Program
2. May 2022 at the Thuringian Energy Research Institute
- 11:00 am - Welcome and introduction - Prof. Dr. Dirk Westermann
- Keynote "Electrical power engineering in transition - research options at ThEFI" - Prof. Jürgen Petzoldt
- 12:00 "Experimental basis AC grids" - Dr. Uwe Rädel
- 12:20 p.m. "Experimental basis DC grids" - Prof. Dr. Jürgen Petzoldt
- 12:40 p.m. "Medium voltage high current system - function and application" - Prof. Dr. Michael Rock
- 13:00 - Laboratory tour and get-together
Today we opened our new Mixed Current Experimental Facility (MMV) -funded by the State of Thuringia and the TU Ilmenau in the framework of a TAB project- and presented scientists new research opportunities for experimental investigations on DC technology and transition technologies in the change of energy supply. On the one hand, the existing alternating current grid is being optimized by integrating additional energy storage systems, and on the other hand, the power grid is being expanded. In this context, direct current technology is of particular importance. This is because, with its high transmission capacity and low material input, it is seen as a promising option for making future electrical energy systems efficient, low in resources and thus ecologically acceptable.
In order to test these potentials of direct current technology in practice and to develop and implement cost-optimal transition scenarios such as the parallel operation of alternating current and direct current networks up to the simultaneous transmission of alternating and direct current in only one line system, so-called mixed current transmission systems, several departments at the TU Ilmenau have been working together intensively since the 1980s with departments that are close in content, such as mechanical engineering, automation technology, computer science, physics or economics. The research focus in electrical power engineering is on experimental investigations of low- and medium-voltage AC and DC networks, their components and their system behavior. "This makes TU Ilmenau one of the three to four leading institutions in this field in German-speaking countries," said Prof. Jürgen Petzold. In his keynote address at the opening colloquium, the professor emeritus of power electronics and controls in electrical power engineering and long-time prorector for education at TU Ilmenau outlined the research opportunities offered by the new experimental facility, particularly for experimental studies in the medium-voltage range for all components of a DC and mixed-voltage transmission system - for scientists at TU Ilmenau, but also for research and industry partners as well as students at the university. "The experimental infrastructure installed with the help of the MMV project and various predecessor projects is unique in its interaction and offers the best conditions for already ongoing and upcoming research projects at the TU Ilmenau," says Prof. Petzoldt.
The new experimental facility consists of several parts that can be used together or independently. At the opening colloquium, Prof. Michael Rock, head of the Lightning and Surge Technology Department, demonstrated its performance capability by means of a recorded commissioning test: the largest and most powerful sub-system, the so-called medium-voltage mixed current test system MMP, is capable of generating direct currents and surge currents of up to 100 kiloamperes with a maximum stored energy of two megajoules at up to 20 kilovolts. As a result, it can be used for research on electromechanical, power electronic and hybrid DC switches, as well as for studies on high-voltage, high-current arcs with square-wave and surge pulses, among other applications. "The modularity and interchangeability of these individual components up to the medium-voltage level is probably unique in the world and of great benefit both for basic and applied research and for industry-related research services," said Prof. Petzoldt. Already today, the research infrastructure at ZET is used intensively, especially by start-up companies that have emerged from TU Ilmenau, and has produced important joint research results with the university and other research partners, which have even led to joint patents. "With this successful symbiosis and the excellent infrastructure at ZET, ThEFI on the one hand makes a significant contribution to industry-oriented research transfer and to securing skilled labor for regional industry, and on the other hand contributes significantly to the implementation of the energy transition and to solutions for closely related issues of electromobility."
