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 Power Electronics is the vital part of industrial control and is a major thrust area for C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram. The major activities of the group are focused on the Power Quality solutions using Custom Power Devices, Power Controllers for tapping energy from Non-conventional energy sources like Wind, Solar etc., Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, Automotive Electronics, Systems for Industrial Automation, Digital Controllers and Power Control Systems for Industrial application, Networking of Power Electronic systems and the Development of industrial control products like Variable Speed Drive systems, High Performance Uninterruptible Power Supply systems, High efficiency Switched Mode Power Converters, Remote Controlled Mobile platforms, etc. In addition to technology development projects, the group undertakes contract projects for specific applications from industries. The group works with a mission to evolve itself into a world-class research centre in Power Electronics, and at the same time catering to meet national objectives with due consideration to industrial needs and opinion of field experts on future technology. The developments are targeted towards employing power electronics for energy saving, eco friendly systems, quality and cost effective products, and finally to promote the use of non-conventional energy sources available locally.
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Custom Power Devices like STATCOM for Power Quality solutions

Vector Controlled AC Drives and Double Inverter fed Induction Motor Drives

High Performance Uninterruptible Power Supplies

Power Converters for tapping non-conventional energy sources like Wind, Solar, etc.

Power controller for induction motor driven Electric/ Hybrid Vehicles

Resonant mode Switched Power Converters

Front-end Converters

Real time High speed Digital Controllers for Power Electronic systems.

FPGAs / ASICs for Power Electronic equipments

Networking of Power Electronic systems

Electro-mechanical products like Remote Controlled Mobile Platforms
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The strength of the group is its expertise in power electronics and digital control techniques built over 25 years. The group has taken keen interest in updating the knowledge base in the frontier technologies with latest innovations to meet the technological revolution and to meet new challenging tasks in the field of power electronics. A major asset of the group is the field experience of its engineers gained while execution of various projects developed for industries. The research team has kept track of the state-of-the-art technology in par with global scenario in power electronics in the development of products and systems. The group keeps close interaction with Academic institutions like Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs), while working in cutting edge technology development. The design and upgradation of power circuits are linked to advances in power semiconductor devices like MOSFETs, IGBTs, IGCTs etc, while digital controllers are continuously upgraded in tune with the latest trends. Currently the controllers are designed around Digital Signal Processors and Micro-controllers along with Field Programmable Gate Arrays ( FPGAs ) for implementation of programmable control algorithms with features like protection, supervisory control, diagnostics, data logging and man-machine interface.

The group started its activities in 1975 with the development of Inverters, Drives and Power supplies with analog controllers. In the early eighties the group gained the expertise in digital control techniques and Microprocessor based controllers replacing analog controllers with superior digital controller. Further the group entered into the development of PWM inverters with V/F control strategy. Vector controlled technique is the state-of-the-art technology in induction motor control which is superior due to its fast dynamics comparable to separately excited DC motor drives. Competing with international scenario, Vector control technology was successfully developed by the group and AC drives were developed using this technology and IGBT power devices. The intelligent digital controllers using DSPs, Microprocessors / Micro-controllers and FPGAs / ASICs were developed for incorporating superior and compact control techniques for Power electronic systems. The group has completed the development of an intelligent Power controller for variable speed operation of induction generator based Wind Turbines.

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250 KW Intelligent Power Controller for Wind Electric Generators

40 KVA / 120 KVA Vector Controlled AC Drives

Double Inverter-fed Induction Motor Drive

250 kVAR Advanced Static VAR Compensator.

10 KVA Dynamic Power Manager UPS system

Multifunction peripheral controller ASIC ER 9201 for Power Electronic Systems

ER 9201 based single board controller for DC Drives and Battery Chargers

Vector Controlled Cyclo-converter fed Synchronous machine Drive

High performance UPS system for 10 kVA-40 kVA range

Switched Mode Power Plants for Telecom applications

Inverter for Solar Powered Water Pumps

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Microprocessor Control Circuits for GTO inverters in LOCO for BHEL, Bhopal

IGBT inverter used in LOCO for BHEL, Bhopal

Spurious Signal Suppressor units for M1-17 Helicopters of INDIAN AIR FORCE

Automatic Voltage Regulator for Brushless Alternators for Jyothi, Baroda

Automatic Test Equipment for Tata Keltron

Rotor resistance controller for wave electric generator for NIOT, Madras

High Performance Electronic Ballast for Namtech, Bangalore

Energy saver for Pump applications

25 KVA IGBT Inverter for Railway Coaches for ECIL, Hyderabad.

Universal Controller for AC Drives

Microprocessor based Excitation and Load control module for Diesel LOCO

Spurious Signal Suppressor units for AN-32 Aircraft

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HB Electronics, Mumbai

Eddy Current and Controls, Coimbatore

Industrial Controls and Drives, Chennai

City Electric Company, Bangalore

Hind Rectifiers Ltd. Mumbai

Sagar Electricals, Ambala

Industrial Controls and Drives, Madras

Amtech Electronics, Gujarat

City Electric Company, Bangalore

Hind Rectifiers Ltd. Mumbai

Keptech Power Controls, Delhi

Pamba Electronics, Cochin

Quality Power Systems, Hyderabad

Numeric Power Systems Ltd, Chennai


Emerson Network Power (India) Systems,Mumbai

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Digital Controller for AC Drives

Uninterruptible Power Supply systems

Advanced Static VAR Compensator

Solar Powered Water Pump

Double Inverter fed Wound rotor Induction Motor Drive

Front-End Converters

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A Device for the Storage and Retrieval of Electrical Energy – 1996

Energy Saver for Water Pumps – 1997

A device for Sensor less Torque Control of Induction Generator in the Wind Turbine using bi-directional IGBT inverter – 2000

Speed Sensor less Doubly fed Slip Ring Induction Machine Drive based on Direct Torque and frequency control for Double Power output ER & DCI &IISc – 2001

Power Assisted Bicycle-2002

Traction-Steering Synthesizing Mechanism-2002

HEV Network Driver (Copyright) -2002

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Vector Controlled Induction Motor Drive for the Propulsion of Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Power Controller for Battery Driven Mini BusCoimbatore

Remote Inspection Device

Network Integration of Power Electronic Systems for Automated Process

Custom Power Devices

Power Supply Card for Mirage Aircrafts
 

Power Quality(PQ) improvement techniques are gaining more and more importance today. The group has developed the hardware and the control algorithms for various PQ solutions like Harmonic compensators, STATCOMs, Unified Power Quality Controllers etc. The Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, identifies this Centre as the lead agency for Custom Power Devices in India. The technology for the Front-end Converter, which can be configured as the front end of a UPS system or a Static VAR Compensator is developed and the technology is offered to industries. Another important activity is the development of Power Controllers for Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Automotive Electronics and Networking the systems using CAN bus or MOD bus. Multilevel High Power Inverters, Medium Power AC motor Drives, Power Electronics Building Blocks, Switched Mode Power Converters Flywheel Energy Storage Systems as a Replacement to Batteries, High Frequency Induction Heating Systems, Automotive Electronics, Programmable Pattern weaving system for Handloom, Second Generation Electric Vehicle, Smart Motor, Grid Interactive Inverters for Tapping Solar Energy, Robotics etc. are the other technology areas identified in the future plan of activities.