Eco Design for Sustainable Power Electronic Converters: Master's Thesis
Authors
Pausgaard, Hans Frederik Højrup ; Ungureanu, Daniel Paul
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-05-28
Pages
215
Abstract
Global e-waste is growing fast: 62 million tonnes were discarded in 2022, with 82 million tonnes projected by 2030. Power electronic converters—hardware that converts and controls electrical power—are usually optimized for high efficiency, power density, and low cost, not for being taken apart at end of life. This makes them hard to process when they become e-waste. This thesis proposes a design approach that treats end-of-life recyclability as a design parameter in a multi-objective optimization algorithm. To enable disassembly, several eco-design versions of circuit boards were created with built-in perforations to guide dismantling. All designs were checked with electrical switching tests (double pulse tests) to verify that performance remained acceptable. Mechanical robustness was assessed with three-point bending tests to see how perforations affect flexural strength. The optimization showed that multiple designs can achieve high values across the objectives. Differences in switching energy were observed, but they could not be directly linked to the perforations and appeared to stem from component variations. The perforations were estimated to increase the parasitic series inductance of the power loop by 5 to 22 percentage points. The lowest measured flexural strength was 21% of a conventional, non-perforated benchmark. Overall, the results suggest that designing for end-of-life disassembly is a viable way to help reduce e-waste: the impact on converter operation is small compared with the gains in ease of dismantling and recyclability.
Verdens e-affald vokser hurtigt: 62 mio. ton blev kasseret i 2022, og tallet forventes at nå 82 mio. ton i 2030. Effektelektroniske konvertere – elektronik der omformer og styrer elektrisk energi – er typisk optimeret til høj virkningsgrad, høj effekttæthed og lave omkostninger, ikke til at blive skilt ad ved levetidens slutning. Det gør dem vanskelige at behandle som e-affald. Denne afhandling foreslår en ny designmetode, hvor genanvendelighed ved end-of-life bruges som en designparameter i en multiobjektiv optimeringsalgoritme. For at muliggøre demontering er der udviklet flere økodesign-varianter af printplader med indlagte perforeringer, som guider adskillelsen. Alle varianter gennemgår elektriske koblingstests (double pulse tests) for at sikre, at ydeevnen ikke forringes. Den mekaniske robusthed vurderes med trepunkts bøjningstests for at måle, hvordan perforeringerne påvirker bøjestyrken. Optimeringen viser, at høje værdier af alle designmål kan opnås i flere løsninger. Der ses forskelle i koblingsenergi, men de kan ikke knyttes direkte til perforeringerne og synes i højere grad at skyldes variationer i komponenter. Perforeringerne anslås at øge den parasitiske serieinduktans i strømsløjfen med 5 til 22 procentpoint. Den laveste målte bøjestyrke er 21 % af den konventionelle, ikke-perforerede reference. Samlet peger resultaterne på, at design til demontering ved levetidens slutning kan være et realistisk bidrag til at reducere e-affald: påvirkningen af konverternes drift er lille i forhold til den lettere demontering og genanvendelse, som designet muliggør.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]