Control of Three-Level PWM Converter Applied to Variable-Speed-Type Turbines

This paper proposes advanced control of a three-phase three-level neutral-point-clamped pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) converter connecting a permanent-magnet synchronous generator to a grid. The control scheme is mainly based on active and reactive power loops and contains the following additional blocks: virtual flux and filter-capacitor voltage estimators for sensorless operation, active damping (AD) of possible resonances in the LCL filter that connects the converter to the grid, and a PWM modulator with dc-link voltage balancing and minimization of switching losses. It is shown that the proposed control method exhibits several features such as sensorless operation, robust algorithm, minimization of switching losses, and simple tuning procedure of AD. The simulation and experimental results have proven an excellent performance and verified the validity of the proposed system.     

Three-phase power quality compensator under the unbalanced sources and nonlinear loads

A three-phase voltage-source inverter for a power quality compensator under the unbalanced mains and nonlinear loads is proposed to provide balanced three-phase source current and improve input power factor. The proposed converter is based on the conventional three-phase voltage-source inverter with three additional ac power switches to achieve three-level pulsewidth modulation. The voltage stress of three ac power switches is clamped to half the dc-link voltage. The balanced reference mains currents are estimated using the dc-bus voltage and load currents. A proportional-integral voltage controller is used in the outer loop to compensate the switching losses of the voltage-source inverter. To perform the integrated power quality compensation, a hysteresis current control scheme is adopted to track the balanced line current command in phase with mains voltage. Three voltage levels are generated on the ac terminal of the proposed inverter. Computer simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.     

Programmable PFC based hybrid multipulse power rectifier for ultra clean power application

A novel hybrid three-phase rectifier is proposed. It is capable to achieve high input power factor (PF) and low total harmonic input currents distortion (THD/sub I/). The proposed hybrid high power rectifier is composed by a standard three-phase six-pulse diode rectifier (Graetz bridge) with a parallel connection of single-phase Sepic rectifiers in each three-phase rectifier leg. Such topology results in a structure capable of programming the input current waveform and providing conditions for obtaining high input power factor and low harmonic current distortion. In order to validate the proposed hybrid rectifier, this work describes its principles, with detailed operation, simulation, experimental results, and discussions on power rating of the required Sepic converters as related to the desired total harmonic current distortion. It is demonstrated that only a fraction of the output power is processed through the Sepic converters, making the proposed solution economically viable for very high power installations, with fast investment payback. Moreover, retrofitting to existing installations is also feasible since the parallel path can be easily controlled by integration with the existing dc-link. A prototype has been implemented in the laboratory and it was fully demonstrated to both operate with excellent performance and be feasibly implemented in higher power applications.     

Analysis and Implementation of a Hybrid High-Power-Factor Three-Phase Unidirectional Rectifier

This paper describes the conception and analysis of a unidirectional hybrid three-phase rectifier suitable for medium- and high-power applications. The rectifier is composed of a single-switch diode bridge boost-type rectifier in parallel with a pulsewidth modulation (PWM) three-phase unidirectional boost rectifier. The objective is to obtain a structure capable of providing sinusoidal input currents with low harmonic distortion and dc output voltage regulation. The diode rectifier operates at low frequency and has a higher output power rating. Therefore, the PWM unidirectional rectifier is designed to operate with a small power rating and at a high switching frequency. The total harmonic distortion of the proposed structure varies between 0% and 32%, depending only on the amount of power processed by the PWM three-phase unidirectional rectifier. The rectifier topology conception, principle of operation, control scheme, and simulation and experimental results of a 20-kW laboratory prototype are also presented in this paper.     

A 12 kW three-phase low THD rectifier with high-frequency isolation and regulated DC output

A robust 12 kW rectifier with low THD in the line currents, based on an 18-pulse transformer arrangement with reduced kVA capacities followed by a high-frequency isolation stage is presented in this work. Three full-bridge (buck-based) converters are used to allow galvanic isolation and to balance the dc-link currents, without current sensing or current controller. The topology provides a regulated dc output with a very simple and well-known control strategy and natural three-phase power factor correction. The phase-shift PWM technique, with zero-voltage switching is used for the high-frequency dc-dc stage. Analytical results from Fourier analysis of winding currents and the vector diagram of winding voltages are presented. Experimental results from a 12 kW prototype are shown in the paper to verify the efficiency, robustness and simplicity of the command circuitry to the proposed concept.     

Minimum-loss strategy for three-phase PWM rectifier

In this paper, the conduction and switching losses of a voltage-fed three-phase pulsewidth modulation (PWM) rectifier are analyzed for various PWM schemes. On the basis of this result, a novel PWM strategy which minimizes the loss of a three-phase PWM rectifier is developed. This minimization result is derived from the following two factors: (1) less switching frequency ratio; and (2) the absence of switching in the vicinity of peak input current. As a result, it is anticipated that the switching loss of the rectifier is reduced by 46%, compared with continuous space-vector PWM rectifiers, and 20% compared with conventional discontinuous space-vector PWM rectifiers. Moreover, the proposed PWM scheme can produce the highest available output voltage because it is based on the concept of the voltage space vector. The effectiveness of the proposed PWM strategy is verified by experiments     

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     

A digitally controlled switch mode power supply based on matrix converter

High power telecommunication power supply systems consist of a three-phase switch mode rectifier followed by a dc/dc converter to supply loads at -48 V dc. These rectifiers draw significant harmonic currents from the utility, resulting in poor input power factor with high total harmonic distortion (THD). In this paper, a digitally controlled three-phase switch mode power supply based on a matrix converter is proposed for telecommunication applications. In the proposed approach, the matrix converter directly converts the low frequency (50/60Hz, three-phase) input to a high frequency (10/20kHz, one-phase) ac output without a dc-link. The output of the matrix converter is then processed via a high frequency isolation transformer to produce -48V dc. Digital control of the system ensures that the output voltage is regulated and the input currents are of high quality under varying load conditions. Due to the absence of dc-link electrolytic capacitors, power density of the proposed rectifier is expected to be higher. Analysis, design example and experimental results are presented from a three-phase 208-V, 1.5-kW laboratory prototype converter.     

Current-controller with single DC link current measurement for inverter-fed AC machines based on an improved observer-structure

In modern industrial applications even low-cost drives have excellent dynamic behavior, which is achieved by field-oriented control combined with high-dynamic current regulation. Usually at least two phase-current sensors are necessary to realize such an operation. In this paper, a new current-control scheme is presented, which enables high-dynamic control of ac machine-line currents with improved accuracy by measuring only the current of the dc-link. The controller is based on three individual and adaptive phase-current observers, which guarantee very accurate phase-current estimates even at low-modulation indices. Thus, operation is possible even at low-speed without modifying the switching pattern of the controller and the necessary modification at zero-speed can be clearly reduced. Different realizations of the proposed scheme are given and a comparison is made to previously published schemes which are also based on a single dc-link current sensor. Measurements performed on an induction-machine drive at different points of operation show the applicability of the proposed structure. It is shown that the long-term accuracy is clearly increased and the maximum deviation of the observer estimate from the actual phase-current is reduced when using the proposed scheme.     

Three-phase sinusoidal current rectifier with zero-currentswitching

This paper presents the application of zero-current switching in a three-phase rectification scheme with nearly sinusoidal line currents. The principle of third harmonic current circulation is used to reduce the distortion in the line currents. Zero-current switching is accomplished with the use of only two switches. The operation of the circuit is verified experimentally. Comparisons with a PWM based rectifier and a six-switch rectifier in terms of component stresses and EMI filter considerations are presented     

Three-phase unity-power-factor star-connected switch (VIENNA) rectifier with unified constant-frequency integration control

A unified constant-frequency integration (UCI) controller for a three-phase star-connected switch three-level rectifier (VIENNA) with unity-power-factor-correction is proposed. One of advantages of this rectifier is that the switch voltage stress is one half of the total output voltage. The proposed control approach is based on one-cycle control and features great simplicity and reliability: all three phases will be power factor corrected using one or two integrators with reset along with several flips-flops, comparators and logic and linear components. It does not require multipliers to scale the current reference according to the output power level as used in many other control approaches. In addition, the input voltage sensor is eliminated. It employs constant switching frequency modulation that is desirable for industrial applications. The proposed controller can operate by sensing either the inductor currents or the switching currents. If the switching currents are sensed, the cost is further reduced because switching currents are easier to sense comparing with inductor currents. The proposed approach is supported by experimental results.     

Reduced Switch Count DC-Link AC–AC Five-Leg Converter

This paper investigates a reduced switch count dc-link ac–ac five-leg converter for three-phase power conversion. The converter provides both an input rectifier and an output inverter by sharing a leg in order to reduce the number of power switches. Scalar and vector pulsewidth modulation techniques are presented and the concepts of local and global apportioning factors are introduced. A control technique that aims at maximizing the utilization of the dc-link voltage is proposed. A hysteresis current controller that allows operating with one leg being shared by the load and grid sides is developed. In addition, several relevant characteristics of the converter are addressed, such as voltage capability, harmonic distortion, shared-leg and capacitor currents, and power rating. The features of such a converter are compared to those of the six-leg and four-leg converters. Selected experimental results are presented.     

Control of Single-Phase-to-Three-Phase AC/DC/AC PWM Converters for Induction Motor Drives

This paper proposes a novel control scheme of single-phase-to-three-phase pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) converters for low-power three-phase induction motor drives, where a single-phase half-bridge PWM rectifier and a two-leg inverter are used. With this converter topology, the number of switching devices is reduced to six from ten in the case of full-bridge rectifier and three-leg inverter systems. In addition, the source voltage sensor is eliminated with a state observer, which controls the deviation between the model current and the system current to be zero. A simple scalar voltage modulation method is used for a two-leg inverter, and a new technique to eliminate the effect of the dc-link voltage ripple on the inverter output current is proposed. Although the converter topology itself is of lower cost than the conventional one, it retains the same functions such as sinusoidal input current, unity power factor, dc-link voltage control, bidirectional power flow, and variable-voltage and variable-frequency output voltage. The experimental results for the V/f control of 3-hp induction motor drives controlled by a digital signal processor TMS320C31 chip have verified the effectiveness of the proposed scheme     

Link voltage peak control of parallel resonant converter by controlof the converter switching instant

This paper describes a new control strategy of the parallel resonant DC link converter called voltage peak control (VPC). VPC limits the link voltage to twice the DC link voltage. The strategy eliminates the need of additional power electronic components that clamp the link voltage. The operation of the resonant link is described highlighting the factors that influence on the link voltage peak. The paper describes how control of the link voltage peak is possible by appropriate timing of the converter switching. The VPC strategy is implemented in a parallel resonant DC link converter, and simulations with the VPC strategy turned on and turned off are compared. Experimental verification of the VPC strategy is done in a three-phase parallel resonant DC link converter and measurements of switching losses are present. It is concluded that the switching losses are low and the link voltage peak can be controlled without any additional clamp circuits using VPC     

AC voltage and current sensorless control of three-phase PWM rectifiers

In this paper, a novel control scheme of three-phase PWM rectifiers eliminating both the AC input voltage and current sensors is proposed. The phase angle and the magnitude of the source voltage are estimated by controlling the deviation between the rectifier current and its model current to be zero. The input currents can be reconstructed from switching states of the PWM rectifier and the measured DC link currents. To eliminate the calculation time delay effect of the microprocessor, the currents ahead one sampling period are estimated by a state observer and then are used for feedback control. The proposed control scheme reduces the system cost and improves its reliability. The feasibility of the proposed AC sensorless technique for three-phase PWM rectifiers has been verified through experiments using a high performance DSP chip.     

Continuous and discrete variable-structure controls for parallel three-phase boost rectifier

We describe three nonlinear control schemes for a parallel three-phase boost rectifier consisting of two modules. The basic idea, however, can be extended to a system with N modules. All of the control schemes are developed in a synchronous frame. Moreover, each of the closed-loop power-converter modules operates asynchronously without any communication with the other module. Based on the dynamical equations of the parallel converter, we find that independent control of both of the modules on the DQ axes is not necessary and possible. Consequently, we develop control schemes that stabilize the dq axes and limit the zero-axis disturbance by preventing the flow of the pure zero-sequence current. One of the control schemes is developed purely in the discrete domain. It combines the space-vector modulation scheme with a variable-structure control, thereby keeping the switching frequency constant and achieving satisfactory dynamic performance. The performances of the other control schemes are also satisfactory.     

节能型三相桥式零电流开关整流器

为使三相桥式整流器实现节能运行,提出了一种节能型三相桥式零电流开关整流器拓扑结构,在各相桥臂上的辅助谐振电路处于工作状态时,整流器的开关器件能完成零电流软关断.三相桥式整流器通常以绝缘栅双极型晶体管（Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor,IGBT）作为开关器件,实现零电流软关断能消除IGBT拖尾电流产生的关断损耗.分析了电路工作过程,在三相3kW样机上的实验结果表明开关器件实现了零电流软切换.因此,该拓扑结构可实现以IGBT作为开关器件的三相桥式整流器的节能运行.     

A Three-Phase Current-Fed DC/DC Converter With Active Clamp for Low-DC Renewable Energy Sources

This paper focuses on a new three-phase high power current-fed dc/dc converter with an active clamp. A three-phase dc/dc converter with high efficiency and voltage boosting capability is designed for use in the interface between a low-voltage fuel-cell source and a high-voltage dc bus for inverters. Zero-voltage switching in all active switches is achieved through using a common active clamp branch, and zero current switching in the rectifier diodes is achieved through discontinuous current conduction in the secondary side. Further, the converter is capable of increased power transfer due to its three-phase power configuration, and it reduces the rms current per phase, thus reducing conduction losses. Moreover, a delta-delta connection on the three-phase transformer provides parallel current paths and reduces conduction losses in the transformer windings. An efficiency of above 93% is achieved through both improvements in the switching and through reducing conduction losses. A high voltage ratio is achieved by combining inherent voltage boost characteristics of the current-fed converter and the transformer turns ratio. The proposed converter and three-phase PWM strategy is analyzed, simulated, and implemented in hardware. Experimental results are obtained on a 500-W prototype unit, with all of the design verified and analyzed.      

A three-phase ZVS PWM DC/DC converter with asymmetrical duty cycle associated with a three-phase version of the hybridge rectifier

This paper proposes the use of a three-phase version of the hybridge rectifier in the three-phase zero-voltage switch (ZVS) DC/DC converter with asymmetrical duty cycle. The use of this new rectifier improves the efficiency of the converter because only three diodes are responsible for the conduction losses in the secondary side. The current in the secondary side of the transformer is half the output current. In addition to this, all the advantages of the three-phase DC/DC converter, i.e., the increased frequency of the output and input currents, the improved distribution of the losses, as well as the soft commutation for a wide load range, are preserved. Therefore, the resulting topology is capable of achieving high efficiency and high power density at high power levels. The theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results obtained from a 6-kW prototype, and also a comparison of the efficiency of this converter with the full-bridge rectifier are presented.     

A Comprehensive Study of a Hybrid Modulation Technique for the Neutral-Point-Clamped Converter

This paper presents a hybrid modulation technique for the three-level neutral-point-clamped converter. A modulation strategy, based on two modulation signals per phase, was presented previously. This strategy completely removes the low-frequency voltage oscillations that appear at the neutral point (NP) in some operation conditions. However, it also has a major drawback: it significantly increases the switching losses of the converter. The proposal in this paper combines such a modulation strategy with sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation (SPWM). The main characteristic of this hybrid modulation is the reduction in switching losses at the cost of some low-frequency voltage oscillations at the NP. The amplitude of these oscillations can be controlled by varying the combination of the two strategies. The performance of the hybrid modulation is analyzed and compared with the original strategies. Power losses and oscillation amplitudes on the dc-link capacitors are evaluated. Experimental results show how the hybrid modulation performs by balancing the dc-link capacitors.