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Applications to solve measurement problems
In the past decades, we have gained a lot of experience with different measurement problems. To better serve you, we have written a supporting article for you, for a large number of applications. This way, you can get acquainted with our experiences in this area.
The articles, like the rest of the website, are subdivided into applications within the different divisions. We would like to ask you to check whether your application is listed or simply contact us to see if we can provide support for your application.
Power hardware in the loop (PHiL) is a variant of the original HiL concept. The concept of HIL is retained and supplemented by additional power -read amplifier- in the loop. In this way, the HIL concept is made suitable for controlling physical components or subsystems that require more power. Think of testing or designing electric motors, transformers or inverters.
In a PHIL system, the equipment to be tested (for example, an inverter) is integrated into a test rig with real-time simulation models of other equipment and systems (for example, a power grid or a wind turbine). The whole is then controlled by a real-time simulation environment that coordinates and controls the behavior of the entire setup. PHIL offers several advantages over conventional test systems, including a higher degree of safety, accuracy, reproducibility and flexibility. It also makes it possible to perform the most sophisticated and complex test scenarios that are difficult to achieve with traditional testing methods.
PHIL is often used in the development and validation of power inverters, wind turbines, solar power systems and other power systems, where system reliability and performance are critical to system safety and efficiency.
With increasing environmental pressures resulting from the long-term use of traditional fossil fuels, the development and use of clean energy has become a major agenda item worldwide. Hydrogen energy is considered to be the most important energy source in the 21st century. This clean form of energy has the advantages of zero pollution, high efficiency, abundant resources and a wide range of applications. The use of hydrogen produces no CO2 emissions and has clean and pure water as a by-product.
The increasing demand for energy will have to be met, to a large extent, in the form of electrical energy. In addition to the already known sources such as sun and wind, it is therefore to be expected that hydrogen will be used as an energy source for generating electricity.
A fuel cell is used to convert hydrogen into electrical energy. An electrolyser is used to produce hydrogen electrically.
The safe, convenient and efficient charging and discharging of electric vehicles is essential for the breakthrough of electromobility. High demands are placed on the interface between the charging point and the electric vehicle. The charge point must also meet high standards when feeding power back into the grid to guarantee grid quality and stability. For the optimisation and further development of these crucial factors, extensive tests with network emulation and vehicle emulation are indispensable.
These are therefore the two most important elements in testing charging stations. The grid emulation simulates the grid with all possible fluctuations and contaminations. An adjustable load in combination with a vehicle communication simulator simulates the characteristics of the electric vehicle and battery.
An overview of the various test set-ups for the different charging modes can be found in this application note.
More and more often, electric motors are controlled with frequency converters. This is in order to achieve a higher efficiency. But how efficient is this motor control actually?
For accurate measurements of the entire drive system, we need to measure the entire drive chain. In this example we assume a three-phase AC power supply which is rectified to a DC power supply for the frequency inverter. Next, we measure the electrical output of the AC drive and the mechanical energy of the electric motor in order to get a total overview of the various losses or the efficiency of the entire system.
In EV traction systems, the AC input and the rectifier are eliminated and we have the car battery as input of the three-phase inverter.
As a developer, you would also like to test all products with a plug for specifications. Does the product work well in the voltage range from 196V to 256V and higher? Or is your product sold worldwide and do you also come across other voltages and more phase grids? Which frequencies do you need; 50Hz, 60Hz, 400Hz and 800Hz or higher? Does the product meet all local standards? And there are many other specifications that apply to the AC grid that your design must comply with.
There is a wide range of AC power supplies available in the market but, what should you pay attention to when making the right choice? With this white paper we are going to inform you as well as possible about the most important specifications,
At the Energy and Environment department of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) of the University of Luxembourg, they do have different research projects related to green energy contributing to the development of eco-cities.
On the Engineering side one goal is to be autonomous as far as possible in terms of thermal and electrical power supply. The aim is to achieve a self-sufficient supply in thermal (heating-cooling) and electrical energy produced on site in a regenerative manner. However renewable energy sources offer limited predictability and variability, which is a major challenge in an electricity grid where demand and supply must match at all times. To align electricity consumption and electricity production through variable renewable energy sources, demand response will play an important role in the future energy system. Demand response strategies are implemented with appropriate energy management systems, which enable demand to be shifted or reduced in order to improve the energy consumption and production profile of a building through optimal operational schedules. Model predictions and the fusion of the building energy system with ICT is crucial for assessing overall flexibility.
In recent decades, the unstoppable introduction of non-linear taxes has contributed to increasing pollution in our electricity networks. And the fact that we were all customers in the past is also long gone, as the increasing integration of alternative, local, energy generation may also make us all suppliers. The degree of pollution is called Power Quality (PQ) and therefore concerns us all. In addition to reliability, the degree of harmonic distortion and grid stability is an important factor.
Network pollution is largely caused by the equipment connected to the network. This can be caused by switched-mode power supplies, PWM control of motors, dimmers, energy-saving lamps, or the switching on of high-power loads. But also power conversion electronics belonging to solar and wind energy installations do not make the situation any better, nor do lightning strikes and short circuits. The influence of all these grid loads is reflected in the form of harmonic distortion, voltage fluctuations and transients.
Drive systems account for almost 70% of the electricity consumption of Dutch industry. To improve efficiency, resulting in significant energy savings, success can almost certainly be achieved in the short term by compensating for the current distortion and instability. Subsequently, the more individual components within the drive systems can be examined for further efficiency gains.
See also the presentation of René Bos on this topic via this link.
When you look at the aviation industry, you can see that there is also a tendency here to use more and more electrical energy (electricity). Not to mention fully electric flying! For this reason, there is a need for improvements in both new and existing concepts without increasing weight.
A solution for the increasing electrical consumption is to increase the voltage level of the electrical network on the aircraft. In recent years, we have seen the increasing use of a third system based on 270Vdc in addition to the 115V/400Hz AC and 28Vdc electrical board network. This 270Vdc system for aviation was first defined in MIL-STD-704B 17 Nov. Battery systems in this voltage range have been in use in the maritime world for much longer due to their relatively high power density and capacity. The new interest in the use of the 270Vdc grid within avionics is also partly due to the development of new electromechanical equipment that can replace traditional pneumatic and hydraulic systems.
Increased operating voltage provides improved electrical efficiency, contributes to the weight reduction of the aircraft, improves aircraft safety/reliability and provides positive environmental impacts.
The FHI Power Electronics Event took place from 8 to 10 June 2021. This time it was a digital event due to the restrictions still in place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
TT&MS consultant André Handgraaf gave a general presentation with the topic: “How to choose the right AC power supply for your application?”. As a developer, you want to test all products with a plug for specifications. Does the product work well in the voltage range of 196V to 256V and higher? Or is your product sold worldwide and do you encounter other voltages and more phase sets? What frequencies do you need; 50Hz, 60Hz, 400Hz and 800Hz or higher? Does the product comply with all local standards? There are many other specifications that apply to the AC grid that your design must meet. There is a wide range of AC power supplies available in the market, but what should you look for when making the right choice?
Click here for the slides of the presentation and watch it again below.
If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.
We are happy to show you our range of AC power supplies.
On 13 February 2020, TT&MS was exhibitor at the second Energy Storage Event in the Van der Valk Hotel in Vianen.
Participants and interested parties were informed about the advantages and challenges of energy storage through neutral knowledge transfer.
TT&MS consultant André Handgraaf gave a general presentation on the testing of Ion-Lithium batteries and possible test solutions. For those who could not attend the Energy Storage Event or the lecture we have added the sheets and presentation in this message.
We would like to introduce you to our range of battery test equipment and battery emulation equipment.
TTMS and H&H have joined forces in 2016 to sponsor Solar Team Twente (part of TU Twente). An H&H PLI3230 power supply was given on loan to test the Team’s solar car.
The Solar Team Twente designs and builds a solar car every other year to participate in the World Solar Challenge in Australia. In 2017 this team participated in the RED SHIFT, a solar car in which the so-called Solar Balancing technique called “SABINE” has been applied.
SABINE stands for Solar Array Balancing Interface Not Expected. It ensures that losses caused by the differences between the yields of solar cells, also known as grouping loss, are marginalised.
Click on the button below to read more about SABINE and how the H&H PLI3230 power supply was used for testing.
For more information about the H&H PLI series, please refer to the product page.
An LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) consists of a transformer with one primary winding, two secondary windings and a movable fixture. With the primary winding at the desired voltage and frequency, the size and relative phase of secondary winding changes as soon as the luminaire is moved.
There are two ways to detect the relocation: ratiometric and differential. This is what the N4L application note below is about.
The PSM units from N4L are very suitable for testing transformers manually or automatically (using a PC). They have the measurement capacity (DFT and true rms, from 10mHz to 2.4MHz) to perform the most commonly required transformer tests:
Most tests require a simple circuit, such as resistors to be mounted in a test rig. Above mentioned tests can be found in the application note. For more information click on view application note.
A variety of water treatment processes requires DC power supplies to generate an electric field. For this the output of the power supply will be connected to the electrodes in a water tank, creating a closed circuit.
The specific properties of the power supply ensure maximum control of voltage and current, guaranteeing a constant process control. Magna-Power’s power-operated DC power supplies increase reliability during this process.
Wish to know more? Click on the button Application Note below.
Batteries and capacitors have similar loading requirements, which fit well with the standard functionality of Magna-Power power supplies. When a Magna-Power power supply is connected to a battery or capacitor, the power supply can be programmed for the nominal quiescent voltage and the highest desired charging current.
The power supply, in constant current mode, charges the battery or capacitor at the defined charge current, while the voltage increases with the amount of charge. Once the programmed rated voltage is reached, the Magna-Power supply automatically switches to voltage mode and the charging current drops to zero when charging is complete. With such loads, we usually work with a protection diode and sense lines to protect the power supply while maintaining an accurate charging voltage.
Would you like to know more? Click on view application note.
+31 252 - 621 080 info@ttms.nl
Arnold Memelink
ABB
"The ABB Power Grids Jumet organisation is an innovative development and production facility of ABB that manufactures active filters and battery energy storage systems to support a stable grid. To test these systems we have acquired two Cinergia GE/EL +120kVA eplus units capable of doing grid emulation (AC + DC), operating as an electronic load (AC +DC) and being a battery emulator. We have experienced very good support from TTMS in obtaining these two Cinergia units. This included organising an on-site demonstration and supplying loan systems prior to the delivery of our final systems. This way we could start testing as early as possible. TTMS also organised training for the operators from the original manufacturer. This support allowed us to introduce the first battery energy storage systems even prior to the full delivery of the Cinergia systems."
Sasan Rafii-Tabrizi
University of Luxembourg
“At the Energy and Environment department of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) of the University of Luxembourg we do have different research projects related to green energy contributing to the development of eco-cities. As a long-standing partner of our research unit, TT&MS has proven that they are able to answer even the most complex questions in a professional manner. They have shown that they are always up to date with the latest technology and do not spare any effort to look at the application and even the situation on site. The exchange of ideas was always very pleasant and took place quickly. We look forward to further years of fruitful cooperation.”
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