MEng Mechatronic Engineering with Industrial Experience / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Power Electronics

Course unit fact file
Unit code EEEN30121
Credit rating 10
Unit level Level 3
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Offered by Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

Building on the second year Power Electronics, Machines and Drives course, this unit provides a deeper and more specialised treatment of some of the main power electronics circuits and applications: high power DC/DC converters, rectifiers, semiconductor and passive component losses and thermal management, gate drives and single and three-phase DC/AC inverters.

 

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title Unit code Requirement type Description
Machines, Drives & Power Electronics EEEN20212 Pre-Requisite Compulsory

Aims

This course unit detail provides the framework for delivery in the current academic year and may be subject to change due to any additional Covid-19 impact.  Please see Blackboard / course unit related emails for any further updates.

The course unit aims to:

Develop an understanding of modern power electronic converters and systems, their applications, the analytic skills to characterise circuit operation and synthesis skills for power electronics design.

Learning outcomes

On the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Developed

Assessed

ILO 1

  • Analyse the 3 classes of DC/DC converter; calculate stresses on components; sketch circuit diagrams and waveforms; determine conduction modes; select circuit parameters.

Lectures, examples

Exam & quiz

ILO 2

  • Sketch and explain diagrams and idealised waveforms for uncontrolled diode rectifiers with source inductance and for inverters as active rectifiers.

Lectures, examples

Exam

ILO 3

  • Calculate steady-state thermal values and losses, to determine operating points and ratings of power electronic components.

Lectures, examples

Exam & quiz

ILO 4

  • Evaluate strategies for voltage synthesis (Pulse Width Modulation) and current control, and calculate parameters for single- and three- phase inverters.

Lectures, examples

Exam & quiz

ILO 5

  • Examine laboratory measurements and simulation results on power converter circuits, interpret waveforms and apply to tune the control loop.

Lab

Lab

 

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures using a mix of Powerpoint, worked examples on a visualiser, demonstrations and animations/videos.

In-lecture kahoot on-line quizzes.

On-line assessed quizzes through Blackboard.

Laboratory, with pre-lab simulation using Matlab/Simulink, for comparison with in-lab measurements.

Supporting material, including animations and simulations, on Blackboard.

 

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Other 20%
Written exam 80%

Laboratory:

Investigation of single and three phase inverters, with current loop PI tuning.

Weighting: 10%

On-line Quiz (2 equally weighted parts)

Length: 2x3 hours

How and when feedback is provided: Through Blackboard, 1 week after quiz closes. General class feedback also provided on Blackboard. 

Weighting: 10%

Feedback methods

   

Recommended reading

Power Electronics: Converters, Applications and Design, 3rd Ed.  Mohan, Ned; Undeland, Tore M.; Robbins, William P.; Published by Wiley, 2003, available as ebook. 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 22
Practical classes & workshops 6
Tutorials 2
Independent study hours
Independent study 70

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Cheng Zhang Unit coordinator
Judith Apsley Unit coordinator

Return to course details