Mariusz Malinowski

Recent Advances and Industrial Applications of Multilevel Converters

Multilevel converters have been under research and development for more than three decades and have found successful industrial application. However, this is still a technology under development, and many new contributions and new commercial topologies have been reported in the last few years. The aim of this paper is to group and review these recent contributions, in order to establish the current state of the art and trends of the technology, to provide readers with a comprehensive and insightful review of where multilevel converter technology stands and is heading. This paper first presents a brief overview of well-established multilevel converters strongly oriented to their current state in industrial applications to then center the discussion on the new converters that have made their way into the industry. In addition, new promising topologies are discussed. Recent advances made in modulation and control of multilevel converters are also addressed. A great part of this paper is devoted to show nontraditional applications powered by multilevel converters and how multilevel converters are becoming an enabling technology in many industrial sectors. Finally, some future trends and challenges in the further development of this technology are discussed to motivate future contributions that address open problems and explore new possibilities.

A Survey on Cascaded Multilevel Inverters

Cascaded multilevel inverters synthesize a medium-voltage output based on a series connection of power cells which use standard low-voltage component configurations. This characteristic allows one to achieve high-quality output voltages and input currents and also outstanding availability due to their intrinsic component redundancy. Due to these features, the cascaded multilevel inverter has been recognized as an important alternative in the medium-voltage inverter market. This paper presents a survey of different topologies, control strategies and modulation techniques used by these inverters. Regenerative and advanced topologies are also discussed. Applications where the mentioned features play a key role are shown. Finally, future developments are addressed.

Simple direct power control of three-phase PWM rectifier using space-vector modulation (DPC-SVM)

This paper proposes a novel and simple direct power control of three-phase pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) rectifiers with constant switching frequency using space-vector modulation (DPC-SVM). The active and reactive powers are used as the pulse width modulated (PWM) control variables instead of the three-phase line currents being used. Moreover, line voltage sensors are replaced by a virtual flux estimator. The theoretical principle of this method is discussed. The steady-state and dynamic results of DPC-SVM that illustrate the operation and performance of the proposed system are presented. It is shown that DPC-SVM exhibits several features, such as a simple algorithm, good dynamic response, constant switching frequency, and particularly it provides sinusoidal line current when supply voltage is not ideal. Results have proven excellent performance and verify the validity of the proposed system.

Virtual flux based direct power control of three-phase PWM rectifiers

In this paper direct power control (DPC) of three-phase PWM rectifiers without line voltage sensors is presented. The new system is based on virtual flux (VF) estimation. The theoretical principle of this method is discussed. The steady state and dynamic behaviour of VF-DPC are presented that illustrate the operation and performance of the proposed system compared to a conventional DPC method. Both strategies are also investigated under unbalance and pre-distorted grid. It is shown that VF-DPC exhibits several advantages, particularly providing sinusoidal line current when supply voltage is not ideal. Some test results show the excellent performance of the proposed system.

A comparative study of control techniques for PWM rectifiers in AC adjustable speed drives

Four control techniques for pulse-width modulation (PWM) rectifiers in AC adjustable speed drives are presented. In particular, the so-called virtual-flux oriented control (VFOC) and virtual-flux based direct power control (VF-DPC) schemes are described and compared with their voltage based counterparts. These are the voltage oriented control (VOC) and voltage-based direct power control (V-DPC) techniques. Theoretical background is provided, and results of computer simulations and laboratory experiments are given, documenting advantages and disadvantages of the individual control strategies.

Comparison of 2.3-kV Medium-Voltage Multilevel Converters for Industrial Medium-Voltage Drives

This paper compares the expense of power semiconductors and passive components of a (2.3 kV, 2.4 MVA) two-level, three-level neutral-point-clamped, three-level flying-capacitor, four-level flying-capacitor, and five-level series-connected H-bridge voltage source converter on the basis of the state-of-the-art 6.5-, 3.3-, 2.5-, and 1.7-kV insulated gate bipolar transistors for industrial medium-voltage drives. The power semiconductor losses, the loss distribution, the installed switch power, the design of flying capacitors, and the components of an sine filter for retrofit applications are considered.

A Simple Voltage Sensorless Active Damping Scheme for Three-Phase PWM Converters With an

Active three-phase pulsewidth-modulated rectifiers are connected to the grid by an inductance or an LCL filter. Although an filter is more effective since it more efficiently attenuates the switching harmonics, it causes stability problems. To enable a stable operation, either a damping resistor or an active damping (AD) algorithm has to be used. However, while a damping resistor causes additional losses, an AD algorithm usually requires extra sensors. To avoid these disadvantages, this paper shows simulation and experimental results of a simple AC voltage sensorless AD solution that is suitable for industrial applications.

LCL

In this paper two different control strategies for a PWM rectifier without line voltage sensors are compared. The direct power control (DPC) which has no need for line voltage measurements is compared to the conventional voltage oriented control (VOC) strategy in rotating coordinates with a novel line voltage estimator. The steady-state performance of both strategies is compared with regards to voltage unbalance and pre-distorted grid. Furthermore, the use of discontinuous modulation is motivated in the classical control strategy and is analyzed along with the novel line voltage estimator. It is shown that the VOC strategy with line voltage estimator exhibits several advantages compared to DPC. Some simulations and experimental results verifying the comparison are presented.

Filter

Slight hardware and algorithm modifications as well as a higher power ratio of a three-phase pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) rectifier make compensation of neighboring nonlinear power load possible. The active filtering function enlarges the functionality of PWM rectifiers, which decreases the cost of additional installation of compensating equipment. It gives a chance to fulfill both shunt active filter (SAF) and PWM rectifier tasks in a multidrive system by one advanced converter. Thanks to the idea of virtual flux, the direct power control space-vector-modulated (DPC-SVM) and new synchronous double reference frame phase-locked loop approach, the control system is resistant to a majority of line voltage disturbances. This assures proper operation of the system for abnormal and failure grid conditions. Simulation and experimental results have proven excellent performance and verify the validity of the proposed system.

Sensorless control strategies for PWM rectifier

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.