Carrier-based modulation strategies for a neutral point clamped inverter

This article presents carrier-based modulation strategies for a neutral point clamped inverter that substantially reduces harmonics in the output line to line voltages, phase voltages, reference voltages and common mode voltage. A graphical technique that has already been proposed in the literature and that also allows various carrier disposition modulation strategies for a diode clamped inverter is being described here. For this graphical technique two new modulation strategies – alternative phase opposite disposition (APOD) and phase disposition (PD) – are being used to create reduced harmonics for diode-clamped inverters under both continuous and discontinuous switching conditions. These strategies can be further expanded in a very simple way. A comparison of conventional-, APOD- and PD-strategies will be given by simulation results by using the software ‘Simplorer’ and ‘Post Processor Day’. The common mode voltage has been reduced particularly with PD-strategy. The strategies have been confirmed using a three level inverter for medium voltage.     

Novel resonant pole inverter for brushless DC motor drive system

The brushless dc motor (BDCM) has been widely used in industrial applications because of its low inertia, fast response, high power density, high reliability, and maintenance-free reputation. It is usually supplied by a hard-switching pulse width modulation inverter, which normally displays relative low efficiency since the power losses across the switching devices are high. In order to reduce the losses, many soft switching inverters have been designed. However, these inverters have such disadvantages as high device voltage stress, large dc link voltage ripple, discrete pulse modulation, and complex control scheme. This paper introduces a novel resonant pole inverter, which is unique to a BDCM drive system, and is easy to implement. The inverter possesses the advantages of low switching power loss, low inductor power loss, low device voltage stress, and simple control scheme. The operation principle of the inverter is analyzed. Simulation and experimental results are proposed to verify the theoretical analysis.     

An assessment of the inverter switching characteristics in DTC induction motor drives

The switching characteristics of an inverter feeding an induction motor controlled with the direct torque control (DTC) technique are assessed in steady state. At first, the application share of the inverter voltage vectors for the stator flux covering half a sextant is defined and predicted. The prediction indicates that, under operation at fixed inverter dc link voltage and stator flux magnitude, the application share depends only on the supply frequency of the motor and, to a small extent, on the load. Afterwards, the inverter transitions and the corresponding phase commutations within a stator flux sextant are analyzed. The outcome of the analysis permits to compute the commutations of the inverter phases in one turn of the stator flux and, from them, the inverter switching frequency is obtained. Its value is influenced by the sampling interval and the control delay arising from the microprocessor implementation of DTC. For given sampling interval and control delay, it is shown that the inverter switching frequency depends on the same quantities as the application share of the inverter voltage vectors. A comparison with the switching characteristics of an inverter controlled with the space vector modulation technique is carried out. At last, the paper discusses the sensitivity of the switching frequency of an inverter for DTC to the following quantities: inverter dc link voltage, sampling interval and control delay. Throughout the paper simulation and experimental results are given to confirm the theoretical findings.     

中小功率三相高频节能型谐振直流环节逆变器

为使中小功率三相逆变器实现在高开关频率下的节能运行,首次提出了一种新型三相谐振直流环节逆变器拓扑结构.设置在逆变器直流环节的辅助电路参与换流过程时,桥臂输入端的直流环节电压能周期性形成零电压状态,主开关和辅助开关都能完成零电压软切换.在高频金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管（Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor,MOSFET）作为该逆变器的开关器件时,实现零电压软切换能消除MOSFET的容性开通损耗,有利于优化逆变器效率.文中分析了电路的工作流程.2.5kW样机上的实验结果表明开关器件都处于零电压软切换.因此,该拓扑结构对于研发高性能的中小功率三相逆变器具有参考价值.     

中小功率三相高频节能型谐振极逆变器

作为中小功率发电系统重要环节的三相逆变器的开关频率增大时,开关损耗也显著增大,不利于节能。为实现中小功率三相逆变器的高频化和节能化,提出了一种三相零电压开关谐振极逆变器拓扑结构.当桥臂上的辅助谐振电路处于工作状态时,开关器件并联的电容的电压能周期性变化到零,使开关器件完成零电压软切换,这有利于高频金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管（Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor,MOSFET）作为逆变器的开关器件.分析了电路的工作流程,实验结果表明开关器件处于零电压软切换.因此,该拓扑结构对于研发高性能的中小功率三相逆变器具有参考价值.     

Frequency-domain characterization of sliding mode control of an inverter used in DSTATCOM application

In this paper, the commonly used switching schemes for sliding mode control of power converters is analyzed and designed in the frequency domain. Particular application of a distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM) in voltage control mode is investigated in a power distribution system. Tsypkin's method and describing function is used to obtain the switching conditions for the two-level and three-level voltage source inverters. Magnitude conditions of carrier signals are developed for robust switching of the inverter under carrier-based modulation scheme of sliding mode control. The existence of border collision bifurcation is identified to avoid the complex switching states of the inverter. The load bus voltage of an unbalanced three-phase nonstiff radial distribution system is controlled using the proposed carrier-based design. The results are validated using PSCAD/EMTDC simulation studies and through a scaled laboratory model of DSTATCOM that is developed for experimental verification.     

Multiple converter performance and active filtering

The application of active power filtering to power systems in limited by the low switching rate of available high power inverter switches. In this paper, parallel and series connection of multiple voltage source inverter bridges are examined to increase their effective switching rate. The analysis of the inverter voltage spectrum for double edge modulation shows the modulation desired for the separate bridges in open loop. Intuitively “i” bridges in series or parallel increases the effective switch rate by a factor “i”. However the modulation process for each power converter maintains its pattern for its switching period T which gives a roll off at high frequencies and reduces effective bandwidth. The experimental system of two 10 kVA voltage source inverters demonstrated how the closed loop control strategies for the active filter can be applied for multiple bridges implementing periodic optimized error sawtooth feedback control. The double bridge closed loop system showed that the lowest switch frequency terms were double that of the separate bridges. The higher frequency switching lines that should have been cancelled in theory were still discernible due to the finite precision of the edge timing     

A Frequency Multiplication Resonant Inverter With Constant Frequency Phase Control

The schematic and analysis of a voltage-fed resonant inverter are presented in this paper. The topology of the inverter allows operation of the resonant tank at higher harmonics and multiples of the switching frequency. The resulting loss in voltage gain is compensated through the use of multiple commutation poles employing low-cost modestly rated MOSFETs. The proposed topology can control power throughput at a fixed frequency through pole phase-shift modulation. Zero voltage switching is maintained down to no load and within the entire input voltage range. Measurements from a multimegahertz 100-W inverter confirm the theoretical predictions, as well as the suggested design and control approach.     

Topological and Modulation Design of Three-Level Z-Source Inverters

This paper presents the development of two three- level cascaded Z-source inverters, whose output voltage can be stepped down or up unlike a traditional buck three-level inverter. The proposed inverters are designed using two three-phase voltage-source inverter bridges, supplied by two uniquely designed Z-source impedance networks. These three-phase bridges can either be cascaded at their dc sides to form a dc-link-cascaded Z-source inverter or at their ac outputs using single-phase transformers to form a dual Z-source inverter. The dc-link-cascaded inverter has the advantages of not using any clamping diodes and transformers, but does not have redundant switching states within a phase leg for equalizing switching losses among the power devices. This constraint limits the modulation options for the dc-link-cascaded inverter, and indeed, it can only be controlled using the modified carrier disposition technique with appropriate “Z-source shoot-through” states inserted for achieving balanced voltage boosting and optimal “nearest-three-vectors” switching. On the other hand, the dual Z-source inverter with transformer isolation can be controlled using different modulation approaches due to the presence of redundant switching states within a phase leg. Particularly, using a modified phase-shifted-carrier (PSC) scheme with shoot-through states inserted, it is shown that the dual inverter can be implemented using only a single Z-source network, while still achieving the correct volt-sec average and switching loss equalization. This represents a significant reduction in cost, and can more than compensate for the slightly degraded spectral characteristics of the PSC scheme. To verify the theoretical concepts discussed, experimental testing has been performed with the captured results presented in a later section of the paper.      

中小功率单相全桥节能型谐振极逆变器

中小功率单相全桥逆变器常以金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管（Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor,MOSFET）作为开关器件,为实现逆变器在高开关频率下的节能运行,本文提出了一种单相全桥节能型谐振极逆变器拓扑结构,其桥臂上分别并联相同的辅助谐振电路.桥臂上的主开关开通前,其并联的谐振电容的电压能周期性变为零,使主开关完成零电压软开通,可消除MOSFET的容性开通损耗,有利于逆变器的节能运行.本文分析了电路的工作模态,实验结果表明主开关器件处于零电压软切换.因此,该拓扑结构对于研发高性能的中小功率单相全桥逆变器具有参考价值.     

基于PDM ＆ AVC功率控制串联谐振逆变器的研究

针对串联谐振逆变器脉冲密度功率调节PDM（Pulse Density Modulation）轻载时电流容易出现断续,而恒频不对称电压消除法功率调节 AVC （Asymmetrical Voltage Cancellation）输出功率调节范围有限的缺点,提出了一种PDM＆AVC的复合功率控制串联谐振逆变器。该逆变器的输出功率调节范围更宽,而且具有输出电流平稳、电流连续、功率调节连续等优点。文章介绍了该逆变器的电路结构,详细分析了该逆变器的工作原理和控制策略,并用 Pspice 仿真验证了其理论分析的正确性。     

Trinary Hybrid 81-Level Multilevel Inverter for Motor Drive With Zero Common-Mode Voltage

This paper proposes a trinary hybrid 81-level multilevel inverter for motor drive. Benefiting from the trinary hybrid topology of the inverter, 81-level voltages per phase can be synthesized with the fewest components. Bidirectional DC-DC converters are used not only to inject power to the DC links of the inverter but also to absorb power from some DC links in cases with a lower modulation index. The higher bandwidth of DC-DC converters alleviates the ripples of DC-link voltages caused by the load current. The space vector modulation used here, which selects voltage vectors that generate a zero common-mode voltage in the load, works at a low switching frequency. With up to 81-level voltages per phase, the total harmonic distortion is small, and the relationship between the fundamental load voltage and the modulation index is precisely linear. A vector controller is used to control an induction motor, which results in a high dynamic response for speeds or torques. The performance of the proposed inverter for the motor drive is confirmed by simulation and experiment.     

FM/PWM control scheme in class DE inverter

This paper presents a new control scheme for a Class DE inverter, that is, frequency modulation/pulsewidth modulation (FM/PWM) control. Further, the FM/PWM controlled Class DE inverter is analyzed and we clarify performance characteristics. Since the FM/PWM controlled inverter has two control parameters, namely, the switching frequency and the switch-on duty ratio, it has one more degree of freedom for the control than the inverter with the conventional control scheme. The increased degree of freedom is used to minimize the switching losses. Therefore, it is possible to control the output power with high power-conversion efficiency for wide-range control. Carrying out the circuit experiments, we confirm that the experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions quantitatively. For example, the proposed controlled inverter can control the output voltage from 56% to 191% of the optimum one, which is designed for 1.8 W at 1.0 MHz, with maintaining over 90% power-conversion efficiency.     

A Novel Four-Level Voltage Source Inverter—Influence of Switching Strategies on the Distribution of Power Losses

In this paper, a novel four-level inverter will be presented and analyzed. The proposed inverter topology, which is composed of a conventional two-level and a three-level neutral-point clamped (NPC) inverter, is suitable for high-voltage and high-power applications. The proposed inverter, when it is compared with the conventional four-level NPC pulsewidth modulation inverter, exhibits the following advantages: a) ability of changing the power losses distribution profile among the devices by selecting a suitable switching strategy; b) reduction of total inverter power semiconductor device losses; c) ability of bidirectional operation for all power semiconductor switches; and d) easy implementation using existing power semiconductor modules. The effect of conduction and switching losses profiles of the proposed inverter for different switching strategies is examined under different loads, power factors, and modulation indices. The dc-link capacitors voltages are effectively balanced via a proposed self-voltage balancing topology, without the need of isolated dc voltage sources or additional voltage stabilizing circuits. Finally, the theoretical results are confirmed by simulation and experimental results     

Switching Characterization of Cascaded Multilevel-Inverter-Controlled Systems

In this paper, the method of triangular carrier switching control of two-level inverters is extended to cascaded multilevel inverters using phase-shifted multicarrier unipolar pulsewidth modulation (PWM). The condition for smooth modulation is obtained using the Bessel's function representation of the PWM output and the switching condition of the multilevel-inverter-controlled system. A method is proposed for the determination of the minimum amplitude of the triangular carrier for smooth modulation at fixed switching frequency. It is shown that the multilevel modulation based on the phase-shifted carriers significantly reduces the ripple magnitude in the switching function and allows the use of a smaller carrier amplitude under closed loop. This increases the forward gain and, hence, improves the tracking characteristics. The proposed cascaded multilevel inverter control is implemented for the operation of a distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM) in the voltage control mode. The experimental verification of the theoretical and simulation results is provided through a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) based control of a laboratory model of a single-phase DSTATCOM.     

Recent developments of high power converters for industry andtraction applications

The introduction of new high power devices like integrated gate commutated thyristors (IGCTs) and high voltage insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) accelerates the broad use of pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage source converters in industrial and traction applications. This paper summarizes the state-of-the-art of power semiconductors. The characteristics of IGCTs and high voltage IGBTs are described in detail. Both the design and loss simulations of a two level 1.14 MVA voltage source inverter and a 6 MVA three-level neutral point clamped voltage source converter with active front end enable a detailed comparison of both power semiconductors for high power PWM converters. The design and the characteristics of a commercially available IGCT neutral point clamped PWM voltage source converter for medium voltage drives are discussed. Recent developments and trends of traction converters at DC mains and AC mains are summarized     

Operation of PWM voltage source-inverters in the overmodulationregion

Pulse width modulated (PWM) inverters experience a reduction in gain when overmodulation occurs. The pulse dropping or transition region is examined for continuous and discontinuous modulation strategies. Transition region characteristics for a number of modulation strategies are introduced. The effect of the transition region on field oriented control (FOC) is presented. The adverse effects of bus disturbances on current regulated AC inverters, while in the transition region, are demonstrated by experimental results. The problems encountered are the consequence of the reduced gain of the PWM inverter regardless of the PWM strategy. A compensated modulation technique (CMT) adaptable to continuous and discontinuous modulators eliminates the voltage error and transitions to six-step operation without inducing a voltage transient. The CMT applies to voltage and current regulated PWM inverters employing most of the modern switching strategies. Experimental results presented in the paper demonstrate the CMT's smooth transition to six-step and the improved performance a CMT-PWM algorithm provides     

Modelling and analysis of a multilevel voltage source inverter applied as a static var compensator

A multilevel PWM voltage source inverter, especially a five-level one, is introduced to obtain a static var compensator (SVC) as a large scale power source. The multilevel inverter has many advantages, such as better utilization of the switching devices, lower switching frequency at each semiconductor switch and reduced harmonics. In this paper, the SVC with five-level inverter is modelled using circuit DQ transformation and completely analysed including DC and AC characteristics. It is also pointed out that the modulation indexes depend on the values of the DC side capacitors to meet the DC side voltage balancing, Finally, through the experimental results from a 5kVA SVC, the validity of the analyses and the feasibility of the var compensation system are shown for high power applications.     

High-Performance Torque and Flux Control for Multilevel Inverter Fed Induction Motors

This paper presents a high-performance torque and flux control strategy for high-power induction motor drives. The control method uses the torque error to control the load angle, obtaining the appropriate flux vector trajectory from which the voltage vector is directly derived based on direct torque control principles. The voltage vector is then generated by an asymmetric cascaded multilevel inverter without need of modulation and filter. Due to the high output quality of the inverter, the torque response presents nearly no ripple. In addition, switching losses are greatly reduced since 80% of the power is delivered by the high-power cell of the asymmetric inverter, which commutates at fundamental frequency. Simulation and experimental results for 81-level inverter are presented.     

Novel static inverters with high frequency pulse DC link

A novel combined soft switching technique and a novel topological family of the static inverter with high frequency pulse dc link are proposed in this paper. The topological structure is constituted of isolated high frequency pulse dc link circuit and inverter. In order to overcome the duty cycle D of the one transistor forward mode Static Inverter less than 0.5 and the topology of the interleaved forward mode Static Inverter more complicated, the duty cycle extension of high frequency pulse dc voltage is proposed in this paper. The steady operation principle of the active clamp forward mode high frequency pulse dc link static inverter with duty cycle extension and the control strategy of three-state discrete pulse modulation hysteresis current are deeply investigated. The design criteria for the key circuit parameters are gained. By using combined soft switching technique and the duty cycle extension of high frequency pulse dc voltage, a designed and developed 750 VA 27 V dc/115 V 400 Hz ac prototype has the advantages such as high efficiency, high power density, high reliability, high steady precision, fast dynamical response, low THD of output voltage, strong ability of over-load and short-circuit.