Microcontroller-based Capacitor Discharge Circuit with Configurable Setpoints
The standard solution within the power industry to these issues would be to employ bleeding resistors at the terminals of a capacitor bank to safely discharge the circuit. The resistors can be in a switching topology, or permanently connected, although the latter choice would result in power loss and potential overheating. NextEra Energy, an American energy company specializing in energy utility and efficiency, wanted to pursue a switching resistor-based capacitor discharge tool to safely discharge high voltage capacitor banks that are utilized in conjunction with PVS980 inverters. More specifically, NextEra wanted a tool that could be utilized in a laboratory setting where, after undergoing certain testing, capacitor banks can be brought in and easily discharged. As a result, this senior design project was formed to explore potential solutions and provide NextEra with a design that can safely discharge their capacitor banks while also meeting various constraints and requirements. Due to the dangers of high voltages, however, NextEra has agreed to allow the team to develop a prototype of the system that will only be tested at low voltage and that can then be potentially scaled to higher voltages in the future.
Authors
Zeeshan Asif
Electrical Engineering
Kealan Frost
Electrical Engineering
Javier Lopez-Marrero
Electrical Engineering
Will Serface
Computer Engineering
Advisors
| Advisor Name | Position |
| Dr. Chung Yong Chan | Senior Lecturer |
| Dr. Arthur Weeks | Associate Professor |
| Dr. Gabriel Vazquez-Ramos | Academic Instructor |
Review Committee
| Reviewer Name | Department | Position |
| Dr. Zakhia Abichar | ECE | Associate Lecturer |
| Dr. Piotr Kulik | ECE | Associate Professor |
| Dr. Qifeng Li | ECE | Associate Professor |
| Mark Maddox | ECE | Instructor |
| Dr. Wei Sun | ECE | Associate Professor |