Multilevel Converters: An Enabling Technology for High-Power Applications

| Multilevel converters are considered today as the state-of-the-art power-conversion systems for high-power and power-quality demanding applications. This paper presents a tutorial on this technology, covering the operating principle and the different power circuit topologies, modulation methods, technical issues and industry applications. Special attention is given to established technology already found in industry with more in-depth and self-contained information, while recent advances and state-of-the-art contributions are addressed with useful references. This paper serves as an introduction to the subject for the not-familiarized reader, as well as an update or reference for academics and practicing engineers working in the field of industrial and power electronics.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología DPI2001-3089Ministerio de Eduación y Ciencia d TEC2006-0386

Comparative Analysis of Multilevel Converters for Medium-Voltage Applications

The electric energy demand has been steadily growing during the last century, and all forecasts indicate that it will keep growing in the following years. Within this frame, and due to all the problems that this demand increase generate in the environment, it is necessary improving the current techniques of electric energy conversion and transmission in order to increase the whole system efficiency. On the other hand, it is also necessary increasing the renewable energy resources exploitation through more efficient generation systems. According to these lines, the power electronics systems that have been installed in the last decades allowed to obtain better efficiency from the renewable natural resources like the wind or the solar power. These systems have also notably improved the quality of the power supplied, reducing the losses through what are known as power quality applications. Power converters are currently essential in any power electronics system. Within them, the multilevel converters specially suppose a breakthrough compared with the classical two level converters, as they allow obtaining voltage and current signals with lower harmonic content, what means fewer losses in high power medium voltage applications. In this Thesis a comparative study of some multilevel converter topologies normally used in high power medium voltage applications is done. The objective is analyzing in detail each topology and comparing it with the rest following different criteria, with the aim to know the advantages and drawbacks of each one and to realize which one is more suitable for each application

Energy and voltage management methods for multilevel converters for bulk power system power quality improvement

Electric arc furnaces (EAFs) are prevalent in the steel industry to melt iron and scrap steel. EAFs frequently cause large amplitude fluctuations of active and reactive power and are the source of significant power quality disturbances. Also EAFs comprise a major portion of industrial loading on the bulk power system. Typically, a static VAR compensator (SVC) or Static Synchronous compensator (STATCOM) are use to provide the reactive power support in order to alleviate the fluctuations in voltage at PCC. Static Synchronous Compensators (STATCOMs) provide a power electronic-based means of embedded control for reactive power support. Integrating an energy storage system (ESS) such as large capacitors with the STATCOM will improve the device performance to have active power controllability as well as the reactive power. A cascaded multilevel STATCOM has been utilized in order to compensate for all the fluctuations caused by an EAF both in the RMS of the voltage at PCC and also the active power generation. Designing a sophisticated controller, it is possible to get the STATCOM track the variations of active power in load. Therefore, the generator does not need to produce the random active power demanded by the load --Abstract, page iv

Investigations of New Fault-Tolerant Methods for Multilevel Inverters

The demands of power electronics with high power capability have increased in the last decades. These needs have driven the expansion of existing power electronics topologies and developing new power electronics generations. Multilevel inverters (MLI) are one of the most promising power electronics circuits that have been implemented and commercialized in high-voltage direct current (HVDC), motor drives, and battery energy storage systems (BESS). The expanding uses of the MLI have lead to creation of new topologies for different applications. However, one of the disadvantages of using MLIs is their complexity. MLIs consist of a large number of switching devices, which can result in a reduction of system reliability. There are significant challenges to the design of a reliable system that has the MLI’s capability with integrated fault-tolerance. In other words, design a system that can handle the fault, totally or partially, while maintaining high power capabilities and efficiency. This aim of this dissertation is to investigate the fault-tolerance of MLIs from two different points of view: 1- Develop new solutions for existing MLI topologies. In other words, add some features to existing MLIs to improve their reliability when a fault occurs. 2- Design new MLIs that have a fault-tolerant capability. A new open-circuit fault detection is proposed in this dissertation. The new fault detection method is based on monitoring the output voltage of each cell and leg voltage polarity along with each switch state. By monitoring each cell output voltage and leg voltage, the faulty cell can be detected and isolated. A novel circuit to maintain system operation under the condition of one (or more) components suffering from a faulted condition is also proposed in this dissertation. This results in a topology that continues to operate at full capability. Additionally, a new topology is proposed that offers reducing the number of batteries by 50%. Also, it has the ability to operate under non-unity power factor, which enables it to be suitable for battery energy storage systems, and static compensator (STATCOM) applications. Another novel hybrid cascaded H-bridge (CHB), known as the X-CHB, for a fault-tolerant operation is proposed in this dissertation. It ensures seamless operation of the system under an open/short circuit switching fault or dc supply fault

Fast DC Fault Current Suppression and Fault Ride Through in Full-Bridge MMCs via Regulation of Submodule Capacitor Discharge

High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) is more cost-effective than High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) for transmitting power over long distances, and therefore is ideal for bulk power transfer from wind, solar, hydroelectric, and tidal power plants located in offshore or remote locations to load centers. The use of Voltage-Sourced Converters (VSCs) in HVDC transmission systems offers greater flexibility when compared to their counterpart, Line Commutated Converters (LCCs), due to their smaller footprint, improved power quality, as well as decoupled active and reactive power control, voltage support, and black start capabilities. The most recent advancements in VSC technology have led to the emergence of a new converter topology known as the Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC). The simplest and most economical MMC cell structure is the Half-Bridge Submodule (HBSM), which is unable to prevent AC side contribution to DC side faults in HVDC systems. Therefore, DC fault protection in the HB-MMC requires either installation of expensive DC Circuit Breakers (DCCBs) or the opening of AC side breakers that are not adequately fast. Adding two extra switches to the HBSM results in the Full-Bridge Submodule (FBSM) configuration which ensures that, in the event of a DC side fault, there is a reverse voltage in the path of AC side current feeding the DC side fault through the antiparallel diodes in the SM switches. In addition, such fault blocking SMs capable of bipolar voltage generation equip the MMCs with Fault Ride Through (FRT) ability, thus allowing them to remain connected to both AC and DC networks during DC faults while operating as Static Compensators (STATCOMs) and exchanging reactive power with the AC network. A comprehensive review of notable fault blocking SM configurations and fault ride through techniques is presented in this thesis. In the event of a DC side fault, the fault current contributions are initially made by SM capacitor discharge, which occurs before the fault is detected, followed by the AC side contribution to the DC side fault. While the AC side currents can be regulated using fault blocking SMs with bipolar voltage generation capability, the initial discharge of the SM capacitors results in high DC fault currents, which can take several milliseconds to be brought under control. A method to actively influence the rate of rise of the DC fault current by regulating the discharge of SM capacitors in an HB-MMC system has been presented in the literature. In this thesis, the approach has been modified and adapted to a FB-MMC system. The discharge direction of the FBSM capacitors is inverted following the detection of a DC side fault which leads to a reversal in the fault current direction and a fast drop-off towards zero. The conventional FRT procedure where the DC fault is cleared by making adjustments to the MMC arm reference voltages followed by STATCOM operation of the MMC is initiated after the detection of zero-crossing of the DC fault current. The proposed control scheme provides significantly faster DC fault current suppression compared to the case where the conventional FRT procedure is initiated immediately upon DC fault detection. Simulations performed on a point-to-point FB-MMC test system are used to verify the theoretical analysis and to evaluate the DC-FRT performance of the proposed scheme

A comprehensive review on modular multilevel converters, submodule topologies, and modulation techniques

The concept of the modular multilevel converter (MLC) has been raising interest in research in order to improve their performance and applicability. The potential of an MLC is enormous, with a great focus on medium- and high-voltage applications, such as solar photovoltaic and wind farms, electrified railway systems, or power distribution systems. This concept makes it possible to overcome the limitation of the semiconductors blocking voltages, presenting advantageous characteristics. However, the complexity of implementation and control presents added challenges. Thus, this paper aims to contribute with a critical and comparative analysis of the state-of-the-art aspects of this concept in order to maximize its potential. In this paper, different power electronics converter topologies that can be integrated into the MLC concept are presented, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each topology. Nevertheless, different modulation techniques used in an MLC are also presented and analyzed. Computational simulations of all the modulation techniques under analysis were developed, based on four cascaded full-bridge topologies. Considering the simulation results, a comparative analysis was possible to make regarding the symmetry of the synthesized waveforms, the harmonic content, and the power distribution in each submodule constituting the MLC.This work has been supported by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, within the R&D Units Project Scope UIDB/00319/2020. Mr. Luis A. M. Barros is supported by the doctoral scholarship PD/BD/143006/2018, granted by the Portuguese FCT foundation

Distributed control of a fault tolerant modular multilevel inverter for direct-drive wind turbine grid interfacing

Modular generator and converter topologies are being pursued for large offshore wind turbines to achieve fault tolerance and high reliability. A centralized controller presents a single critical point of failure which has prevented a truly modular and fault tolerant system from being obtained. This study analyses the inverter circuit control requirements during normal operation and grid fault ride-through, and proposes a distributed controller design to allow inverter modules to operate independently of each other. All the modules independently estimate the grid voltage magnitude and position, and the modules are synchronised together over a CAN bus. The CAN bus is also used to interleave the PWM switching of the modules and synchronise the ADC sampling. The controller structure and algorithms are tested by laboratory experiments with respect to normal operation, initial synchronization to the grid, module fault tolerance and grid fault ride-through