• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1501-1512
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• 2018

This paper proposes a three-phase three-switch buck-type converter as the MSC of a wind turbine system. Owing to a novel switching modulation scheme that can eliminate the unwanted diode rectifier mode switching state, the proposed system exhibits a satisfying ac voltage and current waveform quality and torque ripple up to the level of a typical current source rectifier even under a wide power factor operating range. The proposed system has been verified through simulations and HILS tests on a PMSG wind turbine model of 5MW/4160V. The proposed converter has been shown to provide a stator current THD of 3.9% and a torque ripple of 1% under the rated power condition. In addition to the inherent advantage of the reduced switch count of three-phase three-switch buck-type converters, the proposed switching modulation technique can make this converter a viable solution for the MSC placed inside of a nacelle, which is under severe volume, weight and mechanical vibration design limits.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.86-88
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• 2018

The three level(3L) neutral point clamped (NPC) voltage source converter (VSC) topology is widely used for grid interface in high power wind energy due to its superior performance as compared to the two level(2L) VS. However, one of the major drawbacks of this topology is the unequal dispersion of loss and therefore the junction temperature among the power devices. The 3L ANPC topology derived from the NPC topology was proposed to resolve this drawback of unequal loss profile of 3L NPC. The 3L ANPC can work under various switching strategies. In this paper a comparative study of the various switching strategies of 3L ANPC using the recently developed 10kV IGCTs which has the capability to raise the current and voltage rating of the wind turbines is carried out. The comparison is performed using ABB make 10kV IGCT 5SHY17L9000 and PLECs simulations.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.263-269
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• 2018

In this study, a selective inverter operation between a 2-level voltage source converter (VSC) and a 3-level T-type VSC (3LT VSC) is proposed to improve the efficiency of a 3LT VSC. The 3LT VSC topology, except for its neutral-point switches, has similar operations as that of the 2-level VSC. If an operation mode is changed according to efficiency, the efficiency can be improved because efficiencies of each methods are depending on current and MI (Modulation Index). The proposed method calculates the power losses of the two topologies and operates as the having lower losses. To calculate the losses, the switching and conduction losses based on the operation mode of each topology were analyzed. The controller determined the operation mode of the 2- or 3-level VSC based on the power loss calculated during every cycle. The validity of the proposed control scheme was investigated through simulation and experiments. The waveform and average efficiency of each method were compared.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.297-303
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• 2016

This paper introduces auxiliary power supply systems (APS) for railroad applications and proposes a new power conversion structure for highly-efficient and lightweight APS systems. The proposed structure focuses on an improvement of the power density in APS. It eliminates unnecessary power conversion stages in the conventional APS structure by modulating the dc/dc converter circuit and the structure of the system. The dc/dc converter circuit used in the proposed structure is based on a multi-level half-bridge converter, a widely used topology in railroad APS applications; a flying capacitor is newly added to the conventional circuit. The added capacitor is used not only to enhance the soft switching condition of the switches, but also so that the new pantograph will have a side voltage source of a battery charger in the APS structure. Since the battery charger uses the pantograph side voltage source in the proposed structure, rather than using the output of the main dc/dc converter in the conventional structure, the size and efficiency of the main dc/dc converter are reduced and increased, respectively. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed structure, simulation results will be presented with metropolitan transit APS specifications.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.326-332
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• 2018

In this paper, the design process and the control method of the power conversion system (PCS) that consists of a bidirectional DC-DC converter and a 3-level T-type inverter for an energy storage system is presented. Especially the design method of the output LCL filter for a 3-lvel T-type inverter without complex mathematical process are proposed. The validity of the control method and design process in this paper are verified through simulation and experimental analysis.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.514-521
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• 2009

This paper deals with a new overvoltage snubber for a diode-clamped 3-level IGBT inverter. Usually most power converters use snubber circuits to protect the switching devices from voltage spike. However, it is difficult for the diode-clamped multi-level converter to be protected from voltage spike with overvoltage snubber since the series connection of the switching devices. To solve the problem the characteristic of a overvoltage snubber for a DC-DC converter is analyzed, and a new snubber for a diode clamped 3-level inverter is proposed. The performance of the proposed snubber is verified through experiments.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.136-145
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• 2009

This paper proposes control methods and simulation models of a driving system, which consists of converters and inverters, for high speed trains employing multi-level power converters. The control method of a single phase three-level converter for high-speed trains is designed to use DC values instead of instantaneous current values which are usually used in single-phase application, so that it results in a fast and robust voltage control response. In addition, simulation models of Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) for single phase three-level converters as well as three level inverters are proposed. Experimental results demonstrate the validity of the simulation model for three-level inverters.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.617-628
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• 2016

This paper proposes the structure of a smart transformer to improve the performance of the 60Hz main power transformer for rolling stock. The proposed smart transformer is a kind of solid state transformer that consists of semiconductor switching devices and high frequency transformers. This smart transformer would have smaller size than the conventional 60Hz main transformer for rolling stock, making it possible to operate AC electrified track efficiently by power factor control. The proposed structure employs a cascade H-Bridge converter to interface with the high voltage AC single phase grid as the rectifier part. Each H-Bridge converter in the rectifier part is connected by a Dual-Active-Bridge (DAB) converter to generate an isolated low voltage DC output source of the system. Because the AC voltage in the train system is a kind of medium voltage, the number of the modules would be several tens. To control the entire smart transformer, the inner DC voltage of the modules, the AC input current, and the output DC voltage must be controlled instantaneously. In this paper, a control algorithm to operate the proposed structure is suggested and confirmed through computer simulation.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2001.07a
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• pp.364-367
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• 2001

ZVS Full-bridge converter is widely used in medium power level(1-3kW). ZVS can be designed within a limited load range and ZVS failure at light load condition is assumed to be acceptable within the given efficiency and thermal constraints. However, unbalanced ZVS resonant energy caused by dc blocking capacitor may alleviate the switching loss problem at light load condition. ZVS resonant energy is unbalanced by do blocking capacitor. This problem causes loss and heat concentration of a switch leg, In this paper, this problem is analyzed, and a novel control method is proposed to solve the problem.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.283-289
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• 2014

This paper carries out a series of analysis of power system using Gallium Nitride (GaN) FET which has wide band gap (WBG) characteristics comparing to conventional Si MOSFET-used power system. At first, for comparison of each semiconductor device, the switching-transient parameter is quantitatively extracted from released information of GaN FET. And GaN FET model which reflect this dynamic property is configured. By using this model, the performance of GaN FET is analyzed comparing to Si MOSFET. Also, in order to enable a representative assessment on the power system level, Si MOSFET and GaN FET are applied to the most common structure of power system, full-bridge, and each power systems are compared based on various criteria, such as performance, efficiency and power density. The entire process is verified with the aid of mathematical analysis and simulation.