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http://dx.doi.org/10.6113/JPE.2014.14.2.292

Design and Implementation of a New Multilevel DC-Link Three-phase Inverter  

Masaoud, Ammar (Department of Electrical Eng., University of Malaya)
Ping, Hew Wooi (UM Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Center (UMPEDAC), University of Malaya)
Mekhilef, Saad (Power Electronics and Renewable Energy Research Lab. (PEARL), University of Malaya)
Taallah, Ayoub (Power Electronics and Renewable Energy Research Lab. (PEARL), University of Malaya)
Belkamel, Hamza (Power Electronics and Renewable Energy Research Lab. (PEARL), University of Malaya)
Publication Information
Journal of Power Electronics / v.14, no.2, 2014 , pp. 292-301 More about this Journal
Abstract
This paper presents a new configuration for a three-phase multilevel voltage source inverter. The main bridge is built from a classical three-phase two-level inverter and three bidirectional switches. A variable DC-link employing two unequal DC voltage supplies and four switches is connected to the main circuit in such a way that the proposed inverter produces four levels in the output voltage waveform. In order to obtain the desired switching gate signals, the fundamental frequency staircase modulation technique is successfully implemented. Furthermore, the proposed structure is extended and compared with other types of multilevel inverter topologies. The comparison shows that the proposed inverter requires a smaller number of power components. For a given number of voltage steps N, the proposed inverter requires N/2 DC voltage supplies and N+12 switches connected with N+7 gate driver circuits, while diode clamped or flying capacitor inverters require N-1 DC voltage supplies and 6(N-1) switches connected with 6(N-1) gate driver circuits. A prototype of the introduced configuration has been manufactured and the obtained simulation and experimental results ensure the feasibility of the proposed topology and the validity of the implemented modulation technique.
Keywords
Fundamental frequency staircase modulation; Multilevel DC-link; Multilevel inverter; Unequal DC voltage supplies;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 3  (Citation Analysis)
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