Specialization: Power Electronics and Electrical Machines
This profile covers electrical power processing and conversion, with an emphasis on improving efficiency in industrial processes, offices, homes and e-mobility. It also covers the operation and design of electrical machines.
This specialization consists of two tracks: power electronics (PE), and electrical machines. Both of these can be taken if desired. In the PE track, you will learn the basics, design, and modelling of power electronic converters, power semiconductor devices, and passive components. In the electrical machines track, we focus on the modelling and control of AC machines.
Courses
For power electronics, we start in quarter 2 with a refresh of basic power conversion principles and converters. In quarters 3 and 4, more advanced topics such as resonant converters, power semiconductors, and HVDC are discussed.
| Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|
| ET4119 – Electronic Power Conversion | ET4116 – Power Electronics | EE4515 – Advanced Power Electronics |
| EE4145 – Power Electronic Components (lectures + lab) | ||
| EE4375 – FEM for Electrical Energy Applications |
The courses on electrical machines start with a review of the common types of machines. In quarters 3 and 4 we focus on modelling, simulation, and control of AC machines (synchronous, permanent-magnet, and asynchronous machines) using MATLAB and Simulink.
| Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|
| ET4117 – Electrical Machines and Drives | ET4121 – AC Machines | ET4291 – Control of Electrical Drives |
| EE4375 – FEM for Electrical Energy Applications |
In both tracks, there are plenty of lab practicals, in which you get to design components and perform measurements on real hardware. This will help you to obtain valuable hands-on experience.
Meet the Faculty
Dr. Zian Qin
I was born in China and studied electrical engineering, first in Beijing, and then in Aalborg, Denmark. I worked in China, Denmark, and Germany. And in 2017, I joined TU Delft as an assistant professor on the topic of power electronics. I am married and recently became the father of my lovely baby. I like travelling, where I have a chance to meet new people, see new views, and learn from them.
Nowadays, there are more and more power electronics connected to the grids from the generation (e.g., wind power and solar inverters) and transmission (e.g., HVDC converters) to the load side (e.g., EV chargers). These power converters are excellent grid interfaces in controllability, flexibility, and efficiency. However, when the installed capacity is growing, these power converters are also creating more and more issues in the grid, mainly power quality and stability. As a few of these issues happened recently and have created enormous losses, for example, the UK blackout in August 2019, they are drawing significant attention from grid operators, renewable energy manufacturers, and developers. It also became my research interest and focus. Together with my students, I am trying to find the root cause of the issues by dynamic modelling, reproducing the issues in simulation, and solving them with mitigation measures.
For education, I am the instructor of a bachelor course ET3395TU (Introduction to Electrical Power Engineering) and a master course EE4515 (Advanced Power Electronics). At TU Delft, we focus on innovations and educate students to solve the new challenges faced by the industry and society. We plant critical thinking in the students’ minds instead of familiarizing them with a cookbook.
Ensuring a stable and clean grid with a large number of power electronics connected to it is a challenging task, but it should be achieved for the installation capacity target of renewables, and it is also achievable by working together with our talented students.
Dr. Jianning Dong
I am an assistant professor working in the DCE&S group of EWI. For education, I teach the bachelor course EE2E11 Electrical Energy Conversion, and MSc courses EE4C05 Electromagnetics, ET4121 AC Machines, and ET4291 Control of Electrical Drives.
In my opinion, the electrical machine is the most interesting topic in power engineering, because it synthesizes knowledge from different disciplines together, and is a very practical subject. To learn it well, we need not only pay attention to the mathematical derivations and the physics behind them but also to how electrical machines are manufactured, cooled, maintained and operated in practice.
For research, I work on electromechanics, i.e., using electromagnetic principles to do energy conversion. Applications include electrical machines and drives, induction heating, wireless power transfer, etc. For thesis topics, I would like to supervise motivated students who would like to explore the electromechanical world by digging into the topics mentioned above.
I am also the track coordinator for the Electrical Power System track of the European Wind Energy Master (EWEM) programme. The European Wind Energy Master programme is exciting: we learn not only conventional power engineering knowledge, but also knowledge specifically for wind energy from three top European universities: the Technical University of Denmark, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and the Delft University of Technology. Besides the study, you will also experience enriched events such as industry visits, make friends from diverse backgrounds, and see the beautiful sceneries of Nordic countries. A more detailed introduction can be found on the programme website: https://www.tudelft.nl/ewem.
Outside of working hours, I love plants and starry nights. I shoot photos of plants and starry landscapes and post them on Instagram. I also play basketball with friends occasionally.