FY2007 Oak Ridge National Laboratory Annual Progress Report for the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Program
- ORNL
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (composed of automakers Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler) announced in January 2002 a new cooperative research effort. Known as 'FreedomCAR' (derived from 'Freedom' and 'Cooperative Automotive Research'), it represents DOE's commitment to developing public/private partnerships to fund high-risk, high-payoff research into advanced automotive technologies. Efficient fuel cell technology, which uses hydrogen to power automobiles without air pollution, is a very promising pathway to achieving the ultimate vision. The new partnership replaces and builds upon the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles initiative that ran from 1993 through 2001. The Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Machines (APEEM) subprogram within the FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program provides support and guidance for many cutting-edge automotive technologies now under development. Research is focused on understanding and improving the way the various new components of tomorrow's automobiles will function as a unified system to improve fuel efficiency. In supporting the development of hybrid propulsion systems, the APEEM effort has enabled the development of technologies that will significantly improve advanced vehicle efficiency, costs, and fuel economy. The APEEM subprogram supports the efforts of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership through a three-phase approach intended to: (1) identify overall propulsion and vehicle-related needs by analyzing programmatic goals and reviewing industry's recommendations and requirements and then develop the appropriate technical targets for systems, subsystems, and component research and development activities; (2) develop and validate individual subsystems and components, including electric motors and power electronics; and (3) determine how well the components and subsystems work together in a vehicle environment or as a complete propulsion system and whether the efficiency and performance targets at the vehicle level have been achieved. The research performed under this subprogram will help remove technical and cost barriers to enable the development of technology for use in such advanced vehicles as hybrid and fuel-cell-powered automobiles that meet the goals of the FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program. A key element in making hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) practical is providing an affordable electric traction drive system. This will require attaining weight, volume, and cost targets for the power electronics and electrical machines subsystems of the traction drive system. Areas of development include these: (1) novel traction motor designs that result in increased power density and lower cost; (2) inverter technologies involving new topologies to achieve higher efficiency and the ability to accommodate higher-temperature environments; (3) converter concepts that employ means of reducing the component count and integrating functionality to decrease size, weight, and cost; (4) more effective thermal control and packaging technologies; and (5) integrated motor/inverter concepts. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center conducts fundamental research, evaluates hardware, and assists in the technical direction of the DOE Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program, APEEM subprogram. In this role, ORNL serves on the FreedomCAR Electrical and Electronics Technical Team, evaluates proposals for DOE, and lends its technological expertise to the direction of projects and evaluation of developing technologies. ORNL also executes specific projects for DOE. The following report discusses those projects carried out in FY 2007 and conveys highlights of their accomplishments. Numerous project reviews, technical reports, and papers have been published for these efforts, if the reader is interested in pursuing details of the work.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Facility
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 932128
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/TM-2007/182; VT0302000; CEVT022; TRN: US200813%%435
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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