A Virtual Space Vectors based Model Predictive Control for Three-Level Converters

Three-phase three-level (3-L) voltage source converters (VSC), e.g., neutral-point clamped (NPC) converters, T-type converters, etc., have been deemed to be suitable for a wide range of medium- to high-power applications in microgrids (MGs) and bulk power systems. Compared to their two-level (2-L) counterparts, adopting 3-L VSCs in the MG applications not only reduces the voltage stress across the power semiconductor devices, which allows achieving higher voltage levels, but also improves the quality of the converter output waveforms, which further leads to considerably smaller output ac passive filters. Various control strategies have been proposed and implemented for 3-L VSCs. Among all the existing control methods, finite-control-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) has been extensively investigated and applied due to its simple and intuitive design, fast-dynamic response and robustness against parameter uncertainties. However, to implement an FCS-MPC on a 3-L VSC, a multi-objective cost function, which consists of a term dedicated specifically to control the dc-link capacitor voltages such that the neutral-point voltage (NP-V) oscillations are minimized, must be designed. Nevertheless, selecting proper weighting factors for the multiple control objectives is difficult and time consuming. Additionally, adding the dc-link capacitor voltages balancing term to the cost function distributes the controller effort among different control targets, which severely impacts the primary goal of the FCS-MPC. Furthermore, to control the dc-link capacitor voltages, additional sensing circuitries are usually necessary to measure the dc-link capacitor voltages and currents, which consequently increases the system cost, volume and wiring complexity as well as reduces overall reliability. To address all the aforementioned challenges, in this dissertation research, a novel FCS-MPC method using virtual space vectors (VSVs), which do not affect the dc-link capacitor voltages of the 3-L VSCs, was proposed, implemented and validated. The proposed FCS-MPC strategy has the capability to achieve inherent balanced dc-link capacitor voltages. Additionally, the demonstrated control technique not only simplifies the controller design by allowing the use of a simplified cost function, but also improves the quality of the 3-L VSC output waveforms. Furthermore, the execution time of the proposed control algorithm was significantly reduced compared to that of the existing one. Lastly, the proposed FCS-MPC using the VSVs reduces the hardware cost and complexity as the additional dc-link capacitor voltages and current sensors are not required, which further enhances the overall system reliability

Research on the equivalent virtual space vector modulation output of diode clamped n-level converter under multi-modulation carrier modulation

Diode-clamped multi-level converters have DC-side capacitors in series, which will lead to the unbalance of DC-side capacitor voltage, the distortion of the output waveform, the increase of total harmonic distortion (THD), and even the damage of switching devices, which will make the system inoperable. The proposal of virtual space vector pulse-width modulation (VSVPWM) realizes the balanced control of the capacitor voltage, but when the output level of converter increases, the implementation of VSVPWM becomes very complicated, and the amount of calculation also increases greatly, thus hindering its application in the multi-level circuit. Compared with VSVPWM, the carrier-based pulse-width modulation (CBPWM) is simple to operate and easy to implement. If the equivalent relationship between CBPWM and VSVPWM can be found, the application of VSVPWM can be generalized to any level, and the advantages of VSVPWM can be fully utilized. This paper aims to study the inner relationship of VSVPWM and the multi-modulation carrier CBPWM (MCBPWM). After strict theoretical analysis, the equivalent relationship of VSVPWM and MCBPWM in the three-level and four-level and converter is realized by injecting the zero-sequence component into the modulation waves. Furthermore, the equivalent relationship between VSVPWM and MCBPWM is deduced to the N-level converter. Finally, the correctness of the relevant theoretical analysis is verified by the experiment

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

An Enhanced Virtual Space Vector Modulation Scheme of Three-Level NPC Converters for More-Electric-Aircraft Applications

Multilevel converters have been used for aircraft electric starter/generator (ESG) systems due to their high power qualities. One of the desirable topologies is the three-level neutral-point-clamped (3L-NPC) converter. Our studied ESG system operates at a high speed during its generation mode, which results in high modulation index (MI) and puts some specific challenges on neutral-point (NP) voltage balance, especially under low power factor (PF) load conditions. Moreover, common-mode voltage (CMV) needs to be addressed properly as it leads to irreversible damage of motor shaft bearings, thereby degrading the efficiency and reliability of the entire system. Compared with the conventional nearest-three virtual space vector (NTV2) technique, the proposed modulation scheme employs three adjacent medium vectors to synthesize a new medium vector and two pairs of large vectors to compose new small vectors. This allows the presented modulation scheme to achieve balanced capacitor voltage and reduced CMV at the same time. In addition, the torque ripple of the proposed modulation strategy is thoroughly compared and analyzed. Meanwhile, in order to overcome the heavy computational burden, a fast calculation approach is adopted to simplify the algorithm. Simulation results obtained from Simulink/PLECS and experimental results obtained from a 45 kW, 32 krpm aircraft ESG system verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy in more-electric-aircraft (MEA) applications

A survey on capacitor voltage control in neutral-point-clamped multilevel converters

Neutral-point-clamped multilevel converters are currently a suitable solution for a wide range of applications. It is well known that the capacitor voltage balance is a major issue for this topology. In this paper, a brief summary of the basic topologies, modulations, and features of neutral-point-clamped multilevel converters is presented, prior to a detailed description and analysis of the capacitor voltage balance behavior. Then, the most relevant methods to manage the capacitor voltage balance are presented and discussed, including operation in the overmodulation region, at low frequency-modulation indexes, with different numbers of AC phases, and with different numbers of levels. Both open- and closed-loop methods are discussed. Some methods based on adding external circuitry are also presented and analyzed. Although the focus of the paper is mainly DC–AC conversion, the techniques for capacitor voltage balance in DC–DC conversion are discussed as well. Finally, the paper concludes with some application examples benefiting from the presented techniques.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

DESIGN OF AN EFFECTIVE CONTROL FOR GRID-CONNECTED PV SYSTEM BASED ON FS-MPC

This paper is deals in part of research that has been conducted on modern means in the basis of power electronics. Harmonic cancellation of distribution network is currently a serious problem, especially in high electrical industry. The main source of harmonic currents injected into the network requires attention to reduce the current harmonic levels. Energy quality is a fairly broad concept which covers both, the quality of power supply (voltage wave) and these of the currents injected into the electrical grid. In this context, a modern approved preventive solution in purpose to limit the rate of harmonic disturbance caused by the deferent power electronics systems connected to the grid must take action. It appears necessary to develop the quality and stability of the grid and develop curative devices such as converters provided with a control device making the current drawn on the most sinusoidal network possible. This paper proposes a control of tow stage grid tied PV system established on finite set model predictive control (FS-MPC). The design of FS-MPC is developed depending on the structure and operating principle associated to three-phase inverter tied to the grid.  In this context, we have also employed the structure of MPPT controller (P&O) and PI controller for adjustment of the DC-bus voltage. To set the proposed control scheme, numerical simulations are carried out using Matlab/Simulink 2013b. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed control scheme assure the tracking of MPP and the injection of extracted PV power into the grid with high current quality under irradiation changes

Active Modulation Strategy for Capacitor Voltage Balancing of Three-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped Converters in High-Speed Drives

In this paper, the equivalent relationship between the nearest-three-virtual space vector (NTV2) and carrier-based pulse-width-modulation (CBPWM) scheme is established based on space vector coordinate for a three-level neutral-point-clamped (3L-NPC) converter. Moreover, to solve the neutral-point (NP) voltage imbalance problem of the studied 3L-NPC converter-fed high-speed drives, an active modulation strategy with the generalized bias-offset injection technique is proposed. Meanwhile, the excessive computational burden is significantly overcome by the fast calculation approach. The effectiveness of the proposed modulation algorithm is validated through both simulation and experimental results obtained from a 45 kW, 32 krpm aircraft electric starter/generator (ESG) prototype system

Hybrid modulation technique with dc-bus voltage control for multiphase NPC converters

The paper presents a novel Carrier-Based Pulse Width Modulation (CBPWM) technique for multiphase Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) converters. The technique is aimed to actively control the Neutral Point (NP) potential while supplying the desired set of line-to-line voltages to the load. Standard techniques are either based on the sole Common Mode Voltage Injection (CMI) or on the sole Multi-Step (MS) switching mode; contrarily, the proposed algorithm combines these two approaches to take advantage of their main benefits. The technique performs well for each number of phases, for each modulation index and for each type of load. It can control in closed-loop the NP voltage to any desirable value with a reduced number of switching transitions. The proposed approach has been experimentally validated and compared with other carrier-based algorithms