Academic management

Bachelor´s Degree:

The main goals of the Degree in Engineering of Technologies and Services for Telecommunication are to provide a basic technological and socio-economic formation and preparation needed for the development of a professional career in the application of the technologies of information and communication.

The professional skill of the graduates are:

• Development and management of projects in the fields of the Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure (ICT).
• Development and management of circuits and subsystems of radiofrequency, transmitters and receivers, guided and unguided communication systems.
• Analysis and implementation of systems, networks, software and services of communication.
• Development and exploitation of electronic equipment and systems.
• Private or public teaching and/or research.

The fifth semester:

The course called “Electrical Energy Conversion” is the fourth course of electronics in the degree. It belongs to the set of courses labelled as “Diverse Engineering Knowledge”, in particular to a sub-set called “Analogue Electronics Systems”. “Electrical Energy Conversion” is located into the first semester of the third year of the degree.

Description of the course:

“Electrical Energy Conversion” deals with the introduction of generation, distribution, storage and conversion of electrical energy.

The track of this course goes from the generation and distribution of electrical energy from different power sources (i.e. the mains electricity, a battery, a photovoltaic (PV) panel, a wind turbine, etc.) to the electronic circuits that converts the format of the electrical energy (i.e. AC/DC power converters, DC/DC power converters, DC/AC power converters and AC/AC power converters).

The students must certify that they have passed basic skills and competences of mathematics (regarding integrals and differential equations), physics (regarding electricity), circuit theory, electronic and photonic devices and fundamentals of analogue electronics.

General skills set:

These skills are located as part of the general skill set labelled as CG2, CG3, CG4, CG6 and CG7:

- Ability to write and develop basic power electronics projects.

- To know and to apply regulations and specifications of electric/electronics power equipment.

- To know the fundamentals of technologies that deal with generation, distribution, storage and conversion of electrical energy.

- To be able of analysing the operation of basic electrical/electronics systems that deal with generation, distribution, storage and conversion of electrical energy.

- To assess the environmental impact of generation, distribution, storage and conversion of electrical energy.

Specific skills set:

- To be able of applying electronics to other fields of knowledge different to information and communications technology (it is a part of the skill set labelled as CSE4).

- To be able of analysing and designing basic power electronic circuits (it is a part of the skill set labelled as CSE5).

- To apply information and communications technology to electronic power systems (it is a part of the skill set labelled as CR2).

- Ability to know different electric power sources (it is a part of the skill set labelled as CR11).

- To promote the use of renewable energy systems (it is a part of the skill set labelled as CR11).

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the course, the students should be able to:

RA-5.11. Know and assess the basic systems that deals with the generation, distribution, storage and conversion of electrical energy (skills CR.11. CG.3, CG.7).

RA-5.12. Analyse and design protection circuits of low power distribution systems (CR.11, CG.2, CG.6, CG.7).

RA-5.13. Define and asses the basic characteristics of power electronic devices (i.e. power diode, power MOSFET and power inductors) (skills CR.11, CSE.4, CSE.5, CG.3).

RA-5.14. Analyse and synthesize basic DC/AC power converters (i.e. rectifiers): single-phase uncontrolled rectifiers and three-phase uncontrolled rectifiers (skills CR.11, CSE.4, CSE.5, CG.3).

RA-5.15. Analyse and synthesize a very particular AC/DC power converter: the linear power supply (skills CSE.4, CSE.5, CG.3, CG.4).

RA-5.16. Analyse and synthesize basic DC/DC power converters and single-phase AC/DC power converters (i.e. inverters) (skills CR.11, CSE.4, CSE.5, CG.3).

RA-5.17. Analyse and synthesize basic power circuits for telecommunication applications (i.e. inverters) (skills CR.2, CR.11, CSE.4, CSE.5, CG.4, CG.7).

RA-5.17. Simulate basic AC/DC, DC/DC and DC/AC power converters with specific software tools (skills CR.2, CSE.5, CG.4).

Lesson 1. Fundamentals of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution

• An Introduction to electricity generation.
• Transmission and distribution systems.
• Centralized versus distributed generation paradigms.
• Three-phase balanced systems.
• Current calculation of delta and star connections.
• Power factor and power factor correction.

Lesson 2. Other electrical power sources

• Wind energy conversion.
• Solar radiation.
• Solar thermal collectors.
• Solar thermal energy: solar furnaces and thermal power stations.
• Photovoltaic cells.
• Fuel cells.

Lesson 3. Electrical energy storage systems

• Pumped hydroelectric storage.
• Compressed air energy storage.
• Flywheel.
• Superconducting magnetic energy.
• Batteries.
• Hydrogen cell fuels.
• Supercapacitors.
• Comparison.
• Evaluation of the impact in the society of energy storage systems on today’s electrical energy distribution.
• Relationship of these systems in the global warming and the environment.

Lesson 4. Basics of AC/DC power converters: rectifiers

• Power Electronics.
• Basic concepts of rectifiers.
• Single-phase uncontrolled rectifiers.
• Three-phase uncontrolled rectifiers.
• Fields of application.

Lesson 5. A very particular AC/DC power converter: the linear power supply

• Basics of linear power supplies.
• Transformer/rectifier structure.
• Filters.
• The voltage regulator.
• Fields of application.

Lesson 6. DC/DC power converters: switching-mode power supplies

• Disadvantages of DC/DC converters based on voltage regulators.
• DC/DC converters without galvanic isolation.
• DC/DC converters with galvanic isolation.
• Fields of application.

Lesson 7. Basics of DC/AC power converters: inverters

• Basic of DC/AC power converters.
• Basic structure of the single-phase inverter.
• Filters for harmonic cancelation in inverters.
• Inverters regulation (pulse width modulation, PWM).
• Fields of application.

Lesson 8. Power electronic devices for power converters

• The power diode.
• The power MOSFET transistor.
• Basics of inductor design.
• Discussion and evaluation of devices power loss in the efficiency of electrical energy conversion and its relationship with the environmental concerns.

Lesson 9. Applications and examples of power electronics converters in IT

• Uninterruptible Power Supply systems (UPS).
• Power supplies in data centres.
• Power systems for cloud computing.
• Electrical energy conversion in radio base stations.
• Discussion on the role that these systems play in a more connected society.

Lecture sessions will cover the contents of the course. There will be hands-on sessions to solve exercises and practical problems. Therefore, learning methodology will be based on lectures as well as on exercise and problem resolution. Also, some lectures will take a seminar form in order to link the technical contents with cross-cutting topics, like environmental impact, economic or industrialization aspects, or their role in the future more-connected society. 

During the course, students will perform and turn in six computer-lab experiments using PSIM software. They start out as fairly simple "cook-book" experiments and progress into design exercises following a specific guidance.

If online sessions were mandatory due to any concern surrounding a health emergency, there would not be any change in the learning methodology nor in schedule and structure of the course. Lectures, hands-on sessions, laboratory, group tutoring and evaluation sessions would be carried out using Microsoft Teams, eCampus, Skype or similar software.

Topics of the students’ knowledge evaluation

• Knowledge of basic electrical/electronic systems and physical models that deals with generation, distribution, storage and conversion of electrical energy.
• Ability to analyse basic electrical/electronic systems and physical models that deals with generation, distribution, storage and conversion of electrical energy.
• Ability to simulate basic AC/DC, DC/DC and DC/AC power converters with PSIM software.. The computer-lab evaluation will be placed in the final laboratory session. The assistance to the first laboratory session is mandatory to get access to the evaluation. Students in the frame of “evaluación diferenciada” (a special frame for students with job) are excluded of attending the laboratory sessions and the computer-lab evaluation.

Assessment procedure

The students’ knowledge assessment will be carried out according to the following procedure:

a) Ordinary examination call:

The assessment of the learning activities will take place during the semester, as follows:

LABORATORY ASSESSMENT (20% of the final grade)

Evaluation of the student´s using PSIM software and simulating AC/DC, DC/DC and DC/AC power converters. This assessment is divided in two parts:

• Laboratory exam will take place in the final laboratory session scheduled in the official calendar.
• Several quizzes (ranging from 3 to a maximum of 6) will be done during the laboratory sessions.

The final grade of laboratory assessment will be the average of both parts (50% lab exam, 50% quizzes).

As it was stated before, all the students must attend the first laboratory session to get access to the exam. The grade obtained will be only valid for the examination calls corresponding to an academic year.

THEORY ASSESSMENT (80% of the final grade)

The content of the course will be divided in 3 blocks:

BLOCK 1 (B1): Lesson 1. Electrical Engineering.

BLOCK 2 (B2): Lesson 2. Physics.

BLOCK 3 (B3): Lessons 3 to 8. Power Electronics.

Due to its extension, block B3 will be also divided in two parts:

• B3-1: Lessons 3 to 5.
• B3-2: Lessons 6 to 8.

There will be 3 midterm written exams during the semester and a final written exam at the end of the semester. The schedule of each midterm exam will be announced during the lectures. The final exam will take place at the official scheduled date.

• B1 will be evaluated in the first midterm exam.
• B2 will be evaluated in the second midterm exam.
• B3-1 will be evaluated in the third midterm exam.
• B3-2 will be evaluated in the final exam.

A minimum mark of 3 out of 10 is required to pass each block.

If the grade of any block B1, B2 or B3-1 is lower than 3, the corresponding block will be re-evaluated in the final exam along with block B3-2. Students could also improve their mark of any block (B1, B2 or B3-1) in the final exam. In such a case, the corresponding block grade will be the highest mark obtained between the midterm exam and the final exam.

The grade of the theory assessment will be calculated as 18%B1 + 12%B2 + 20%B3-1 + 50%B3-2.

Only in the case of being passed the four blocks (mark higher than 3 out of 10 in all of them), the final grade will be obtained as 80% of the theory assessment + 20% of the laboratory assessment. A minimum mark of 5 out of 10 is required to pass the course.

If any mark of any block (B1 to B3-2) is lower than 3, the final grade will be calculated as the minimum between 4 and the 80% of the theory assessment + 20% of the laboratory assessment.

Grades obtained in the ordinary call will be kept within the academic year if the mark is higher than 3 out of 10. Note that this mark will be only valid for the examination calls corresponding to an academic year. In the case of block B3, the corresponding mark for the extraordinary calls will be calculated as 28.5%B3-1 + 71.5%B3-2 only in the case of both corresponding marks from B3-1 and B3-2 are higher than 3.

b) Extraordinary examination calls:

The assessment of the students’ knowledge will be performed as follows:

LABORATORY ASSESSMENT (20% of the final grade)

The grade will be the one obtained in the ordinary examination call.

THEORY ASSESSMENT (80% of the final grade)

Blocks B1, B2 and B3 will be evaluated in a single written exam.

A minimum mark of 3 out of 10 is required to pass each block.

The grade of the theory assessment will be calculated as 18%B1 + 12%B2 + 70%B3.

Only in the case of being passed the three blocks (mark higher than 3 out of 10 in all of them), the final grade will be obtained as 80% of the theory assessment + 20% of the laboratory assessment. A minimum mark of 5 out of 10 is required to pass the course.

If any mark of any block (B1 to B3) is lower than 3, the final grade will be calculated as the minimum between 4 and the 80% of the theory assessment + 20% of the laboratory assessment.

c) Case of students in the “evaluación diferenciada” frame:

The assessment of the students’ knowledge will be performed as follows:

LABORATORY ASSESSMENT (20% of the final grade)

The evaluation of this part will be carried out with a computer-lab exam using PSIM.

THEORY ASSESSMENT (80% of the final grade)

Blocks B1, B2 and B3 will be evaluated in a single written exam.

A minimum mark of 3 out of 10 is required to pass each block.

The grade of the theory assessment will be calculated as 18%B1 + 12%B2 + 70%B3.

Only in the case of being passed the three blocks (mark higher than 3 out of 10 in all of them), the final grade will be obtained as 80% of the theory assessment + 20% of the laboratory assessment. A minimum mark of 5 out of 10 is required to pass the course.

If any mark of any block (B1 to B3) is lower than 3, the final grade will be calculated as the minimum between 4 and the 80% of the theory assessment + 20% of the laboratory assessment.

If online assessment were mandatory due to any concern surrounding a health emergency, there would not be any change in the evaluation methodology. All the exams would be carried out using Microsoft Teams, eCampus, Skype or similar software.

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[2] N. Mohan, T. M. Undeland y W. P. Robbins. “Power Electronics: Converters, Applications and Design”. Ed. John Wiley and Sons

[3] M.H.Rashid. “Power Electronics, Circuits, Devices and Applications”. Ed. Prentice Hall.

[4] R.W Erickson y D. Maksimovic. “Fundamentals of Power Electronics”. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

[5] Andrés Barrado y Antonio Lázaro. “Problemas de Electrónica de Potencia”, Ed. Prentice Hall.

[6] J. I. Prieto. “Disponibilidad de la energía solar térmica (Solar energy availability)” (ed. bilingüe), Textos universitarios EDIUNO, 2016.

[7] Folch, J. R., Guasp, M. R., Porta, C. R. “Tecnología eléctrica”.  Ed. Síntesis 3ª edición, 2010

[8]. Jesús Fraile Mora. “Máquinas eléctricas”. McGraw-Hill. 5ª edición.

[9] Leonard L. Grigsby. “Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution, Third Edition”, 2012, CRC Press