Types of Fuel Cells

Fuel cells are classified primarily by the kind of electrolyte they employ. This classification determines the kind of chemical reactions that take place in the cell, the kind of catalysts required, the temperature range in which the cell operates, the fuel required, and other factors. These characteristics, in turn, affect the applications for which these cells are most suitable. There are several types of fuel cells currently under development, each with its own advantages, limitations, and potential applications. Learn more about:

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Alkaline Fuel Cells Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Regenerative Fuel Cells Comparison of Fuel Cell Technologies

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cellsalso called proton exchange membrane fuel cellsdeliver highpower density and offer the advantages of low weight and volume, compared with other fuel cells. PEM fuel cells use a solid polymer as an electrolyte and porous carbon electrodes containing a platinum catalyst. They need only hydrogen, oxygen from the air, and water to operate and do not require corrosive fluids like some fuel cells. They are typically fueled with pure hydrogen supplied from storage tanks or on-board reformers. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells operate at relatively low temperatures, around 80C (176F). Lowtemperature operation allows them to start quickly (less warm-up time) and results in less wear on system components, resulting in better durability. However, it requires that a noble-metal catalyst (typically platinum) be used to separate the hydrogen's electrons and protons, adding to system cost. The platinum catalyst is also extremely sensitive to CO poisoning, making it necessary to employ an additional reactor to reduce CO in the fuel gas if the hydrogen is derived from an alcohol or hydrocarbon fuel. This also adds cost. Developers are currently exploring platinum/ruthenium catalysts that are more resistant to CO.

PEM fuel cells are used primarily for transportation applications and some stationary applications. Due to their fast startup time, low sensitivity to orientation, and favorable power-to-weight ratio, PEM fuel cells are particularly suitable for use in passenger vehicles, such as cars and buses. A significant barrier to using these fuel cells in vehicles is hydrogen storage. Most fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) powered by pure hydrogen must store the hydrogen on-board as a compressed gas in pressurized tanks. Due to the low-energy density of hydrogen, it is difficult to store enough hydrogen on-board to allow vehicles to travel the same distance as gasoline-powered vehicles before refueling, typically 300400 miles. Higher-density liquid fuels, such as methanol, ethanol, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and gasoline, can be used for fuel, but the vehicles must have an on-board fuel processor to reform the methanol to hydrogen. This requirement increases costs and maintenance. The reformer also releases carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), though less than that emitted from current gasoline-powered engines.

Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Most fuel cells are powered by hydrogen, which can be fed to the fuel cell system directly or can be generated within the fuel cell system by reforming hydrogen-rich fuels such as methanol, ethanol, and hydrocarbon fuels. Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), however, are powered by pure methanol, which is mixed with steam and fed directly to the fuel cell anode. Direct methanol fuel cells do not have many of the fuel storage problems typical of some fuel cells because methanol has a higher energy density than hydrogenthough less than gasoline or diesel fuel. Methanol is also easier to transport and supply to the public using our current infrastructure because it is a liquid, like gasoline. Direct methanol fuel cell technology is relatively new compared with that of fuel cells powered by pure hydrogen, and DMFC research and development is roughly 34 years behind that for other fuel cell types.

Alkaline Fuel Cells

Alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) were one of the first fuel cell technologies developed, and they were the first type widely used in the U.S. space program to produce electrical energy and water on-board spacecrafts. These fuel cells use a solution of potassium hydroxide in water as the electrolyte and can use a variety of non-precious metals as a

catalyst at the anode and cathode. High-temperature AFCs operate at temperatures between 100C and 250C (212F and 482F). However, newer AFC designs operate at lower temperatures of roughly 23C to 70C (74F to 158F) AFCs' high performance is due to the rate at which chemical reactions take place in the cell. They have also demonstrated efficiencies near 60% in space applications. The disadvantage of this fuel cell type is that it is easily poisoned by carbon dioxide (CO2). In fact, even the small amount of CO2 in the air can affect this cell's operation, making it necessary to purify both the hydrogen and oxygen used in the cell. This purification process is costly. Susceptibility to poisoning also affects the cell's lifetime (the amount of time before it must be replaced), further adding to cost. Cost is less of a factor for remote locations, such as space or under the sea. However, to effectively compete in most mainstream commercial markets, these fuel cells will have to become more cost-effective. AFC stacks have been shown to maintain sufficiently stable operation for more than 8,000 operating hours. To be economically viable in large-scale utility applications, these fuel cells need to reach operating times exceeding 40,000 hours, something that has not yet been achieved due to material durability issues. This obstacle is possibly the most significant in commercializing this fuel cell technology.

Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells

Phosphoric acid fuel cells use liquid phosphoric acid as an electrolyte the acid is contained in a Teflon-bonded silicon carbide matrixand porous carbon electrodes containing a platinum catalyst. The chemical reactions that take place in the cell are shown in the diagram to the right. The phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) is considered the "first generation" of modern fuel cells. It is one of the most mature cell types and the first to be used commercially. This type of fuel cell is typically used for stationary power generation, but some PAFCs have been used to power large vehicles such as city buses. PAFCs are more tolerant of impurities in fossil fuels that have been reformed into hydrogen than PEM cells, which are easily "poisoned" by carbon monoxide because carbon monoxide binds to the platinum catalyst at the anode, decreasing the fuel cell's efficiency. They are 85% efficient when used for the co-generation of electricity and heat but less efficient at generating electricity alone (37%42%). This is only slightly more efficient than combustion-based power plants, which typically operate at 33%35% efficiency. PAFCs are also less powerful than other fuel cells, given the same weight and volume. As a result, these fuel cells are typically large and heavy. PAFCs are also expensive. Like PEM fuel cells, PAFCs require an expensive platinum catalyst, which raises the cost of the fuel cell.

Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells

Molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) are currently being developed for natural gas and coal-based power plants for electrical utility, industrial, and military applications. MCFCs are high-temperature fuel cells that use an electrolyte composed of a molten carbonate salt mixture suspended in a porous, chemically inert ceramic lithium aluminum oxide (LiAlO2) matrix. Because they operate at extremely high temperatures of 650C (roughly 1,200F) and above, non-precious metals can be used as catalysts at the anode and cathode, reducing costs. Improved efficiency is another reason MCFCs offer significant cost reductions over phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs). Molten carbonate fuel cells, when coupled with a turbine, can reach efficiencies approaching 65%, considerably higher than the 37%42% efficiencies of a phosphoric acid fuel cell plant. When the waste heat is captured and used, overall fuel efficiencies can be as high as 85%. Unlike alkaline, phosphoric acid, and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, MCFCs do not require an external reformer to convert more energy-dense fuels to hydrogen. Due to the high temperatures at which MCFCs operate, these fuels are converted to hydrogen within the fuel cell itself by a process called internal reforming, which also reduces cost. Molten carbonate fuel cells are not prone to carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide "poisoning" they can even use carbon oxides as fuelmaking them more attractive for fueling with gases made from coal. Because they are more resistant to impurities than other fuel cell types, scientists believe that they could even be capable of internal reforming of coal, assuming they can be made resistant to impurities such as sulfur and particulates that result from converting coal, a dirtier fossil fuel source than many others, into hydrogen. The primary disadvantage of current MCFC technology is durability. The high temperatures at which these cells operate and the corrosive electrolyte used accelerate component breakdown and corrosion, decreasing cell life. Scientists are currently exploring corrosion-resistant materials for components as well as fuel cell designs that increase cell life without decreasing performance.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) use a hard, non-porous ceramic compound as the electrolyte. Because the electrolyte is a solid, the cells do not have to be constructed in the plate-like configuration typical of other fuel cell types. SOFCs are expected to be around 50%60% efficient at converting fuel to electricity. In applications designed to capture and utilize the system's waste heat (co-generation), overall fuel use efficiencies could top 80%85%. Solid oxide fuel cells operate at very high temperaturesaround 1,000C (1,830F). High-temperature operation removes the need for precious-metal catalyst, thereby reducing cost. It also allows SOFCs to reform fuels internally, which enables the use of a variety of fuels and reduces the cost associated with adding a reformer to the system. SOFCs are also the most sulfur-resistant fuel cell type; they can tolerate several orders of magnitude more of sulfur than other cell types. In addition, they are not poisoned by carbon monoxide (CO), which can even be used as fuel. This property allows SOFCs to use gases made from coal. High-temperature operation has disadvantages. It results in a slow startup and requires significant thermal shielding to retain heat and protect personnel, which may be acceptable for utility applications but not for transportation and small portable applications. The high operating temperatures also place stringent durability requirements on materials. The development of low-cost materials with high durability at cell operating temperatures is the key technical challenge facing this technology. Scientists are currently exploring the potential for developing lower-temperature SOFCs operating at or below 800C that have fewer durability problems and cost less. Lower-temperature SOFCs produce less electrical power, however, and stack materials that will function in this lower temperature range have not been identified.

Regenerative Fuel Cells

Regenerative fuel cells produce electricity from hydrogen and oxygen and generate heat and water as byproducts, just like other fuel cells. However, regenerative fuel cell systems can also use electricity from solar power or some other source to divide the excess water into oxygen and hydrogen fuelthis process is called "electrolysis." This is a comparatively young fuel cell technology being developed by NASA and others.

Comparison of Fuel Cell Technologies

Each fuel cell technology has advantages and disadvantages. See how fuel cell technologies compare with one another

Electric motor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other kinds of motors, see motor (disambiguation). For a railroad engine, see electric locomotive.

Various electric motors. A 9-volt PP3 transistor battery is in the center foreground for size comparison.

An electric motor is an electromechanical device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force. The reverse process, producing electrical energy from mechanical energy, is done by generators such as an alternator or a dynamo; some electric motors can also be used as generators, for example, a traction motor on a vehicle may perform both tasks. Electric motors and generators are commonly referred to as electric machines. Electric motors are found in applications as diverse as industrial fans, blowers and pumps, machine tools, household appliances, power tools, and disk drives. They may be powered by direct current, e.g., a battery powered portable device or motor vehicle, or by alternating current from a central electrical distribution grid or inverter. The smallest motors may be found in electric wristwatches. Medium-size motors of highly standardized dimensions and characteristics provide convenient mechanical power for industrial uses. The very largest electric motors are used for propulsion of ships, pipeline compressors, and water

pumps with ratings in the millions of watts. Electric motors may be classified by the source of electric power, by their internal construction, by their application, or by the type of motion they give. The physical principle behind production of mechanical force by the interactions of an electric current and a magnetic field, Faraday's law of induction, was discovered by Michael Faraday in 1831. Electric motors of increasing efficiency were constructed from 1821 through the end of the 19th century, but commercial exploitation of electric motors on a large scale required efficient electrical generators and electrical distribution networks. The first commercially successful motors were made around 1873. Some devices convert electricity into motion but do not generate usable mechanical power as a primary objective and so are not generally referred to as electric motors. For example, magnetic solenoids and loudspeakers are usually described as actuators and transducers,
[1]

respectively, instead of motors. Some electric motors are used to produce torque or force.[2]

[edit]History

and development

Faraday's electromagnetic experiment, 1821[3]

The conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy by electromagnetic means was demonstrated by the British scientist Michael Faradayin 1821. A free-hanging wire was dipped into a pool of mercury, on which a permanent magnet was placed. When a current was passed through the wire, the wire rotated around the magnet, showing that the current gave rise to a close circular magnetic field around the wire.
[4]

This motor is often demonstrated in school physics classes, but brine (salt water) is sometimes used in

place of the toxic mercury. This is the simplest form of a class of devices called homopolar motors. A later refinement is the Barlow's wheel. These were demonstration devices only, unsuited to practical applications due to their primitive construction.[citation needed]

Jedlik's "electromagnetic self-rotor", 1827 (Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest. The historic motor still works perfectly today.[5])

In 1827, Hungarian physicist nyos Jedlik started experimenting with devices he called "electromagnetic self-rotors". Although they were used only for instructional purposes, in 1828 Jedlik demonstrated the first device to contain the three main components of practical direct currentmotors: the stator, rotor and commutator. The device employed no permanent magnets, as the magnetic fields of both the stationary and revolving components were produced solely by the currents flowing through their windings.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
[edit]The

first electric motors

The first commutator-type direct current electric motor capable of turning machinery was invented by the British scientist William Sturgeon in 1832.[12] Following Sturgeon's work, a commutator-type direct-current electric motor made with the intention of commercial use was built by Americans Emily and Thomas Davenport and patented in 1837. Their motors ran at up to 600 revolutions per minute, and powered machine tools and a printing press.[13] Due to the high cost of the zinc electrodes required by primary battery power, the motors were commercially unsuccessful and the Davenports went bankrupt. Several inventors followed Sturgeon in the development of DC motors but all encountered the same cost issues with primary battery power. No electricity distribution had been developed at the time. Like Sturgeon's motor, there was no practical commercial market for these motors.[citation needed] In 1855 Jedlik built a device using similar principles to those used in his electromagnetic self-rotors that was capable of useful work.[6][8] He built a model electric motor-propelled vehicle that same year.[14] The modern DC motor was invented by accident in 1873, when Znobe Gramme connected the dynamo he had invented to a second similar unit, driving it as a motor. The Gramme machine was the first electric motor that was successful in the industry.[citation needed] In 1886 Frank Julian Sprague invented the first practical DC motor, a non-sparking motor capable of constant speed under variable loads. Other Sprague electric inventions about this time greatly improved grid electric distribution (prior work done while employed by Thomas Edison), allowed power from electric motors to be returned to the electric grid, provided for electric distribution to trolleys via overhead wires and the trolley pole, and provided controls systems for electric operations. This allowed Sprague to use electric motors to invent the first electric trolley system in 188788 in Richmond VA, the electric elevator and control

system in 1892, and the electric subway with independently powered centrally controlled cars, which was first installed in 1892 in Chicago by the South Side Elevated Railway where it became popularly known as the "L". Sprague's motor and related inventions led to an explosion of interest and use in electric motors for industry, while almost simultaneously another great inventor was developing its primary competitor, which would become much more widespread. In 1888 Nikola Tesla invented the first practicable AC motor and with it the polyphase power transmission system. Tesla continued his work on the AC motor in the years to follow at the Westinghouse company. The development of electric motors of acceptable efficiency was delayed for several decades by failure to recognize the extreme importance of a relatively small air gap between rotor and stator. Efficient designs have a comparatively small air gap.[15] The St. Louis motor, long used in classrooms to illustrate motor principles, is extremely inefficient for the same reason, as well as appearing nothing like a modern motor. Photo of a traditional form of the St. Louis motor:[16] Application of electric motors revolutionized industry. Industrial processes were no longer limited by power transmission using line shafts, belts, compressed air or hydraulic pressure. Instead every machine could be equipped with its own electric motor, providing easy control at the point of use, and improving power transmission efficiency. Electric motors applied in agriculture eliminated human and animal muscle power from such tasks as handling grain or pumping water. Household uses of electric motors reduced heavy labor in the home and made higher standards of convenience, comfort and safety possible. Today, electric motors consume more than half of all electric energy produced.[17][18]
[edit]Terminology

In an electric motor the moving part is called the rotor and the stationary part is called the stator. Magnetic fields are produced on poles, and these can be salient poles where they are driven by windings of electrical wire. A shaded-pole motor has a winding around part of the pole that delays the phase of the magnetic field for that pole. A commutator switches the current flow to the rotor windings depending on the rotor angle. A DC motor is powered by direct current, although there is almost always an internal mechanism (such as a commutator) converting DC to AC for part of the motor. An AC motor is supplied with alternating current, often avoiding the need for a commutator. A synchronous motor is an AC motor that runs at a speed fixed to a fraction of the power supply frequency, and an asynchronous motor is an AC motor, usually an induction motor, whose speed slows with increasing torque to slightly less than synchronous speed. Universal motors can run on either AC or DC, though the maximum frequency of the AC supply may be limited.
[edit]Operating

principle

At least 3 different operating principles are used to make electric motors: magnetism, electrostatics, piezoelectric. By far the most common is magnetic.
[edit]Magnetic

Nearly all electric motors are based around magnetism (Exceptions include Piezo Electric and Ultrasonic Motors). In these motors, magnetic fields are formed in both the rotor and the stator. The product between these two fields give rise to a force, and thus a torque on the motor shaft. One, or both, of these fields must be made to change with the rotation of the motor. This is done by switching the poles on and off at the right time, or varying the strength of the pole.In Magnetic principle of Motor " Electromegnetic Field of Lines circulate around Rotor and stator".
[edit]Categorization

The main types are DC motors and AC motors, although the ongoing trend toward electronic control somewhat softens the distinction,[citation needed][dubious discuss] as modern drivers have moved the commutator out of the motor shell for some types of DC motors. Considering all rotating (or linear) electric motors require synchronism between a moving magnetic field and a moving current sheet for average torque production, there is a clear distinction between an asynchronous motor and synchronous types. An asynchronous motor requires slip - relative movement between the magnetic field (generated by the stator) and a winding set (the rotor) to induce current in the rotor by mutual inductance. The most ubiquitous example of asynchronous motors is the common AC induction motor which must slip to generate torque. In the synchronous types, induction (or slip) is not a requisite for magnetic field or current production (e.g. permanent magnet motors, synchronous brush-less wound-rotor doubly fed electric machine). Rated output power is also used to categorize motors. Those of less than 746 watts, for example, are often referred to as fractional horsepower motors (FHP) in reference to the old imperial measurement.
Commutation

No commutation

Electromechanica l

Electronic

stator coils driven by line voltage

motor has a commutator to switch power to rotor coils

Switches power to stator coils, rotor position by sensing, either by discrete sensors, or feedback from coils, or open loop.

Electro-mechanical

Electronic switches

commutator

Drive

AC

DC (1)

DC

Iron

The rotor is ferromagnetic, not permanently magnetized; it has no winding

RELUCTANCE (2): Switched or Hysteresis variable Synchronous reluctance / SRM reluctance

Switched or variable reluctance / SRM Stepper Coilgun/mass driver

Magnet

The rotor is a permanent magnet; it has no winding

PMSM / BLAC (2) (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor / Brush-less Alternating Current)

BLDC (Brush-less Direct Current)

Rot or

PM (Permanent Magnet) WOUND STATOR: universal(1) / series wound shunt wound compound wound Commutator supplies power to the coils that are best positioned to generate torque Homopolar motor (ironless rotors typical)

Copper (usu The rotor ally includes plus magnet a winding ic core)

INDUCTION (3) (Squirrel cage)

Frequency controlled induction motor fed from Inverter

Notes: 1. Universal motors can also work at line frequency AC (rotation is independent of the frequency of the AC voltage) 2. Rotation is synchronous with the frequency of the AC voltage

3.

Rotation is always slower than synchronous.

[edit]DC motors

Main article: DC motor A DC motor is designed to run on DC electric power. Two examples of pure DC designs are Michael Faraday's homopolar motor (which is uncommon), and the ball bearing motor, which is (so far) a novelty. By far the most common DC motor types are the brushed and brushless types, which use internal and external commutation respectively to reverse the current in the windings in synchronism with rotation.
[edit]Permanent-magnet motors

Main article: Permanent-magnet electric motor A permanent-magnet motor does not have a field winding on the stator frame, instead relying on permanent magnets to provide the magnetic field against which the rotor field interacts to produce torque. Compensating windings in series with the armature may be used on large motors to improve commutation under load. Because this field is fixed, it cannot be adjusted for speed control. Permanent-magnet fields (stators) are convenient in miniature motors to eliminate the power consumption of the field winding. Most larger DC motors are of the "dynamo" type, which have stator windings. Historically, permanent magnets could not be made to retain high flux if they were disassembled; field windings were more practical to obtain the needed amount of flux. However, large permanent magnets are costly, as well as dangerous and difficult to assemble; this favors wound fields for large machines. To minimize overall weight and size, miniature permanent-magnet motors may use high energy magnets made with neodymium or other strategic elements; most such are neodymium-iron-boron alloy. With their higher flux density, electric machines with high energy permanent magnets are at least competitive with all optimally designed singly fed synchronous andinduction electric machines. Miniature motors resemble the structure in the illustration, except that they have at least three rotor poles (to ensure starting, regardless of rotor position) and their outer housing is a steel tube that magnetically links the exteriors of the curved field magnets.
[edit]Brushed DC motors

Main article: Brushed DC electric motor

Workings of a brushed electric motor with a two-pole rotor and permanent-magnet stator. ("N" and "S" designate polarities on the inside faces of the magnets; the outside faces have opposite polarities.)

DC motors have AC in a wound rotor also called an armature, with a split ring commutator, and either a wound or permanent magnet stator. The commutator and brushes are a long-life rotary switch. The rotor consists of one or more coils of wire wound around a laminated "soft" ferromagnetic core on a shaft; an electrical power source feeds the rotor windings through the commutator and its brushes, temporarily magnetizing the rotor core in a specific direction. The commutator switches power to the coils as the rotor turns, keeping the magnetic poles of the rotor from ever fully aligning with the magnetic poles of the stator field, so that the rotor never stops (like a compass needle does), but rather keeps rotating as long as power is applied. Many of the limitations of the classic commutator DC motor are due to the need for brushes to press against the commutator. This createsfriction. Sparks are created by the brushes making and breaking circuits through the rotor coils as the brushes cross the insulating gaps between commutator sections. Depending on the commutator design, this may include the brushes shorting together adjacent sections and hence coil ends momentarily while crossing the gaps. Furthermore, the inductance of the rotor coils causes the voltage across each to rise when its circuit is opened, increasing the sparking of the brushes. This sparking limits the maximum speed of the machine, as too-rapid sparking will overheat, erode, or even melt the commutator. The current density per unit area of the brushes, in combination with their resistivity, limits the output of the motor. The making and breaking of electric contact also generates electrical noise; sparking generates RFI. Brushes eventually wear out and require replacement, and the commutator itself is subject to wear and maintenance (on larger motors) or replacement (on small motors). The commutator assembly on a large motor is a costly element, requiring precision assembly of many parts. On small motors, the commutator is usually permanently integrated into the rotor, so replacing it usually requires replacing the whole rotor. While most commutators are cylindrical, some are flat discs consisting of several segments (typically, at least three) mounted on an insulator.

Large brushes are desired for a larger brush contact area to maximize motor output, but small brushes are desired for low mass to maximize the speed at which the motor can run without the brushes excessively bouncing and sparking (comparable to the problem of "valve float" in internal combustion engines). (Small brushes are also desirable for lower cost.) Stiffer brush springs can also be used to make brushes of a given mass work at a higher speed, but at the cost of greater friction losses (lower efficiency) and accelerated brush and commutator wear. Therefore, DC motor brush design entails a trade-off between output power, speed, and efficiency/wear. Notes on terminology The first practical electric motors, used for street railways, were DC with commutators. Power was fed to the commutators (made of copper) by copper brushes, but the voltage difference between adjacent commutator bars, excellent conductivity of the copper brushes, and arcing created considerable damage after only a quite short period of operation. An electrical engineer realized that replacing the copper brushes with electrically resistive solid carbon blocks would provide much longer life. Although the term is no longer descriptive, the carbon blocks continue to be called "brushes" even to this day. Sculptors who work with clay need support structures called armatures to keep larger works from sagging due to gravity. Magnetic laminations, in a rotor with windings, similarly support insulatedcopper-wire coils. By analogy, wound rotors came to be called "armatures".[citation needed] Commutators, at least among some people who work with them daily, have become so familiar that some fail to realize that they are just a particular variety of rotary electrical switch. Considering how frequently connections make and break, they have very long lifetimes.

A: shunt B: series C: compound f = field coil

There are five types of brushed DC motor: DC shunt-wound motor DC series-wound motor DC compound motor (two configurations): Cumulative compound Differentially compounded

Permanent magnet DC motor (not shown)

Separately excited (not shown)

[edit]Brushless DC motors

Main article: Brushless DC electric motor Some of the problems of the brushed DC motor are eliminated in the brushless design. In this motor, the mechanical "rotating switch" or commutator/brushgear assembly is replaced by an external electronic switch synchronised to the rotor's position. Brushless motors are typically 8590% efficient or more, efficiency for a brushless electric motor, of up to 96.5% was reported[19] whereas DC motors with brushgear are typically 7580% efficient. Midway between ordinary DC motors and stepper motors lies the realm of the brushless DC motor. Built in a fashion very similar to stepper motors, these often use a permanent magnet external rotor, three phases of driving coils, may use Hall effect sensors to sense the position of the rotor, and associated drive electronics. The coils are activated, one phase after the other, by the drive electronics as cued by the signals from either Hall effect sensors or from the back EMF (electromotive force) of the undriven coils. In effect, they act as three-phase synchronous motors containing their own variable-frequency drive electronics. A specialized class of brushless DC motor controllers utilize EMF feedback through the main phase connections instead of Hall effect sensors to determine position and velocity. These motors are used extensively in electric radiocontrolled vehicles. When configured with the magnets on the outside, these are referred to by modelers as outrunner motors. Brushless DC motors are commonly used where precise speed control is necessary, as in computer disk drives or in video cassette recorders, the spindles within CD, CDROM (etc.) drives, and mechanisms within office products such as fans, laser printers and photocopiers. They have several advantages over conventional motors:

Compared to AC fans using shaded-pole motors, they are very efficient, running much cooler than the equivalent AC motors. This cool operation leads to muchimproved life of the fan's bearings.

Without a commutator to wear out, the life of a DC brushless motor can be significantly longer compared to a DC motor using brushes and a commutator. Commutation also tends to cause a great deal of electrical and RF noise; without a commutator or brushes, a brushless motor may be used in electrically sensitive devices like audio equipment or computers.

The same Hall effect sensors that provide the commutation can also provide a convenient tachometer signal for closed-loop control (servo-controlled) applications.

In fans, the tachometer signal can be used to derive a "fan OK" signal as well as provide running speed feedback. The motor can be easily synchronized to an internal or external clock, leading to precise speed control. Brushless motors have no chance of sparking, unlike brushed motors, making them better suited to environments with volatile chemicals and fuels. Also, sparking generates ozone which can accumulate in poorly ventilated buildings risking harm to occupants' health. Brushless motors are usually used in small equipment such as computers and are generally used in fans to get rid of unwanted heat. They are also acoustically very quiet motors which is an advantage if being used in equipment that is affected by vibrations. Modern DC brushless motors range in power from a fraction of a watt to many kilowatts. Larger brushless motors up to about 100 kW rating are used in electric vehicles. They also find significant use in high-performance electric model aircraft.
[edit]Switched reluctance motors

6/4 Pole Switched reluctance motor

Main article: Switched reluctance motor The switched reluctance motor (SRM) has no brushes or permanent magnets, and the rotor has no electric currents. Instead, torque comes from a slight mis-alignment of poles on the rotor with poles on the stator. The rotor aligns itself with the magnetic field of the stator, while the stator field stator windings are sequentially energized to rotate the stator field.

The magnetic flux created by the field windings follows the path of least magnetic reluctance, meaning the flux will flow through poles of the rotor that are closest to the energized poles of the stator, thereby magnitizing those poles of the rotor and creating torque. As the rotor turns, different windings will be energized, keeping the rotor turning. Switched reluctance motors are now being used in some appliances.[20]
[edit]Coreless or ironless DC motors

A Miniature Coreless Motor

Nothing in the principle of any of the motors described above requires that the iron (steel) portions of the rotor actually rotate. If the soft magnetic material of the rotor is made in the form of a cylinder, then (except for the effect of hysteresis) torque is exerted only on the windings of the electromagnets. Taking advantage of this fact is the coreless or ironless DC motor, a specialized form of a brush or brushless DC motor. Optimized for rapid acceleration, these motors have a rotor that is constructed without any iron core. The rotor can take the form of a winding-filled cylinder, or a self-supporting structure comprising only the magnet wire and the bonding material. The rotor can fit inside thestator magnets; a magnetically soft stationary cylinder inside the rotor provides a return path for the stator magnetic flux. A second arrangement has the rotor winding basket surrounding the stator magnets. In that design, the rotor fits inside a magnetically soft cylinder that can serve as the housing for the motor, and likewise provides a return path for the flux. Because the rotor is much lighter in weight (mass) than a conventional rotor formed from copper windings on steel laminations, the rotor can accelerate much more rapidly, often achieving a mechanical time constant under 1 ms. This is especially true if the windings use aluminumrather than the heavier copper. But because there is no metal mass in the rotor to act as a heat sink, even small coreless motors must often be cooled by forced air. Overheating might be an issue for coreless DC motor designs.

Among these types are the disc-rotor types, described in more detail in the next section. Vibrator motors for cellular phones are sometimes tiny cylindrical permanent-magnet field types, but there are also disc-shaped types which have a thin multipolar disc field magnet, and an intentionally unbalanced molded-plastic rotor structure with two bonded coreless coils. Metal brushes and a flat commutator switch power to the rotor coils. Related limited-travel actuators have no core and a bonded coil placed between the poles of high-flux thin permanent magnets. These are the fast head positioners for rigid-disk ("hard disk") drives. Although the contemporary design differs considerably from that of loudspeakers, it is still loosely (and incorrectly) referred to as a "voice coil" structure, because some earlier rigid-disk-drive heads moved in straight lines, and had a drive structure much like that of a loudspeaker.
[edit]Printed armature or pancake DC motors

Main article: pancake (slot car) A rather unusual motor design, the printed armature or pancake motor has the windings shaped as a disc running between arrays of high-flux magnets. The magnets are arranged in a circle facing the rotor with space in between to form an axial air gap. This design is commonly known as the pancake motor because of its extremely flat profile, although the technology has had many brand names since its inception, such as ServoDisc. The printed armature (originally formed on a printed circuit board) in a printed armature motor is made from punched copper sheets that are laminated together using advanced composites to form a thin rigid disc. The printed armature has a unique construction in the brushed motor world in that it does not have a separate ring commutator. The brushes run directly on the armature surface making the whole design very compact. An alternative manufacturing method is to use wound copper wire laid flat with a central conventional commutator, in a flower and petal shape. The windings are typically stabilized by being impregnated with electrical epoxy potting systems. These are filled epoxies that have moderate mixed viscosity and a long gel time. They are highlighted by low shrinkage and low exotherm, and are typically UL 1446 recognized as a potting compound for use up to 180C (Class H) (UL File No. E 210549). The unique advantage of ironless DC motors is that there is no cogging (torque variations caused by changing attraction between the iron and the magnets). Parasitic eddy currentscannot form in the rotor as it is totally ironless, although iron rotors are laminated. This can greatly improve efficiency, but variable-speed controllers must use a higher switching rate (>40 kHz) or direct current because of the decreased electromagnetic induction.

These motors were originally invented to drive the capstan(s) of magnetic tape drives in the burgeoning computer industry, where minimal time to reach operating speed and minimal stopping distance were critical. Pancake motors are still widely used in highperformance servo-controlled systems, humanoid robotic systems, industrial automation and medical devices. Due to the variety of constructions now available, the technology is used in applications from high temperature military to low cost pump and basic servos.
[edit]Universal motors

Modern low-cost universal motor, from avacuum cleaner. Field windings are dark copper colored, toward the back, on both sides. The rotor's laminated core is gray metallic, with dark slots for winding the coils. The commutator (partly hidden) has become dark from use; it's toward the front. The large brown molded-plastic piece in the foreground supports the brush guides and brushes (both sides), as well as the front motor bearing.

A series-wound motor is referred to as a universal motor when it has been designed to operate on either AC or DC power. It can operate well on AC because the current in both the field and the armature (and hence the resultant magnetic fields) will alternate (reverse polarity) in synchronism, and hence the resulting mechanical force will occur in a constant direction of rotation. Operating at normal power line frequencies, universal motors are often found in a range rarely larger than 1000 watt. Universal motors also form the basis of the traditional railway traction motor in electric railways. In this application, the use of AC to power a motor originally designed to run on DC would lead to efficiency losses due to eddy current heating of their magnetic components, particularly the motor field pole-pieces that, for DC, would have used solid (un-laminated) iron. Although the heating effects are reduced by using laminated pole-pieces, as used for the cores of transformers and by the use of laminations of high permeability electrical steel, one solution available at start of the 20th century was for the motors to be operated from very low frequency AC supplies, with 25 and 16.7 Hz operation being common. Because they used universal motors, locomotives using this design were also commonly capable of operating from a third rail or overhead wire powered by DC. As well, considering that steam engines directly

powered many alternators, their relatively low speeds favored low frequencies because comparatively few stator poles were needed. An advantage of the universal motor is that AC supplies may be used on motors which have some characteristics more common in DC motors, specifically high starting torque and very compact design if high running speeds are used. The negative aspect is the maintenance and short life problems caused by the commutator. Such motors are used in devices such as food mixers and power tools which are used only intermittently, and often have high starting-torque demands. Continuous speed control of a universal motor running on AC is easily obtained by use of a thyristor circuit, while multiple taps on the field coil provide (imprecise) stepped speed control. Household blenders that advertise many speeds frequently combine a field coil with several taps and a diode that can be inserted in series with the motor (causing the motor to run on half-wave rectified AC). In the past, repulsion-start wound-rotor motors provided high starting torque, but with added complexity. Their rotors were similar to those of universal motors, but their brushes were connected only to each other. Transformer action induced current into the rotor. Brush position relative to field poles meant that starting torque was developed by rotor repulsion from the field poles. A centrifugal mechanism, when close to running speed, connected all commutator bars together to create the equivalent of a squirrel-cage rotor. As well, when close to operating speed, better motors lifted the brushes out of contact. Induction motors cannot turn a shaft faster than allowed by the power line frequency. By contrast, universal motors generally run at high speeds, making them useful for appliances such as blenders, vacuum cleaners, and hair dryers where high speed and light weight is desirable. They are also commonly used in portable power tools, such as drills, sanders, circular andjig saws, where the motor's characteristics work well. Many vacuum cleaner and weed trimmer motors exceed 10,000 RPM, while many Dremel and similar miniature grinders exceed30,000 RPM. Universal motors also lend themselves to electronic speed control and, as such, are an ideal choice for domestic washing machines. The motor can be used to agitate the drum (both forwards and in reverse) by switching the field winding with respect to the armature. The motor can also be run up to the high speeds required for the spin cycle. Motor damage may occur from overspeeding (running at a rotational speed in excess of design limits) if the unit is operated with no significant load. On larger motors, sudden loss of load is to be avoided, and the possibility of such an occurrence is incorporated into the motor's protection and control schemes. In some smaller applications, a fan blade attached to the shaft often acts as an artificial load to limit the motor speed to a safe level, as well as a means to circulate cooling airflow over the armature and field windings.

[edit]AC motors

Main article: AC motor In 1882, Nikola Tesla discovered the rotating magnetic field, and pioneered the use of a rotary field of force to operate machines. He exploited the principle to design a unique two-phase induction motor in 1883. In 1885, Galileo Ferraris independently researched the concept. In 1888, Ferraris published his research in a paper to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Turin. Tesla had suggested that the commutators from a machine could be removed and the device could operate on a rotary field of force. Professor Poeschel, his teacher, stated that would be akin to building a perpetual motion machine.[21] Tesla would later attain U.S. Patent 0,416,194, Electric Motor (December 1889), which resembles the motor seen in many of Tesla's photos. This classic alternating current electro-magnetic motor was an induction motor. Michail Osipovich Dolivo-Dobrovolsky later developed a three-phase "cage-rotor" in 1890. This type of motor is now used for the vast majority of commercial applications. An AC motor has two parts: a stationary stator having coils supplied with alternating current to produce a rotating magnetic field, and a rotor attached to the output shaft that is given a torque by the rotating field.
[edit]AC motor with sliding rotor

A conical-rotor brake motor incorporates the brake as an integral part of the conical sliding rotor. When the motor is at rest, a spring acts on the sliding rotor and forces the brake ring against the brake cap in the motor, holding the rotor stationary. When the motor is energized, its magnetic field generates both an axial and a radial component. The axial component overcomes the spring force, releasing the brake; while the radial component causes the rotor to turn. There is no additional brake control required.
[edit]Synchronous electric motor

Main article: Synchronous motor A synchronous electric motor is an AC motor distinguished by a rotor spinning with coils passing magnets at the same rate as the alternating current and resulting magnetic field which drives it. Another way of saying this is that it has zero slip under usual operating conditions. Contrast this with an induction motor, which must slip to produce torque. One type of synchronous motor is like an induction motor except the rotor is excited by a DC field. Slip rings and brushes are used to conduct current to the rotor. The rotor poles connect to each other and move at the same speed hence the name synchronous motor. Another type, for low load torque, has flats ground onto a conventional squirrel-cage rotor

to create discrete poles. Yet another, such as made by Hammond for its pre-World War II clocks, and in the older Hammond organs, has no rotor windings and discrete poles. It is not self-starting. The clock requires manual starting by a small knob on the back, while the older Hammond organs had an auxiliary starting motor connected by a spring-loaded manually operated switch. Finally, hysteresis synchronous motors typically are (essentially) two-phase motors with a phase-shifting capacitor for one phase. They start like induction motors, but when slip rate decreases sufficiently, the rotor (a smooth cylinder) becomes temporarily magnetized. Its distributed poles make it act like a permanent-magnet-rotor synchronous motor. The rotor material, like that of a common nail, will stay magnetized, but can also be demagnetized with little difficulty. Once running, the rotor poles stay in place; they do not drift. Low-power synchronous timing motors (such as those for traditional electric clocks) may have multi-pole permanent-magnet external cup rotors, and use shading coils to provide starting torque. Telechron clock motors have shaded poles for starting torque, and a twospoke ring rotor that performs like a discrete two-pole rotor.
[edit]Induction motor

Main article: Induction motor An induction motor is an asynchronous AC motor where power is transferred to the rotor by electromagnetic induction, much like transformer action. An induction motor resembles a rotating transformer, because the stator (stationary part) is essentially the primary side of the transformer and the rotor (rotating part) is the secondary side. Polyphase induction motors are widely used in industry. Induction motors may be further divided into squirrel-cage motors and wound-rotor motors. Squirrel-cage motors have a heavy winding made up of solid bars, usually aluminum or copper, joined by rings at the ends of the rotor. When one considers only the bars and rings as a whole, they are much like an animal's rotating exercise cage, hence the name. Currents induced into this winding provide the rotor magnetic field. The shape of the rotor bars determines the speed-torque characteristics. At low speeds, the current induced in the squirrel cage is nearly at line frequency and tends to be in the outer parts of the rotor cage. As the motor accelerates, the slip frequency becomes lower, and more current is in the interior of the winding. By shaping the bars to change the resistance of the winding portions in the interior and outer parts of the cage, effectively a variable resistance is inserted in the rotor circuit. However, the majority of such motors have uniform bars.

In a wound-rotor motor, the rotor winding is made of many turns of insulated wire and is connected to slip rings on the motor shaft. An external resistor or other control devices can be connected in the rotor circuit. Resistors allow control of the motor speed, although significant power is dissipated in the external resistance. A converter can be fed from the rotor circuit and return the slip-frequency power that would otherwise be wasted back into the power system through an inverter or separate motor-generator. The wound-rotor induction motor is used primarily to start a high inertia load or a load that requires a very high starting torque across the full speed range. By correctly selecting the resistors used in the secondary resistance or slip ring starter, the motor is able to produce maximum torque at a relatively low supply current from zero speed to full speed. This type of motor also offers controllable speed. Motor speed can be changed because the torque curve of the motor is effectively modified by the amount of resistance connected to the rotor circuit. Increasing the value of resistance will move the speed of maximum torque down. If the resistance connected to the rotor is increased beyond the point where the maximum torque occurs at zero speed, the torque will be further reduced. When used with a load that has a torque curve that increases with speed, the motor will operate at the speed where the torque developed by the motor is equal to the load torque. Reducing the load will cause the motor to speed up, and increasing the load will cause the motor to slow down until the load and motor torque are equal. Operated in this manner, the slip losses are dissipated in the secondary resistors and can be very significant. The speed regulation and net efficiency is also very poor.
[edit]Doubly fed electric motor

Main article: Doubly fed electric machine Doubly fed electric motors have two independent multiphase winding sets, which contribute active (i.e., working) power to the energy conversion process, with at least one of the winding sets electronically controlled for variable speed operation. Two independent multiphase winding sets (i.e., dual armature) are the maximum provided in a single package without topology duplication. Doubly fed electric motors are machines with an effective constant torque speed range that is twice synchronous speed for a given frequency of excitation. This is twice the constant torque speed range as singly fed electric machines, which have only one active winding set. A doubly fed motor allows for a smaller electronic converter but the cost of the rotor winding and slip rings may offset the saving in the power electronics components. Difficulties with controlling speed near synchronous speed limit applications.[22]
[edit]Singly fed electric motor

Main article: Singly fed electric machine Most AC motors are singly fed. Singly fed electric motors have a single multiphase winding set that is connected to a power supply. Singly fed electric machines may be either induction or synchronous. The active winding set can be electronically controlled. Singly fed electric machines have an effective constant torque speed range up to synchronous speed for a given excitation frequency.
[edit]Torque motors

A torque motor (also known as a limited torque motor) is a specialized form of induction motor which is capable of operating indefinitely while stalled, that is, with the rotor blocked from turning, without incurring damage. In this mode of operation, the motor will apply a steady torque to the load (hence the name). A common application of a torque motor would be the supply- and take-up reel motors in a tape drive. In this application, driven from a low voltage, the characteristics of these motors allow a relatively constant light tension to be applied to the tape whether or not the capstan is feeding tape past the tape heads. Driven from a higher voltage, (and so delivering a higher torque), the torque motors can also achieve fast-forward and rewind operation without requiring any additional mechanics such as gears or clutches. In the computer gaming world, torque motors are used in force feedback steering wheels. Another common application is the control of the throttle of an internal combustion engine in conjunction with an electronic governor. In this usage, the motor works against a return spring to move the throttle in accordance with the output of the governor. The latter monitors engine speed by counting electrical pulses from the ignition system or from a magnetic pickup[23] and, depending on the speed, makes small adjustments to the amount of current applied to the motor. If the engine starts to slow down relative to the desired speed, the current will be increased, the motor will develop more torque, pulling against the return spring and opening the throttle. Should the engine run too fast, the governor will reduce the current being applied to the motor, causing the return spring to pull back and close the throttle.
[edit]Stepper motors

Main article: Stepper motor Closely related in design to three-phase AC synchronous motors are stepper motors, where an internal rotor containing permanent magnets or a magnetically soft rotor with salient poles is controlled by a set of external magnets that are switched electronically. A stepper motor may also be thought of as a cross between a DC electric motor and a rotary solenoid. As each coil is energized in turn, the rotor aligns itself with the magnetic

field produced by the energized field winding. Unlike a synchronous motor, in its application, the stepper motor may not rotate continuously; instead, it "steps"starts and then quickly stops againfrom one position to the next as field windings are energized and de-energized in sequence. Depending on the sequence, the rotor may turn forwards or backwards, and it may change direction, stop, speed up or slow down arbitrarily at any time. Simple stepper motor drivers entirely energize or entirely de-energize the field windings, leading the rotor to "cog" to a limited number of positions; more sophisticated drivers can proportionally control the power to the field windings, allowing the rotors to position between the cog points and thereby rotate extremely smoothly. This mode of operation is often calledmicrostepping. Computer controlled stepper motors are one of the most versatile forms of positioning systems, particularly when part of a digital servocontrolled system. Stepper motors can be rotated to a specific angle in discrete steps with ease, and hence stepper motors are used for read/write head positioning in computer floppy diskette drives. They were used for the same purpose in pre-gigabyte era computer disk drives, where the precision and speed they offered was adequate for the correct positioning of the read/write head of a hard disk drive. As drive density increased, the precision and speed limitations of stepper motors made them obsolete for hard drives the precision limitation made them unusable, and the speed limitation made them uncompetitivethus newer hard disk drives use voice coil-based head actuator systems. (The term "voice coil" in this connection is historic; it refers to the structure in a typical (cone type) loudspeaker. This structure was used for a while to position the heads. Modern drives have a pivoted coil mount; the coil swings back and forth, something like a blade of a rotating fan. Nevertheless, like a voice coil, modern actuator coil conductors (the magnet wire) move perpendicular to the magnetic lines of force.) Stepper motors were and still are often used in computer printers, optical scanners, and digital photocopiers to move the optical scanning element, the print head carriage (of dot matrix and inkjet printers), and the platen or feed rollers. Likewise, many computer plotters (which since the early 1990s have been replaced with large-format inkjet and laser printers) used rotary stepper motors for pen and platen movement; the typical alternatives here were either linear stepper motors or servomotors with closed-loop analog control systems. So-called quartz analog wristwatches contain the smallest commonplace stepping motors; they have one coil, draw very little power, and have a permanent-magnet rotor. The same kind of motor drives battery-powered quartz clocks. Some of these watches, such as chronographs, contain more than one stepping motor.

Stepper motors were upscaled to be used in electric vehicles under the term SRM (Switched Reluctance Motor).
[edit]Comparison Comparison of motor types[24]

Type

Advantages

Disadvantage s

Typical Application

Typical Drive

AC polyphase induction squirrel-cage

Low cost, long life, high efficiency, large ratings available (to 1 MW or more), large number of standardized types

Starting inrush current can be high, speed control requires variable frequency source

Pumps, fans, blowers, conveyors, compressors

Poly-phase AC, variable frequency AC

Shaded-pole motor

Low cost Long life

Speed slightly below synchronous Low starting torque Small ratings low efficiency

Fans, appliances, record players

Single phase AC

AC induction Squirrel cage, split-phase capacitor-start

High power high starting torque

Speed slightly below synchronous Starting switch or relay required

Appliances Single phase Stationary Power AC Tools

AC induction Squirrel cage, split-phase capacitor-run

Moderate power High starting torque No starting switch Comparatively long life

Speed slightly below synchronous Slightly more costly

Industrial blowers Industrial machinery

Single phase AC

AC induction Squirrel cage

Moderate power

Speed slightly below

Appliances Single phase Stationary Power

motor, splitphase, auxiliary start winding

Low starting torque

synchronous Starting switch or relay required

Tools

AC

Universal motor

Maintenance (brushes) Shorter lifespan High starting Usually torque, acoustically compact, high noisy speed. Only small ratings are economic

Handheld power tools, blenders, vacuum Single phase cleaners, AC or DC insulation blowers

AC Synchronous

Synchronous speed

More costly

Single or Industrial motors Polyphase AC Clocks (CapacitorAudio turntables run for singleTape drives phase)

Stepper DC

Precision positioning High holding torque

Some can be costly Require a controller

Positioning in printers and floppy disc DC drives; industrial machine tools

Brushless DC

Long lifespan Low maintenance High efficiency

Higher initial cost Requires a controller

Rigid ("hard") disk drives CD/DVD players DC or PWM Electric vehicles RC Vehicles UAVs

Switched reluctance motor

Long lifespan Low maintenance High efficiency Requires a No permanent controller magnets Low cost Simple construction

Appliances Electric Vehicles Textile mills DC or PWM Aircraft applications

Brushed DC

Simple speed control

Maintenance (brushes) Medium lifespan

Steel mills Paper making machines Treadmill

Direct DC or PWM

Costly commutator and brushes

exercisers Automotive accessories

Pancake DC

Compact design Simple speed control

Medium cost Medium lifespan

Office Equip Fans/Pumps, fast industrial and military servos

Direct DC or PWM

[edit]Goodness factor

Main article: Goodness factor Professor Eric Laithwaite proposed a metric to determine the 'goodness' of an electric

motor:[25] Where:

G is the goodness factor (factors above 1 are likely to be efficient) Am,Ae are the cross sections of the magnetic and electric circuit lm,le are the lengths of the magnetic and electric circuits is the permeability of the core is the angular frequency the motor is driven at
From this he showed that the most efficient motors are likely to have relatively large magnetic poles. However, the equation only directly relates to non permanent magnet motors.
[edit]Electrostatic

Main article: Electrostatic motor

[edit]Full size

An electrostatic motor is based on the attraction and repulsion of electric charge. Usually, electrostatic motors are the dual of conventional coil-based motors. They typically require a high voltage power supply, although very small motors employ lower voltages. Conventional electric motors instead employ magnetic attraction and repulsion, and require high current at low voltages. In the 1750s, the first electrostatic motors were developed by Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Gordon. Today the electrostatic motor finds frequent use in micro-mechanical (MEMS) systems

where their drive voltages are below 100 volts, and where moving, charged plates are far easier to fabricate than coils and iron cores. Also, the molecular machinery which runs living cells is often based on linear and rotary electrostatic motors.
[edit]Nanotube nanomotor

Main article: Nanotube nanomotor Researchers at University of California, Berkeley, recently developed rotational bearings based upon multiwall carbon nanotubes. By attaching a gold plate (with dimensions of the order of 100 nm) to the outer shell of a suspended multiwall carbon nanotube (like nested carbon cylinders), they are able to electrostatically rotate the outer shell relative to the inner core. These bearings are very robust; devices have been oscillated thousands of times with no indication of wear. These nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are the next step in miniaturization and may find their way into commercial applications in the future. See also:

Molecular motors Nanomotor Electrostatic motor

[edit]Piezoelectric

Main article: Piezoelectric motor A piezoelectric motor or piezo motor is a type of electric motor based upon the change in shape of a piezoelectric material when an electric field is applied. Piezoelectric motors make use of the converse piezoelectric effect whereby the material produces acoustic or ultrasonic vibrations in order to produce a linear or rotary motion. In one mechanism, the elongation in a single plane is used to make a series stretches and position holds, similar to the way a caterpillar moves.
[edit]Use

and styles

Standardized electric motors are often used in many modern machines but specific types of electric motors are designed for particular applications.
[edit]Rotary

Uses include rotating machines such as fans, turbines, drills, the wheels on electric cars, locomotives and conveyor belts. Also, in many vibrating or oscillating machines, an electric motor spins an unbalanced mass, causing the motor (and its mounting structure) to vibrate. A familiar application is cell phone vibrating alerts used when the acoustic "ringer" is disabled by the user. Electric motors are also popular in robotics. They turn the wheels of vehicular robots, and servo motors operate arms in industrial robots; they also move arms and legs in humanoid robots. In flying robots, along with helicopters, a motor rotates a propeller, or aerodynamic rotor blades to create controllable amounts of lift. Electric motors are replacing hydraulic cylinders in airplanes and military equipment.[26][27] In industrial and manufacturing businesses, electric motors rotate saws and blades in cutting and slicing processes; they rotate parts being turned in lathes and other machine tools, and spin grinding wheels. Fast, precise servo motors position tools and work in modern CNC machine tools. Motor-driven mixers are very common in food manufacturing. Linear motors are often used to push products into containers horizontally. Many kitchen appliances also use electric motors. Food processors and grinders spin blades to chop and break up foods. Blenders use electric motors to mix liquids, and microwave ovens use motors to turn the tray food that sits on. Toaster ovens also use electric motors to turn a conveyor to move food over heating elements.
[edit]Servo

motor

Main article: Servo motor A servomotor is a motor, very often sold as a complete module, which is used within a position-control or speed-control feedback control system. Servomotors are used in applications such as

machine tools, pen plotters, and other control systems. Motors intended for use in a servomechanism must have welldocumented characteristics for speed, torque, and power. The speed vs. torque curve is quite important. Dynamic response characteristics such as winding inductance and rotor inertia are also important; these factors limit the overall performance of the servomechanism loop. Large, powerful, but slow-responding servo loops may use conventional AC or DC motors and drive systems with position or speed feedback on the motor. As dynamic response requirements increase, more specialized motor designs such as coreless motors are used. A servo system differs from some stepper motor applications in that the position feedback is continuous while the motor is running; a stepper system relies on the motor not to "miss steps" for short term accuracy, although a stepper system may include a "home" switch or other element to provide long-term stability of control.
[28]

For instance, when an ink-jet computer printer starts up, its

controller makes the print head stepper motor drive to its left-hand limit, where a position sensor defines home position and stops stepping. As long as power is on, a bidirectional counter in the printer's microprocessor keeps track of print-head position.
[edit]Linear

motor

Main article: Linear motor A linear motor is essentially any electric motor that has been "unrolled" so that, instead of producing a torque (rotation), it produces a straight-line force along its length. Linear motors are most commonly induction motors or stepper motors. Linear motors are commonly found in many roller-coasters where the rapid motion of the motorless railcar is controlled by the rail. They are also used in maglev trains, where the train "flies" over the ground. On a smaller scale, at least one letter-size (8.5" x 11") computer graphics X-Y pen plotter made by Hewlett-Packard (in the late 1970s to mid-1980s) used two linear stepper motors to move the pen along the two orthogonal axes.
[edit]Spacecraft

propulsive motors

Main article: electrically powered spacecraft propulsion

An electrically powered spacecraft propulsion system is any of a number of forms of electric motors which spacecraft can employ to gain mechanical energy in outer space. Most of these kinds of spacecraft propulsion work by electrically powering propellant to high speed, but electrodynamic tethers work by interacting with a planet's magnetosphere.[29]
[edit]Generator

Main article: electrical generator Many electric motors are used as generators, either part (such as regenerative braking) or all of their operational life. When mechanically driven magnetic electric motors produce power due to their back EMF.
[edit]Performance [edit]Specifying

an electric motor

When specifying what type of electric motor is needed, the mechanical power available at the shaft is used. This means that users can predict the torque and speed of the motor without having to know the mechanical losses associated with the motor. Example: 10 kW induction motor.
[edit]Energy

conversion by an electric motor

Using mathematical models in terms of a magnetic dipole, Ribari and uteri[30] consider how in the case of the synchronous motor and induction motor an external source is supplying electrical energy to the stator so as to maintain its revolving magnetic field; this energy is then transmitted by the revolving magnetic field to the magnetic dipole of the rotor; there it is converted into mechanical energy, and transmitted mechanically by the rotating shaft to an external user. On the other hand, in the case of a commutator motor, the external source delivers electrical energy directly to the rotor magnetic dipole for conversion into mechanical energy.
[edit]Power

The power output of a rotary electric motor is:

Where P is in horsepower, rpm is the shaft speed in revolutions per minute and T is the torque in foot pounds. And for a linear motor:

Where P is the power in watts, and F is in Newtons and v is the speed in metres per second.
[edit]Efficiency

To calculate a motor's efficiency, the mechanical output power is divided by the electrical input

power:

, where is energy conversion

efficiency, Pe is electrical input power, and Pm is mechanical output power. In simplest case Pe = VI, and Pm = T, where V is input voltage, I is input current, T is output torque, and is output angular velocity. It is possible to derive analytically the point of maximum efficiency. It is typically at less than 1/2 the stall torque.
[edit]Torque

capability of motor types

When optimally designed within a given core saturation constraint and for a given active current (i.e., torque current), voltage, pole-pair number, excitation frequency (i.e., synchronous speed), and air-gap flux density, all categories of electric motors or generators will exhibit virtually the same maximum continuous shaft torque (i.e., operating torque) within a given air-gap area with winding slots and back-iron depth, which determines the physical size of electromagnetic core. Some applications require bursts of torque beyond the maximum operating torque, such as short bursts of torque to accelerate an electric vehicle from standstill. Always limited by magnetic core saturation or safe operating temperature rise and voltage, the capacity for torque bursts beyond the maximum

operating torque differs significantly between categories of electric motors or generators. Capacity for bursts of torque should not be confused with field weakening capability inherent in fully electromagnetic electric machines (Permanent Magnet (PM) electric machine are excluded). Field weakening, which is not available with PM electric machines, allows an electric machine to operate beyond the designed frequency of excitation. Electric machines without a transformer circuit topology, such as Field-Wound (i.e., electromagnet) or Permanent Magnet (PM) Synchronous electric machines cannot realize bursts of torque higher than the maximum designed torque without saturating the magnetic core and rendering any increase in current as useless. Furthermore, the permanent magnet assembly of PM synchronous electric machines can be irreparably damaged, if bursts of torque exceeding the maximum operating torque rating are attempted. Electric machines with a transformer circuit topology, such as Induction (i.e., asynchronous) electric machines, Induction Doubly Fed electric machines, and Induction or Synchronous Wound-Rotor Doubly Fed (WRDF) electric machines, exhibit very high bursts of torque because the active current (i.e., Magneto-Motive-Force or the product of current and winding-turns) induced on either side of the transformer oppose each other and as a result, the active current contributes nothing to the transformer coupled magnetic core flux density, which would otherwise lead to core saturation. Electric machines that rely on Induction or Asynchronous principles short-circuit one port of the transformer circuit and as a result, the reactive impedance of the transformer circuit becomes dominant as slip increases, which limits the magnitude of active (i.e., real) current. Still, bursts of torque that are two to three times higher than the maximum design torque are realizable.

The Synchronous WRDF electric machine is the only electric machine with a truly dual ported transformer circuit topology (i.e., both ports independently excited with no short-circuited port). The dual ported transformer circuit topology is known to be unstable and requires a multiphase slip-ring-brush assembly to propagate limited power to the rotor winding set. If a precision means were available to instantaneously control torque angle and slip for synchronous operation during motoring or generating while simultaneously providing brushless power to the rotor winding set (see Brushless wound-rotor doubly fed electric machine), the active current of the Synchronous WRDF electric machine would be independent of the reactive impedance of the transformer circuit and bursts of torque significantly higher than the maximum operating torque and far beyond the practical capability of any other type of electric machine would be realizable. Torque bursts greater than eight times operating torque have been calculated.
[edit]Continuous

torque density

The continuous torque density of conventional electric machines is determined by the size of the air-gap area and the back-iron depth, which are determined by the power rating of the armature winding set, the speed of the machine, and the achievable air-gap flux density before core saturation. Despite the high coercivity of neodymium or samarium-cobalt permanent magnets, continuous torque density is virtually the same amongst electric machines with optimally designed armature winding sets. Continuous torque density should never be confused with peak torque density, which comes with the manufacturer's chosen method of cooling, which is available to all, or period of operation before destruction by overheating of windings or even permanent magnet damage.

[edit]Continuous

power density

The continuous power density is determined by the product of the continuous torque density and the constant torque speed range of the electric machine.
[edit]Motor

standards

The following are major design and manufacturing standards covering electric motors:

International Electrotechnical Commission: IEC 60034 Rotating Electrical Machines

National Electrical Manufacturers Association (USA): NEMA MG 1 Motors and Generators

Underwriters Laboratories (USA): UL 1004 Standard for Electric Motors

Buck converter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A buck converter is a step-down DC to DC converter. Its design is similar to the step-up boost converter, and like the boost converter it is a switched-mode power supply that uses two switches (a transistor and a diode), an inductor and a capacitor. The simplest way to reduce the voltage of a DC supply is to use a linear regulator (such as a 7805), but linear regulators waste energy as they operate by dissipating excess power as heat. Buck converters, on the other hand, can be remarkably efficient (95% or higher for integrated circuits), making them useful for tasks such as converting the 1224 V typical battery voltage in a laptop down to the few volts needed by the processor.
Contents
[hide]

1 Theory of operation

1.1 Continuous mode 1.2 Discontinuous mode 1.3 From discontinuous to continuous mode (and vice versa)

1.4 Non-ideal circuit

1.4.1 Output voltage ripple 1.4.2 Effects of non-ideality

on the efficiency

1.5 Specific structures

1.5.1 Synchronous rectification

1.5.2 Multiphase buck

2 Efficiency factors 3 Impedance matching 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit]Theory

of operation

Fig. 1: Buck converter circuit diagram.

Fig. 2: The two circuit configurations of a buck converter: On-state, when the switch is closed, and Off-state, when the switch is open (Arrows indicate current as the conventional flow model).

Fig. 3: Naming conventions of the components, voltages and current of the buck converter.

Fig. 4: Evolution of the voltages and currents with time in an ideal buck converter operating in continuous mode.

The operation of the buck converter is fairly simple, with an inductor and two switches (usually a transistor and a diode) that control the inductor. It alternates between connecting the inductor to source voltage to store energy in the inductor and discharging the inductor into the load.
[edit]Continuous

mode

A buck converter operates in continuous mode if the current through the inductor (IL) never falls to zero during the commutation cycle. In this mode, the operating principle is described by the chronogram in figure 4:

When the switch pictured above is closed (On-state, top of figure 2), the voltage across the inductor is VL = Vi Vo. The current through the inductor rises linearly. As the diode is reverse-biased by the voltage source V, no current flows through it;

When the switch is opened (off state, bottom of figure 2), the diode is forward biased. The voltage across the inductor is VL = Vo(neglecting diode drop). Current IL decreases.

The energy stored in inductor L is

Therefore, it can be seen that the energy stored in L increases during On-time (as IL increases) and then decreases during the Off-state. L is used to transfer energy from the input to the output of the converter. The rate of change of IL can be calculated from:

With VL equal to Vi Vo during the On-state and to Vo during the Off-state. Therefore, the increase in current during the On-state is given by:

, t{on} = DT Identically, the decrease in current during the Off-state is given by:

, t{off} = (1-D)T If we assume that the converter operates in steady state, the energy stored in each component at the end of a commutation cycle T is equal to that at the beginning of the cycle. That means that the current IL is the same at t=0 and at t=T (see figure 4). So we can write from the above equations:

It is worth noting that the above integrations can be done graphically: In figure 4, is proportional to the area of the yellow surface, and to the

area of the orange surface, as these surfaces are defined by the inductor voltage (red) curve. As these surfaces are simple rectangles, their areas can be found easily: for the yellow rectangle and Votoff for the orange one. For

steady state operation, these areas must be equal. As can be seen on figure 4, and . D is a scalar called

the duty cycle with a value between 0 and 1. This yields:

From this equation, it can be seen that the output voltage of the converter varies linearly with the duty cycle for a given input voltage. As the duty cycle D is equal to the ratio between tOnand the period T, it cannot be more than 1. Therefore, converter. So, for example, stepping 12 V down to 3 V (output voltage equal to a fourth of the input voltage) would require a duty cycle of 25%, in our theoretically ideal circuit.
[edit]Discontinuous

. This is why this converter is referred to as step-down

mode

In some cases, the amount of energy required by the load is small enough to be transferred in a time lower than the whole commutation period. In this case, the current through the inductor falls to zero during part of the period. The only difference in the principle described above is that the inductor is completely discharged at the end of the commutation cycle (see figure 5). This has, however, some effect on the previous equations.

Fig. 5: Evolution of the voltages and currents with time in an ideal buck converter operating in discontinuous mode.

We still consider that the converter operates in steady state. Therefore, the energy in the inductor is the same at the beginning and at the end of the cycle (in the case of discontinuous mode, it is zero). This means that the average value of the inductor voltage (VL) is zero; i.e., that the area of the yellow and orange rectangles in figure 5 are the same. This yields:

So the value of is:

The output current delivered to the load (Io) is constant, as we consider that the output capacitor is large enough to maintain a constant voltage across its terminals during a commutation cycle. This implies that the current flowing through the capacitor has a zero average value. Therefore, we have :

Where

is the average value of the inductor current. As can be

seen in figure 5, the inductor current waveform has a triangular shape. Therefore, the average value of IL can be sorted out geometrically as follow:

The inductor current is zero at the beginning and rises during ton up to ILmax. That means that ILmax is equal to:

Substituting the value of ILmax in the previous equation leads to:

And substituting by the expression given above yields:

This expression can be rewritten as:

It can be seen that the output voltage of a buck converter operating in discontinuous mode is much more complicated than its counterpart of the continuous mode. Furthermore, the output voltage is now a function not only of the input voltage (Vi) and the duty cycle D, but also of the inductor value (L), the commutation period (T) and the output current (Io).
[edit]From

discontinuous to

continuous mode (and vice versa)

Fig. 6: Evolution of the normalized output voltages with the normalized output current.

As mentioned at the beginning of this section, the converter operates in discontinuous mode when low current is drawn by the load, and in continuous mode at higher load current levels. The limit between discontinuous and continuous modes is reached when the inductor current falls to zero exactly at the end of the commutation cycle. with the notations of figure 5, this corresponds to :

Therefore, the output current (equal to the average inductor current) at the limit between discontinuous and continuous modes is (see above):

Substituting ILmax by its value:

On the limit between the two modes, the output voltage obeys both the expressions given respectively in the continuous and the discontinuous sections. In particular, the former is

Vo = DVi
So Iolim can be written as:

Let's now introduce two more notations:

the normalized voltage, defined by

. It is zero when Vo = 0, and 1 when Vo = Vi ;

the normalized current, defined by

. The

term

is

equal to the maximum increase of the inductor current during a cycle; i.e., the increase of the inductor current with a duty cycle D=1. So, in steady state operation of the converter, this means that equals 0 for no output current, and 1 for the maximum current the

converter can deliver. Using these notations, we have: in continuous mode:

in discontinuous mode:

the current at the limit between continuous and discontinuous mode is:

Therefore, the locus of the limit between continuous and discontinuous modes is given by:

These expression s have been plotted in figure 6. From this, it is obvious that in continuous mode, the output voltage does only depend on the duty cycle, whereas it is far more complex in the discontinuo us mode. This is important from a control point of view.

[edit]Non-

ideal circuit

Fig. 7: Evolution of the output voltage of a buck converter with the duty cycle when the parasitic resistance of the inductor increases.

The previous study was conducted with the following assumption s: The output capacit or has enoug

h capacit ance to supply power to the load (a simple resista nce) without any noticea ble variatio n in its voltage . The voltage drop across the diode when forwar d biased is zero

No commu tation losses in the switch nor in the diode

These assumption s can be fairly far from reality, and the imperfectio ns of the real component s can have a detrimental effect on the operation of the converter.
[edit]Outpu

t voltage ripple
Output voltage ripple is the name given to the phenomeno n where the output voltage rises during the Onstate and falls during the Offstate. Several factors

contribute to this including, but not limited to, switching frequency, output capacitanc e, inductor, load and any current limiting features of the control circuitry. At the most basic level the output voltage will rise and fall as a result of the output capacitor charging and discharging :

During the Offstate, the current in this

equatio n is the load current . In the Onstate the current is the differe nce betwee n the switch current (or source current ) and the load current . The duratio n of time (dT) is defined by the duty cycle and by the switchi ng freque ncy.

For the Onstate:

Fo r th e Of fst at e:

Q u al it at iv el y, a s th e o ut p ut c a p a

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v er al fa ct or s. C a p a ci to r s el e ct io n is n or m al ly d et er m in e d b a s e d

o n c o st , p h y si c al si z e a n d n o nid e al iti e s of v ar io u s c a p a ci

to r ty p e s. S wi tc hi n g fr e q u e n c y s el e ct io n is ty pi c al ly d et er m in e

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s of n o nid e al it y o n th e ef fi ci e n c y. Hi g h er s wi tc hi n g fr e q u e n c

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tc hi n g p o w er s u p pl y, a n d c a n al s o b e a m e a s ur e of it s q u al

it y.
[e di t]

E ff e ct s of n o nid e al it y o n th e ef fi ci e n c y
A si m pl ifi e d a

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u e to th e c o nt ro l ci rc ui tr y is u s u al ly in si g ni fi c a nt w h e n c o m p ar

e d wi th th e lo s s e s in th e p o w er d e vi c e s (s wi tc h e s, di o d e s, in d u

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r th e b ul k of th e p o w er lo s s e s in th e c o n v er te r. B ot h st at ic a n d d

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o w er lo s s e s in cl u d e

I2 R
(c o n d u ct io n) lo s s e s in th e wi re s or P C B

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a n d ar e pr o p or ti o n al to th e s wi tc hi n g fr e q u e n c y. It is u s ef ul to b

e gi n b y c al c ul at in g th e d ut y c y cl e fo r a n o nid e al b u c k c o n v

er te r, w hi c h is :

where:

VS
WIT CH

is th e vo lta ge dr op on th e po w er sw itc h,

VS
YNC HS W

th e vo lta ge dr op on th e sy nc hr on ou s sw itc h or di od e, an d

VL is th e vo lta ge dr op on th e in

du ct or. The voltag e drops descri bed above are all static power losses which are depen dent primar ily on DC curren t, and can theref ore be easily calcul ated. For a transis tor in satura tion or a diode drop, VSWITCH

and VSYNCH
SW

ma

y alread y be known , based on the proper ties of the select ed device .

VSWITCH = ISWITCHRON = DIoRON VSYNCHSW = ISYNCHSWRON = (1 D)IoRON VL = ILRDCR

where:

RON is the ON

resistance of each switch (RDSON for a

MOSFET), an

RDCR is the D

resistance of the inductor.

The careful reade will note that the

duty cycle equatio is somewhat

recursive. A roug analysis can be made by first calculating the

values VSWITCH and

VSYNCHSW using the ideal duty cycle equation.

Switch resistance for components

such as the powe MOSFET, and

forward voltage, f

components such as the insulatedgate bipolar transistor (IGBT)

can be determine by referring to datasheet specifications.

In addition, powe loss occurs as a result of leakage

currents. This pow loss is simply

PLEAKAGE = ILEAKAGEV
where:

ILEAKAGE is the

leakage curre

the switch, an

V is the volta

across the sw

Dynamic power lo

are due to the sw

behavior of the se pass devices

(MOSFETs, powe

transistors, IGBTs

These losses incl

turn-on and turn-o

switching losses a

switch transition l

Switch turn-on an

off losses are eas

lumped together a

where:

V is the volta

the switch wh switch is off,

tRISE and tFALL

switch rise an and

T is the switc

But this doesn't ta

account the paras

capacitance of th which makes the Then, the switch be more like:

When a MOSFET

lower switch, add

may occur during

between the turn-

side switch and th

low-side switch, w

diode of the low-s

conducts the outp

time, known as th

time, prevents "sh

condition in which

are simultaneous

onset of shootthro

severe power los

Proper selection o

time must balanc

shootthrough with

power loss cause

of the body diode

is used for the low

forward turn-on ti

efficiency and lea overshoot.[1]

Power loss on the also proportional frequency and is

PBODYDIODE = VFIotNOfSW
where:

VF is the forw

body diode, a

tNO is the sele time.

Finally, power los

of the power requ

switches on and o

switches, these lo

by the gate charg

energy required t

discharge the cap

MOSFET gate be

voltage and the s

These switch tran

primarily in the ga

minimized by sele low gate charge, MOSFET gate to

the cost of increa

conduction losses

a lower frequency

PGATEDRIVE = QGVGSfSW
where:

QG is the gate

MOSFET, an

VGS is the pea

It is essential to re

MOSFETs, the hi

driven to a higher Therefore VG will

for the high-side a

A complete desig

includes a tradeo

power losses. De losses according

the finished desig

to have a low swi

require switches w

losses; a converte

cycle requires a lo

conduction losses
[edit]Specific

[edit]Synchrono

Fig. 8: Simplified sche converter, in which D S2

A synchronous bu modified version

converter circuit t

diode, D, is replac

S2. This modificat

increased cost an

In a standard buc the freewheeling

own, shortly after

result of the rising

diode. This voltag

results in a power

PD = VD(1 D)Io
where:

VD is the volta

the load curre

D is the duty Io is the load

By replacing diod

advantageously s

converter efficien

example, a MOSF

be selected for S2 switch 2 which is

By comparing the

that in both cases

on the duty cycle,

power loss on the

switch will be pro

systems designed

suffer from higher

or lower switch, a advantageous to

converter design.

Without actual nu

usefulness of this

Consider a comp is 5 V, the output

10A. In this case,

diode would be o

diode with forwar

power loss of 2.3

RDSON of 0.015 ,

0.51 W in conduc

improved efficien

Another advantag

that it is bi-directio

applications requ

power is transferr

much like a boost

The advantages o

do not come with

typically costs mo

Second, the comp increased due to

output switch driv

Such a driver mu

being turned on a

"shootthrough." T

shootthrough is a

S1 to the turn-on o

setting this time d

S1 and S2 are nev

excess power los

preventing this co

overlap" protectio switch node (the joined) is sensed

switch node volta

time delay is start

many types of sw

loss this flexibility overlap time.

[edit]Multiphase

Fig. 9: Schematic of a converter.

Fig. 10: Closeup pictu

AMD Socket 939 proc be recognized by the

foreground. The small input filter.

The multiphase b

where the basic b parallel between the n "phases" is

intervals over the

typically used with

described above.

The primary adva

that it can respon

switched at n time

switching losses t

respond to rapidly

microprocessors.

There is also a si

ripple. Not only is

increased effectiv

that n times the d

switching ripple g

inductor current is

are switched on e

is decreasing in th

Another advantag

among the n phas

This load splitting

the switches to be

This circuit topolo

supplies to conve

lower voltage (aro

Modern CPU pow

200W,[3] can chan

tight ripple require

motherboard pow

although control I 6 phases[4]

One major challe

converter is ensu

evenly across the

can be performed

be measured "los

across the induct

turned on). This t

because it relies o

buck converter to

insert a small res voltage across it.

and adjustable, b

efficiency and mo

Finally, the curren

Voltage can be m

upper switch, or u

approximate the c

is technically mor

noise cannot be e

less expensive th each phase.

[edit]Efficiency

Conduction losse

Resistance w

switch is con

Diode forwar

V for schottky

Inductor wind

Capacitor eq

Switching losses:

Voltage-Amp

Frequencyswit

Reverse laten

Losses due d

consumption

Transistor lea

standby cons

[edit]Impedanc

A buck converter

power transfer thr

matching. An app

power point track

inphotovoltaic sys

By the equation fo

where:

Vo is the outp

Io is the outpu

is the powe

Vi is the inpu Ii is the input

By Ohm's Law:

where:

Zo is the outp

Zi is the input

Substituting these yields:

As was previously

where:

D is the duty

Substituting this e

which reduces to:

and finally:

This shows that it

This is particularly changing.