ECpE Seminar with Giovanni De Carne: Solutions for an Electrical Grid Dominated by Power Electronics-Interfaced Devices

When

April 8, 2019    
10:00 am - 11:30 am

Where

3043 ECpE Building Addition
Coover Hall, Ames, Iowa, 50011

Event Type

Giovanni De CarneSpeaker: Giovanni De Carne, Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Kopernikus Project

Title: Solutions for an Electrical Grid Dominated by Power Electronics-Interfaced Devices

Abstract: The distribution grid is undergoing structural changes due to the integration of new power electronics-interfaced equipment, such as renewable energy systems and electric vehicles. Power electronics helps achieving the maximum efficiency operation, both in extracting energy from natural resources and in optimizing the working points for loads. Despite the many advantages of power electronics, several issues arise at the power system management. Power electronics-interfaced devices do not have rotational inertia and they work with a constant power control. This tends to amplify the disturbance in the grid (e.g., faults) in terms of voltage and frequency variations from the nominal working point. This presentation introduces some of the new solutions dealing with an electrical grid with power prevalence of power electronics. As first, the concept of Smart Transformer, a power electronics-based transformer with advanced control capability, is introduced. Interacting with the local loads and generators by means of controlled voltage and frequency variations, the Smart Transformer can dynamically shape the grid power consumption, providing ancillary services. This concept is further explored for high power/high voltage applications, such as HVDC, where the possibility to shape the consumption of voltage-sensitive loads can be employed to provide primary frequency control in high voltage grids. The use of grid-forming converters for supplying islanded grids have caught recently the attention of academia and industry. Seen from industry as a multi-billion market, the grid forming converters are still limited in their applications due to the limit of power electronics in providing the short-circuit current needed for the current breakers to open. In this talk, I will introduce some new protection strategies, developed during my research, for a “plug-and-play” integration of grid-forming converter, such as the low voltage converter of a Smart Transformer, in the current protection strategies.

Bio: Giovanni De Carne received the bachelor and master degrees in Electrical Engineering from Bari Polytechnic (Italy) in 2011 and 2013, respectively. In 2013, he started working on his Ph.D. studies at the Chair of Power Electronics at Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany. He got his Ph.D. in 2018 with the thesis: “Analysis of ST features for electric distribution grid” within the ERC Grant project “Highly Reliable And Efficient smart Transformer – HEART.” He is currently working as a post-doctoral researcher in the Kopernikus Project “ENSURE” in the HVDC control and services provision for AC grids topics. His research topics are Smart Transformer, HVDC control and services, protection strategies for grid-forming converters and DC grids, and Power-Hardware-In-Loop applications. He is author and co-author of 17 Journals and more than 20 conference proceedings. He is active member of CIGRE WG A3.40 on “Technical requirements and field experiences with MV DC switching equipment.”

ECpE Seminar Host: Zhaoyu Wang

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