THD Analysis of a Seven, Nine, and Eleven Level Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter for Different Loads

A multilevel inverter is implemented for generating the required staircase AC voltage of output from various steps of voltages of DC sources. The multilevel inverter gives a better harmonic spectrum and a compatible quality of output. This article delves into an analytical analysis of the total harmonic distortion (THD) of different multilevel inverters which employ a multicarrier PWM technique. This technique is implemented for operating the switches at their respective angle of conduction. This paper deals with various cascaded H-Bridge multilevel inverters (CMI) with various loads that are modelled by implementing the MATLAB/Simulink platform. The output gives a better result of the proposed model in terms that it is helpful towards reducing the THD and the losses of switching

Predictive current control in electrical drives: an illustrated review with case examples using a five-phase induction motor drive with distributed windings

The industrial application of electric machines in variable-speed drives has grown in the last decades thanks to the development of microprocessors and power converters. Although three-phase machines constitute the most common case, the interest of the research community has been recently focused on machines with more than three phases, known as multiphase machines. The principal reason lies in the exploitation of their advantages like reliability, better current distribution among phases or lower current harmonic production in the power converter than conventional three-phase ones, to name a few. Nevertheless, multiphase drives applications require the development of complex controllers to regulate the torque (or speed) and flux of the machine. In this regard, predictive current controllers have recently appeared as a viable alternative due to an easy formulation and a high flexibility to incorporate different control objectives. It is found however that these controllers face some peculiarities and limitations in their use that require attention. This work attempts to tackle the predictive current control technique as a viable alternative for the regulation of multiphase drives, paying special attention to the development of the control technique and the discussion of the benefits and limitations. Case examples with experimental results in a symmetrical five-phase induction machine with distributed windings in motoring mode of operation are used to this end

A multilevel converter with a floating bridge for open-ended winding motor drive application

In this thesis, a dual inverter topology is considered as an alternative to a multilevel converter for the control of high speed machines. Instead of feeding to one end of the stator with a single power converter, this topology feeds from both sides of the stator winding using two converters, thus achieving multilevel output voltage waveforms across the load. A large amount of published work in the area of open end winding power converter topologies are focused on symmetrical voltage sources. This published research recognises the advantages of the converter system in terms of increased reliability, improved power sharing capability and elimination of common mode voltages when compared to traditional single sided three phase converter solutions. However isolated DC supplies come with the price of additional components thus increase size, weight and losses of the converter system. The aim of this project is, therefore, to investigate on reducing size, weight and losses of the open end winding motor drive by eliminating the need for isolated supply as well to achieve multilevel output voltage waveform. A traditional open-end winding induction motor drive has been analysed in terms of weight and losses and it has been clearly identified that the isolation transformer not only increases the size and weight of a drive system but also includes additional losses. A modified dual inverter system has then been proposed where one of the bridge inverters is floating, thus eliminated the need for isolated supplies. An asymmetric DC voltage sources ratio of 2:1 is utilised to achieve multilevel output voltage waveform across the load. The switching sequences are also analysed to identify the charging and discharging sequences to achieve control over floating capacitor voltage. This thesis describes the theoretical derivation of the modified converter model and algorithms as well as experimental results from an 11kW laboratory prototype

Model predictive control for a dual active bridge inverter with a floating bridge

This paper presents a Model Predictive Control technique applied to a dual active bridge inverter where one of the bridges is floating. The proposed floating bridge topology eliminates the need for isolation transformer in a dual inverter system and therefore reduces the size, weight and losses in the system. To achieve multilevel output voltage waveforms the floating inverter DC link capacitor is charged to the half of the main DC link voltage. A finite-set Model Predictive Control technique is used to control the load current of the converter as well as the floating capacitor voltage. Model predictive control does not require any switching sequence design or complex switching time calculations as used for SVM, thus the technique has some advantages in this application. A detailed analysis of the converter as well as the predictive control strategy is given in this paper. Simulation and experimental results to validate the approach are also presented

Modulation and control strategies for multilevel five-phase open-end winding drives

Industrial and automotive trends clearly demonstrate an increased interest in medium- and high-power variable speed drives. Despite constant progress in the technology, the semiconductor characteristics are still the bottleneck in drive designs, due to their limitations to block high voltage (several kilovolts) and conduct high current (several hundreds of amperes per-phase). For this reason and numerous other advantages, solutions based on multilevel inverters and multiphase machines are considered in recent years. The open-end winding drives are an alternative approach for drives construction. This thesis investigates carrier based pulse width modulation schemes for five-phase open-end winding drives. Two drive topologies, with isolated dc-links of two inverters, are considered. The first one consists of two two-level inverters and a five-phase machine. The second topology utilises one three- and one two-level five-phase inverter. It is shown that the same drive structure can produce a different number of phase voltage levels, when different dc-link voltages of two inverters are in use. Hence, dc-link voltage ratio is considered as an additional degree of freedom. An open-end winding structure that comprises of two two-level inverters offers harmonic performance equivalent to three- and four-level single-sided supply. The second drive structure under analysis is able to produce four, five and six voltage levels, depending on utilised dc-link voltage ratio. Modulation schemes are classified in two categories. So-called coupled modulation schemes are developed under the assumption that open-end winding drives are equivalent to certain single-sided multilevel solutions. This enables the application of slightly modified modulation methods for multilevel inverters, to the open-end winding configurations. As a consequence, number of utilised voltage levels can be higher than the sum of two inverters’ number of levels. However, this boost in number of levels relies on simultaneous switching in two inverters’ legs connected to the same drive phase,which causes so-called dead-time spikes. The second group, referred to in this thesis as decoupled modulation schemes, rely on the separate modulation of two inverters, using voltage references obtained by splitting the overall phase voltage reference, proportionally to inverters’ dc-link voltages. Hence, this kind of modulation offers somewhat worse harmonic performance, when compared to coupled modulation schemes. Special attention is paid to the stability of dc-link voltage levels, which is one of the most important figures of merits of quality for multilevel drives. Using a novel analysis approach, it is demonstrated that utilisation of optimal harmonic performance offered by coupled modulation methods leads to unstable dc-link voltages, but only in the cases where dc-link voltage ratio is used for increment of available number of voltage levels. Decoupled modulation methods offer stable dc-link voltages, regardless of drive configuration. One of the drawbacks of the analysed open-end winding drives is the need for two isolated dc sources, which form dc-link voltages of two inverters. For that reason, a possibility to use only one dc-source in open-end winding drives with isolated inverters is considered. Analysis shows that both drive topologies can be operated using so-called bulk and conditioning inverter control, where bulk inverter is supplied from an active dc source, but operates in staircase mode, while conditioning inverter performs high-frequency pulse width modulation, in order to suppress low-order harmonic content. This kind of operation is investigated in details for two specific configurations in which two inverters never operate at the same time in PWM mode, when coupled modulation methods are used. Comparison of the results shows that topology which comprises from one three- and one two-level inverter is more suitable for this kind of control. Together with previously analysed configurations and modulation strategies, dynamic performance of this novel drive is tested under the closed-loop speed control. Experimental results show that open-end winding drives are suitable for a wide range of applications

Performance of Induction Machines

Induction machines are one of the most important technical applications for both the industrial world and private use. Since their invention (achievements of Galileo Ferraris, Nikola Tesla, and Michal Doliwo-Dobrowolski), they have been widely used in different electrical drives and as generators, thanks to their features such as reliability, durability, low price, high efficiency, and resistance to failure. The methods for designing and using induction machines are similar to the methods used in other electric machines but have their own specificity. Many issues discussed here are based on the fundamental achievements of authors such as Nasar, Boldea, Yamamura, Tegopoulos, and Kriezis, who laid the foundations for the development of induction machines, which are still relevant today. The control algorithms are based on the achievements of Blaschke (field vector-oriented control) and Depenbrock or Takahashi (direct torque control), who created standards for the control of induction machines. Today’s induction machines must meet very stringent requirements of reliability, high efficiency, and performance. Thanks to the application of highly efficient numerical algorithms, it is possible to design induction machines faster and at a lower cost. At the same time, progress in materials science and technology enables the development of new machine topologies. The main objective of this book is to contribute to the development of induction machines in all areas of their applications

Energy efficient PWM induction machine drives for electric vehicles.

The viability of any electric vehicle is critically dependent on it having an acceptable range between charges, a feature which is ultimately dictated by the capacity of the battery energy store. Considerable improvements in vehicle range are possible, however, by ensuring the most effective use of this limited energy resource through the minimisation of the losses in the electric drive-train, i.e. the combined machine and power electronic controller. A particular consideration is that, for the majority of the time, the electric drive-train will be operating at part load. The thesis investigates the operation of induction motor based electric traction drive-trains, with a view to minimising the system loss over typical driving cycles. The study is based around a 26kW induction motor and IGBT inverter drive, which is typical of the technology used to power a small urban vehicle. A potential advantage of an induction motor based drive-train is the ability to vary the level of excitation field in the motor, and therefore the balance of iron and copper loss. The control of the supply voltage magnitude necessitates the use of some form of modulation on the output of the power converter. The method of modulation employed will influence the harmonic content of the supply to the motor, the level of parasitic harmonic loss in the machine and the switching losses of the power semiconductors. A theoretical study supported by experimental work on a DSP controlled drive is presented and used to determine the most appropriate modulation strategy at a given operating point to achieve an optimal balance between the motor copper, iron and harmonic loss and inverter switching and conduction loss. It is shown that compared to the established method of constant flux and fixed inverter switching frequency control, a significant reduction in the traction system loss can be achieved. Some different modulation schemes involve varying amounts of computational overhead in a DSP, the implementation of candidate modulation and control schemes has also been investigated to ensure the defined scheme is practically realisable

A multilevel converter with a floating bridge for open-ended winding motor drive application

In this thesis, a dual inverter topology is considered as an alternative to a multilevel converter for the control of high speed machines. Instead of feeding to one end of the stator with a single power converter, this topology feeds from both sides of the stator winding using two converters, thus achieving multilevel output voltage waveforms across the load. A large amount of published work in the area of open end winding power converter topologies are focused on symmetrical voltage sources. This published research recognises the advantages of the converter system in terms of increased reliability, improved power sharing capability and elimination of common mode voltages when compared to traditional single sided three phase converter solutions. However isolated DC supplies come with the price of additional components thus increase size, weight and losses of the converter system. The aim of this project is, therefore, to investigate on reducing size, weight and losses of the open end winding motor drive by eliminating the need for isolated supply as well to achieve multilevel output voltage waveform. A traditional open-end winding induction motor drive has been analysed in terms of weight and losses and it has been clearly identified that the isolation transformer not only increases the size and weight of a drive system but also includes additional losses. A modified dual inverter system has then been proposed where one of the bridge inverters is floating, thus eliminated the need for isolated supplies. An asymmetric DC voltage sources ratio of 2:1 is utilised to achieve multilevel output voltage waveform across the load. The switching sequences are also analysed to identify the charging and discharging sequences to achieve control over floating capacitor voltage. This thesis describes the theoretical derivation of the modified converter model and algorithms as well as experimental results from an 11kW laboratory prototype