New Technology Transfusion for Renewable Energy Conversion

Julia Zhang has been doing research work in the areas of control of AC machine drive
and generating systems, optimal design of electric machines, and applications of power
electronic circuits. In the first half of her talk, she will give a general introduction to her
research work related to the applications of electric machines and power electronics in
renewable energy conversion. Specifically, she will talk about 1)The Dual Mechanical
Port (DMP) machine which is applied as the Electric Variable Transmission (EVT) on
Hybrid Electric Vehicles (EVTs); 2)The Doubly-Fed Brushless Machine (DFBM), a new
type of electric machine in wind power generation.
The Interior Permanent Magnet (IPM) synchronous machine is the most popular type of
electric machine applied in the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) technology. Vehicles
typically require the IPM machine to have the ability to output a constant power over a
very wide speed range. Field weakening technology is one of the most challenging
topics in the wide-speed-range operation of IPM machines. In the second half of Julia’s
talk, she will narrow down to an important topic of her PhD dissertation work – the
single-current-regulator algorithm which provides a simple yet reliable solution to the
deep field weakening operation of IPM machines.
Julia Zhang earned her BS and MS degrees from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China. She joined the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Laboratory at The Ohio State University in 2005. She is currently a PhD candidate of electrical engineering. Her research interests include control of AC electric drive systems such as Hybrid Electric Vehicle drivetrain systems, control of AC electric machine generating systems such as wind power generation systems, optimal design for AC electric machines, application of power electronic circuits.