Jai P. Agrawal
Power Electronic Systems, Theory and Design
Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, 2001
Hardcover, pp. 562, USA $ 42.99
ISBN 0-13-442880-3
http://www.prenhall.com

In general about the book

The book "Power electronic systems, theory and design" is intended to be a textbook in power electronics, primarily for a course for junior and senior undergraduate students in electrical engineering programs.

It could also serve as a self-learning book for practicing engineers, and also stands out as a comprehensive, practical, and current textbook in power electronics. The emphasis of this book is on the functional description of the various forms of electronics power converters with relatively detailed analyses of the associated waveforms. Matlab and PSpice are used throughout the book, as a tool to enhance understanding of converter operation modes without the need for complex mathematical analysis. The flow of the book is very loctical starting with an introductory part that presents the field of power electronics, the behavior of switching devices, and the review of mathematical concepts such as determining the average and RMS values and the harmonic profile of waveforms.

Part II provides an understanding of components used in the design of power electronics circuits. It begin in chapter 2 with a review of the topics of basic magnetics, including basic forms of Maxwell's law, magnetic equivalent circuits and losses in magnetic components. The rest of this chapters is devoted to a design procedures for inductors, transformers and protection of switching devices. Chapters 3 to 5 presents semiconductor switching components, power diodes, transistors and thyristors. Concepts are introduced for power losses during switching transitions, and on and off state of devices. Also, the driver and protection circuits for each device are discussed.

The master part of the book is part III. Chapters 6 to 11 discusses the classes of power electronic converter circuits. The focus is on topologies, performance measures and performance characteristics. Chapter 6 cover DC to controled DC. Chapter 7 discusses DC to AC conversion, including a very thorough section on the analysis of sine PWM waveforms for reduced harmonics. Chapters 8 and 9 treats AC-DC conversion, including only SCR phase control, for both single and three phase systems. Chapter 10 discusses AC-AC converters (AC controllers, cycloconverters, and DC link AC-AC converters). Chapter 11 treats the operation of wide variety of resonant converters.

Part IV covers the application systems, such as power factor corection and static VAR control (chaper 12), converter control (chapter 13), power supplies (chapter 14) and motor drives (chapter 15). This part also presents practical design issues such as temperature control, selection of heat sinks, protection, packaging ang shielding (chapter 16). Each chapter concludes with a summary of key points and a list of key papers pertaining to the material in the chapter, which can be a helpful reference for further research on a given topics. Each chapter also contains several design examples, that give the reader a workout on the material on the chapter. Computer program Matlab has been used extensively in these examples and also in the elaboration of the converter operation. Also, PSpice simulation examples are included wherever possible.

I can unreservedly recommend the book "Power electronic systems, theory and design" as a trustworthy and enjoyable guide to the field of power electronics. The book will provide a helpful introduction to those new to the field and a valuable reference for practitioners of the art for years to come.