Harith R. Wickramasinghe

Offset PWM in modular multilevel converters for stored arm energy reduction

Modulation techniques for the modular multilevel converter consider that the total number of sub-modules in the phase-leg is, either instantaneously or on average, equal to N balancing the capacitor voltages to a constant reference. This paper proposes an offset PWM technique that utilises the total number of the SMs in the arms of the MMC, particularly under low modulation indices. The result is a reduction in the average voltage of the capacitor and consequently, the total energy stored in the converter. The proposed technique is investigated under open and closed-loop circulating current control and simulation and experimental results are provided to illustrate the operation of the converter.

Asymmetric overlap and hysteresis current control of zero-current switched alternate arm converter

The alternate arm converter (AAC) is a multilevel converter of the same family as the modular multilevel converter (MMC). Contrary to the MMC, the AAC offers dc-fault tolerant capabilities but requires complex submodule (SM) capacitor voltage/energy regulation and circulating current control. Such control is also limited due to the small overlap period where both arms conduct and energy between the arms can be exchanged. This paper develops a double-band hysteresis-based circulating current control strategy by introducing an asymmetric overlap period control of the director switches (DSs). The proposed controller ensures zero-current switching operation of the DSs, and increases the flexibility of SM capacitor voltage regulation owing to the asymmetric overlap period. It improves the performance of current control and energy regulation for the AAC at both near sweet-spot and non sweet-spot operation without disturbing the output voltages and currents. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed controller are illustrated through simulations on MATLAB-Simulink and PLECS.

Interactions Between Indirect DC-Voltage Estimation and Circulating Current Controllers of MMC-Based HVDC Transmission Systems

Estimation-based indirect dc-voltage control in MMCs interacts with circulating current control methods. This paper proposes an estimation-based indirect dc-voltage control method for MMC-HVDC systems and analyzes its performance compared to alternative estimations. The interactions between estimation-based indirect dc-voltage control and circulating current control methods, active/reactive power regulation are also investigated. The proposed method delivers similar performance to measurement-based direct dc-voltage control, regardless of the circulating current control method. Steady-state and transient performance is demonstrated using a benchmark MMC-HVDC transmission system, implemented in a real-time digital simulator. The results verify the theoretical evaluations and illustrate the operation and performance of the proposed indirect dc-voltage control method.

Gradient-Based Energy Balancing and Current Control for Alternate Arm Converters

The alternate arm converter (AAC) is an emerging fault-tolerant multilevel converter topology from the same family of multilevel converters as the modular multilevel converter (MMC). Due to the alternate operation of the converter arms, energy balancing in the AAC is not continuous, but restricted to small time intervals. This paper develops a gradient-based current control and energy-balancing method for the AAC. The proposed strategy enforces the dynamic limits on the redundant submodules (SMs) during the overlap period and allocates effectively the maximum available number of redundant SMs to control the circulating current. The choice of the gradient as the circulating current control parameter improves the energy regulation capability of the AAC, and the enforcement of dynamic limitations avoids distortions of the output voltage. Results from an AAC-based HVDC converter model derived from the CIGRE benchmark MMC system demonstrate that the proposed strategy delivers improved energy control and balancing with good harmonic performance compared to existing current control methods for the AAC while also maintaining zero-current switching of the director switches of the AAC arms.

Modular Multilevel Converter DC Fault Protection

High-voltage direct current (HVDC) grids will require the development of dc protections that provide fast fault isolation and minimize the disturbance caused to the existing ac power networks. This paper investigates how the dc fault recovery performance of a half-bridge modular multilevel converter (HB-MMC) is impacted by different dc protection design choices. An HB-MMC point-to-point HVDC system that is protected with dc circuit breakers (CBs) is simulated on a real-time digital simulator using detailed switch models of the converters and switch gear. A dc CB controller has been developed and implemented in a software-in-the-loop fashion, and has been made available free for download. A novel blocking scheme for the HB-MMC is proposed, which limits the prospective dc-side fault current, benefiting dc switch gear. A comparison of circulating current controllers shows that the standard d —q controller is likely to be unsuitable for fault studies. Finally, benchmarking shows that a 48% reduction in power-flow recovery time and a 90% reduction in the energy dissipated in the circuit breaker can be achieved, along with other benefits, depending on the protection design.

Limitations of overlap control for energy balancing of the alternate arm converter under imbalanced ac grid conditions

Energy balancing of the alternate arm converter (AAC) takes place during the overlap period, when a circulating current flows through both arms of the converter. In this paper, the limitations of the commonly used energy balancing methods of the AAC under grid imbalances are demonstrated. It is shown that the overlap control can only provide sufficient energy balancing for a relatively limited voltage imbalance degree of the ac voltages and larger imbalances greatly impact the energy balancing of the AAC. The limitations of the overlap control are demonstrated through real-time digital simulations of an 800-MVA benchmark AAC model under single-phase, phase-to-phase and three-phase ac imbalances with varying imbalance degrees.