Motors and Drives


4 Whether an application requires precision motion control for medical apparatus or for powering a megawatt motor, the omnipresent transistor invariably sits at the crux of it all. Boris Sedacca reports on the latest developments in power electronics for motors.


4 Qu’une application exige un contrôle de mouvements précis pour un appareil médical ou pour alimenter un moteur de plusieurs mégawatts, le transistor omniprésent est toujours au cœur de l’ensemble. Boris Sedacca retrace les développements les plus récents de l’électronique de puissance pour les moteurs.


4 Egal, ob eine Anwendung eine präzise Bewegungskontrolle für medizinische Apparate oder für den Betrieb eines Megawattmotors benötigt, der allgegenwärtige Transistor ist immer der Knackpunkt des Ganzen. Boris Sedacca berichtet über die neuesten Entwicklungen in der Leistungselektronik für Motoren.


Semiconductor devices energise servos and inverters


I


n July 2013, the UK power electronics industry received an £18 million boost from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) with the opening of the first EPSRC National


Centre of Excellence for Power Electronics. David Willetts, Minister for Universities


and Science, said: “This National Centre will bring together universities and businesses to ensure industry has access to the latest science and technology, as well as helping to maintain a supply of skilled people.” A central co-ordinating hub will involve


the universities of Manchester, Newcastle, Greenwich, Bristol, Warwick, Nottingham and Imperial College London. The opening of the new centre comes two months after the launch of the PowerelectronicsUK Forum, a network backed by industry, academia and the government that aims to boost the number of people within the power electronics industry. Steve Burgin, Chairman of


PowerelectronicsUK and UK President of Alstom said: “The new EPSRC Centre for


Power Electronics will be key to the future success of UK Power Electronics.” The new forum was launched as a direct


result of the influential strategy document Power Electronics: A Strategy for Success, which was developed with input from the Technology Strategy Board, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the EPSRC. “Gambica supports the


PowerelectronicsUK forum and we have significant expertise in power electronics, particularly with variable speed drive manufacturers like Siemens, Alstom (now GE), Parker SSD, Invertek and Control Techniques,” says Steve Brambley, deputy director of GAMBICA.


Signal or power amplification


A transistor can either amplify a signal level or an electrical power level. Signals are specified by voltage whereas electrical power is specified by current, and this is where the transistor family splits in two. Broadly speaking, a field effect transistor is effectively a signal voltage


Fig. 1. A large motor may need its own harmonic filter.


40 www.engineerlive.com


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