Journal of Power Electronics

The Korean Institute of Power Electronics (전력전자학회)
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Fault-tolerant capability of MMC with novel structure of middle submodules

  • Duc Dung Le (Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry ) ;
  • Dong‑Choon Lee (Department of Electrical Engineering, Yeungnam University) ;
  • Eui‑Cheol Nho (Department of Electrical Engineering, Pukyong National University)
  • Received : 2023.04.26
  • Accepted : 2023.07.02
  • Published : 2023.09.20
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Abstract

In this paper, an improved modular multilevel converter (MMC) topology has been proposed with fault-tolerant capability and reduced submodule capacitor voltage fluctuation (SMCVF) in a low frequency operating range. In the proposed converter, a novel middle SM, which has salient features, is inserted between the upper and lower arms. For regular operation, the middle SM is applied to mitigate the power fluctuations in both arms by providing distribution of high-frequency power components, which reduces the AC voltage fluctuation on the SM capacitor. When a fault occurs in any SM in the upper or lower arms, a new half-bridge SM can be configured from the middle SM to replace the faulty SM without any interruption, which means the converter is operated in the fault-tolerant mode. Therefore, the performance of the converter is maintained well, and the system reliability is enhanced. Simulation and experimental results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed topology and control strategy.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (No. 20194030202310).

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