ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING
Brandon M. Grainger, PhD
802 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Assistant Professor Associate Director, Electric Power Systems Laboratory Affiliate, Energy GRID Institute
Dr. Brandon Grainger holds a PhD in electrical engineering concentrating in kW / MW scale power electronics and controls, microgrids, and medium voltage DC systems. Dr. Grainger has a master’s degree in electrical engineering with a concentration in electric power engineering and bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He was also one of the first endowed R.K. Mellon graduate student fellows through the Center for Energy at the University of Pittsburgh. His research concentrations and interests are in electric power conversion. This includes medium to high voltage power
P: 412-383-8148 C: 412-915-1816 bmg10@pitt.edu
electronics (380Vdc and higher). Power semiconductor evaluation (SiC and GaN), DC/DC converter and inverter topology design, advanced controller design, high power density design, military power systems, DC system design and protection, HVDC/FACTS, and other genres. He is a member of the IEEE Power Electronics Society, Industrial Electronics Society and has 50+ articles published in leading IEEE journals and conference proceedings to date. He is also the former chair of the award winning IEEE Pittsburgh PELS chapter. “ Presently 30% of all electric power generated uses power electronics technologies somewhere between the point of generation and end-use. By 2030, 80% of all electric power will flow through power electronics.” – Dept. of Energy
Power Electronic R&D Efforts in Modern Grid Architectures
High Power Density Inverter Design
Research and development needs are centered upon operational inverter improvements (harsh environment design, robust operation during fault conditions, improved overload, volume and weight reduction) and improved system yields. Dr. Grainger takes a bottom-up approach to solving global electric power issues. With colleagues and students, he is designing power electronic system solutions that help to resolve system level problems.
Goal is to achieve power densities of 50W/in3 and handle 2 kVA.
3.8 inch x 2.54 inch x 2.08 inch layout
Pulse Power Architecture (left) and Power Electronic Based Microgrid (right)
Power Electronic Circuit Reliability
Shipboard Power Conversion
Direct Current System Design
The tradeoff of grid voltage support (grid resiliency enhanced by advanced inverter capability) and the reliability of the power semiconductors (handling added stress) is under study.
Modular approaches are being designed to integrate energy storage on ships, reduce ship weight, equipment footprint, and improve system resiliency.
Novel methods for determining faulted segments of DC architectures and microgrids are patent pending. DC circuit interruption using power electronics is a key enabler for DC grids being studied.
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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
