Analysis and Mitigation of Valve Switching Losses in Switched Inertance Converters

Switched inertance converters use digital valves to exploit the inertia of a flow in order to trade flow for pressure or vice versa. These components can be used to efficiently match load and supply pressures, avoiding the energy wasted by using resistive valves. While theoretical switched inertance converters can be highly efficient, practical implementations suffer from a number of energy losses. One of these losses is the valve switching loss: the energy wasted due to the flow experiencing a pressure drop across the partially open valve as the digital valve shifts from one position to the other. This paper quantifies the effect of this loss on the valve’s overall performance. Two novel strategies for mitigating this effect are introduced: a shaped inertance tube design and positioning of the tank-flow valve along the length of the inertance tube.