My name is Ali Sajjadi, and I am a researcher specializing in power systems and power electronics, originally from Iran. Before pursuing my Ph.D., I led a team focused on developing high-power solar inverters. My master’s thesis explored high-voltage DC systems.
Degrees
Masters, 2023, Electrical Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran
Bachelors, 2019, Electrical Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran
Research history
Sajjadi, G. Kadkhodaei, M. Hamzeh, S. D. Tavakoli and O. Gomis-Bellmunt, “An Integrated Multiport Circuit Breaker With Current Flow Controlling Capability for Meshed Multiterminal HVDC Grids,” in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 39, no. 8, pp. 9680-9693, Aug. 2024
Topic of doctoral thesis
Structured Control & Protection Software for HVDC Converters
Research objectives
To address climate change and energy independency, the EU aims for offshore energy gener- ation of 340 Gigawatt by 2050. The most efficient way to transport this energy to shore is by using high- voltage direct-current (HVDC) systems. Their behaviour is predominantly defined by the HVDC converter’s control and protection software. Several software-related instabilities have been observed and could only be solved with detailed studies of the complete software and close collaboration between the involved parties. However, with the planned increase in HVDC systems, an easier approach is required. Ideally, the converter control and protection software could be sectioned into two parts, a lower level responsible for the power electronics / internal converter behaviour, and an upper level responsible for the power system / external converter behaviour. However, there are complex interdependencies of the respective software functions, hardware limitations, surrounding power system configuration, and intellectual property aspects.
In this PhD project, we want to put order into the control and protection functions of HVDC converters. Based on an existing clustering tool that can sort control and protection functions into an upper layer and a lower layer software part (responsible for the external and internal converter behavior, respectively), we want to explore the possibilities using structured data – parts of which can be shared to achieve multi-vendor in- teroperability. Additionally, a new way of dependency analysis between control and protection functions (and their grouping) would be a useful outcome of this doctoral project.
Planned secondments:
Academic: RUG, Prof. Jeanne Mifsud Bonnici, 3-6 months, purpose: learn and apply IP law aspects in clus- tering method
Industrial: SIEMENS ENERGY, Dr. Rodrigo Alvarez, 3-6 months, purpose: refine clustering method to industry needs / training with regard to prioritizing the most relevant aspects
Motivation to work in Inter-oPEn
With over 8 million lives lost in 2018 due to fossil fuel pollution (Harvard study), this project aims to contribute to ending this tragedy. I am driven to contribute and be part of this global effort for change.