Impact Evaluation of Innovative Selective Harmonic Mitigation Algorithm for Cascaded H-Bridge Inverter on IPMSM Drive Application

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the use of a novel Harmonic Mitigation algorithm for Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter in electrical drives for the transportation field. For this purpose, an enhanced mathematical model of Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (IPMSM), that takes into account simultaneously saturation, cross-coupling, spatial harmonics, and iron loss effects, has been used. In detail, this model allows estimating accurately the efficiency and the torque ripple of the IPMSM, crucial parameters for transportation applications. Moreover, two traditional pulse width modulation strategies, Sinusoidal Phase-Shifted and Switching Frequency Optimal Phase-Shifted have been considered for comparison purposes with an optimized harmonic mitigation algorithm. Thus, this work provides a deep analysis of IPMSM drive performance fed by CHBMI, paying attention to various aspects such as the IPMSM efficiency, torque ripple, current, and voltage total harmonic distortion (THD). Finally, experimental investigations have been carried out to validate the analysis conducted

Direct Torque Control for Silicon Carbide Motor Drives

Direct torque control (DTC) is an extensively used control method for motor drives due to its unique advantages, e.g., the fast dynamic response and the robustness against motor parameters variations, uncertainties, and external disturbances. Using higher switching frequency is generally required by DTC to reduce the torque ripples and decrease stator current total harmonic distortion (THD), which however can lower the drive efficiency. Through the use of the emerging silicon carbide (SiC) devices, which have lower switching losses compared to their silicon counterparts, it is feasible to achieve high efficiency and low torque ripple simultaneously for DTC drives. To overcome the above challenges, a SiC T-type neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter is studied in this work to significantly reduce the torque and flux ripples which also effectively reduce the stator current ripples, while retaining the fast-dynamic response as the conventional DTC. The unbalanced DC-link is an intrinsic issue of the T-type inverter, which may also lead to higher torque ripple. To address this issue, a novel DTC algorithm, which only utilizes the real voltage space vectors and the virtual space vectors (VSVs) that do not contribute to the neutral point current, is proposed to achieve inherent dc-link capacitor voltage balancing without using any DC-link voltage controls or additional DC-link capacitor voltages and/or neutral point current sensors. Both dynamic performance and efficiency are critical for the interior permanent-magnet (IPM) motor drives for transportation applications. It is critical to determine the optimal reference stator flux linkage to improve the efficiency further of DTC drives and maintain the stability of the drive system, which usually obtained by tuning offline and storing in a look-up table or calculated online using machine models and parameters. In this work, the relationship between the stator flux linkage and the magnitude of stator current is analyzed mathematically. Then, based on this relationship, a perturb and observe (P&O) method is proposed to determine the optimal flux for the motor which does not need any prior knowledge of the machine parameters and offline tuning. However, due to the fixed amplitude of the injected signal the P&O algorithm suffers from large oscillations at the steady state conditions. To mitigate the drawback of the P&O method, an adaptive high frequency signal injection based extremum seeking control (ESC) algorithm is proposed to determine the optimal reference flux in real-time, leading to a maximum torque per ampere (MTPA) like approach for DTC drives. The stability analysis and key parameters selection for the proposed ESC algorithm are studied. The proposed method can effectively reduce the motor copper loss and at the same time eliminate the time consuming offline tuning effort. Furthermore, since the ESC is a model-free approach, it is robust against motor parameters variations, which is desirable for IPM motors

Analysis of the Harmonic Performance of Power Converters and Electrical Drives

Power converters have progressively become the most efficient and attractive solution in recent decades in many industrial sectors, ranging from electric mobility, aerospace applications to attain better electric aircraft concepts, vast renewable energy resource integration in the transmission and distribution grid, the design of smart and efficient energy management systems, the usage of energy storage systems, and the achievement of smart grid paradigm development, among others.In order to achieve efficient solutions in this wide energy scenario, over the past few decades, considerable attention has been paid by the academia and industry in order to develop new methods to achieve power systems with maximum harmonic performance aiming for two main targets. On the one hand, the high-performance harmonic performance of power systems would lead to improvements in their power density, size and weight. This becomes critical in applications such as aerospace or electric mobility, where the power converters are on-board systems. On the other hand, current standards are becoming more and more strict in order to reduce the EMI and EMC noise, as well as meeting minimum power quality requirements (i.e., grid code standards for grid-tied power systems)

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

Design and Power Management of an Offshore Medium Voltage DC Microgrid Realized Through High Voltage Power Electronics Technologies and Control

The growth in the electric power industry’s portfolio of Direct Current (DC) based generation and loads have captured the attention of many leading research institutions. Opportunities for using DC based systems have been explored in electric ship design and have been a proven, reliable solution for transmitting bulk power onshore and offshore. To integrate many of the renewable resources into our existing AC grid, a number of power conversions through power electronics are required to condition the equipment for direct connection. Within the power conversion stages, there is always a requirement to convert to or from DC. The AC microgrid is a conceptual solution proposed for integrating various types of renewable generation resources. The fundamental microgrid requirements include the capability of operating in islanding mode and/or grid connected modes. The technical challenges associated with microgrids include (1) operation modes and transitions that comply with IEEE1547 without extensive custom engineering and (2) control architecture and communication. The Medium Voltage DC (MVDC) architecture, explored by the University of Pittsburgh, can be visualized as a special type of DC microgrid. This dissertation is multi-faceted, focused on many design aspects of an offshore DC microgrid. The focal points of the discussion are focused on optimized high power, high frequency magnetic material performance in electric machines, transformers, and DC/DC power converters – all components found within offshore power system architectures. A new controller design based upon model reference control is proposed and shown to stabilize the electric motor drives (modeled as constant power loads), which serve as the largest power consuming entities in the microgrid. The design and simulation of a state-of-the-art multilevel converter for High Voltage DC (HVDC) is discussed and a component sensitivity analysis on fault current peaks is explored. A power management routine is proposed and evaluated as the DC microgrid is disturbed through various mode transitions. Finally, two communication protocols are described for the microgrid – one to minimize communication overhead inside the microgrid, and another to provide robust and scalable intra-grid communication. The work presented is supported by Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) Corporate Research Center within the Active Grid Infrastructure program, the Advanced Research Project Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) through the Solar ADEPT program, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO)

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

EFFICIENCY AND RELIABILITY ENHANCEMENT OF MULTIPHASE SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR DRIVES

Multiphase electric machines are attractive in comparison with three-phase ones due to advantages such as fault-tolerant nature, smaller rating per phase and lower torque ripple. More specifically, the machines with multiple three-phase windings are particularly convenient, because they are suitable for standard off-the-shelf three-phase dc/ac converter modules. For instance, they are becoming a serious option for applications such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. On the other hand, in these applications, operation at low power is often required for long time intervals; hence, improving the efficiency under such conditions is highly desired and could save a significant amount of energy in the long term. This dissertation proposes a method to enhance the efficiency of electric drives based on multiple three-phase windings at light load. The number of active legs is selected depending on the required torque at each instant. To ensure that the overall efficiency is effectively optimized, not only the converter losses, but also the stator copper losses, are taken into account. Experimental results verify the theoretical outcomes. Surface-mounted permanent-magnet synchronous motors (SPMSMs) require a position measurement to ensure a high-performance control. To avoid the cost and maintenance associated to position sensors, sensorless methods are often preferred. The approaches based on high-frequency signal injection are currently a well-established solution to obtain an accurate position estimation in SPMSMs. These techniques can be roughly divided into two groups: those based on sinusoidal or on square-wave high-frequency signals. The main drawback of the former is the limitation on the response speed, due to the presence of several low-pass filters (LPFs). On the other hand, the latter methods are sensitive to deadtime effects, and high-frequency closed-loop current control is required to overcome it. This dissertation proposes to improve the sensorless strategies based on sinusoidal high-frequency injection by simplifying the scheme employed to extract the information about the position error. Namely, two LPFs and several multiplications are removed. Such simplification does not only reduce the computational complexity, but also permits to obtain a faster response to the changes in the angle/speed, and hence, a faster closed-loop control. Experimental results based on a SPMSM prove the enhanced functionality of the proposed method with respect to the previous ones based on high-frequency sinusoidal signal injection

Inverter-machine parametric co-design for energy efficient electric drive system

京都先端科学大学博士（工学）2023年度doctoral thesi

Critical Aspects of Electric Motor Drive Controllers and Mitigation of Torque Ripple - Review

Electric vehicles (EVs) are playing a vital role in sustainable transportation. It is estimated that by 2030, Battery EVs will become mainstream for passenger car transportation. Even though EVs are gaining interest in sustainable transportation, the future of EV power transmission is facing vital concerns and open research challenges. Considering the case of torque ripple mitigation and improved reliability control techniques in motors, many motor drive control algorithms fail to provide efficient control. To efficiently address this issue, control techniques such as Field Orientation Control (FOC), Direct Torque Control (DTC), Model Predictive Control (MPC), Sliding Mode Control (SMC), and Intelligent Control (IC) techniques are used in the motor drive control algorithms. This literature survey exclusively compares the various advanced control techniques for conventionally used EV motors such as Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM), Brushless Direct Current Motor (BLDC), Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM), and Induction Motors (IM). Furthermore, this paper discusses the EV-motors history, types of EVmotors, EV-motor drives powertrain mathematical modelling, and design procedure of EV-motors. The hardware results have also been compared with different control techniques for BLDC and SRM hub motors. Future direction towards the design of EV by critical selection of motors and their control techniques to minimize the torque ripple and other research opportunities to enhance the performance of EVs are also presented.publishedVersio