• 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.24 no.6
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• pp.406-410
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• 2019

Three-level (3L) DC-DC converters are appropriate for high-input-voltage applications. Although the voltage stress of TL converter switches can be reduced to half of the input voltage, the primary side has a large circulating current, which degrades efficiency. In this study, a dual half-bridge cascaded TL converter is presented to reduce this circulating current and thus decrease the conduction loss of the primary circuit. Moreover, the proposed converter can reduce the voltage stress of rectifier diodes, thereby reducing their conduction loss. Therefore, efficiency can be improved by reducing the conduction loss of the primary circuit and rectifier diodes.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.925-935
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• 2016

This paper proposes a new interleaved double-input three-level Boost (DITLB) converter, which is composed of two boost converters indirectly in series. Thus, a high voltage gain, together with a low component stress and a small input current ripple due to the interleaved control scheme, is achieved. The operating principle of the DITLB converter under the individual supplying power (ISP) and simultaneous supplying power (SSP) mode is analyzed. In addition, closed-loop control strategies composed of a voltage-current loop and a voltage-balance loop, have been researched to make the converter operate steadily and to alleviate the neutral-point imbalance issue. Experimental results verify correctness and feasibility of the proposed topology and control strategies.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.946-956
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• 2014

Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) converters can be directly connected to medium-voltage grids without using transformers and they possess the advantages of large capacity and low harmonics. They are significant tools for providing grid connections in large-capacity renewable energy systems. However, the reliability of a grid-connected CHB converter can be seriously influenced by the number of power switching devices that exist in the structure. This paper proposes a fault-tolerant control strategy based on double zero-sequence voltage injection and DC voltage optimization to improve the reliability of star-connected CHB converters after one or more power units have been bypassed. By injecting double zero-sequence voltages into each phase cluster, the DC voltages of the healthy units can be rapidly balanced after the faulty units are bypassed. In addition, optimizing the DC voltage increases the number of faulty units that can be tolerated and improves the reliability of the converter. Simulations and experimental results are shown for a seven-level three-phase CHB converter to validate the efficiency and feasibility of this strategy.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2016

In this study, a fast charger for electric vehicle with wide charging voltage range is proposed. To achieve high efficiency, three-level topologies are employed for the AC-DC and DC-DC converters. Given that the output range of the DC-DC converter in fast chargers is quite wide, the circulating current of conventional three-level converter will increase under low voltage condition. The proposed hybrid switching method mitigates this issue. When a coupled inductor is used on the output side, the circulating current is further reduced, and the switches $S_2$, $S_3$, $S_6$, and $S_7$ achieve turning-off under the ZCS condition. Experimental results from a 50 kW prototype are provided to validate the proposed charger, and a rated efficiency of 95.9% is obtained.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1303-1314
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• 2018

To match the dynamic lower voltage of a fuel cell stack and the required constant higher voltage (400V) of a DC bus, an H-type structural Boost three-level DC-DC converter with a wide voltage-gain range (HS-BTL) is presented in this paper. When compared with the traditional flying-capacitor Boost three-level DC-DC converter, the proposed converter can obtain a higher voltage-gain and does not require a complicate control for the flying-capacitor voltage balance. Moreover, the proposed converter, which can draw a continuous and low-rippled current from an input source, has the advantages of a wide voltage-gain range and low voltage stress for power semiconductors. The operating principle, parameters design and a comparison with other converters are presented and analyzed. Experimental results are also given to verify the aforementioned characteristics and theoretical analysis. The proposed converter is suitable for application of fuel cell systems.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.70-76
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• 2013

For high power high step-down dc-dc conversion applications, conventional three-level dc-dc converters are subject to extreme duty cycles or increased volume and cost due to the use of transformers. In this paper, a transformerless three-level dc-dc buck converter with a high step-down conversion ratio is proposed. The converter comprises two asymmetrical half bridges, which are of the neutral point clamped structures. Therefore, the output pulse voltage of the converter can be obtained in terms of the voltage difference between the two half bridges. In order to realize harmonious switching of the converter, a modulation strategy with capacitor voltages self balance is presented. According to the deduced output dc voltage function, transformerless operation without extreme duty cycles can be implemented. Experimental results from a 1kW prototype verify the validity of the proposed converter. It is suitable for ship electric power distribution systems.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1296-1308
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• 2014

This paper presents a new zero voltage switching (ZVS) converter for medium power and high input voltage applications. Three three-level pulse-width modulation (PWM) circuits with the same power switches are adopted to clamp the voltage stress of MOSFETs at $V_{in}/2$ and to achieve load current sharing. Thus, the current stresses and power ratings of transformers and power semiconductors at the secondary side are reduced. The resonant inductance and resonant capacitance are resonant at the transition interval such that active switches are turned on at ZVS within a wide range of input voltage and load condition. The series-connected transformers are adopted in each three-level circuit. Each transformer can work as an inductor to smooth the output current or a transformer to achieve the electric isolation and power transfer. Thus, no output inductor is needed at the secondary side. Three center-tapped rectifiers connected in parallel are used at the secondary side to achieve load current sharing. Compared with the conventional parallel three-level converters, the proposed converter has less switch counts. Finally, experiments based on a 1.44kW prototype are provided to verify the operation principle of proposed converter.

• 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.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.77-99
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• 2017

Offshore oscillating water columns (OWC) represent one of the most promising forms of wave energy converters. The hydrodynamic performance of such converters heavily depends on their interactions with ocean waves; therefore, understanding these interactions is essential. In this paper, a fully nonlinear 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on RANS equations and VOF surface capturing scheme is implemented to carry out wave energy balance analyses for an offshore OWC. The numerical model is well validated against published physical measurements including; chamber differential air pressure, chamber water level oscillation and vertical velocity, overall wave energy extraction efficiency, reflected and transmitted waves, velocity and vorticity fields (PIV measurements). Following the successful validation work, an extensive campaign of numerical tests is performed to quantify the relevance of three design parameters, namely incoming wavelength, wave height and turbine damping to the device hydrodynamic performance and wave energy conversion process. All of the three investigated parameters show important effects on the wave-pneumatic energy conversion chain. In addition, the flow field around the chamber's front wall indicates areas of energy losses by stronger vortices generation than the rear wall.