Power Conversion Technologies for Reducing Harmonics on the More Electric Aircraft

This paper addresses the challenges inherent in meeting the new power quality requirements needed on today's more electric aircraft. Technologies that generate low total distortion and minimize individual current harmonics are discussed. This paper describes several different converter topologies that are capable of meeting the power quality requirements in aerospace applications. Various multi-phase passive and active practical approaches to improving power quality are considered, analyzed and rated. The advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed. Performance results from demonstration hardware are provided, including power quality, regulation, efficiency, and reliability.