POWER ELECTRONICS AND ITS CHA~LENGES
Muhammad H. Rashid, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Deparlment of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of West Florida
11000 University parkway
Pensacola, Florida 325 14-5754, USA
mrashid@[Link]
Abstraet controls, light controls, motor controls, power
supplies, vehicle propulsion systems and HVDC. It is
Since the invention of the world's first electronics difficult to draw the boundaries for the applications
patent by Edison in 1884, electronics branched out of power electronics; and especially with the trends
as microelectronics, digital electronics and power in the development of power devices and
electronics. Power electronics has evolved as an microprocessors,the upper limit is undefined.
distinctive subject area in electrical engineering and
it is making significant contributions towards the Historical Development
modem technological growth. This presentation
summarizes the chronological development, and its The history of power electronics began with the
challenges ahead for maintaining its idmtity. introduction of mercury arc rectifier in 1900. Then,
the metal tank rectifier, grid controlled vacuum-tube
rectifier, ignitron, phanotron, and thyratron were
Introduction introduced gradually. These devices were applied for
power control until 1950s. The fmt electronics
The demand for control of electric power for electric revolution began in 1948 with the invention of the
motor drive systems and industrial controls existed silicon m i s t o r at Bell Telephone Laboratories hy
for many years and this lead to the early development Bardeen, Bratain, and Schockley. The most of the
of Ward-Leonard system to obtain a variable dc today's advanced electronic technologies are
voltage for the control of dc motor drives. Power traceable to that invention. The modem
Electronics has revolutionized the concept of power microelectronics evolved over the years from the
control for power conversion and for control of silicon semiconductors. The next breakthrough was
electrical motor drives. also, in 1956, f?om the Bell Laboratories by the
invention of PNPN triggering transistor, which was
Power Electronics uses power semiconductor devices deiined as a thyristor or silicon-controlled rectifier
as switches. With the development of power (SCR).
semiconductor technology, the power handling
capabilities and the switching speed of the power The second electronics revolution began with the
devices have improved tremendously. The development of commercial thyristor by the General
development of microprocessors and microcomputer Electric Company in 1958. That was the beginning
technology has a great impact on the control and of a new era of power electronics. Since then, many
synthesizing the control strategy far the power different types of power semiconductor devices and
semiconductor switches. conversion techniques have been introduced.
Power Electronics is an interdisciplinruy field which The fmt book on rectifiers was by J.M. Schaefer on
combines power, electronics and control theory for -
#Rectifier Circuits Theory and Design" in 1965.
the control and conversion of electric power. It can The next book was on #Silicon Power Transistor
be viewed as a branch of system engineering. Power Handbook" hy Westinghouse Electric Corp., 1967,
Electronics bas already found an important place in followed by #Silicon Controlled Rectifier Designers
the modem technology and it is now being used in
Handbook" by Westinghouse Electric Cor. (In 1970),
great variety of high power products including heat
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#Silicon Controlled Rectifiers” by Allan Lytel incredible speed. The power electronicsrevolution is
(Howard W. Sams & Co., 1967), and 8SCR Manual” giving us the ability to shape and control large
by General Electric (1972). The fmt text with the amounts of power with a ever increasing efficiency.
title of power electronics was #Power Electronics - Due to the marriage of power electronics, the muscle.
Thyristor Controlled Power for Electric Motors’’ by with microelectronics, the brain, many potential
R Ramshaw (1973), followed by the popular book applications of power electronics are now emerging
on 8 Power SemiconductorCircuits” by S. B. Dewan and this trend will continue. Within the next 30
and A. Straughen (John Wiley & Sons., 1975), and years, power electronics will shape and condition the
“Power electronics -
Circuits, Devices and electricity somewhere between its generation and its
Applications.” by M. H. Rashid (Prentice Hall, 1988, all users. The power electronics revolution has
1993). gained the momentum, since late 1980s and early
1990s.
Over the past 20 years, a phenomenal amount of
progress has been made in the area of power Contributing Factors
electronics and its applications. There are many
excellent text books on power electronics and motor The rapid growth has been caused due to the
drives. Also, numerous specialid papers were numerous benefits of power electronics for power
published on (1) power semiconductor devices, (2) control and processing of industrial applications.
Semiconductor device modeling, (3) converter circuit Dedicated researchers and engineers around the
topologies, (4) simulation and modeling techniques, globe contributed to the current advancements on
( 5 ) DC motor drives, (6) AC motor drives, (7) vector power electronics. A very few of them had any
control of ac drives, (8) phase-lock loops for motor formal course on power electronics at their
controls, (9) sensorless control of AC drives, (IO) undergraduate education. Most of them changed
Expert systems, Fuzzy logic, and Neural network, their professional field, switched to power electronics
(I 1) motion control, (12) switched-mode power and developed expertise by self-learning or by
supplies, and (13) switching control techniques: graduate level education.
PWM, zero-voltage switching, zero-current
switching, and forced commutation. There are a Challenges
number of specialized conferences and J o m k such
as (I) IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, (2) After satisfying other requirements of the
Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC), (3) Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
European Power Electronics Conference (EPEC), (4) (ABET) for Math, basic science, engineering
Intemational Power Electronics Conference (IPEC), science, general education electives and free
and (5) Power Electronics Specialist Conference electives, not many technical electives are requir4d to
(PESC), (6) IEEE Transactions on Industrial satisfy the curriculum requirement. A course on
Electronics, (7) IEEE Transactions on Industry power electronics is genemlly an elective in an
Applications, (8) IEEE Transactions on Power electrical undergraduate curriculum and it has to be
Delivery, (9) IEE Proceeding on Electric Power, (10) in direct competition with other popular courses such
The Journal of Electrical Machinery and Power as in communications and computer engineering.
Systems, (11) IEEE -
Industrial Electronics Since power electronics is an interdisciplinarysubject
Conference (IECON), (12) IEEE -
Industry by nature, a good understanding of power electronics
Applications Society Annual Meeting (IAS), ( I 9 requires a strong background in math, fundamentals
International Conference on Power Electronics, of power engineering, control and digital. This
Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES), and (14) makes power electronics a relative difficult course,
Intemational Conference on Electrical Machines often unpopular. In many state universities especially
(ICEM), and (15) Power Conversion Intelligent in USA, the state fhding is l i e d to students
Motion (PCIM). enrollments and/or credit hours generated. That is,
the faculty position is directly related to the students
The microelectronicsrevolution gave us the ability to enrollments in a course. Therefore, students must be
process a huge amount of information at an encouraged or motivated to choose power electronics
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in order to be in the business of educating power (h) the broad education necessary to understand
electronics. the impact of engineering solutions in a
Changing World of Engineering global and societal context
(i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability
With the rapid advancements in technology and to engage in life-long learning
changes in the operations of business, the job 0) a knowledge of contemporary issues
functions of engineers are also changing. Industries (k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and
are demanding that engineering graduates must have modern engineering tools necessary for
certain skills and also be knowable about design engineering practice.
process in addition to factual technical knowledge
and analytical abilities. The engineering programs in Also, each program must have an assessment process
USA are undergoing through rigorous changes in with documented results. Evidence must be given
response to meeting needs of the next century. These that the results are applied to the further development
changes are mandated by the ABET (in USA) and it and improvement of the program.
is in fact overdue if we compare the drawing of the
world's first electronics patent by Edison in 1884 According to the ABET EC 2000 criteria 4, students
with the schematic of a modern microelectronic must be prepared for engineering practice througb
circuit. the curriculum culminating in a major design
experience based on the knowledge and skills
According to the ABET EC 2000 criteria 3, acquired in earlier coursework and incorporating
engineering programs must demonstrate that their engineering standards and realistic constraints that
graduates have include most of the following considerations:
(a) an ability to apply knowledge of economic, environmental, sustainability,
mathematics, science, and engineering manufachuability, ethical, health and safety, social,
(b) an ability to design and conduct and political.
experiments, as well as to analyze and
interpret data Conclusion
(c) an ability to design a system, component, or
process to meet desired needs can we use the curriculum of the 20° century to
(d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary educate engineers for the 21' century? Can power
teams electronics conbibute towards the engineering
(e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve education in proving the skills needed for the
engineeringproblems engineers of the 21" cenhuy? Can power electronics
(0 an understanding of professional and ethical maintain its current growth momentum? What will be
responsibility power electronics like in 30 years !?om now? Will it
(g) an ability to communicate effectively spin off fiom electrical engineering like electronics
engineering? Or will it merge withii systems
engineering?
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