Applications of Power Electronics

Power electronics technology is still an emerging technology, and it has found its way into many applications, from renewable energy generation (i.e., wind power and solar power) to electrical vehicles (EVs), biomedical devices, and small appliances, such as laptop chargers. In the near future, electrical energy will be provided and handled by power electronics and consumed through power electronics; this not only will intensify the role of power electronics technology in power conversion processes, but also implies that power systems are undergoing a paradigm shift, from centralized distribution to distributed generation. Today, more than 1000 GW of renewable energy generation sources (photovoltaic (PV) and wind) have been installed, all of which are handled by power electronics technology. The main aim of this book is to highlight and address recent breakthroughs in the range of emerging applications in power electronics and in harmonic and electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues at device and system levels as discussed in ?robust and reliable power electronics technologies, including fault prognosis and diagnosis technique stability of grid-connected converters and ?smart control of power electronics in devices, microgrids, and at system levels

An Adaptive Model Predictive Voltage Control for LC-Filtered Voltage Source Inverters

The three-phase inductor and capacitor filter (LC)-filtered voltage source inverter (VSI) is subjected to uncertain and time-variant parameters and disturbances, e.g., due to aging, thermal effects, and load changes. These uncertainties and disturbances have a considerable impact on the performance of a VSI’s control system. It can degrade system performance or even cause system instability. Therefore, considering the effects of all system uncertainties and disturbances in the control system design is necessary. In this respect and to tackle this issue, this paper proposes an adaptive model predictive control (MPC), which consists of three main parts: an MPC, an augmented state-space model, and an adaptive observer. The augmented state-space model considers all system uncertainties and disturbances and lumps them into two disturbance inputs. The proposed adaptive observer determines the lumped disturbance functions, enabling the control system to keep the nominal system performance under different load conditions and parameters uncertainty. Moreover, it provides load-current-sensorless operation of MPC, which reduces the size and cost, and simultaneously improves the system reliability. Finally, MPC selects the proper converter voltage vector that minimizes the tracking errors based on the augmented model and outputs of the adaptive observer. Simulations and experiments on a 5 kW VSI examine the performance of the proposed adaptive MPC under different load conditions and parameter uncertainties and compare them with the conventional MPC

Improved space vector modulation with reduced switching vectors for multi-phase matrix converter

Multi-phase converter inherits numerous advantages, namely superior fault tolerance, lower per-leg power rating and higher degree of freedom in control. With these advantages, this thesis proposes an improved space vector modulation (SVM) technique to enhance the ac-to-ac power conversion capability of the multi-phase matrix converter. The work is set to achieve two objectives. First is to improve the SVM of a three-to-seven phase single end matrix converter by reducing number of space vector combinations. Second is to use the active vector of the SVM to eliminate the common-mode voltage due to the heterogeneous switching combination of a dual three-to-five phase matrix converter. In the first part, the proposed technique utilizes only 129 out of 2,187 possible active space vectors. With the reduction, the SVM switching sequence is greatly simplified and the execution time is shortened. Despite this, no significant degradation in the output and the input waveform quality is observed from the MATLAB/Simulink simulation and the hardware prototype. The results show that the output voltage can reach up to 76.93% of the input voltage, which is the maximum physical limit of a three-to-seven phase matrix converter. In addition, the total harmonics distortion (THD) for the output voltage is measured to be below 5% over the operating frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 300 Hz. For the second part, the common-mode voltage elimination is based on the cancellation of the resultant vectors (that causes the common-mode to be formed), using a specially derived active vectors of the dual matrix converter. The elimination strategy is coupled with the ability to control the input power factor to unity. The proposed concept is verified by the MATLAB/Simulink simulation and is validated using a 5 kW three-to-five phase matrix converter prototype. The SVM switching algorithm itself is implemented on a dSPACE-1006 digital signal processor platform. The results prove that the common-mode voltage is successfully eliminated from the five-phase induction motor winding. Furthermore, the output phase voltage is boosted up to 150% of the input voltage in linear modulation range

Model Predictive Control of Grid Forming Converters with Enhanced Power Quality

This paper proposes an enhanced finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) strategy for voltage source converter (VSC) with a LC output filter. The proposed control scheme is based on tracking the voltage reference trajectory by using only a single-step prediction within the controller horizon. Besides, the suitability of different frequency control schemes with the proposed scheme to prevent from inherent variable switching behaviour of conventional FCS-MPC is investigated. Based on that, the proposed method targets two major factors influencing power quality in grid forming applications by enhancing the output voltage harmonic distortion and also preventing variable switching behaviour of FCS-MPC. Although compared to multi-step prediction approaches, only a single-step multi-objective cost function to improve computation efficiency is utilized, the introduced control schemes are able to deliver higher power quality compared to its counterpart methods as well. Furthermore, the effect of different applied cost functions on the transient response of the system is studied and investigated for the future use of the VSC in microgrids (MGs). The effectiveness of the proposed scheme was assessed by simulation using MATLAB/SIMULINK and experiment using a 5.5 kVA VSC module and the results were in good agreement

Lead pursuit control of multiphase drives

Los accionamientos multifásicos, compuestos por una máquina eléctrica de más de tres fases alimentada por un convertidor de potencia, han atraído recientemente un importante interés en la comunidad investigadora debido a las ventajas que presentan frente a las máquinas trifásicas convencionales. Este es el caso de la mejor distribución de potencia por fase, la menor producción de armónicos en el convertidor de potencia y, la más importante, la tolerancia a fallos, lo cual significa que la máquina multifásica puede seguir funcionando cuando una o varias fases se pierden, siempre que el número restante de fases sea igual o mayor que tres. Debido a esta alta fiabilidad, los accionamientos multifásicos son especialmente adecuados para aplicaciones relacionadas con los vehículos eléctricos (terrestres, marítimos y aéreos) y las energías renovables por razones de seguridad y/o económicas. El uso de controladores avanzados y de alto rendimiento en accionamientos multifásicos es particularmente relevante, ya que las estrategias de control convencionalmente aplicadas a los accionamientos trifásicos no terminan de alcanzar un estándar en su extensión al caso multifásico. La razón es la mayor complejidad y número de variables a controlar. En este contexto, los controladores predictivos han encontrado un interesante nicho de aplicación en convertidores de potencia y accionamientos multifásicos debido a su formulación intuitiva y flexible: un modelo del sistema es usado para calcular las predicciones de las variables controladas, que luego se comparan con las referencias impuestas dentro de una función de coste. Esta estrategia permite incorporar varios objetivos de control y restricciones en el proceso de control a través de la función de coste. Sin embargo, es bien sabido que este tipo de controlador sufre de un alto coste computacional y contenido armónico de corriente que limita su aplicación en los accionamientos multifásicos. La investigación desarrollada en esta Tesis se centra en la mitigación de las limitaciones citadas siguiendo dos objetivos principales: • La incorporación de observadores de corrientes rotóricas en el controlador predictivo para mejorar así la precisión del modelo predictivo y, consecuentemente, el rendimiento del sistema de control, principalmente en términos de contenido armónico y pérdidas por conmutación en el convertidor de potencia. Un observador de Luenberger es construido para este propósito utilizando una estrategia innovadora de posicionamiento de polos en su diseño. • La introducción de un grado de libertad adicional en el controlador predictivo basado en tiempos de muestreo variables e implementado usando el concepto de lead pursuit. El resultado es un controlador novedoso que conduce a una resolución en los tiempos de conmutación más fina en comparación con las técnicas predictivas más convencionales, lo que proporciona una reducción importante en el contenido armónico. Las estrategias de control propuestas son validadas mediante simulación y experimentación utilizando un accionamiento compuesto por una máquina de inducción de cinco fases como caso de ejemplo. Los resultados y conclusiones derivadas de esta investigación han sido presentados en cinco trabajos principales publicados en revistas internacionales de alto impacto, los cuales constituyen las contribuciones de esta Tesis por compendio de artículos. Sin embargo, otros trabajos relacionados con la línea de investigación han sido también publicados en artículos de revista y conferencia y en un capítulo de libro.Multiphase drives, constituted by an electric machine with more than three phases fed by a power converter, have recently attracted an important interest in the research community due to the advantages that they present over the conventional three-phase ones. This is the case of the better power distribution per phase, the lower harmonic production in the power converter, and the most important one, the fault-tolerant capability, which means that the multiphase machine can still be operated when one or several phases are missing, provided that the number of remaining phases is equal or greater than three. Due to this high reliability, multiphase drives are specially well suited for applications related to electric vehicles (terrestrial, maritime and aerial) and renewable energies for safety and/or economical reasons. The use of advanced and high-performance controllers in multiphase drives is particularly relevant, since the control strategies conventionally applied to three-phase drives do not reach a standard in their extension to the multiphase case. The reason is the greater complexity and number of variables that must be controlled. In this context, predictive controllers have found an interesting niche of application in power converters and multiphase drives due to their intuitive and flexible formulation: a model of the system is used to compute predictions of the controlled variables, which are later compared with the imposed references in a cost function. This strategy permits incorporating several control objectives and constraints in the control process through the cost function. However, it is well known that this type of controller suffers from a high computational cost and current harmonic content that limit its application in multiphase drives. The research developed in this Thesis work is focused on the mitigation of the cited limitations following two main goals: • The incorporation of rotor current observers in the predictive controller in order to improve the accuracy of the predictive model and, consequently, the control system performance, principally in terms of harmonic content and commutation losses in the power converter. A Luenberger observer is constructed for that purpose using an innovative pole-placement strategy in its design. • The introduction of an additional degree of freedom in the predictive controller based on variable sampling times and implemented using the lead-pursuit concept. The result is a novel controller that leads to a finer resolution in the commuting times in comparison with more conventional predictive techniques, which provides an important reduction in the harmonic content. The proposed control strategies are validated by simulation and experimentation using a five-phase induction machine drive as case example. The results and conclusions derived from this research have been presented in five main works published in high-impact international journals, which constitute the contributions of this article compendium Thesis. Nevertheless, other related works have also been published in journal and conference papers and a book chapter

Advances in Rotating Electric Machines

It is difficult to imagine a modern society without rotating electric machines. Their use has been increasing not only in the traditional fields of application but also in more contemporary fields, including renewable energy conversion systems, electric aircraft, aerospace, electric vehicles, unmanned propulsion systems, robotics, etc. This has contributed to advances in the materials, design methodologies, modeling tools, and manufacturing processes of current electric machines, which are characterized by high compactness, low weight, high power density, high torque density, and high reliability. On the other hand, the growing use of electric machines and drives in more critical applications has pushed forward the research in the area of condition monitoring and fault tolerance, leading to the development of more reliable diagnostic techniques and more fault-tolerant machines. This book presents and disseminates the most recent advances related to the theory, design, modeling, application, control, and condition monitoring of all types of rotating electric machines

Control and Modulation Techniques for the Three-to-Five Phase Indirect Matrix Converter

This thesis focuses on the development and practical assessment of novel modulation techniques for the three-to-five phase indirect matrix converter. The increasing popularity of five-phase systems necessitates power converter systems capable of interfacing with the three-phase grid and the use of the proposed indirect matrix converter facilitates this interface whilst eliminating the energy storage component in the dc-link. An indirect space vector PWM-based technique that performs zero-current switching at the rectifier stage is proposed and developed for the three-to-five phase indirect matrix converter. The technique controls the three-phase input power factor and ensures that a zero voltage vector is applied in the alpha2-beta2 vector space while generating the reference output voltage vector in the alpha1-beta1 vector space. A modified symmetrical switching sequence is proposed with single leg commutation. The modulation technique is then extended to simultaneously generate alpha1-beta1 and alpha2-beta2 voltage vectors. These techniques are experimentally validated for the three-to-five phase indirect matrix converter. Three novel overmodulation techniques to extend the voltage transfer ratio (VTR) are proposed and practically assessed. They enable the three-to-five phase indirect matrix converter to generate a higher output phase voltage, at the cost of generating a non-zero voltage vector in the alpha2-beta2 vector space. The superior of the three techniques adapts the ratio between the large and medium vectors based on the value of VTR and utilizes the dc-link ripple to reduce the voltage vector production in the alpha2-beta2 vector space. A control and modulation technique is proposed for reverse power flow allowing power from a five-phase source, in this thesis a permanent magnet machine, to inject power into the three-phase grid. The control technique operates the indirect matrix converter in a voltage boost mode thereby injecting power into the grid from a generator phase voltage that is lower than the grid phase voltage. A prototype three-to-five phase indirect matrix converter with a DSP and FPGA controller was designed and developed. Experimental results from this system verify the techniques and their benefits

Space Vector Pwm Techniques for Six_Phase Three-Level Inverter-Fed Drives

In recent years, research in the area of multiphase drives has increased significantly. Having higher number of machine phases allows the current to be shared between the phases, thus reducing the current rating of power semiconductors used in the power converter. Additionally, if a multilevel inverter is used to drive the machine, the output voltage waveforms are going to be approximated closer toward sinusoidal waveforms, thus resulting in lower total harmonic distortion. Therefore, the combination of multiphase and multilevel technologies gives considerable benefits compared to conventional two-level three-phase drives. Unlike a carrier-based approach, which can be easily expanded to any number of converter voltage levels and any number of machine phases, the development of space vector algorithms is also reliant on the machine’s configuration. In other words, different drive topologies require their own unique space vector algorithms. In fact, the complexity of developing a space vector algorithm will dramatically increase with the increase of number of levels and/or number of phases. This thesis presents pulse width modulation techniques for two- and three-level asymmetrical and symmetrical six-phase drives with a single or two isolated neutral points configuration. However, since the modulation techniques for the drives with two isolated neutral points are based on the well-established modulation techniques for three-phase drives, more emphasis is given towards the development of modulation techniques for single neutral point case, particularly those that are based on space vector algorithm principles. In order to realise sinusoidal output phase voltage waveforms, several requirements and conditions have to be met. The requirements revolve around ensuring that the low order harmonics, which contribute to the machine losses, will not exist. Meanwhile, the conditions are more towards minimising the switching losses. All modulation techniques are verified through simulation, while those for three-level case are validated experimentally as well. Comparison and discussion of obtained simulation and experimental results, performance and complexity in terms of execution time of the developed modulation techniques, are presented. The equivalence between corresponding modulation techniques, which are based on the space vector algorithm and carrier-based approach are also established