• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.653-663
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• 2017

Multilevel active neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) converter combines the advantages of three-level ANPC converter and multilevel flying capacitor (FC) converter. However, multilevel ANPC converter often suffers from capacitor voltage balancing problems. In order to solve the capacitor voltage balancing problems for five-level ANPC converter, phase-shifted pulse width modulation (PS-PWM) is used, which generally provides natural voltage balancing ability. However, the natural voltage balancing ability depends on the load conditions and converter parameters. In order to eliminate voltage deviations under steady-state and dynamic conditions, the active voltage-balancing control (AVBC) methods of floating capacitors and dc-link capacitors based on PS-PWM are proposed. First, the neutral-point current is regulated to balance the neutral-point voltage by injecting zero-sequence voltage. After that, the duty cycles of the redundant switch combinations are adjusted to balance the floating-capacitor voltages by introducing moderating variables for each of the phases. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed AVBC methods is verified by experimental results.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers B
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• v.48 no.7
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• pp.384-390
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• 1999

This paper describes a new ac-to-dc power converter using a multilevel converter. A conventional multilevel ac-to-dc converter has large output dc filter capacitors. When a short circuit happens in a load, the stored energy in the capacitors should be discharged through the load with a high short circuit current. The high current may cause considerable damage to the capacitors and the load. The output dc capacitors of the proposed converter do not discharge even under load short circuit condition. In the case of a load short circuit, the capacitors become a floating state immediately and remain in the state. Then the stored capacitor energy is supplied to the load again as soon as the short circuit has been cleared. Therefore, the rising time of the load voltage can be significantly reduced. This feature satisfies the requirement of a power supply for a load with frequent short circuits. The proposed converter has the characteristics of a simplified structure, a reduced cost, weight, and volume compared with conventional power supplies with frequent output short circuits. Experimental results are presented to verify the usefulness of the proposed converter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.739-747
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• 2012

This paper applies carrier phase shifted pulse-width modulation (CPS-PWM) to transformerless modular multilevel converters (MMC) to improve the output spectrum. Because the MMC topology is characterized by the double-star connection of six legs consisting of cascaded modular chopper cells with floating capacitors, the balance control of the DC-link capacitor voltage is essential for safe operation. This paper presents a leg-balancing control strategy to achieve DC-link voltage balance under all operating conditions. This strategy based on circulating current decoupling control focused on DC-link balancing between the upper and lower legs in each phase pair by considering the six legs as three independent phase-pairs. Experiments are implemented on a 100-V 3-kVA downscaled prototype. The experimental results show that the proposed leg-balancing control is both effective and practical.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.662-671
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• 2018

This paper presents a new structure for a step up dc-dc converter, which has several advantageous features. Firstly, the input dc source and the clamped capacitor are connected in series to transfer energy to the load through dual voltage multiplier cells. Therefore, the proposed converter can produce a very high voltage and a high conversion efficiency. Secondly, a double voltage clamped circuit is introduced to the primary side of the coupled inductor. The energy of the leakage inductance of the coupled inductor is recycled and the inrush current problem of the clamped circuits can be shared equally by two synchronous clamped capacitors. Therefore, the voltage spike of the switch tube is solved and the current stress of the diode is reduced. Thirdly, dual voltage multiplier cells can absorb the leakage inductance energy of the secondary side of the coupled inductor to obtain a higher efficiency. Fourthly, the active switch turns on at almost zero current and the reverse-recovery problem of the diodes is alleviated due to the leakage inductance, which further improves the conversion efficiency. The operating principles and a steady-state analysis of the continuous, discontinuous and boundary conduction modes are discussed in detail. Finally, the validity of this topology is confirmed by experimental results.