• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.127-135
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• 2017

Recently the researches on modular multi-level converter (MMC) are being highlighted because high quality and efficient power transmission have become key issues in high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems. This paper proposes an improved pre-charging method for the sub-module (SM) capacitor of MMC-based HVDC systems, which operates in the nearest level control (NLC) modulation and does not need additional circuits or pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques. The feasibility of the proposed method was verified through computer simulations for a scaled 3-phase 10kVA MMC with 12 SMs per each arm. Hardware experiments with a scaled prototype have also been performed in the lab to confirm the simulation results.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.10
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• pp.1655-1663
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• 2016

Recently the researches on Modular Multi-level Converter (MMC) are being highlighted because high quality and efficient power transmission are key issues in the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission system. This paper proposes an improved pre-charging method for the sub-module capacitors in MMC that operates in Nearest Level Control (NLC) modulation. The proposed method does not require additional circuits or Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) techniques. The feasibility of proposed method was verified through computer simulations for a scaled 3-phase 10kVA MMC with 12 sub-modules per each arm. Hardware experiments with a scaled prototype were performed in the lab to confirm the simulation results.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.285-296
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• 2017

This paper proposes an improved modulation scheme for the medium voltage modular multi-level converter (MMC), which operates in the nearest level control and applies in the medium voltage direct current (MVDC) system. In the proposed modulation scheme, the offset (neutral-to-zero output) voltage is adjusted, with the phase voltage magnitude, thereby maintaining a constant value with N+1 level in the controllable modulation index (MI) range. In order to confirm the proposed scheme's validity, computer simulations for the 22.9 kV - 25 MVA MMC were performed with PSCAD/EMTDC, as well as hardware experiments for the 380 V - 10 kVA MMC. The proposed modulation scheme offers to build a constant pole voltage regardless of the MI value, and to build a phase voltage with improved total harmonic distortion (THD).

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1171-1181
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• 2019

Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC)-based HVDC power transmission using a real-time simulator is one of the key technologies in power electronics research. This paper introduces the design methodology of a physical MMC-HVDC control system based on a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), which has the advantage of high-speed parallel operation, and validates the accuracy of MMC-HVDC control when operated with a Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS). Finally, this paper compares and analyzes the characteristics of capacitor voltage balancing methods such as Nearest Level Control (NLC), NLC with a reduced switching frequency, and tolerance band modulation implemented on physical control system.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.63 no.8
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• pp.1046-1054
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• 2014

In this paper, a hardware prototype for the 10kVA 11-level MMC was built and various experimental works were conducted to verify the operation algorithms of MMC. The hardware prototype was designed using computer simulation with PSCAD/EMTDC software. After manufactured in the lab, the hardware prototype was tested to verify the modulation algorithms to form the output voltage, the balancing algorithm to equalize the sub-module capacitor voltage, and the redundancy operation algorithm to improve the system reliability. The developed hardware prototype can be utilized for analyzing the basic operation and performance improvement of MMC according to the modulation and redundancy operation scheme. It also can be utilize to analyze the basic operational characteristics of HVDC system based on MMC.