A Joint IeMRC-EEPKTN Power-electronics Roadmap 2007 · 2012. 11. 1. · The share of electrical energy which will be controlled by power electronics is expected to increase from 40%

A Joint IeMRC-EEPKTN Power-electronics Roadmap 2007

This roadmap is based on data gathered at the joint IeMRC-EEPKTN power-electronics roadmapping workshop, held at PERA on 31st October 2007.

Data was gathered in three sessions using a common input form. (A sample can be found in Annex A.) During the first session, participants were asked to describe their immediate technology challenges and, in particular, those they believed will be pivotal to future business and products before 2015. The second session addressed near-term challenges and participants were asked to consider technologies that they were already aware of, that they believed would be important in the next 5–10 years and that they be-lieved will be relevant to known opportunities for products in the period 2015–2020. A final session dealt with the future vision, including technical issues with no current so-lution or for which only preliminary research information was available. Information was gathered to relate all contributions to technology readiness levels (TRLs), and these have been used to draw specific conclusions for EPSRC, IeMRC and Technology Programme funding under separate headings.

Mark Johnson (editor) School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Paul J. Palmer (editor) Electronics Enabled Products Knowledge Transfer Network

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Published in 2008 by Electronics Enabled Products Knowledge Transfer Network

Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leics LE11 3TU

http://www.electronicproductsktn.org.uk

© 2008 EEP KTN

ISBN 1-84402-063-0

Whilst the advice and information in this publication is believed to be true and accurate at the time of publication, neither the author nor the publisher assume any legal

responsibility or liability for any error or omission that may have been made.

Comments on this publication are welcomed. Please send them to <[email protected]>

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Contents

Purpose of the Roadmap 6

Methodology 7

Immediate Challenges 8

Near-term Challenges 12

Future Vision 14

Relevance to TSB and IeMRC/EPSRC strategy 16

Challenges for Technology Programme Support 16

Challenges for IeMRC/EPSRC Support 19

Annex A Common Input Form 22

Annex B Contributors 23

Introduction 4

Digest of Challenges 21

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Introduction

Energy saving, improved energy efficiency and environmental protection are ubiquitous topics in society across the world. Despite many efforts to save energy, demand for electricity is expected to grow and much faster in comparison with other energy sources over the next three decades. Today 40% of all energy consumption is in electrical energy, but this will grow to 60% by 2040.

Power electronics is the key technology to control the flow of electrical energy from source to load in a precise and energy-efficient manner. Although rarely seen as an end product by the general public, it is responsible for ensuring the reliability and stability of the whole power-supply infrastructure ranging from electricity generation, transmission and distribution, through a huge variety of applications in industry and transportation systems to home and office appliances. It is a cross-functional, multidisciplinary technology covering the extreme high-gigawatt (GW) power range, for example in energy transmission lines, down to the very low milliwatt (mW) power levels needed to operate a mobile phone. The share of electrical energy which will be controlled by power electronics is expected to increase from 40% in 2000 to 80% in 2015.

The role of power electronics in a low-carbon future

Power electronics is the only technology which enables the efficient use, distribution and generation of electrical energy. Many market segments – such as those for domestic and office appliances, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, the digital economy, communication, factory automation and drives, traction, automotive and renewable energy – can benefit from the application of power-electronics technology. Here are some examples highlighting potential savings are.1

• New concepts for power supplies can improve overall efficiency of 2–4% by reducing low-power and standby consumption for a reduction in losses of 14–30%. Digital control techniques can further reduce energy consumption.

• Motor drives use 50–60% of all electrical energy consumed in the developed world. By using

Figure 1 Everyday applications of power electronics

1Position paper on energy efficiency – the role of power electronics, ECPE, 2007

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power-electronics-controlled motor drives, a potential reduction in energy consumption of 20–30% is achievable.

• In home appliances, electronic thermostats for refrigerators and freezers can yield 23% energy saving, and an additional 20% can be saved by using power electronics to control compressor motors (with three-phase PMDC motors).

• In lighting, power electronics can improve the efficiency of fluorescent and HID ballasts by a minimum of 20%. Advanced power electronics for dimming together with light and occupancy sensing can save on average an additional 30%.

• The connection of renewable energy sources to power grids is not possible without power electronics: photovoltaic power-electronic converters optimise the efficiency of PV solar panels; inverters are necessary for wind and tidal generators.

• In automotive applications, electric and hybrid drive trains are only possible with efficient and intelligent power electronics. X-by-wire concepts operated by power electronics will generate savings of potentially of more than 20%.

• In the aerospace sector, the more electric aircraft aims to improve energy efficiency by replacing hydraulic and pneumatic controls with power-electronics-enabled systems. The resulting weight savings will reduce fuel demand over the flight cycle.

All the above examples show how power electronics is an enabler for using electrical energy efficiently and reducing overall energy consumption.

Power electronics in the UK

Power electronics has a history of more than 40 years in the UK and has set many milestones in industry. Power semiconductor devices and smart-control ICs have been the key technology drivers for the last two decades. In the next two decades, however, packaging and interconnection technologies, high-power-density system integration together with advancements in silicon devices and system reliability will dominate power-electronics development. With the top experts in industry and universities, excellent educational facilities and an outstanding research infrastructure, the UK has an excellent base from which it can compete and grow in the world market. The UK is internationally competitive across the whole power-electronics supply chain, with strengths in component manufacture through to systems-level engineering. Many UK companies are respected around the world as leaders in power-electronics technology. Power-electronic systems tend to be application specific, highly customised and have a relatively high added value. Their manufacture is thus suited to a technologically advanced manufacturing base and can absorb the relatively high UK labour costs. There is thus a real chance to maintain and grow power-electronics manufacturing in the UK with highly sophisticated assembly lines for high-temperature power electronics or ultra-high-power-density mechatronic systems e.g. in transportation, information and communication, medical and industrial applications.

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Purpose of the Roadmap

Although rarely seen as an end product by the general public, power electronics is an enabling technology that underpins everyday applications throughout the energy-supply and utilisation chain. This roadmap seeks to identify some of the barriers and limitations in the current range of technologies and provide a list of priorities for future work.

The consultation for this roadmap has been organised as a collaboration between the Electronics Enabled Products Knowledge Transfer Network (EEPKTN) and the Innovative Electronics Manufacturing Research Centre (IeMRC) Power Electronics flagship project.

The roadmap has been produced to serve internal and external stakeholder needs. Internally, the EEPKTN and IeMRC will use the output from the roadmap to:

• provide input into other technology strategy documents; • help define Technology Watch reports; • guide the technical areas supported by EPSRC Industrial CASE and other studentship allocations; • define call areas for SPARK awards.

Externally, our aim as a KTN is to present these challenges as the voice from our community and to stimulate support measures for them from the Technology Strategy Board and the research councils.

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Methodology

The roadmapping process (Figure 2) used is based upon the collation of inputs from expert contributors to a knowledge base from which the roadmap can be drawn. This allows information from many consultations to be combined and eases the maintenance of the roadmap through time.

Although the methodology does not attach personal information to any particular input, all contributions have been collated in a database, and the summary and detailed output generated from this database have been used to draw the charts and tables in the following pages of this document. Although we would never publish the contributions in a way that could identify individuals, this technique does offer an audit path back to the source contributions.

The process is cyclical and we use a post-workshop review about two weeks after each roadmapping workshop to confirm to contributors that their views have been incorporated appropriately. It is our intention to update this roadmap from time to time re-using the base information to help track how contributors views have changed in successive workshops, and to validate strategies developed as a result of this roadmap.

Figure 2 The roadmapping process

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Figure 3 The workshop

Data was gathered in three sessions using a common input form. (A sample can be found in Annex A.) During the first session participants were asked to describe their immediate technology challenges, and in particular those that were pivotal to future business and products before 2015.

The second session addressed near-term challenges and participants were asked to consider technologies that they were a) already aware of, b) knew would probably be important in the next 5–10 years and c) were relevant to known opportunities for products 2015–2020.

A final session dealt with the future vision, including technical issues with no current solution or for which only preliminary research information was available. The participants were asked to be creative and revolutionary in their approach with the aim of developing step changes in technology by 2030.

The form (see Annex A) was printed in colour on A3 paper, offering plenty of space for completion by contributors. No special directive was imposed as to working individually or in groups, but the cabaret format used (Figure 3) encourages discussion and easy movement between tables. Our observation is that most people prefer to discuss ideas with neighbours, but fill in forms individually. Note that this process has no facilitated capture of ideas at the group level. Consensus is identified, where it exists, through analysis of the data.

Timescale information was captured using estimates of technology readiness levels (TRLs). During each workshop session, the forms were colour coded by facilitators using the information given by

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participants on TRLs and estimated intervention costs and displayed on a wall as shown in Figure 4. This allowed participants to gain a visual first impression of the results during the workshop.

As a post workshop exercise, all the completed forms were copied into a database built around an Excel spreadsheet. This permitted complex analysis of the consolidated data. A review of the draft results held by online conferencing two weeks after the workshop helped guide the analysis presented on the following pages.

A list of participants’ organisations can be found in Annex B.

Figure 4 In-workshop review

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Immediate Technology Challenges

Priorities have been identified here in Figure 5 from the intersection of technology areas and product areas in delegate responses. The red intersections are those priorities that are viewed as represent-ing immediate challenges to the power-electronics community. A broad range of intervention costs have been submitted in this consultation, as can be seen in Figure 6, with a clear role for small-scale interventions (of less than 100,000€).

Figure 5 Immediate challenges – priorities

Figure 6 Immediate challenges – intervention costs

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Number (all records) Number (priority records only)

<100k€1M€10M€>10M€

Priorities

Product Area

Reliability and qualification

Packaging and integration

Efficiency

Thermal management

Simulation and design methods

Materials Technologies

Power Quality

Active devices

Control

Life Cycle

Business process

Passive devices

Health and usage managementOther

High performance drives 17 13 13 14 11 14 9 8 8 6 4 6 2 1 126Aircraft actuation 15 14 12 13 13 13 9 8 7 5 5 6 3 0 123Renewable energy sources 12 11 13 11 13 8 11 10 10 6 7 5 5 0 122Automotive power train 16 13 12 12 10 12 10 8 7 6 4 5 2 1 118Aircraft power distribution 13 12 11 12 10 10 9 9 7 5 5 4 2 1 110Small drives for home appliances 15 10 12 10 11 10 7 6 8 7 5 5 3 1 110Aircraft generation 14 12 11 11 8 11 9 7 7 6 3 4 2 1 106Large industrial drives 15 11 10 9 11 10 9 6 6 5 4 4 3 1 104Marine propulsion 14 9 11 11 8 11 9 7 6 4 3 5 3 1 102Components: active 11 12 9 8 9 4 7 9 7 5 5 2 4 0 92Rail traction 12 10 9 11 7 11 7 5 5 5 1 4 2 1 90Components: thermal management 8 10 10 8 6 4 6 6 6 5 6 4 2 0 81Automotive controls 9 8 6 7 7 5 5 5 7 4 5 2 2 1 73Aircraft engine controls 8 7 5 7 5 7 5 4 5 3 2 2 2 0 62Pwr transmiss. & distrib. infrastruc. 6 4 5 5 6 4 5 4 4 3 1 1 3 1 52Pulsed power 4 3 4 2 3 1 3 2 2 3 3 2 1 0 33Components: passive 3 3 4 3 1 2 3 0 1 3 1 3 1 0 28Other 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 9Total Records 193 163 158 155 140 138 123 104 103 82 65 64 43 10 1541

High Priority 12 90th PercentileMedium Priority 9 75th PercentileSignificant Priority 5 50th Percentile

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Figure 7 Immediate challenges – TRLs through time (all contributions)

Figure 8 Immediate challenges – TRLs through time (priority intersections)

This roadmap suggests that more than half of the immediate challenges will reach TRL 9 by 2011. Although the priority intersections identified in Figure 5 have slightly lower TRLs, they do not identify a subgroup that are seen as taking longer to reach high TRLs.

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Near Term Challenges

Priorities

Product Area




Thermal management

Efficiency


Active devices

Power Quality

Passive devices

Life Cycle

Control

Business process


Aircraft power distribution 15 11 11 10 9 6 7 7 6 5 4 4 3 2 100Automotive power train 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 6 7 4 5 4 4 2 97Aircraft generation 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 6 4 4 3 4 2 85Automotive controls 11 10 8 8 7 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 4 2 82Rail traction 11 9 9 7 7 6 5 4 6 5 4 3 4 2 82Renewable energy sources 9 9 8 6 9 7 4 8 3 5 5 5 1 1 80Aircraft actuation 11 10 8 7 6 5 5 5 6 4 3 3 3 2 78Marine propulsion 10 8 8 7 7 5 6 5 4 4 3 3 4 2 76Aircraft engine controls 10 9 8 8 5 5 6 4 5 3 3 3 3 2 74Large industrial drives 10 9 8 7 5 4 6 5 4 5 2 2 2 2 71Components: active 8 8 8 7 5 5 8 6 3 3 4 3 1 1 70High performance drives 8 8 8 7 4 5 5 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 62Pulsed power 8 7 7 5 6 5 5 4 4 2 4 3 1 1 62Pwr transmiss. & distrib. infrastruc. 8 6 7 5 5 4 4 4 3 5 2 2 2 2 59Components: thermal management 6 6 6 6 4 5 4 5 3 2 4 3 1 1 56Components: passive 7 6 6 5 4 3 2 4 6 4 2 2 1 1 53Small drives for home appliances 5 6 3 3 5 5 2 4 1 2 5 2 2 1 46Other 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14Total Records 162 145 133 116 104 90 87 85 76 65 62 51 43 28 1247


Figure 9 Near term – priorities

Figure 10 Near term – intervention costs

Although the near-term priorities in Figure 9 are ranked in a slightly different order to Figure 5, the priority intersections remain unchanged. However, the cost of required interventions is seen as much higher; no small-scale (<100k€) interventions are being suggested at all; and a clear preference for larger-scale intervention is indicated.

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Figure 11 Near term – TRLs through time (all contributions)

Figure 12 Near term – TRLs through time (priority intersections)

The TRLs of near-term challenges are clearly lower than those of immediate challenges. Significantly more than half are not seen as reaching TRL 9 until 2013 (Figure 11), or, in the case of the priority intersections, 2014 (Figure 12). A higher proportion of the priority challenges are seen as currently being at TRLs 3–4 indicating that they are appropriate for Collaborative Programme funding or EU funding with projects mainly in the range 1–10M€ and some larger projects.

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Future Vision

Priorities

Product Area

Thermal management



Active devices


Efficiency

Power Quality

Passive devices

Control


Health and usage management

Life Cycle

Business processOther

Automotive power train 18 17 17 12 15 16 9 10 9 8 5 4 2 1 143Renewable energy sources 13 15 14 14 13 11 12 9 12 10 3 7 3 0 136Aircraft actuation 17 16 13 14 14 14 9 9 5 7 6 3 2 1 130Automotive controls 16 11 13 12 13 13 8 9 9 8 5 4 2 1 124High performance drives 14 14 12 14 11 12 9 8 7 5 3 3 2 0 114Small drives for home appliances 11 15 15 10 8 14 6 5 10 8 4 6 2 0 114Pwr transmiss. & distrib. infrastruc. 10 14 11 13 11 8 10 7 9 6 5 6 1 1 112Aircraft generation 13 12 11 12 10 13 9 7 6 6 5 3 2 1 110Aircraft engine controls 15 14 11 11 12 10 5 9 4 6 6 3 1 1 108Aircraft power distribution 11 8 9 10 9 10 8 7 5 5 4 2 1 1 90Marine propulsion 10 9 8 9 9 10 8 7 5 5 5 3 1 1 90Pulsed power 10 8 9 10 9 10 8 7 6 5 2 2 2 0 88Rail traction 10 9 8 7 9 8 6 7 5 5 5 3 1 1 84Components: active 8 10 8 11 7 7 6 4 6 4 4 2 2 0 79Large industrial drives 9 9 7 8 8 6 5 7 5 5 3 3 2 1 78Components: thermal management 6 8 8 8 9 6 8 6 6 6 2 2 2 0 77Components: passive 7 7 7 4 5 4 3 5 5 4 2 3 1 0 57Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2Total Records 198 196 181 179 172 172 129 123 114 103 69 59 29 12 1736


Figure 13 Future vision – priorities

Figure 14 Future vision – intervention costs

The future vision holds no surprises in terms of the priorities identified (Figure 13) as there are no changes from the previous sections. The increased cost of interventions would also seem to be a consistent view of the contributors. This view would suggest that the contributors see a requirement for a sustained long-term focus of effort for publicly funded support, rather than a change of focus through time.

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Figure 15 TRLs through time of future vision – all contributions

Figure 16 TRLs through time of future vision — priority contributions

Figures 15 and 16 indicate that the TRLs for the priority intersections identified in Figure 13 tend to remain near TRLs 1–2 until beyond 2025. This suggests that these priorities are more appropriate for academic research, rather than EU or Collaborative Programme intervention, although this is not to say that there will not be high values of return for this effort.

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Data captured for each Technology Challenge included a prediction of technology readiness level as a function of year, represented by five discrete bands as illustrated in Figure 16. The bulk of Technology Programme support covers activity in the range TRL 3 to TRL 6, with some overlap into TRL 2 for basic research projects. For IeMRC/EPSRC support, TRL levels 1–2 are the first priority with some activity at TRL 3–4, possibly co-funded by the Technology Programme.

Challenges for Technology Programme Support The TRL-timeline information presented for all of the sessions was analysed to identify the research challenges that match the TRL range appropriate to Technology Programme funding (TRLs 3–6) over the period 2008–2017. Priority intersections for these research challenges and the associated TRL profiles from 2008 to 2017 are shown in Figure 17 and Figure 18 respectively.

Relevance to TSB and IeMRC/EPSRC Strategy Figure 16 TRL definitions and mapping onto Technology Programme and Research Council assistance zones

Figure 17 Priority intersections for challenges matching Technology Programme TRL criteria 2008–2017.

Product Area



Thermal management


Efficiency


Active devices

Power Quality

Control

Passive devices

Life Cycle

Business process


Automotive power train 26 26 22 22 21 19 15 16 12 14 8 6 6 3 216Renewable energy sources (grid interface 22 21 18 19 23 19 16 18 17 10 11 11 6 1 212Aircraft actuation 25 24 23 23 20 19 17 15 10 14 6 7 6 2 211Aircraft power distribution 23 25 21 21 20 18 17 17 10 11 7 7 5 3 205Aircraft generation 22 21 20 20 18 16 15 15 10 12 7 4 6 3 189Marine propulsion 21 19 19 19 18 15 15 16 9 11 7 5 7 3 184Automotive controls 21 21 18 16 16 17 13 11 13 10 7 7 6 3 179Rail traction 21 20 18 19 16 16 12 13 10 12 8 4 6 3 178High performance drives 21 18 20 20 16 16 15 12 10 10 6 4 4 2 174Large industrial drives 21 18 16 16 13 14 13 13 8 9 8 4 4 3 160Small drives for home appliances 17 15 14 13 16 16 11 11 14 6 8 6 6 2 155Components: active 17 18 13 13 13 13 17 12 11 6 5 7 4 1 150Aircraft engine controls 18 17 17 16 11 13 13 9 8 11 4 4 6 2 149Pwr transmiss. & distrib. infrastruc. 14 15 11 13 12 11 10 10 10 5 10 3 4 3 131Components: thermal management 13 14 13 11 11 10 9 10 9 8 4 7 3 1 123Components: passive 11 13 11 11 9 6 4 9 6 11 8 3 2 1 105Pulsed power 11 11 10 11 10 8 9 9 5 8 4 4 2 1 103Other 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14Total Records 325 317 285 284 264 247 222 217 173 169 119 94 84 38 2838

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Figure 18 Distribution of TRL by year for all challenges matching Technology Programme

Table 1 shows the priority product areas identified in Figure 17 and their relative frequency of occurrence amongst the Technology Programme challenges. It is apparent that a relatively high proportion of the challenges are associated with each of the priority product areas. Equally, many of the challenges apply to a large number of the product areas, indicating substantial potential for cross-sector activities. The technology priority areas and their relative frequencies are given in Table 2. Again, the relatively high frequency levels indicate that many of the challenges span more than one technology priority. This indicates that strong interactions exist between the technology areas. For example, thermal-management technology can be expected to have a strong influence on reliability and qualification. Equally, each technology priority applies to a large number of research challenges indicating that these are truly underpinning technologies.

Table 1 Priority product areas and relative frequencies for Technology Programme research challenges.

Product area Relative frequency

1 Automotive power train 58%

2 Renewable energy sources (grid interface and control) 53%

3 Aircraft actuation 56%

4 Aircraft power distribution 58%

5 Aircraft generation 52%

6 Automotive controls 50%

7 Marine propulsion 47%

8 High-performance drives 50%

9 Rail traction 47%

10 Large industrial drives 44%

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Table 2 Technology priority areas and relative frequencies for Technology Programme research challenges.

Technology area Relative frequency

1 Reliability and qualification 61%

2 Packaging and integration 65%

3 Thermal management 56%

4 Materials Technologies 55%

5 Efficiency 56%

6 Simulation and design methods 44%

7 Active devices 47%

Digest of challenges

Each research challenge matching the TRL criteria was assigned to a primary technology category from Table 2 and the following digest of the challenges within each category produced. Note that many of the challenges span a number of technology priorities, so it can be expected that they will require parallel research activities in other priority areas. For example, work on packaging and integration can be expected to require consideration of reliability and thermal management.


• Application of wide band-gap electronic devices • High-power-density (reduced mass and volume) converters • Highly integrated, low-loss, low-cost power electronics • Power electronics for extreme environments: packaging, passive components, active

components, thermal management • Sensorless control of motors and wireless sensors


• Prognostics/diagnostics for power electronics, self testing, condition monitoring

Thermal management

• Active thermal-management technologies for extreme environments • Intelligent thermal management of power electronics

Materials technologies

• High-energy-density electrical energy storage • Cost-effective, high-energy-density capacitors with extended operating temperature range • Cost-effective, reduced-mass, high-frequency magnetic components, transformers and inductors • Motor electrical-insulation systems for high voltage and high temperature • Ultra-high-power-density motors for high-temperature environments • Superconducting power transmission • High-temperature superconducting generators

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Energy efficiency • Smaller, more efficient high-speed motors • Multi-functional power electronics for energy management at home and on the move • Integrated power-electronic devices for management of the electricity network, including demand-

side management and integration of renewable generation • HVDC for local networks and connection of renewable generation • Energy scavenging • Micro fuel cells

Simulation and design methods • Supply-chain network bringing together universities, component suppliers and end users to deliver

strategic research • Simulation methods with better than real-time capability • EMC design tools and design rules • Integrated design tool and methodology for power-electronics systems • Active devices • High-power-density power IC technology • High-power semiconductor devices for harsh environments • Ultra-low-loss, high-voltage, self-protecting semiconductor switch • Improved silicon-based power semiconductor switches • Wide band-gap power semiconductor devices • High-reliability, low-loss, low-cost semiconductor switching technologies

Challenges for IeMRC/EPSRC Support The TRL-timeline information presented for all of the sessions was analysed to identify the research challenges that match the TRL range appropriate to IeMRC/EPSRC funding (TRLs 1–4) over the period 2008–2017. Priority intersections for these research challenges and the associated TRL profiles from 2008–2017 are shown in Figure 19 and Figure 20 respectively. Table 3 and Table 4 show the priority product and technology areas along with their relative frequencies of occurrence amongst the IeMRC/EPSRC challenges.

Figure 19 Priority intersections for challenges matching IeMRC/EPSRC TRL criteria 2008–17.

Product Area



Thermal management


Efficiency

Active devices

Power Quality

Passive devices


Control

Life Cycle

Business process

Health and usage management

OtherRenewable energy sources 20 19 15 18 20 16 17 10 14 15 11 6 4 0 185Automotive power train 23 22 19 19 19 15 13 13 11 11 7 4 3 1 180Aircraft actuation 21 22 19 18 17 17 13 13 10 7 5 4 3 0 169Aircraft power distribution 21 19 17 17 17 15 13 12 10 8 7 4 3 1 164Aircraft generation 19 20 17 16 17 15 12 12 10 8 6 3 3 1 159Rail traction 19 20 16 16 15 12 10 13 10 8 7 3 3 1 153Marine propulsion 18 19 16 15 16 14 12 11 9 7 6 3 3 1 150High performance drives 17 19 17 15 15 15 11 9 9 8 5 2 2 1 145Automotive controls 16 13 14 14 13 13 9 8 9 11 6 4 3 1 134Components: active 15 14 13 14 12 18 11 5 8 9 6 3 4 0 132Small drives for home appliances 15 15 11 12 15 10 10 5 10 11 8 3 5 1 131Large industrial drives 16 16 14 14 11 12 9 10 7 6 6 2 2 1 126Pwr transmiss. & distrib. infrastruc. 15 15 10 12 11 13 10 7 9 10 8 2 3 1 126Pulsed power 13 13 12 12 12 11 10 9 7 6 4 3 2 0 114Aircraft engine controls 13 15 13 10 9 12 6 9 7 5 3 2 3 0 107Components: thermal management 12 12 11 11 9 9 10 8 7 7 3 3 2 0 104Components: passive 13 12 11 10 9 5 8 11 5 5 6 2 2 0 99Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1Total Records 286 285 245 243 237 222 184 165 152 142 104 53 50 11 2379


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Figure 5 Distribution of TRL by year for all challenges matching IeMRC/EPSRC TRL criteria 2008–2017.

Table 3 Priority product areas and relative frequencies for IeMRC/EPSRC research challenges.

Product area Relative frequency 1 Renewable energy sources (grid interface and control) 57% 2 Automotive power train 57% 3 Aircraft actuation 53% 4 Aircraft power distribution 53% 5 Aircraft generation 49% 6 Rail traction 49% 7 Marine propulsion 47% 8 High-performance drives 47%

Table 4: Technology priority areas and relative frequencies for IeMRC/EPSRC research challenges.

Technology area Relative frequency 1 Packaging and integration 62% 2 Materials technologies 58% 3 Thermal management 49% 4 Reliability and qualification 51% 5 Efficiency 53% 6 Active devices 57%

It is of interest to note that many of the intersections identified for Technology Programme support are repeated, reflecting the need for continuing work at a fundamental level to support later development. Once again, the research challenge frequency data from Table 3 demonstrate that many challenges apply to multiple product areas, emphasising that a cross-sector approach will yield greatest efficiency and gearing for funding. In addition, the relatively high frequencies for the technology priority areas in Table 4 indicate that these priority areas underpin a large number of the technology challenges.

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• Simulation methods with better than real-time capability • High-efficiency, high-power-density, reliable power electronics • Application of wide-band-gap electronic devices • High-power-density converters • Highly integrated, low-loss, low-cost power electronics • Packaging for high-temperature semiconductors


• High-density electrical energy storage • Cost-effective, high-energy-density capacitors with extended operating temperature range • Working-temperature superconductors • Cost-effective, reduced-mass, high-frequency magnetic components, transformers and inductors • Motor electrical-insulation systems for high-voltage and high-temperature • Superconducting power transmission • Improved passive components through novel materials and processes • Micro-actuator arrays

Thermal management

• Active thermal-management technologies for extreme environments


• Prognosis and condition monitoring

Efficiency

• HVDC for local networks and connection of renewable generation • Integrated power-electronic devices for management of the electricity network, including demand-

side management and integration of renewable generation • Energy scavenging • Micro fuel cells • Induced (wire-less) power for portable devices

Active devices

• High-reliability, low-loss, low-cost semiconductor switching technologies • Power IC technology based on wide-band-gap semiconductors • Ultra-low-loss power semiconductor switches • High-current integrated-circuit technology • Improved silicon-based semiconductor switches • Low-loss, high-voltage, self-protecting semiconductor switch • Wide-band-gap semiconductor devices • Organic power semiconductors • High-reliability radiation-hardened semiconductor switches • Reliability improvement for wide band gap semiconductor devices

Digest of challenges

Each research challenge matching the TRL criteria was assigned to a primary technology category from Table 4 and the following digest of the challenges within each category produced. As noted above, many of the challenges span a number of technology priorities, so it can be expected that they will require parallel research activities in other priority areas.

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Annex A Common Input Form

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Areva T&D Ltd (PES) Arnold Magnetic Technologies BAE Systems BCF Designs Limited Corac Group PLC Cranfield University Dynex Semiconductor Electronics KTN Electronics Enabled Products KTN European Centre for Power Electronics Ferranti Technologies Goodrich Actuation Systems Goodrich ESTC International Rectifier Manchester University Newcastle University Norfolk Capacitors Prodrive Ltd Semelab PLC Technology Strategy Board The University of Nottingham TRW Conekt Ultra Controls University of Sheffield

Annex B Contributors

Documents

A Joint IeMRC-EEPKTN Power-electronics Roadmap 2007 · 2012. 11. 1. · The share of electrical energy which will be controlled by power electronics is expected to increase from 40%