Expertise in design and control of novel, power-dense multi-phase electric drives for safety-critical applications, including rail transportation, electric vehicles, marine propulsion drives and aerospace.
Battery storage plays an important role in microgrids, improving grid reliability and resilience while facilitating effective operation of critical and frequency-sensitive loads. Battery storage is critical both for daily operation of a microgrid, as well as providing for grid redundancy in extreme events.
Design, optimisation and control of various permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) geometries, delivering improved torque and power density, reduced cogging torque, and extended constant power operating range.
Providing expertise in control and power systems engineering to optimise the efficiency and environmental sustainability of food production in the automated and autonomous greenhouse space for urban agriculture, and its integration with renewable resources.
Assessment of microgrid concepts using a state-of-the-art real-time simulation suite, capable of modelling and simulating microgrid systems for food hubs. This helps identify unusual behaviours prior to commissioning and thereby reduces risk and uncertainty.
While the electricity grid at a food hub can accommodate distributed PV generation, at higher penetration levels there are expected to be impacts caused by voltage rise and variability. Addressing these will allow food-hub operators to plan appropriately and will contribute to the successful technical integration of distributed photovoltaic generation.
The use of DC microgrids is a potential growth area with a range of platforms related to food hubs and logistics, including processing and transportation. The University is developing tools, techniques and models to back up serious experimental work on hardware prototypes, and working on protection devices and systems.
