• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.244-253
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• 2019

Finite control set model-predictive control (FCS-MPC) has received increasing attentions due to its outstanding dynamic performance. It is being widely used in power converters and multilevel inverters. However, FCS-MPC requires a lot of calculations, especially for multilevel-cascaded H-bridge (CHB) static synchronous compensators (STATCOMs), since it has to take account of all the feasible voltage vectors of inverters. Hence, an improved five-segment space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) method based on the non-orthogonal static reference frames is proposed. The proposed SVPWM method has a lower number of switching states and requires fewer computations than the conventional method. As a result, it makes FCS-MPC more efficient for multilevel cascaded H-bridge STATCOMs. The partial cost function is adopted to sequentially solve for the reference current and capacitor voltage. The proposed FCS-MPC method can reduce the calculation burden of the FCS-MPC strategy, and reduce both the switching frequency and power losses. Simulation and experimental results validate the excellent performance of the proposed method when compared with the conventional approach.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1186-1194
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• 2017

This paper proposes an improved low frequency Selective Harmonic Mitigation-PWM (SHM-PWM) technique. The proposed method mitigates the low order harmonics of the output voltage up to the $50^{th}$ harmonic well and satisfies the grid codes EN 50160 and CIGRE-WG 36-05. Using a modified criterion for the switching angles, the range of the modulation index for non-linear SHM equations is improved, without increasing the switching frequency of the CHB converter. Due to the low switching frequency of the CHB converter, mitigating the harmonics of the converter up to the $50^{th}$ order and finding a wider modulation index range, the size and cost of the passive filters can be significantly reduced with the proposed technique. Therefore, the proposed technique is more efficient than the conventional SHM-PWM. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a 7-level Cascaded H-bridge (CHB) converter is utilized for the study. Simulation and experimental results confirm the validity of the above claims.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.76-87
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• 2017

Finite-set predictive current control (FS-PCC) is advantageous for power converters due to its high dynamic performance and has received increasing interest in multilevel inverters. Among multilevel inverter topologies, the cascaded H-bridge (CHB) inverter is popular and mature in the industry. However, a main drawback of FS-PCC is its large computational burden, especially for the application of CHB inverters. In this paper, an FS-PCC method based on a deadbeat solution for three-phase zero-common-mode-voltage CHB inverters is proposed. In the proposed method, an inverse model of the load is utilized to calculate the reference voltage based on the reference current. In addition, a cost function is directly expressed in the terms of the voltage errors. An optimal control actuation is selected by minimizing the cost function. In the proposed method, only three instead of all of the control actuations are used for the calculations in one sampling period. This leads to a significant reduction in computations. The proposed method is tested on a three-phase 5-level CHB inverter. Simulation and experimental results show a very similar and comparable control performance from the proposed method compared with the traditional FS-PCC method which evaluates the cost function for all of the control actuations.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.106-114
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• 2017

In this paper, the Selective Harmonic Mitigation-PWM (SHM-PWM) method is used in single-phase and three-phase Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) inverters in order to fulfill different power quality standards such as EN 50160, CIGRE WG 36-05, IEC 61000-3-6 and IEC 61000-2-12. Non-equal DC link voltages are used to increase the degrees of freedom for the proposed SHM-PWM technique. In addition, it will be shown that the obtained solutions become continuous and without sudden changes. As a result, the look-up tables can be significantly reduced. The proposed three-phase modulation method can mitigate up to the 50th harmonic from the output voltage, while each switch has just one switching in a fundamental period. In other words, the switching frequency of the power switches are limited to 50 Hz, which is the lowest switching frequency that can be achieved in the multilevel converters, when the optimal selective harmonic mitigation method is employed. In single-phase mode, the proposed method can successfully mitigate harmonics up to the 50th, where the switching frequency is 150 Hz. Finally, the validity of the proposed method is verified by simulations and experiments on a 9-level CHB inverter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.487-496
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• 2019

For a solid-state transformer (SST), some factors, such as signal delay, switching loss and differences in the system parameters, lead to unbalanced DC-link voltages among the cascaded H-bridges (CHB). With a control method implemented in the ${\alpha}{\beta}$ frame, the DC-link voltages are balanced, and the reactive power is equally distributed among all of the H-bridges. Based on the ${\alpha}{\beta}$ frame control, the system can achieve independent active current and reactive current control. In addition, the control method of the high-voltage stage is easy to implement without decoupling or a phase-locked loop. Furthermore, the method can eliminate additional current delays during transients and get the dynamic response rapidly without an imaginary current component. In order to carry out the controller design, the vector refactoring relations that are used to balance DC-link voltages are derived. Different strategies are discussed and simulated under the unbalanced load condition. Finally, a three-cell CHB rectifier is constructed to conduct further research, and the steady and transient experimental results verify the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed method.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.399-413
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• 2016

This paper presents a topology for a modular power electronic transformer (PET) and a control scheme. The proposed PET consists of a cascaded H-Bridge rectifier on the primary side, a high-frequency DC/DC conversion cell in the center, and a cascaded H-Bridge inverter on the secondary side. It is practical to use PETs in power systems to reduce the cost, weight and size. A detailed analysis of the structure is carried out by using equivalent circuit. An algorithm to control the voltages of each capacitor and to maintain the power flow in the PET is established. The merits are analyzed and verified in theory, including the bi-directional power flow, variable voltage/frequency and high power factor on the primary side. The experimental results validated the propose structure and algorithm.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.507-518
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• 2014

This paper presents a new cascaded asymmetrical single phase multilevel converter with a lower number of power semiconductor switches and isolated DC sources. Therefore, the number of power electronic devices, converter losses, size, and cost are reduced. The proposed multilevel converter topology consists of two H-bridges connected in cascaded configuration. One H-bridge operates at a high frequency (high frequency inverter) and is capable of developing a two level output while the other H-bridge operates at the fundamental frequency (low frequency inverter) and is capable of developing a multilevel output. The addition of each power electronic switch to the low frequency inverter increases the number of levels by four. This paper also introduces a hybrid switching algorithm which uses very simple arithmetic and logical operations. The simplified hybrid switching algorithm is generalized for any number of levels. The proposed simplified switching algorithm is developed using a TMS320F2812 DSP board. The operation and performance of the proposed multilevel converter are verified by simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK and experimental results.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2020.08a
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• pp.336-337
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• 2020

Static synchronous compensator(STATCOM)은 무효전력을 공급하여 외란을 완화하는 등 전력 품질을 향상시켜 전력 계통을 안정화하는 시스템이다. Cascaded H-bridge(CHB) 컨버터는 멀티레벨 구조를 가지므로 STATCOM 시스템 적용에 많은 이점이 있다. 하지만, 이러한 멀티레벨 CHB 컨버터의 안정적인 동작을 위해서는 균형 제어가 필수적이다. 본 논문에서는 Y 결선 CHB 컨버터의 레그 에너지 균형 제어에 사용되는 주입 영상분 전압에 대하여 분석하고 균형 제어의 동특성 향상을 위한 전향 보상 계산 방법을 제안하였다. 제안한 방법을 적용하여 부하 불평형뿐만 아니라 계통 사고로 인한 계통 및 부하 동시 불균형에서도 안정적으로 시스템을 동작할 수 있다. 마지막으로 제안한 방법에 대한 수학적 타당성을 제시하고, 50MVA의 실제 스케일의 시뮬레이션을 통해 제안하는 방법을 검증하였다.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.240-249
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• 2018

Individual DC voltage balance problem is an inherent issue for cascaded H-bridge (CHB) based converter. When the CHB-based static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) is operating at zero current mode, the software-based individual DC voltage balancing control techniques may not work because of the infinitesimal output current. However, the different power losses of each cell would lead to the individual DC voltages unbalance. The uneven power losses on the local supplied cell-controllers (including the control circuit and drive circuit) would especially cause the divergence of individual DC voltages, due to their characteristic as constant power loads. To solve this problem, this paper proposes an adaptive voltage balancing module which is designed in the cell-controller board with small size and low cost circuits. It is controlled to make the power loss of the cell a constant resistance load, thus the DC voltages are balanced in zero current mode. Field test in a 10kV STATCOM confirms the performance of the proposed method.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2017.07a
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• pp.433-434
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• 2017

기존의 전력 시스템에서 큰 부피를 차지하는 계통 주파수(50/60Hz) 변압기를 대체하기 위해서, 최근 전력용 반도체 변압기 SST(Solid State Transformer)에 대한 연구가 많이 수행되고 있다. AC/DC 컨버터는 높은 시스템 입력 전압에 대응 가능한 기존의 다양한 멀티레벨 컨버터 중 CHB (Cascaded H-bridge) 컨버터는 시스템 모듈화의 용이성과 상용 소자의 정격전압을 고려했을 때 반도체 변압기 시스템에 가장 많이 적용되고 있는 토폴로지이지만 각각의 H-bridge 컨버터 DC-link 전압의 불평형 문제가 발생한다. 본 논문에서는 CHB 컨버터의 전압 불평형을 해결하기 위하여 추가적인 센서가 필요없는 간단하고 실용적인 전압 불평형 보상 제어기를 제안한다.