An academic in engineering converted a disturbing early life encounter with electricity into a vocation focused on improving electrical safety. He invented a Z-source inverter that counteracts electrical malfunctions 1,000 times swifter than conventional techniques, with the goal to strengthen power grid reliability and avert tragedies like wildfires kindled by collapsed electrical wires.
During his childhood, as FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Professor Fang Peng observed the power and hazards of electricity up close.
The rural Chinese community where he lived got connected to electric power while he attended middle school. His household divided a single mobile, 15-watt bulb linked to a wire. His responsibility was to swap the bulb.
“One evening, the lamp extinguished, and in the pitch-black, I sought to replace it,” Peng recounted. “Inadvertently, my left thumb entered the socket, and the shock was instant. The jolt flung me off my feet, onto the dirt ground, shaking as the current surged through me. Fortuitously, my right hand became entangled with the wire and yanked the plug from my left, else I might not have lived.”
After this brush with mortality, Peng chose to confront electricity as a challenge. He resolved to investigate this force and “subdue the monster” that once endangered him but also endowed his relatives with nocturnal vision.
Advancements in Electrical Safeguarding
Peng persists in this endeavor with his current inquiry. In a manuscript featured in Scientific Reports, his article describes how the solid-state device he engineered, a Z-source inverter, can precipitously diminish voltage and current during an electrical fault such as a short-circuit or open-circuit.
Conventional protective devices that sever electricity during a fault act rapidly but not always with the necessary haste. A typical circuit interrupter might take about 50 milliseconds to trip — ample time to inflict lethal harm or ignite a fire. Peng’s Z-source converter/inverter offers protection in 5 microseconds, making it 1,000 times more prompt.
Mode of Operation
Under routine operation, electrical conductors and cables transmit current over extensive stretches from generators to consumers, referred to as the load within an electric circuit. Engineers typically aspire for this transfer to be as efficient as possible for powering end users. However, when a fault occurs, like a tree felling the line, the electric path diverts through this new obstacle. Electrical arcs reaching 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit can cause the conduits to overheat swiftly, igniting with ferocity.
Peng’s solid-state relay recognizes shorts in the circuitry quicker than previous designs. It boasts the capability to accommodate a broad spectrum of input voltages without necessitating additional apparatus. Offering such versatility renders it valuable in applications where the energy source is erratic or when it’s essential to manage dissimilar voltage levels judiciously.
“We forged a technique for the power provider to be more adaptive to the load,” he articulated. “Without any disruption to end users, we are able to instantly restore the electric grid to its normal status, preventing any surge of current.”
Significance of This Innovation
Annually, fallen power cables provoke numerous wildfires within the United States. For instance, the 2023 Maui wildfires stand among the most catastrophic in the nation’s annals. Per the National Fire Protection Association, this conflagration was ignited by a tree that had crashed onto an electrical wire.
“The intent behind our research is to fine-tune the electrical source (voltage) to be more attuned to the conditions of the load,” Peng indicated. “Should an unexpected spike in current arise, the plan is to scale down the voltage within safe parameters to avert fire hazards. Conventional generators persist in maintaining a steady voltage regardless of the current fluctuation.”
Revamping the Electrical Grid
Peng’s solution is primed for retrofitting current structures to render them safer.
Adjustment of the electric grid with alternative energy sources such as aerogenerators, solar photovoltaic panels, and hydrogen fuel cells presents a strategy for moderation of voltage spikes and dips.
“In addition to renewables, surge control in power can also be achieved by artificially adjusting the network with an energy converter,” Peng explained. “Be it natural or synthetic, the aim is to devise a system that operates autonomously, designed with self-preservation, robustness, and contingencies. One concept is employing a figurative resistor through power electronics and management to introduce the required damping and stabilization of the electrical framework.”
Much of America’s electrical architecture was established and widened during the 1960s and 1970s. Beyond the threats of wildfires resulting from collapsed power lines, the aged infrastructure faces other concerns, including power outages and exposure to digital attacks.
“It’s the right moment for a reinvention of our grids and ‘subduing the monster’ with power electronics, an innovative electrical technology that began to prosper in the 1980s when my research pursuit commenced,” Peng disclosed. “It was quite serendipitous to find myself under the tutelage of several vanguards and luminaries in power electronics. It necessitates a collective effort to nurture a child, just as the creation of this novel grid requires global collaboration.”
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