Diode-clamped multilevel converters: a practicable way to balance DC-link voltages

The converter topologies identified as diode-clamped multilevel (DCM) or, equivalently, as multipoint clamped (MPC), are rarely used in industrial applications, owing to some serious drawbacks involving mainly the stacked bank of capacitors that constitutes their multilevel DC link. The balance of the capacitor voltages is not possible in all operating conditions when the MPC converter possesses a passive front end. On the other hand, in AC/DC/AC power conversion, the back-to-back connection of a multilevel rectifier with a multilevel inverter allows the balance of the DC-link capacitor voltages and, at the same time, it offers the power-factor-correction capability at the mains AC input. An effective balancing strategy suitable for MPC conversion systems with any number of DC-link capacitors is presented here. The strategy has been carefully studied to optimize the converter efficiency. The simulation results related to a high-power conversion system (up to 10 MW) characterized by four intermediate DC-link capacitors are shown.     

A new control scheme for single-phase PWM multilevel rectifier withpower-factor correction

A new control scheme for a single-phase bridge rectifier with three-level pulsewidth modulation is proposed to achieve high power factor and low current distortion. The main circuit consists of a diode-bridge rectifier, a boost inductor, two AC power switches, and two capacitors. According to the proposed control scheme based on a voltage comparator and hysteresis current control technique, the output capacitor voltages are balanced and the line current will follow the supply current command. The supply current command is derived from a DC-link voltage regulator and an output power estimator. The major advantage of using a three-level rectifier is that the blocking voltage of each AC power device is clamping to half of the DC-link voltage and the generated harmonics of the three-level rectifier are less than those of the conventional two-level rectifier. There are five voltage levels (0, ±V_DC/2, ±V_DC) on the AC side of the diode rectifier. The high power factor and low harmonic currents at the input of the rectifier are verified by software simulations and experimental tests     

Single-phase high power factor pre-regulator with three-level modulation scheme

A control scheme for the single-phase three-level pulse-width modulation active rectifier is proposed. A hysteresis current control scheme is used to draw the sinusoidal line current in phase with the mains voltage. The line current command is derived from a voltage controller and a phase-locked loop circuit. The blocking voltage of each power device is clamped to half of the DC-link voltage in the proposed active rectifier. In order to generate the three-level voltage pattern on the DC side of the active rectifier, the region detector of the line voltage, capacitor voltage compensator and hysteresis current comparator are employed in the adopted control algorithm to achieve high input power factor and low current distortion. To investigate the proposed control algorithm, the adopted rectifier is simulated and experimental tests from a laboratory prototype undertaken.     

A simple slip-power recovery system with a DC voltage intermediatecircuit and reduced harmonics on the mains

A different circuit configuration for the slip-power recovery system is presented in this paper. A boost chopper is used to connect the diode rectifier to the DC-link voltage, which is composed of a capacitor and a voltage-source inverter (VSI). The diode rectifier gives rise to mains current harmonies of variable frequency, which can present subharmonics, harmonics, and interharmonics that can lead to flicker in the mains. Two simple solutions to this drawback are studied. In the first solution, additional inductances were connected on the AC side of the rotor circuits to increase the overlap angle. In the second solution, the stator current harmonics are compensated by a VSI that can work simultaneously as an inverter and as an active power filter. This system represents a very interesting and useful application for active power filters. The merits of the configuration presented are cost, control simplicity, the possibility of reactive power control over a wide range, and quasi-optimum exploitation of the electrical machine. The characteristics of the proposed system and its control are presented in this paper. It is concluded that, although the system proposed is much simpler than others, it has interesting performance     

无直流电压传感器的单相APFC变换器

文章对一种只检测交流输入电压而不需要检测输出直流电压的简化单相PFC变换器进行了理论分析和研究。在构建控制电路时,不需要常规PFC变换器中的输出电压传感器和输入电流传感器。PFC变换器的主电路为整流电路的直流侧接一级Boost电路。在控制电路中,使用电感L、等效负载电阻Rd等电路参数产生正弦电流波形基准,输出电压直接由控制量Kd(=Ed/Ea)来调节。通过控制,可以得到恒定的直流输出电压和与交流输入电压同相位的正弦电流波形。仿真结果证明了该变换器的可行性。     

A bidirectional DC-DC converter topology for low power application

This paper presents a bidirectional DC-DC converter for use in low power applications. The proposed topology is based on a half-bridge on the primary and a current-fed push-pull on the secondary side of a high frequency isolation transformer. Achieving bidirectional flow of power using the same power components provides a simple, efficient and galvanically isolated topology that is specially attractive for use in battery charge/discharge circuits in DC UPS. The DC mains (provided by the AC mains), when presented, powers the down stream load converters and the bidirectional converter which essentially operates in the buck mode to charge the battery to a nominal value of 48 V. On failure of the DC mains (derived from the AC mains), the converter operation is comparable to that of a boost and the battery regulates the bus voltage and thereby provides power to the downstream converters. Small signal and steady state analyses are presented for this specific application. The design of a laboratory prototype is included. Experimental results from the prototype, under different operating conditions, validate and evaluate the proposed topology. An efficiency of 86.6% is achieved in the battery charging mode and 90% when the battery provides load power. The converter exhibits good transient response under load variations and switchover from one mode of operation to another     

DC voltage sensorless single-phase PFC converter

We propose a simple DC voltage sensorless single phase PFC converter by detecting an AC line voltage waveform. Both DC voltage and AC current sensors used in the conventional PFC converter are not required to construct the control system. The conventional converter circuit with a boost chopper circuit in the DC side from a rectifier circuit is used as the main PFC converter circuit. In the control system, the circuit parameters such as a series inductance L and equivalent load resistance value R/sub d/ are used to generate the sinusoidal current waveform. The DC voltage is directly controlled by the command input signal k/sub d/(=E/sub d//E/sub a/) for the boost chopper circuit. The DC voltage regulation is small because of the feed forward control for the AC line voltage E/sub a/ and no dependence of the circuit parameters. The sinusoidal current waveform in phase with the AC line voltage can be obtained. The feasibility of the proposed control system is verified by some simulation and experimental results.     

A comparative evaluation of SMR converters with and without activeinput current waveshaping

A comparative evaluation is presented of high-frequency voltage-source fed (VSF) and current-source fed (CSF) switch-mode rectifier (SMR) converters supplied from single-phase AC mains and operating under large input voltage and load fluctuations. For medium power applications (i.e. 3 kW), VSF SMR converters use passive waveshaping techniques. CSF SMR converters, on the other hand, use active waveshaping techniques. Use of active waveshaping techniques increases the input power factor from approximately 0.5 to 0.9-1.0. It is shown that when the active input current waveshaping stage is also used to regulate the SMR DC bus voltage, the converter performance can improve substantially. These improvements include reduction in switching stresses of the power semiconductor switches and reduction in the size and ratings of associated reactive components. Key theoretical results are verified experimentally     

A novel three-phase utility interface minimizing line currentharmonics of high-power telecommunications rectifier modules

Based on the combination of a three-phase diode bridge and a DC/DC boost converter, a new three-phase three-switch three-level pulsewidth modulated (PWM) rectifier system is developed. It can be characterized by sinusoidal mains current consumption, controlled output voltage, and low-blocking voltage stress on the power transistors. The application could be, e.g., for feeding the DC link of a telecommunications power supply module. The stationary operational behavior, the control of the mains currents, and the control of the output voltage are analyzed. Finally, the stresses on the system components are determined by digital simulation and compared to the stresses in a conventional six-switch two-level PWM rectifier system     

Unified constant-frequency integration control of active powerfilters-steady-state and dynamics

An active power filter (APF) is a device that is connected in parallel to and cancels the reactive and harmonic currents from a group of nonlinear loads so that the resulting total current drawn from the AC mains is sinusoidal. This paper presents a unified constant-frequency integration (UCI) APF control method based on one-cycle control. This method employs an integrator with reset as its core component to control the pulse width of an AC-DC converter so that its current draw is precisely opposite to the reactive and harmonic current draw of the nonlinear loads. In contrast to previously proposed methods, there is no need to generate a current reference for the control of the converter current, thus no need for a multiplier and no need to sense the AC line voltage, the APF current, or the nonlinear load current. Only one AC current sensor is used to sense the AC main current and one DC voltage sensor is used to sense the DC capacitor voltage. The control method features constant switching frequency operation, minimum reactive and harmonic current generation, and simple analog circuitry. It provides a low cost and high performance solution for power quality control. Steady-state and dynamic study is presented in this paper. Design example is given using a two-level AC-DC boost topology. A prototype was developed to demonstrate the performance of the proposed APF. This control method is generalized to control a family of converters that are suitable for APF applications. All findings are supported by experiments and simulation     

单相PWM整流器控制方法及谐波分析

传统二极管不控整流或晶闸管相控整流,对电网注入大量谐波及无功功率,造成电源污染.PWM整流器采用全控型开关器件取代二极管或半控型器件,并将PWM控制技术引入整流器,在稳定直流电压输出同时,使交流侧电源电流接近正弦波,实现能量的双向流动.通过介绍单相PWM整流器的控制方法,利用Matlab/Simulink搭建仿真模型,比较分析不同控制方式下PWM整流器运行时电压波形及输入电流的谐波频谱.     

A fuzzy-controlled active front-end rectifier with current harmonicfiltering characteristics and minimum sensing variables

A control strategy which allows conventional voltage-source current-controlled (VSCC) pulsewidth modulation (PWM) rectifiers to work simultaneously as active power filters is presented. The proposed control strategy also allows compensating the system power factor and compensating unbalanced loads. The measurement and/or calculation of the harmonics and reactive power are not required, making the proposed control scheme very simple. The active front-end rectifier acts directly on the mains line currents, forcing them to be sinusoidal and in phase with the mains voltage supply. To improve the dynamic of the system, the amplitude of the current is controlled by a fuzzy system, which adjusts the DC-link voltage of the PWM rectifier. The strategy is based on connecting all the polluting loads between the PWM rectifier and their input current sensors. The main advantages of this approach are the following: (1) there is no need to install a specially dedicated active power filter; (2) it also works simultaneously as a power factor compensator; and (3) no special and complicated calculations are required for harmonic elimination. The viability of the proposed active front-end rectifier is proved by simulation and with experimental results obtained from a 2 kVA PWM prototype     

A Novel T-Connected Autotransformer-Based 18-Pulse AC–DC Converter for Harmonic Mitigation in Adjustable-Speed Induction-Motor Drives

This paper presents the design, analysis, and development of a novel autotransformer-based 18-pulse AC-DC converter with reduced kilovoltampere rating, feeding vector-controlled induction-motor drives (VCIMDs) for power-quality improvement at the point of common coupling (PCC). The proposed autotransformer consists of only two single-phase transformers for its realization against three single-phase transformers required in other configurations. The proposed 18-pulse AC-DC converter is suitable for retrofit applications, where, presently, a six-pulse diode bridge rectifier is being used. A set of power-quality parameters, such as total harmonic distortion (THD) and crest factor of AC mains current, power factor, displacement factor, and distortion factor at AC mains, THD of supply voltage at PCC, and DC-bus-voltage ripple factor for a VCIMD fed from an 18-pulse AC-DC converter, are computed to observe its performance. The presented design technique provides flexibility to give an average DC output from the proposed converter, which is the same as that of a conventional three-phase diode bridge rectifier. However, it is also possible to step-up or step-down the output voltage as required. The effect of load variation on VCIMD is also studied to observe the effectiveness of the proposed harmonic mitigator. A laboratory prototype of the proposed autotransformer-based 18-pulse AC-DC converter is developed to validate the design and simulation model.     

New control scheme of three-phase PWM AC/DC converter without phase angle detection under the unbalanced input voltage conditions

In general, three-phase PWM AC/DC power converters have been implemented in the synchronous frame model to eliminate steady state errors effectively and to obtain fast transient response characteristics. However, controllers designed in such way would have input current harmonics and DC-link voltage ripples under the unbalanced input voltage conditions due to the assumption of the balanced input voltage conditions. This paper describes a new control scheme to minimize harmonic distortions of the input current and DC-link voltage in the converter under the unbalanced input voltage. conditions. The synchronous frame input voltage, which is considered as the input side back-EMF component, is regulated pertinently according to the input voltage conditions. The current command is selected to eliminate the reactive power and the second order harmonic component of active power. In this case, the analysis of the input voltage is implemented in the synchronous frame without detecting the phase angle and magnitude of each phase voltage. The proposed control scheme is simple and effectively minimizing the harmonic distortions in the input and output system under the unbalanced input voltage conditions.     

Implementation of a three-level rectifier for power factorcorrection

In this paper, a new single-phase switching mode rectifier (SMR) for three-level pulse width modulation (PWM) is proposed to achieve high input power factor, low current harmonics, low total harmonic distortion (THD) and simple control scheme. The mains circuit of the proposed SMR consists of six power switches, one boost inductor, and two DC capacitors. The control algorithm is based on a look-up table. There are five control signals in the input of the look-up table. These control signals are used to control the power flow of the adopted rectifier, compensate the capacitor voltages for the balance problem, draw a sinusoidal line current with nearly unity power factor, and generate a three-level PWM pattern on the AC side of adopted rectifier. The advantages of using three-level PWM scheme compared with two-level PWM scheme are using low voltage stress of power switches, decreasing input current harmonics, and reducing the conduction losses. The performances of the proposed multilevel SMR are measured and shown in this paper. The high power factor and low harmonic currents at the input of the rectifier are verified by software simulations and experimental results from a laboratory prototype     

A unity power factor resonant AC/DC converter for high-frequencyspace power distribution system

This paper presents analysis and design of a resonant AC/DC converter topology, suitable for use in an advanced single-phase, sine-wave voltage, high-frequency power distribution system of the type that was proposed for a 20 kHz space station primary electrical power distribution system. The converter comprises a transformer, a double-tuned resonant network comprising of series- and parallel-tuned branches, a controlled rectifier, and an output filter. Symmetrical phase control technique that generates fundamental AC current in phase with the input voltage is employed. Steady-state analysis of the converter in continuous current mode of operation is provided, and the performance characteristics presented. The proposed converter has close-to-unity rated power factor (greater than 0.98), a wide range of output voltage control (0%-100%), low total harmonic distortion in input current (less than 8%), and high conversion efficiency. Finally, selected experimental results of a bread-board converter are presented     

A comparison of high-power converter topologies for the implementation of FACTS controllers

This paper compares four power converter topologies for the implementation of flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) controllers: three multilevel topologies (multipoint clamped (MPC), chain, and nested cell) and the well-established multipulse topology. In keeping with the need to implement very-high-power inverters, switching frequency is restricted to line frequency. The study addresses device count, DC filter ratings, restrictions on voltage control, active power transfer through the DC link, and balancing of DC-link voltages. Emphasis is placed on capacitor sizing because of its impact on the cost and size of the FACTS controller. A method for the dimensioning the DC capacitor filter is presented. It is found that the chain converter is attractive for the implementation of a static compensator or a static synchronous series compensator. The MPC converter is attractive for the implementation of a unified power flow controller or an interline power flow controller, but a special arrangement is required to overcome the limitations on voltage control.     

A simple control technique for single-SEPIC converter based multiple output SMPS with fully regulated and isolated outputs

Switched mode power supplies (SMPS) with multiple outputs are commonly used for powering up personal computers and many other consumer electronic appliances. Multiple output SMPS circuits normally employ several DC/DC converters for regulating the voltage in each of the outputs. In this paper, a single single ended primary inductance converter (SEPIC) is used to obtain multiple isolated and regulated DC outputs from a single unregulated DC input, so that the reliability and cost effectiveness of the system can be enhanced. Considering that a large number of SMPS are being used in various applications, it is essential to maintain good power quality at the AC mains side of the SMPS circuit adhering to the international standards. Average current control mode has been used in this paper to achieve unity power factor and sinusoidal current at the input side. A novel weighted error approach has been proposed to achieve excellent voltage regulation at all the outputs of the SMPS irrespective of the load variations and input supply fluctuations. The proposed system has been designed and simulated in a PSIM environment and implemented in hardware. The results obtained show an enhanced performance of the power supply in terms of its output voltage regulation and input power quality.     

基于电驱动钻机的交流电子负载的研究

基于现代电力电子技术,深入研究能量回馈式的交流电子负载的主电路结构和控制策略。主电路采用AC／DC／AC拓扑,并选用电压型PWM整流器构成其输入、输出变流器。提出了一种基于DSP的交流电子负载的控制策略。     

Zero average current error controlled power flow for AC-DC powerconverters

Unity and controlled power factor AC-DC power converters require a current control technique with zero average current error (ZACE) in each switching period. Acting on the current error signal alone, a ZACE controlled converter offers complete real and reactive power flow control with negligible low order current harmonics, a narrow switching frequency band, and relative immunity to DC link or AC line voltage harmonics. Slope-generated hysteresis, a new ZACE current control method is introduced. Simulation and experimental results in a three phase converter are presented