Proposal for a New Power Converter for Medium Voltage Integrated Variable Speed Motor Drives

Currently, it is estimated that 30% of electricity generated globally is used to drive electric motors in industrial applications. Looking at the industrial electric motors market, although this is dominated by electric motors which are implemented in low voltage applications, around 10% of this market is dedicated to the production of electric motors for medium voltage applications such as for rolling mills, water treatment plants, paper and pulp industry and other high-power applications.

The research on embedded motor drives for low power industrial application developed at the University of Nottingham in the past 12 years has proven that this technology can improve and favour the uptake of variable speed drives which would lead to enormous energy savings globally.
This research will investigating solutions to the scalability and feasibility of high power EMD architectures looking at low voltage and higher current ranges but also the more challenging, medium voltage and lower current range. Medium voltage embedded motor drives topologies it's the focus in this research for industrial pumps and fans for enhanced energy savings and CO2 reductions in industrial processes.
This will allow the creation of higher power embedded motor drives which currently do not exist in the market. Although a much smaller segment of electric motors market, investigating and developing technological solutions for medium voltage industrial drives based on the extensive experience and benefits proven with the ongoing research on embedded motor drives at the University of Nottingham will further the development of solutions which can make a real difference in reducing global energy consumption.