Research database

TUrBO: the next 100,000+rpm synchronous reluctance motor drives

Duration:
28/09/2023 - 27/09/2025
Principal investigator(s):
Project type:
Nationally funded research - PRIN
Funding body:
MINISTERO
Project identification number:
202292E4FS
PoliTo role:
Coordinator

Abstract

The ‘TUrBO: the next 100,000+rpm synchronous reluctance motor drives’ aims to develop new technologies for high-speed ac motor drives, exceeding the effective speed barrier of synchronous reluctance machines by at least four times. In this scenario, the PI and his team believe that TUrBO will reduce the market penetration of PM-based ac motor drives also in the 100-200krpm speed range, characterizing many applications nowadays, starting from appliances up to advanced industrial and transportation electrification solutions. The PM-free concept is the ‘pathway’ for a cleaner production of an ac motor and a more manageable approach to end-of-life material recycling. However, the optimal electromechanical conversion achievable with the proposed winding arrangement and the dedicated inverter topology is also strategic for a direct engagement with the challenges set by the European Green Deal and with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals indicated in Fig. 1. The project will push the synchronous reluctance motor drives well beyond the present technological barriers by developing an unexplored combination of advanced multi-material additive manufacturing technologies, unconventional high switching frequency power electronic converters for open-end winding, supplemented with dedicated and high-performance control algorithms. Power density, temperature, efficiency, life cycle assessment and cost issues will be methodologically approached in a synergic and multi-disciplinary way by the research team. The TUrBO electrical drive will be designed, produced and tested during the 24-month long project, exploring two key peculiarities: - an additively-manufactured quasi-solid rotor constituted by two different metallic materials for exploiting magnetic anisotropy and rotational speeds above 100krpm. The power target for the motor is around 1kW, approximately equal to 100krpm time 100milliNm; - a dual inverter system with a floating capacitor bridge to supply a PM-free synchronous reluctance motor with open-ends windings, ensuring low current distortion, unity power factor for the main inverter and exploiting the maximum motor terminal voltages for the broadest field weakening region. At the end, thanks to the data collected by the full scale TUrBO demonstrator, the PI and his team will prove that the symbiotic interconnection of these innovative technologies is the solution to achieve high efficiencies with extreme compactness, to reach the challenging targets of 100,000+rpm synchronous reluctance motor drive applications.

Structures

Partners

  • ALMA MATER STUDIORUM UNIVERSITA' DI BOLOGNA
  • POLITECNICO DI TORINO - AMMINISTRAZIONE CENTRALE - Coordinator

Keywords

ERC sectors

PE7_2 - Electrical engineering: power components and/or systems

Sustainable Development Goals

Obiettivo 3. Assicurare la salute e il benessere per tutti e per tutte le età|Obiettivo 4. Fornire un’educazione di qualità, equa ed inclusiva, e opportunità di apprendimento per tutti|Obiettivo 8. Incentivare una crescita economica duratura, inclusiva e sostenibile, un’occupazione piena e produttiva ed un lavoro dignitoso per tutti|Obiettivo 9. Costruire un'infrastruttura resiliente e promuovere l'innovazione ed una industrializzazione equa, responsabile e sostenibile|Obiettivo 11. Rendere le città e gli insediamenti umani inclusivi, sicuri, duraturi e sostenibili|Obiettivo 12. Garantire modelli sostenibili di produzione e di consumo|Obiettivo 13. Promuovere azioni, a tutti i livelli, per combattere il cambiamento climatico*|Obiettivo 15. Proteggere, ripristinare e favorire un uso sostenibile dell’ecosistema terrestre

Budget

Total cost: € 288,000.00
Total contribution: € 200,000.00
PoliTo total cost: € 164,000.00
PoliTo contribution: € 112,000.00