Design, analysis and implementation of real-time harmonics elimination: A generalised approach

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014. It is not a secret that the problem of harmonics and switching frequency can have a dreadful impact on switching power converters. To counter this problem, a variety of methods have been developed over the years. In this study, a novel method for controlling/eliminating harmonics in switching converters, based on real-time harmonic control, is suggested. The proposed method allows a complete control of the number of eliminated harmonics, as well as the fundamental. The method adopts a modulation strategy using a modified sine carrier. To determine the inverter's optimal switching angles, the well-established particle swarm optimisation algorithm is used. In order to assess the performance of the proposed approach, simulations are carried out. The validity of the method is demonstrated using the digital signal processor based dSPACE environment. The experimental results are very satisfactory and clearly prove the validity of the proposed approach

Smart control based on neural networks for multicellular converters

A smart control based on neural networks for multicellular converters has been developed and implemented. The approach is based on a behavioral description of the different converter operating modes. Each operating mode represents a well-defined configuration for which an operating zone satisfying given invariance conditions, depending on the capacitors’ voltages and the load current of the converter, is assigned. A control vector, whose components are the control signals to be applied to the converter switches is generated for each mode. Therefore, generating the control signals becomes a classification task of the different operating zones. For this purpose, a neural approach has been developed and implemented to control a 2-cell converter then extended to a 3-cell converter. The developed approach has been compared to super-twisting sliding mode algorithm. The obtained results demonstrate the approach effectiveness to provide an efficient and robust control of the load current and ensure the balancing of the capacitors voltages