Design, Building and Testing of a Low Voltage-High Current Drive for SRMs Used for HVAC Applications

This paper deals with the design, construction and testing of a high-current and low-voltage drive for powering a Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) used for an electric-driven compressor for Heat-Ventilation-Air-Conditioning (HVAC) applications used in full electric cars. The purpose of the study is to design and test a flexible and easy-to-control converter for a wide range of SRMs, taking into account the technical specifications of the compressor. In order to carry out the experimental work, a test bench based on a dSPACE board, an electronic converter, a Direct-Current Machine used as load, a torque transducer, a position transducer, temperature sensors and the SRM.