AC adjustable-speed drives at the millennium: how did we get here?

Abstract

Abstract-Although there is broad recognition of the huge strides taken in the development of modern ac adjustable-speed drives since the introduction of the thyristor in 1957, far fewer engineers in the power electronics profession today are aware of the key engineering developments in this field that preceded the solid-state era. The purpose of this paper is to review major milestones that set the stage for the development of today's ac drives, including sufficient details to acquaint readers with their basic principles, strengths, and limitations. Attention will be devoted to the continuum of this development history and the many direct echoes of developments from the first half of the 1900s that we take for granted in today's ac drives. In addition, the spirited competition between electromechanical and electronic ac drive solutions that dominated engineering attention during the early part of the century will be reviewed, highlighting the complicated interrelationship between electric machines and drive electronics that persists today.

Bringing New Life to High-Capacity Systems: Modernization of Legacy Adjustable-Speed Drives

“…as a result of these early advances, the 1930s saw many practical examples of electromechanical and electronic ac drives [1]. among these, the most successful were the Kramer system of wound rotor induction drives introduced in Germany in 1906 and the scherbius system introduced in Germany in 1907.…”

“…among these, the most successful were the Kramer system of wound rotor induction drives introduced in Germany in 1906 and the scherbius system introduced in Germany in 1907. By the late 1930s, electronic methods of both the Kramer and scherbius drives were made practical [1].…”

Review of the State-of-the-Art in Power Electronics Suitable for 10-KW Military Power Systems

“…The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi Maryland has an active program developing and evaluating the matrix converter technology as do certain commercial and academic researchers [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Another type of power conversion circuit that is of at least academic interest, because of its high versatility, is the high-frequency link converter (HFLC).…”

“…Sales quantity in power class of interest: 25% of sales of our MX series (seeFig. 3.9) modular, expandable inverters are in the 10 kW and up range 9. Our reputation in the market place is for mission-critical and/or revenue-generating applications 9.…”

“…3.9) modular, expandable inverters are in the 10 kW and up range 9. Our reputation in the market place is for mission-critical and/or revenue-generating applications 9. From further inquires, ORNL concluded that, for the power range of interest, the production was 200 to 280 units per year.…”