Device for producing electricity having voltage-booster chopper circuit with an IGBT transistor

• US 6,713,990 B1
• Filed: 08/08/2000
• Issued: 03/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Moteurs Leroy Somer (Emerson Electric Company), Leroy-Somer (Nidec Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Moteurs Leroy Somer (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Giraud, Régis, Andrieux, Christian, Coupart, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Ponomarenko, Nicholas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gonzalez, Julio C.
• Application Number:
  US09/634,839
• Time in Patent Office: 1,330 Days
• Field of Search: 322/29, 322/20, 322/25, 322/37, 322/47, 322/46, 322/23, 322/28, 310/114
• US Class Current: 322/23
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 9/305 controlling voltage H02P9/302 takes precedence

Abstract

The invention provides a device for producing electricity intended in particular to be stowed on board a vehicle or a container, including a three-phase alternator able to be driven in rotation at a variable speed by a thermal engine, a rectifier for generating a rectified current form the current delivered by the alternator and a voltage-booster chopper using the self-inductance of the alternator to step up the voltage. The alternator includes six or eight poles and operates with a switching frequency of preferably between 3 and 15 kHz.

Claims

1. A device for producing electricity on-board a vehicle or a container, comprising:

a three-phase alternator having a self-inductance and six or eight poles and configured to be driven in rotation by a thermal engine;

wherein 0.15≦

Lω

I_n/V₀<

0.4, where L is the self-inductance per phase of the alternator, ω

the angular frequency of a rotor of the alternator, I_n the nominal current at a given speed of rotation of the rotor and V₀ the no-load output voltage of the alternator at said speed;

a rectifier having an input connected to said alternator and an output for generating a rectified current; and

a voltage-booster chopper comprising a switching element connected to the output of the rectifier for generating a stepped-up voltage at the output of the rectifier, said stepped-up voltage being induced by the self-inductance of the alternator.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the switching element operates with a switching frequency between 3 and 15 kHz.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein the switching frequency is less than 10 kHz.

4. A device according to claim 2, wherein the switching frequency is substantially 7.5 kHz.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein the alternator has eight poles.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein the alternator comprises a stator having forty-eight teeth.

7. A device according to claim 1, wherein 0.2≦

Lω

I_n/V₀≦

0.3.

8. A device according to claim 1, wherein a rotor of the alternator comprises permanent magnets.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein an output power delivered by the device is between 1 and 30 kW.

10. A device according to claim 1, wherein an output power of the device is substantially 10 kW.

11. A device according to claim 10, wherein the voltage is of 294 Volts between phases of the alternator at a rotational speed of a rotor of the alternator of 3000 rpm.

12. A device according to claim 1, wherein the switching element is made of a single IGBT transistor.

13. A device according to claim 1, wherein a switching frequency is constant.

14. A device according to claim 1, wherein the device supplies at least one inverter controlled by a control circuit receiving a cue representative of a speed of rotation of a rotor of the alternator.

15. A device according to claim 1, wherein the self-inductance of the alternator per phase is less than or equal to 2 mH.

16. A device according to claim 15, wherein the self-inductance of the alternator per phase is less than or equal to 1.5 mH.

17. A device according to claim 15, wherein the self-inductance of the alternator per phase is greater than or equal to 1 mH.

18. A device according to claim 1, wherein the alternator is configured to be driven at a variable speed by the thermal engine.

19. An on-board electric generator comprising:

a three-phase alternator with eight poles and having permanent-magnets, said alternator being configured to be driven in rotation at a variable speed of rotation by a thermal engine, wherein 0.15≦

Lω

I_n/V₀≦

0.4, where L is the self-inductance per phase of the alternator, ω

the angular frequency of a rotor of the alternator, I_n the nominal current at a given speed of rotation of the rotor and V₀ the no-load output voltage of the alternator at said speed,

a rectifier having an input connected to said alternator and an output for generating a rectified current, and

a voltage-booster chopper comprising a switching element connected to the output of the rectifier and operating at a switching frequency between 3 and 10 kHz.

20. A device according to claim 19, wherein the switching frequency is substantially 7.5 kHz.