• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1119-1129
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• 2014

This study proposes a novel five-level three-phase hybrid-clamped converter composed of only six switches and one flying capacitor (FC) per phase. The capacitor-voltage-drift phenomenon of the converter under the classical sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) strategy is comprehensively analyzed. The average current, which flows into the FC, is a function of power factor and modulation index and does not remain at zero. Thus, a specific modulation strategy based on space vector modulation (SVM) is developed to balance the voltage of DC-link and FCs by injecting a common-mode voltage. This strategy applies the five-segment method to synthesize the voltage vector, such that switching losses are reduced while optional vector sequences are increased. The best vector sequence is then selected on the basis of the minimized cost function to suppress the divergence of the capacitor voltage. This study further proposes a startup method that charges the DC-link and FCs without any additional circuits. Simulation and experimental results verify the validity of the proposed converter, modulation strategy, and precharge method.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.498-506
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• 2022

This study proposes a design methodology for bidirectional, series-resonant, dual-active bridge (SRDAB) converters. The circuit parameters of the SRDAB converters are designed by considering the output power and efficiency of the converter. The proposed method can be used to design a high-power, high-efficiency SRDAB converter. A voltage controller is employed to manipulate the output voltage of the converter, and the controller gains are selected using the transfer function and frequency response of the controller. Simulation results show that the output power of the designed SRDAB converter is 2 kW per converter module as designed. In addition, the performance of the voltage controller is evaluated using the simulation and experimental results. The output voltage follows the reference voltage within 10 ms under the step change of the reference command. The output voltage also follows the reference voltage under the step load change. The efficiency of the designed SRDAB converter is 95.6%.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.346-357
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• 2017

The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) is particularly attractive for medium and high power applications such as High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems. In order to reach a high voltage, the number of cascaded submodules (SMs) is generally very large. Thus, in the applications with hundreds or even thousands of SMs such as MMC-HVDCs, the sorting algorithm of the conventional voltage balancing strategy is extremely slow. This complicates the controller design and increases the hardware cost tremendously. This paper presents a Two-Way Merge Sort (TWMS) strategy based on the prediction of the capacitor voltages under ideal conditions. It also proposes an innovative Insertion Sort Correction for the TWMS (ISC-TWMS) to solve issues in practical engineering under non-ideal conditions. The proposed sorting methods are combined with the features of the MMC-HVDC control strategy, which significantly accelerates the sorting process and reduces the implementation efforts. In comparison with the commonly used quicksort algorithm, it saves at least two-thirds of the sorting execution time in one arm with 100 SMs, and saves more with a higher number of SMs. A 501-level MMC-HVDC simulation model in PSCAD/EMTDC has been built to verify the validity of the proposed strategies. The fast speed and high efficiency of the algorithms are demonstrated by experiments with a DSP controller (TMS320F28335).

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.56-66
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• 2017

Fast and accurate fault detection is the primary step and one of the most important tasks in fault tolerant converters. In this paper, a fast and simple method is proposed to detect and diagnosis the faulty cell in a cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter under a short circuit fault. In this method, the reference voltage is calculated using switching control pulses and DC-Link voltages. The comparison result of the output voltage and the reference voltage is used in conjunction with active cell pulses to detect the faulty cell. To achieve this goal, the cell which is active when the Fault signal turns to "0" is detected as the faulty cell. Furthermore, consideration of generating the active cell pulses is completely described. Since the main advantage of this method is its simplicity, it can be easily implemented in a programmable digital device. Experimental results obtained with an 11-level inverter prototype confirm the effectiveness of the proposed fault detection technique. In addition, they show that the diagnosis method is unaffected by variations of the modulation index.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.922-933
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• 2019

The arm inductance (AI) of a modular multilevel converter (MMC) affects both the fault and circulating current magnitudes. In addition, it has an impact on the inverter efficiency and harmonic content. In this study, the AI of a three-phase MMC is optimized in a novel way in terms of DC voltage utilization, harmonics and efficiency. This MMC has 10 submodules (SM) per arm and the power circuit topology of the SM is a half-bridge. The optimum AI is adopted and verified in an MMC that has 100 SMs per arm. Then the phase shift (PS) and phase disposition (PD) pulse width modulation (PWM) methods are investigated for better DC voltage utilization, efficiency and harmonics. It is found that similar performances are obtained for both modulation techniques in terms of DC voltage utilization. However, the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the PS-PWM is found to be 0.02%, which is slightly lower than the THD of the PD-PWM at 0.16%. In efficiency calculations, the switching and conduction losses for all of the semiconductor are considered separately and the minimum efficiency of the 100-SM based MMC is found to be 99.62% for the PS-PWM and 99.64% for the PD-PWM with the optimal value of the AI. Simulation results are verified with an experimental prototype of a 6-SM based MMC.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2003.07b
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• pp.696-700
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• 2003

연료 전지 시스템은 아주 유용한 에너지원 중의 하나이다. 그것은 재사용이 가능하고 환경 친화적이라는 장점을 가지고 있다. 연료 전지로부터 AC성분을 얻기 위해서는 인버터가 필요하다. 멀티레벨 컨버터는 고 전력 연료 전지 시스템의 인버터로 사용된다. 고조파 분석을 통하여 출력 특성을 해석하였다. 연료 전지 출력 전압이 강하할 때 기본파 성분이 감소하는 반면 THD가 증가하는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이러한 문제점을 해결하기 위해 부스트 컨버터를 연료전지 출력에 설치하는 것을 제안하였다. 모든 연료 전지 출력에 부스트 컨버터를 설치하는 것 대신에 하나의 부스트 컨버터만을 연료전지 출력부분에 설치하였다. PI 제어기는 부스트 컨버터를 제어하기 위해 사용하였다.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.664-673
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• 2017

With the development of multilevel converters, cascaded single-phase H-bridge rectifiers (CHBRs) has become widely adopted in high-voltage high-power applications. In this study, sequence pulse modulation (SPM) is proposed for CHBRs. SPM is designed to balance the dc-link voltage and maintain the smooth changes of switch states. In contrast to phase disposition modulation, SPM balances the dc-link voltage even after removing the load of one submodule. The operation principle of SPM is deduced, and the unbalance degree of SPM is analyzed. All the proposed approaches are experimentally verified through a prototype of a four-module (nine-level) CHBR. Conclusions are drawn in accordance with the results of SPM and its imbalance degree analysis.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.558-572
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• 2018

In addition to its modular nature, a Hybrid Modular Multilevel Converter (HMMC) assembled from half-bridge and full-bridge sub-modules, is able to block DC faults with a minimum number of switching devices, which makes it attractive for high power applications. This paper introduces a control strategy based on the Root-Least Square (RLS) algorithm to estimate the capacitor voltages instead of using direct measurements. This action eliminates the need for voltage transducers in the HMMC sub-modules and the associated communication link with the central controller. In addition to capacitor voltage balancing and suppression of circulating currents, a fault tolerant control unit (FTCU) is integrated into the proposed strategy to modify the parameters of the HMMC controller. On advantage of the proposed FTCU is that it does not need extra components. Furthermore, a fault detection unit is adapted by utilizing a hybrid estimation scheme to detect sub-module faults. The behavior of the suggested technique is assessed using PSCAD offline simulations. In addition, it is validated using a real-time digital simulator connected to a real time controller under various normal and fault conditions. The proposed strategy shows robust performance in terms of accuracy and time response since it succeeds in stabilizing the HMMC under faults.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.942-952
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• 2017

Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) have been receiving extensive research interest in high/medium-voltage applications due to its modularity, scalability, reliability, high-voltage capability, and excellent harmonic performance. Submodule capacitors are usually rather bulky because they have to withstand fundamental frequency voltage fluctuations. To reduce the capacitance of these capacitors, this study proposes a modified MMC with an active power decoupling circuit within each submodule. The modified submodule contains an auxiliary half bridge, with its capacitor split in two. Also, the midpoints of the half bridge and the split capacitors are connected by an inductor. With this modified submodule, the fundamental frequency voltage fluctuation can be suppressed to a great extent. The second-order voltage fluctuation, which is the second most significant component in submodule voltage fluctuations, is removed by the proper control of the second-order circulating current. Consequently, the submodule capacitance is significantly reduced. The viability and effectiveness of the proposed new MMC are confirmed by the simulation and experimental results. The proposed MMC is best suited for medium-voltage applications where power density is given a high priority.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.17-23
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• 2020

This paper proposes a simulation model using an equivalent circuit for the development of an MMC system. The MMC has been chosen as the most suitable topology for high voltage power transmission, such as a voltage-type HVDC, and it has dozens to hundreds of sub-modules in the form of a half-bridge or full-bridge connected in series. A simulation study is essential for the development of an MMC algorithm. On the other hand, it is virtually impossible to construct and implement MMC simulation models, including hundreds or thousands of switching devices. Therefore, this paper presents an MMC equivalent model, which is easily expandable and implemented by modeling the dynamic characteristics. The voltage and current equation of the equivalent circuit was calculated using the direction of the arm current and switching signal. The model was implemented on Matlab/Simulink. In this paper, to show the validity of the model developed using Matlab/Simulink, the simulation results of a five-level MMC using the real switching element and the proposed equivalent model are shown. The validity of the proposed model was verified by showing that the current and voltage waveform in the two models match each other.