This project supports a cooperative project by the Dr. Issa Batarseh, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida and Dr. Dr. Ahmed Harb, Electrical Engineering Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. The project deals with the application of modern control theory to dynamic modeling of soft switching power factor correction circuits. Limited research work has been conducted on exploring the chaos behavior of high frequency ac-dc power factor correction with soft-switching technique. The main objective of the proposed project is to apply modern control techniques to newly developed power factor correction topologies that target declining power quality in power processing systems and thereby improve system performance. More specifically, the focus of the project will be on the high-frequency resonant single-stage power factor scheme with direct energy transfer. The PIs will study and analyze the dynamic stability of the PFC circuit analytically, simulation and experimentally. The topologies selected for this study were based on the research done by the PIs in previously funded NSF projects. The procedure adopted for this work is to first develop the discrete large-signal model of the proposed converters under open- and closed-loop conditions, and then verify the developed models in Spice and Mat lab. The impact of using bifurcation and chaos theory in PFC circuits is that it will lead to the development of a nonlinear control to mitigate or even to eliminate possible unstable oscillations. This will improve the performance of the PFC circuit and will have impact on dynamic study of much other power electronic circuit.
Scope and broader impact: The research results can lead to developing analytical methods that are applicable to various types of converters and leading to the ability to design more stable converters. Power factor correction plays a major role in energy saving features of power converters. Power quality is a major issue, as our society has to deal with so many electronic equipments that depend on high-quality electric power. This project will promote international collaboration in the area of energy-efficiency in the Middle East region.
