Power system driven hardware in the loop simulations at Florida State University's Center for Advanced Power Systems
This seminar will first provide an overview of the hardware in the loop (HIL) simulation capabilities at Florida State University's (FSU's) Center for Advanced Power System (CAPS) established there over the last decade. This includes a review of the capabilities of two of the major commercial tools in this filed: RTDS and Opal-RT. The challenges associated with HIL simulations, especially those incorporating power equipment, will be reviewed and explained through a number of illustrative examples from HIL projects previously conducted at CAPS. The seminar will also provide an overview of international working group activities in the area of power system HIL. The seminar will conclude with an outlook to future needs and possible improvements to the techniques of HIL.
Dr. Michael "Mischa" Steurer received a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Vienna Technical University in 1994. He received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 2001. Since 2001, Dr. Steurer has been a Research Scientist at Florida State University in the Center for Advanced Power Systems. There, he currently holds the position of Scholar Scientist leading the Power Systems group, which focuses primarily on hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation and modeling of integrated power systems for all-electric ships and future terrestrial power systems. Dr. Steurer has authored and co-authored more than 100 technical papers in various areas of electric power apparatus and their system interactions. Specifically, Dr. Steurer has published several IEEE Transactions articles in the area of power systems, hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation, and superconductivity. He is the recipient of several Prize Paper awards.
Dr. Steurer's research interests in clued improvement of the integration of novel high power apparatus, such as superconducting devices, power electronics converters, and novel rotating machines into power systems. The focus is on utilizing large scale hardware-in-the-loop simulations, especially coupled to high power testing for model validation and analysis. In one of his research areas, he specializes in fault current limiters for medium voltage applications, and electric power systems modeling and simulations. Dr. Steurer holds several patents for the invention of an ultra-fast opening mechanical switch, which is the key element in the novel hybrid current-limiting circuit breaker. In 2009 Dr. Steurer and his colleagues were granted a patent for a novel method of ground fault location in converter-powered ungrounded DC systems.
Dr. Steurer is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a member of CIGRE. He is the chairman of IEEE WG PC37.302 “Guide for Testing Fault Current Limiters” and a contributing member of CIGRE WG A3.23 “Applications of Fault Current Limiters”, IEEE WG 45.1 “Recommended Practice for Electrical Installations on Shipboard - Design”, IEEE WG 45.1 “Recommended Practice for Electrical Installations on Shipboard – Systems Integration”, IEEE WG 1826 “Standard for Power Electronics Open System Interfaces in Zonal Electrical Distribution Systems Rated Above 100 kW”, and IEEE WG I8 “Power Electronic Building Blocks”. Dr. Steurer is the test bed leader for the Future Renewable Electrical Energy Distribution Management (FREEDM) Systems Center (University’s NSF funded engineering research center (ERDC) led by North Carolina State University (see http://www.freedm.ncsu.edu/).
The seminar series is presented by the Trustworthy Cyber Infrastructure for the Power Grid (TCIPG) Project, an $18 million multi-university research effort whose partner institutions include the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Arizona State University, Dartmouth, and Washington State University. The TCIPG Project, a successor to the earlier NSF-funded TCIP Center, was founded in 2009 with support from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It is housed in the Information Trust Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.