric vehicles. Then, a distributed model predictive controller is developed for vehicular platoon. To reduce the multi-objective conflicts, a weighted-sum-based optimisation method is designed and inserted into the controller. Furthermore, the stability and the iterative feasibility of the proposed strategy is proven. Finally, several experiments are carried out on a self-developed co-Simulink platform with the IPG-Carmaker. Compared with the centralised multi-objective predictive control method, the proposed DMPC strategy distributed multi-objective predictive control method exhibits a 7.69% enhancement in driving safety, a 4.64% improvement in driving comfort and 3.70% advancement in driving economy for platoon.
  Keywords: vehicular platoon; multi-objective conflicts; predictive control; IPG-Carmaker.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2024.10064787
   
  
• Buck Converter Based Transformer-less Electric Vehicle Charger Using Artificial Intelligent Controller  
  by Aayushi Priyadarshini, SHEKHAR YADAV, Nitesh Tiwari 
  Abstract: The uni-directional power exchange between a charging station and an electric vehicle is important for grid-to-vehicle charging. While accomplishing the operation, various converters and controllers play an important role in transferring smooth power between the grid-to-vehicle. The paper discusses designing the model of a buck converter-based transformer-less charger that uses artificial intelligent controllers as well as confirms the power exchange between the grid and battery of the vehicle. The performance of a transformer-less grid-to-vehicle charger is designed using various electric vehicles based on consumer choice. The results demonstrate that the proposed charger delivers smooth power flow between charging stations to various types of vehicles with minimum voltage tracking error. The simulation tool MATLAB and SIMULINK estimates the settling time, tracking error, peak overshoot, smoothness of the controller, and accurate charger state-of-charge to prevent the battery from being overcharged.
  Keywords: buck converter; grid-to-vehicle charger; proportional-integral controller; fuzzy logic controller; FLC; artificial neural network; ANN.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2024.10064947