More Electrical Aircraft Pulsed Power Mitigation through Active Capacitor Converter

The increasing use of impulsive loads, such as radar and laser weapon, has posed a significant threat to more electrical aircraft power supply system. Specifically, the high peak-to-average ratio (PAPR) of impulsive load would result in a considerable bus voltage drop and reduce the lifetime of aircraft generators. One straightforward method is to install bulky energy storage units, typically passive capacitors. However, the volume and weight become another concern. To overcome this issue, this paper develops an active capacitor converter (ACC), which intelligently mitigates the impacts of pulsed loads. The ACC requires little capacitance and therefore provides a promising solution for the power management of more electrical aircraft. The working princi-ple of ACC will be elaborated and validated by simulation results.