Description of capability
Noah James Salk has explored a three-coil version of a solid-sate electrical transformer and its application/performance across different power levels, voltage gains, input resistances, and size constraints. He has also compared the new topology to a more “traditional” coreless transformer topology that has been studied (compensated two-coil IPT systems) and showed substantial benefits in the lower frequency regime, which is critical for power levels in the 100’s of kW.
His work builds upon the work of Daniel Schemmel:
- Daniel Schemmel’s MIT PhD dissertation: “Design of High-Power High-Frequency Coreless Transformer Systems”
- Patent 1 (four-coil transformer): “Coreless power transformer.” MX2019013036A
- Patent 2 (improvement on four-coil transformer): “Improved coreless power transformer design” WO2022055669A1
Key people
Noah James Salk and Chathan M. Cooke
Technology Readiness Level (1-9)
3
Needs that this could potentially address
Readily available electric transformers. More specifically:
- Pole-mounted and pad-mounted transformers (~100 kVA)
- DC or high-frequency AC microgrids. The coreless option is even more attractive for these applications because we can eliminate the low-frequency DC/AC converter component.
- Low kW transformers (previous patent applications)
- High power transformers (10+ MVA)
Tech specs
Estimated time & cost to commercialize
Noah Salk wrote:
I don’t imagine a startup built around this transformer would require a large amount of capital compared to other hardware startups.
Outstanding risks
- IP rights of research sponsor (ProlecGE a large manufacturer of classical power transformers)
- Cost and availability of power electronics components. In particular, high-voltage power semiconductor devices (diodes and FETs) can be hard to find and very expensive.