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This paper describes a flow control of the dye in the paper mill with the quasi-Z-source indirect matrix converter (QZSIMC) fed induction motor drive. More than a decade the voltage-source inverter (VSI) and current-source inverter (CSI) have been used to control the speed of the induction motor, which in turns controls the flow of dye. Recently, the matrix converter (MC) has been an excellent competitor for the VSI or CSI for its compactness. The voltage transfer ratio of the VSI, CSI, and MC has been limited to 0.866. Thus, the efficiency of these converters is less. To improve the voltage transfer ratio the quasi-Z-source network (QZSN) is to be used between voltage source and indirect MC (IMC). The modification in the shoot-through duty ratio of the QZSN varies the voltage transfer ratio greater than 0.866. Different voltage transfer ratios are needed for different voltage sag conditions. For a variation of the duty ratio of the QZSN, the fuzzy logic controller has been presented. To control the IMC vector control with space vector modulation has been presented. This paper proposes the implementation of QZSIMC adjustable speed drive for the flow control of dye in paper mill during different voltage sag conditions. A 4-kW prototype has been built and the effectiveness of the proposed system is verified with simulation results and experimental setup. Simulation is done in MATLAB, Simulink platform. Experimental setup is done with the aid of a TMS320F2812 (Texas Instrument) processor. The experimental results validate the maintenance of the speed of an induction motor at the set condition, thus controlling the perfect flow of dye in paper manufacturing technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four-level hybrid-clamped inverter is a newly proposed topology that can operate under a wide voltage range without switches connected in series. However, when it is applied in medium voltage high power conversions, the flying capacitors in each phase will occupy a huge volume and a high switching frequency is required to restrain the voltage ripples. In order to overcome this drawback, a four-level active neutral-point clamped inverter is discussed in this paper, which consists of only six switches and no diodes or flying capacitors are required. In order to balance the neutral-point voltages under the full power factor and modulation index range, a capacitor voltage balance method based on carrier-overlapped pulsewidth modulation is proposed in this paper. The upper and lower dc-link capacitor voltages are balanced by zero-sequence voltage injection and the central dc-link capacitor voltage is balanced by adjusting the duty cycles of switching signals slightly. Simulation and experimental results are presented to confirm the validity of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes two fault-tolerant dual-multiphase motor drives, a series-connected topology, and a standard H-bridge topology. Previous studies have shown that the series connected topology is appropriate to an aerospace application and has lower peak current in degraded mode in comparison with the H-bridge topology, which may consequently diminish the system's weight and cost. This paper extends the study to compare different control strategies of these structures under two fault conditions: short-circuit of an inverter's switch and an open-phase of the machine. The control strategies analyzed in this paper do not impact the fundamental current or the torque generation, but the amplitudes of some harmonics in degraded mode are expected to be narrowed down in order to reduce the inverter's size. Some analyses of maximum voltage and peak current in degraded mode have been used for inverter dimensioning. Experimental results are shown and compared to the simulated ones to confirm the validity of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Industrial induction heating (IH) is a key manufacturing process due to its benefits in terms of efficiency, accurate output power control, and high performance. These features have made possible the extension of this technology to a wide range of industries from automotive to aeronautic, domestic, or renewable energies. One of the main challenges still present is the design of a high-performance and cost-effective process for those induction targets with complex geometries exposed to the magnetic field, being the most representative example gears present in most mechanical systems. Usually, in order to optimize the heating process, multifrequency IH systems are used, being often expensive and/or difficult to tune and control. The aim of this paper is, consequently, to propose a family of power converters able to supply the inductor system with two simultaneous frequencies in order to improve the heating process of the induction target. The proposed converter takes advantage of a multiresonant network allowing full control of the output power delivered at each frequency and, at the same time, a compact and cost-effective implementation. The proposed converter is analyzed, designed, and implemented, and experimental verification of its operation is provided in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel polygonal voltage space vector structure (SVS) having 30 sides, for a star-connected induction motor drive. The SVS eliminates the presence of harmonics up to 25th order from motor phase voltage throughout the entire modulation range, providing a torque profile devoid of lower order pulsations. Linear modulation is extended till 99.63% of base speed without exceeding the motor phase voltage rating. Topology consists of a dc-link fed primary inverter and two equal low voltage modular capacitor fed secondary inverters. Here the harmonics generated by the primary inverter is canceled by the secondary inverter which acts as a switched capacitive filter. Detailed description of the SVS generation and timing calculations are provided in this paper. Effectiveness of the proposed scheme is validated using experimental results, inverter loss calculations, and harmonic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless power transfer (WPT) via near-field magnetic coupling is an enabling technology for many applications. A few WPT standards are under development with frequencies ranging from kilohertz (kHz) to megahertz (MHz). Operation in kHz offers a higher power rating and that in MHz offers a smaller size. This paper presents a dual-band WPT architecture with novel transmitter and receiver topologies that can achieve high performance at both 100 kHz and 13.56 MHz with low component count and decoupled power delivery at different frequencies. On the transmitter side, we introduce an enhanced push–pull Class-E topology together with a reactance steering network (RSN), which can seamlessly compensate the load impedance variation for MHz wireless power transmitters. On the receiver side, we present a reconfigurable dual-band rectifier that can achieve a power density of 300 W/in $^3$ with low component count and low total harmonic distortion. A complete dual-band WPT system comprising an RSN-based dual-band transmitter and multiple reconfigurable receivers has been built and tested. The WPT system can simultaneously deliver a total of 30 W of power to multiple receivers (15 W maximum each) with 82.5% efficiency at 100 kHz and 74.8% efficiency at 13.56 MHz with 2.8 cm of coil distance and up to 5 cm of coil misalignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a current control of dual three-phase permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) based on five-leg inverter. The five-leg inverter can be utilized to drive dual three-phase PMSM with full torque at slow speed when the conventional dual three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) has a faulty inverter leg. Usually, the common leg in the five-leg inverter may have severe current stress. By dedicated selection of which two phases as a pair to share the common leg, its current rating is approximately half of current rating of other legs. Meanwhile, the five-leg inverter can fully fulfill the vector space decomposition control for dual three-phase PMSM, which has the same dynamical performance as the conventional dual three-phase VSI. However, due to the asymmetry of five-leg inverter non-linearity, the currents of dual three-phase PMSM are unbalanced. To mitigate this issue, the five-leg inverter non-linearity compensation is also introduced and investigated in this paper, whose effectiveness is verified by comparative experiments on a prototype dual three-phase PMSM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In low-power applications of photovoltaic (PV) systems, the transformerless grid-connected inverters have been preferred to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost, size, and power losses when they are compared to the ones with the transformer. A transformerless single-phase inverter topology with a single dc-link capacitor for the grid-connected PV systems is proposed in this paper. The proposed inverter has been simulated by using a cooperation process of the MATLAB and SPICE package programs and it has been implemented for experimental verification. The proposed inverter reduces the high-frequency common-mode leakage current caused by parasitic capacitances of PV panels, whereas it is controlled with the unipolar sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation. Also, the results show that the common-mode voltage remains constant. The efficiency of the proposed inverter has been compared to that of the most common topologies having the dc-link decoupling during the zero voltage states. This paper is accompanied by a video file demonstrating the power loss distribution in the inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a dc-link voltage control method of a single-phase back-to-back cascaded H-bridge inverter (SBCI) for a medium-voltage motor drive system. The main advantage of the SBCI topology over the conventional regenerative cascaded H-bridge topology with a three-phase active front-end (AFE) is a simple system structure, which is composed of an input transformer, a power cell, a current sensor, etc. However, the challenging points of the SBCI are larger voltage ripple in the dc-link capacitor and imbalance of dc-link voltages of each phase. The asymmetric dc-link voltage of each power cells could cause unstable operation such as over-modulation due to the lack of the dc-link voltage of a particular phase and result in over-voltage or under-voltage faults. In this paper, the control strategy of the dc-link voltage for the SBCI that uses the negative-sequence voltage of the converter is described. The proposed control method is verified with a computer simulation whose target is a 6.6-kV–1.25-MW medium-voltage drive system. Also, through the experimental setup with the prototype SBCI whose power rating is 16.2 kVA, the dc-link voltage of each AFE has been controlled within a 0.5% error of its reference value at the full load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancement of dc bus voltage utilization for a five-level inverter with single dc source and capacitor-fed H-bridge (CHB) units is investigated in this paper. A carrier-based modulation technique is used for boosting the dc bus utilization, which is established by providing detailed mathematical analysis. The five-level inverter used here is realized by cascading a CHB unit to each phase of a three-level neutral point clamped inverter. The increase in dc bus voltage utilization owes to the pole voltage redundancies offered by CHB units. The floating capacitors of H-bridge units are balanced within a quarter fundamental cycle using the switching state redundancies of pole voltage levels. The aforementioned modulation technique allows the inverter to enhance the dc bus utilization from 0.577 $\text{V}_{\text{dc}}$ to 0.63 $\text{V}_{\text{dc}}$ under unity power factor. This enhancement is obtained in the linear modulation range without increasing the dc bus voltage, and thus, the inverter can operate without the presence of low-order harmonics in its phase voltages. The strength of this paper lies in its detailed mathematical analysis for finding out the limiting modulation index and power factor condition in the light of floating capacitor voltage balancing issue. Simulation as well as experimental verification of the modulation scheme is carried out on an induction motor drive under various operating conditions. It is shown that this carrier-based modulation technique is suitable for any single source inverter topology with one CHB unit per phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel single-stage soft-switched high-frequency-link three-phase dc–ac converter topology. The topology supports unidirectional dc to ac power flow and is targeted for applications like grid integration of photovoltaic sources, fuel cell, etc. The high frequency magnetic isolation results in reduction of system volume, weight, and cost. Sine-wave pulsewidth modulation is implemented in dc-side converter. Though high-frequency switched, dc-side converter is soft switched for most part of the line cycle. The ac-side converter active switches are line frequency switched incurring negligible switching loss. The line frequency switching of ac-side converter facilitates use of high voltage blocking inherently slow semiconductor devices to generate high voltage ac output. In addition, a cascaded multilevel structure is presented in this paper for direct medium-voltage ac grid integration. A detailed circuit analysis considering nonidealities like transformer leakage and switch capacitances, is presented in this paper. A 6-kW three-phase laboratory prototype is built. The presented simulation and experimental results verify the operation of the proposed topologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasingly prominent role of rail transit in the entire urban transport system, an auxiliary inverter is used increasingly. The complicated and fluctuating load condition of the auxiliary inverter implies special designs about structure and control strategy are necessary. For this purpose, a comprehensive control strategy is proposed. First of all, this paper proposes a structure that is capable of suppressing unbalanced voltage. Second, the control strategy based on the resonant controller is proposed, which can balance split capacitors voltage, is capable of suppressing the effect of unbalanced load and nonlinear load. This paper introduces the design method of the control system in detail. Then, this paper simulates the proposed comprehensive control strategy in MATLAB. Finally, experimental results are presented, which fully demonstrate the excellent performance of the comprehensive control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Multilevel inverters have created a new wave of interest in industry and research. While the classical topologies have proved to be a viable alternative in a wide range of high-power medium-voltage applications, there has been an active interest in the evolution of newer topologies. Reduction in overall part count as compared to the classical topologies has been an important objective in the recently introduced topologies. In this paper, some of the recently proposed multilevel inverter topologies with reduced power switch count are reviewed and analyzed. The paper will serve as an introduction and an update to these topologies, both in terms of the qualitative and quantitative parameters. Also, it takes into account the challenges which arise when an attempt is made to reduce the device count. Based on a detailed comparison of these topologies as presented in this paper, appropriate multilevel solution can be arrived at for a given application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a generalized power-decoupling control scheme using a multiport isolated bidirectional converter for a multilevel inverter, which has multiple dc links inside. In the proposed method, a single power-decoupling capacitor is needed for all the dc links in the multilevel inverter cell. First, a prototype of the power-decoupling concept of individual H-bridge cells in the multilevel inverter is proposed, using a separate power-decoupling circuit. Then, a more advanced one-step power-decoupling method is proposed. The lifetime and reliability of the multilevel inverter is improved as film capacitors replace the large capacitance electrolyte capacitors. A multi-input ports/single output voltage-fed dual half-bridge converter (MDHB) is used for the power-decoupling circuit. A steady-state analysis for the peak and root mean square of the MDHB current is carried out for the loss breakdown. The currents are functions of the switching frequency, phase shift, leakage inductance, turn ratio, and output voltage, which make the multiport transformer design complex. A design methodology is proposed, which takes into account the design of the copper and core losses as functions of the switching frequency and number of turns. Furthermore, a special winding method for the input port is illustrated to obtain identical leakage inductances for the uniform current distribution in the multiport transformer. The proposed MDHB employs a current-sensorless power-decoupling control that contributes to the spontaneous ripple rejection of all the dc links without individual link current information, as well as to the cost and size reduction. Hence, the ripple-rejection controller is independent of the control configuration of the multilevel inverter, and also available for universal applications of various inverter topologies. Since the primary-input ports of MDHB share a single magnetic core for interfacing the ripple power to the unified secondary ripple capacitor, the controller design becomes difficult in considering the dynamic interaction among the ports, along with the average-voltage control loop design. In this paper, the dynamic analysis and controller design procedure of the circuit is also presented. The power decoupling is achieved even when the ripple frequency is other than the double frequency of the inverter output, since the single-pole transfer function of the small-signal model of the MDHB allows sufficient phase margin, along with high bandwidth. The proposed power-decoupling method for the multilevel inverter is validated with the help of simulation and 1.2-kW hardware prototype experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support the development of high-frequency ac microgrids in terms of compact design, high-voltage gain and low total harmonic distortion (THD), a buck–boost dual-leg-integrated step-up inverter is proposed in this paper. The inverter is formed by integrating a buck–boost converter into a conventional single-phase full-bridge inverter by sharing the upper switch and the body diode of the lower switch in both bridge-legs. Consequently, the component count is significantly reduced over the step-up inverter counterparts. In addition, to address the drawbacks of hybrid modulation methods adopted by existing dual-leg-integrated inverters, such as double-variable control, and high THD of output voltage/current at high input voltage and heavy load conditions, unipolar frequency doubling sinusoidal pulse width modulation scheme is adopted in this inverter. As a result, the modulation ratio M becomes the only control variable to regulate the output voltage/current and the control is simplified. The THD of the proposed inverter output can remain low throughout the entire input voltage range and load power range. This paper presents the topology derivation procedure, operation principle, and steady-state characteristics of the proposed inverter. To validate the effectiveness of theory, experimental results of a 400 W hardware prototype, where the output voltage frequency is at 500 Hz, are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyzes the benefits of the active damping applied to transformerless three-phase grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverters using modified LCL (MLCL) filter for leakage current reduction. In comparison with passive damping techniques, the active damping can reduce the MLCL filter resonance peaks, improving the dynamic performance of the control system without addition of power losses. Besides these classical advantages, this paper demonstrates that the active damping also contributes for PV leakage current reduction, preserving the high-frequency attenuation of the MLCL filter. Additionally, an active damping for the inverter common-mode circuit is also proposed, reducing the low-frequency leakage current caused by the common-mode signal used to extend the inverter modulation index. Experimental results are given to demonstrate the leakage current reduction and the grid current control for a 10 kW PV inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, ground leakage current suppression in a 60-kW 5-level T-type (5LT2) transformerless SiC photovoltaic (PV) inverter has been presented. The common mode (CM) equivalent circuit is analyzed based on a high frequency (HF) CM loop and a low frequency (LF) CM loop, respectively. In the 5LT2 inverter, the derived HF CM voltage (CMV) is found to have 86% reduction compared to that of a 3-level T-type (3LT2) inverter. The simulation and experiment results are provided to demonstrate the advantages of 5LT2 inverter on HF leakage current suppression. In addition, LF CMV caused by neutral point (NP) voltage oscillation has been analyzed in this paper. It is shown that the LF CMV is nearly proportional to the NP voltage oscillation. Furthermore, an LF CMV compensation method is proposed to suppress the LF CMV by 64%, which is verified by simulation and experiment results. Finally, the leakage current shows 79% reduction in the 5LT2 inverter compared to the conventional 3LT2 inverter in the experiment. A further 52% leakage current reduction is achieved by the LF CMV compensation in the 5LT2 inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, direct torque control (DTC) of five-phase induction motor (FPIM) is implemented using three-level neutral point clamped (TL-NPC) inverter. One of the advantages of three-level inverter over two-level one for DTC operation is the low torque ripple. Also TL-NPC inverter through space vector modulation technique gives low $ dv/dt$ transition with better voltage waveform. By applying conventional lookup table for DTC, the TL-NPC inverter does not ensures lower $dv/dt$ transition. In this paper, a novel switching scheme for DTC of FPIM using TL-NPC inverter is proposed that ensures the low $ dv/dt$ transition and balancing of dc-link capacitor voltages of TL-NPC inverter. To form the lookup table for DTC operation, instead of using voltage vectors directly, virtual vectors (VVs) are utilized. Two switching states are used in one sample time to generate a VV in $\alpha \beta$ plane, which gives zero resultant voltage in $ xy$ plane. The switching strategy ensures low number of transitions to reduce the switching losses. The switching state redundancies are used in a novel way to balance the dc-link capacitor voltages without using any additional hardware. The proposed technique to balance the dc-link capacitor voltage gives lower switching frequency. The MATLAB/Simulink environment is used for the simulation and the results are validated through experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the superiority in leakage current suppression, the active voltage clamping highly efficient and reliable inverter concept (AVC-HERIC) has become a promising candidate in low- and medium-power photovoltaic systems. In addition, the high power density and low system costs have been attained in the AVC-HERIC due to the removal of the isolation transformers. However, to maintain high efficiency and good power quality under reactive power injection, prior-art modulation methods for the AVC-HERIC should be modified. In this paper, a simple modulation scheme is proposed for the AVC-HERIC, which ensures bidirectional current flow at any time. An improved modulation scheme is implemented according to the reference voltage polarity, and it is integrated into the proposed scheme to enable flexible reactive power injection. Moreover, the improved modulation scheme can maintain the same high efficiency as adopting the unipolar pulsewidth modulation strategy. More importantly, the deadtime and minimum pulsewidth limitation distortions are compensated effectively by the proposed modulation, leading to a good power quality. Simulations and experimental tests are performed on a 3-kW AVC-HERIC, and the results verify the effectiveness of the proposed modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reduced component count five-level inverter topology based on the stacked cell approach to multilevel inverters. The proposed topology utilizes the fundamental properties of three-phase voltages to reduce the number of switches and flying capacitors to cut size, weight and costs while facilitating higher reliability, simpler wiring and lesser electromagnetic interference. The operational aspects of the topology such as circuit structure, modulation and capacitor balancing are explained, followed by an account of device stresses and reliability. A discussion of certain additional features such as fault tolerant operation, loss steering and common-mode elimination addresses the usefulness of the topology in practical situations. A comparison of the proposed topology with existing methods in terms of several parameters is then used to highlight its merits and features. Finally, experimental results obtained using an induction motor drive incorporating the topology are given, so as to validate the feasibility of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel seven-level inverter topology for medium-voltage high-power applications. It consists of eight active switches and two inner flying capacitor (FC) units forming a similar structure as in a conventional active neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) inverter. This unique arrangement reduces the number of active and passive components. A simple modulation technique reduces cost and complexity in the control system design without compromising reactive power capability. In addition, compared to major conventional seven-level inverter topologies, such as the neutral point clamped, FC, cascaded H-bridge, and ANPC topologies, the new topology reduces the dc-link voltage requirement by 50%. This recued dc-link voltage makes the new topology appealing for various industrial applications. Experimental results from a 2.2-kVA prototype are presented to support the theoretical analysis presented in this paper. The prototype demonstrates a conversion efficiency of around 97.2% ± 1% for a wide load range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a fault diagnosis technique for high-resistance connection (HRC) in a nine-phase flux-switching permanent-magnet (FSPM) machine based on zero-sequence voltage components (ZSVC), where the neutral-point connection mode is considered. A nine-phase FSPM machine topology is first introduced and no-load back electromotive force waveforms are analyzed. Moreover, the topologies of the nine-phase FSPM drive with different neutral-point connection modes are studied. Then, the mathematical model of a nine-phase FSPM machine with HRC is established with the consideration of the neutral-point connection mode and then the influence of the HRC on the ZSVC is analyzed based on the established model. It is shown that the HRC may be diagnosed by monitoring the change of the spectral contents of the ZSVC. Furthermore, this paper focuses on the situation of the nine-phase FSPM machine with one neutral point. In this case, to remove the influence of the FSPM machine operating point, an effective fault indicator is defined and used for HRC fault detection. Finally, the simulation and the experiment are carried out to validate the proposed method. Both the results show that the proposed method can be applied for the HRC fault diagnosis in a nine-phase FSPM machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new space vector pulse width modulation method to extend the linear modulation range of a cascaded five level inverter topology with a single dc supply is presented. Using this method, the inverter can be controlled linearly and the peak phase fundamental output voltage of the inverter can be increased from 0.577 to 0.637 V\text{dc} without increasing the dc bus voltage and without exceeding the induction motor voltage rating. This new technique makes use of cascaded inverter pole voltage redundancy and property of the space vector structure for its operation. Using this, the induction motor drive can be operated till the full speed range (0–50 Hz) with the elimination of lower order harmonics in the phase voltage and phase current. The five-level topology presented in this paper is realized by cascading a two-level inverter and two full bridge modules with floating capacitors. The inverter topology and its operation for extending the modulation range is analyzed extensively. Simulation and experimental results for both steady-state and dynamic operating conditions are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques suitable for a four-level five-phase open-end winding (OeW) drive. The drive comprises a five-phase induction machine, supplied using two two-level voltage source inverters with isolated and unequal dc-link voltages, in the ratio 2:1. A decoupled carrier-based (CB) PWM modulation strategy, based on unequal voltage reference sharing between the two converters, is introduced in this paper. The stability of dc-link voltages in OeW drives is investigated next, using a novel analysis technique. Several modulation methods are analyzed and the results show that application of the coupled PWM technique, with carriers having in-phase disposition, leads to overcharging of the capacitor in the dc-link of the inverter intended to operate with the lower dc-link voltage. On the other hand, the proposed decoupled CB PWM scheme naturally eliminates the dc-link capacitor overcharging problem. These findings are verified experimentally, using open-loop V/f control. Two different decoupled CB modulation methods are compared and the best performing modulation method is selected and incorporated further into an OeW drive with field-oriented control. The presented steady state and transient experimental results demonstrate that the decoupled CB PWM technique is suitable for high-performance variable speed drive applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing demands for power supplies have contributed to the population of high-frequency ac (HFAC) power distribution system (PDS), and in order to increase the power capacity, multilevel inverters (MLIs) frequently serving as the high-frequency (HF) source-stage have obtained a prominent development. Existing MLIs commonly use more than one voltage source or a great number of power devices to enlarge the level numbers, and HF modulation (HFM) methods are usually adopted to decrease the total harmonic distortion (THD). All of these have increased the complexity and decreased the efficiency for the conversion from dc to HF ac. In this paper, a nine-level inverter employing only one input source and fewer components is proposed for HFAC PDS. It makes full use of the conversion of series and parallel connections of one voltage source and two capacitors to realize nine output levels, thus lower THD can be obtained without HFM methods. The voltage stress on power devices is relatively relieved, which has broadened its range of applications as well. Moreover, the proposed nine-level inverter is equipped with the inherent self-voltage balancing ability, thus the modulation algorithm gets simplified. The circuit structure, modulation method, capacitor calculation, loss analysis, and performance comparisons are presented in this paper, and all the superior performances of the proposed nine-level inverter are verified by simulation and experimental prototypes with rated output power of 200 W. The accordance of theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results confirms the feasibility of proposed nine-level inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The single-phase diode rectifier system with small dc-link capacitor shows wide diode conduction time and it improves the grid current harmonics. By shaping the output power, the system meets the grid current harmonics regulation without any power factor corrector or grid filter inductor. However, the system has torque ripple and suffers efficiency degradation due to the insufficient dc-link voltage. To solve this problem, this paper proposes the dc-link shunt compensator (DSC) for small dc-link capacitor systems. DSC is located on dc-node in parallel and operates as voltage source, improving the system performances. This circuit helps the grid current-shaping control during grid-connection time, and reduces the flux-weakening current by supplying the energy to the motor during grid-disconnection time. This paper presents a power control method and the design guideline of DSC. The feasibility of DSC is verified by simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In several electrical dc–ac power conversions, the ac output voltage is higher than the input voltage. If a voltage-source inverter (VSI) is used, then an additional dc–dc boosting stage is required to overcome the step-down VSI limitations. Recently, several impedance source converters are gaining higher attentions [1], [2], as they are able to provide buck-boost capability in a single conversion stage. This paper proposes the merging of the boost stage and the VSI stage in a single stage dc–ac power conversion, denoted as split-source inverter (SSI). The proposed topology requires the same number of active switches of the VSI, three additional diodes, and the same eight states of a conventional space-vector modulation. It also shows some merits compared to Z-source inverters, especially in terms of reduced switch voltage stress for voltage gains higher than 1.15. This paper presents the analysis of the SSI and compares different modulation schemes. Moreover, it presents a modified modulation scheme to eliminate the low frequency ripple in the input current and the voltage across the inverter bridge. The proposed analysis has been verified by simulation and experimental results on a 2.0-kW prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Switched boost inverter (SBI) is a single-stage power converter derived from Inverse Watkins Johnson topology. Unlike the traditional buck-type voltage source inverter (VSI), the SBI can produce an ac output voltage that is either greater or less than the available dc input voltage. Also, the SBI exhibits better electromagnetic interference noise immunity when compared to the VSI, which enables compact design of the power converter. Another advantage of SBI is that it can supply both dc and ac loads simultaneously from a single dc input. These features make the SBI suitable for dc nanogrid applications. In this paper, the SBI is proposed as a power electronic interface in dc nanogrid. The structure and advantages of the proposed SBI-based nanogrid are discussed in detail. This paper also presents a dq synchronous-reference-frame-based controller for SBI, which regulates both dc and ac bus voltages of the nanogrid to their respective reference values under steady state as well as under dynamic load variation in the nanogrid. The control system of SBI has been experimentally validated using a 0.5-kW laboratory prototype of the SBI supplying both dc and ac loads simultaneously, and the relevant experimental results are given in this paper. The low cross regulation and the dynamic performance of the control system have also been verified experimentally for a 20% step change in either dc or ac load of SBI. These experimental results confirm the suitability of the SBI and its closed-loop control strategy for dc nanogrid applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A performance comparison of an interleaved boost converter (IBC) using Si and SiC diodes for photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion systems is presented in this paper. The performance attributes under investigation include the semiconductor device behavior, thermal requirement, system efficiency, and power density. The IBC is designed to sustain the dc-link voltage in the energy conversion system and to provide the maximum power point tracking in the PV system. Due to the absence of reverse recovery current in SiC Schottky diodes, low switching losses are generated in diodes and switches. This benefit results in a higher system efficiency and smaller cooling system design requirement. As a benefit, the volume and weight of the heatsink can be further reduced. Furthermore, behaviors of the power semiconductors, which will impact the performance in the system, are discussed in the paper. The validity of the analysis is confirmed experimentally with a 2.5-kW IBC prototype with relatively wide power and input voltage operating range. The overall performance of the IBC prototype using Si and SiC diodes is summarized in a table for easy comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel pulsewidth modulation (PWM) scheme for the decoupled and coordinated control of two parallel connected split-phase induction machines is discussed in this paper for the first time. Both the motors are operated from a single six-phase voltage source inverter which acts as a power source, and two switched capacitor-fed auxiliary inverters to limit the flow of nontorque producing currents in each motor. Both the motors can be operated at its full rated power with low switching frequency, and decoupled control for full power range can be achieved with the proposed topology. This is possible because the individual machines do not carry the load/harmonic currents of other machine (unlike the conventional series or parallel connected systems). The converters can be modulated using sine-triangle PWM or space vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM). Furthermore, two different schemes of SVPWM techniques are proposed and compared in this paper. Exhaustive experimental results for all the modulation schemes are provided for steady state and transient operating conditions including start-up to validate the proposed topology and modulation schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contains a comparison between three topologies of a three-phase two-level inverter: A quasi-Z-source inverter (qZSI), a voltage-source inverter with a boost converter and a voltage-source inverter with an interleaved boost converter. experimental results obtained from laboratory tests of equivalent 6-kW 100-kHz inverters based on SiC mosfets and Schottky diodes are provided. The following parameters are compared: Quality of input inductor current and output phase voltage as well as total power losses in the inverters. The results for these parameters are obtained for input voltage ranging from 325 V to almost 600 V (where feasible), for two sets of equivalent modulation methods (two regular methods and two reduced-loss methods), for a couple of characteristic values of deadtime and for the operation both at the maximum value of modulation index and at equal values of voltage across the inverter bridge. Results of the experiments show that the qZSI topology may, at certain conditions, surpass the traditional two-stage inverter topologies in the areas of input inductor current quality, output voltage quality and also power losses (at high values of input voltage). What is needed to obtain that is a careful examination of operating conditions, applied modulation method and deadtime value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilevel inverters (MLIs) are being used in wide range of power electronic applications. These converters have attracted a lot of attention during recent years and exist in different topologies with similar basic concepts. This paper presents five main submodules (SMs) to be used as the basic structures of MLIs. The paper reviews the common MLI topologies from the structural point of view. The topologies are divided into the different SMs to show conventional MLI configurations and future topologies that can be created from the main SMs. A comparative study between different topologies is performed in detail. The MLIs are categorized and investigated with from different perspectives such as the number of components, the ability to create inherent negative voltage, working in regeneration mode and using single dc source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In medium-voltage drives, multistep model predictive control (MPC) can lower the total harmonic distortion of the stator currents and thereby reduce losses and improve efficiency. However, from the point of view of implementation, there is still uncertainty as to whether transients have a major adverse effect on achieving this improved steady-state performance. The time-varying nature of machine drives, initialization of the optimization process, and limited computational resources are identified as key factors. This paper analyzes the link between these key factors in detail, thus a suitable reformulation and selective initialization approach is designed to enable the deterministic use of multistep finite-control-set MPC irrespective of the drive system conditions. Guidelines to select the prediction horizon, weighting factor, and minimum switching frequency considering the control platform limitations are presented. The significant impacts of transients on the design and experimental validation, covering several drive conditions, are evaluated in a scaled-down three-level induction machine drive switching at 350 Hz. This paper is accompanied by a video demonstrating the real-time implementation of multistep MPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solid-state transformer (SST) has the ability to operate with only two input phases, which can be called single-phase open-circuit (SPO) operation. With this ability, the SST can maintain operation under permanent single-phase-to-ground faults, where the fault phase must be isolated, providing a better power supply sustainability than that of the conventional low-frequency transformer. In the absence of research on the SPO operation of an SST, this paper presents a study of it. The influence of SPO operation on the grid and the SST itself is analyzed. Under the SPO state, the SST will inject the negative-sequence current to the grid; meanwhile, the maximum load power will decline; thus, the optimized power factor under the SPO state is unity. The maximum power of △-SST is higher than that of the Y-SST under the SPO state owing to the △ connection. A control strategy for the SST medium-voltage cascaded H-bridge stage is proposed. SPO current control can be achieved by controlling the positive-sequence current. A proper negative-sequence voltage can be injected to synchronize the cluster voltages to obtain a lower current total harmonic distortion and smaller dc voltage ripple. In the △-SST, a proper zero-sequence current can be injected to fully use the power rating of the double-cluster branch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing proliferation of variable speed drive, the demand for the more reliable drive is also on the rise. Despite the growing interest on more advanced motors like permanent magnet and flux switching motors, three-phase induction motors (3ph-IMs) are still the main workhorse in the industry and hence the fault-tolerant control of these motor drives remains an interesting and important topic. In this paper, a simple fault-tolerant field-oriented control technique for 3ph-IMs is presented. It is shown that by injecting zero-sequence compensation voltage in a feedforward manner, open-circuit faults can be effectively tolerated. Compared to the previous feedforward fault-tolerant control methods, the proposed approach does not require the knowledge of the magnetizing inductance, which is tricky to be obtained in induction motors. Furthermore, the unified feedforward approach allows the same control structure to be used for different fault-tolerant 3ph-IMs drive topologies, with minor modifications to the feedforward terms. In addition, the effect of inverter non-idealities on the performance of the proposed control method is also highlighted and addressed. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is verified using MATLAB simulation and further validated using experimental tests. This paper is accompanied by a video demonstrating the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been several advanced topologies proposed by the community for micro-inverter applications. However, many such applications suffer from unwanted second-order harmonic current ripple at dc input. Moreover, in the absence of suitable passive filter or ripple compensator, the second-order harmonics ripple may propagate into the dc source. This results in several problems to the system, related to system efficiency, life, cost, size, reliability, and stability. This paper proposes an adaptive sliding-mode controller to shape the output impedance of the boost-circuit of quasi-switched boost inverter such that the propagation of the ripple from dc link to the dc-input source is resisted. The quasi-switched boost inverter is one of the advanced and suitable topologies for the micro-inverter applications. The adaptive nature of the proposed controller improves the transient performance of the system at the line–load transients unlike some existing solutions, which affects dynamics adversely to achieve ripple mitigation objective. The controller ensures voltage regulation within ${5\%}$ at dc link. The proposed control technique is verified using a lab-prototype of 500 W quasi-switched boost inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a technique of variable-turns-ratio high-frequency link inverter is proposed to provide a simple method to achieve multi-level outputs for the isolated single-stage high-frequency link inverters. By dynamically adjusting the turns ratio of transformer, five-level (±2, ±1, and 0) outputs can be achieved to improve the current quality. The single transformer, compared with the existing two-level high-frequency link inverter, is employed in the structure and only a few auxiliary devices are added, where the added circuit operates at low frequency and the power density is refined. Based on this technique, the single-stage active clamped forward grid-connected inverter with variable turns ratio is taken as an example to better illustrate the analysis process and a 1000-W prototype is designed and established to evaluate the output performance. The conducted simulation results and prototype tests verify the feasibility of the proposed single-stage variable-turns-ratio high-frequency link grid-connected inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photovoltaic (PV) output voltage varies over a wide range depending on operating conditions. Thus, the PV-connected converters should be capable of handling a wide input voltage range while maintaining high efficiencies. This paper proposes a new series resonant dc–dc converter for PV microinverter applications. Compared with the conventional series resonant converter, a dual-mode rectifier is configured on the secondary side, which enables a twofold voltage gain range for the proposed converter with a fixed-frequency phase-shift modulation scheme. The zero-voltage switching turn-on and zero-current switching turn-off can be achieved for active switches and diodes, thereby, minimizing the switching losses. Moreover, a variable dc-link voltage control scheme is introduced to the proposed converter, leading to a further efficiency improvement and input-voltage-range extension. The operation principle and essential characteristics (e.g., voltage gain, soft-switching, and root-mean-square current) of the proposed converter are detailed in this paper, and the power loss modeling and design optimization of components are also presented. A 1-MHz 250-W converter prototype with an input voltage range of 17–43 V is built and tested to verify the feasibility of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a design procedure and loss estimation for a high-power, medium-voltage series resonant converter (entitled SRC#), intended for application in megawatt medium-voltage dc wind turbines. The converter is operated with a novel method of operation, entitled pulse removal technique, characterized by variable frequency and phase-shift modulation, below the resonant point of the LC tank. A step-by-step design procedure is proposed and circuit component ratings and efficiency are compared for two variants. The new method of operation reduces transformer size to below 50%, whereas losses are kept below 1.5% from zero to nominal power, due to soft-switching characteristics. An experimental setup, rated for 10 kW and 5 kV output was assembled to extract losses and validate the semiconductor loss model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the issue of the neutral-point oscillation in the four-leg neutral-point clamped inverter. Such an issue is closely associated with the neutral-point current, so this study models the inverter on the dc side to clarify its relationship and presents a three-dimension pulsewidth modulation to eliminate the neutral-point oscillation. In addition, an offset-injection approach to reducing the neutral-point oscillation is also investigated and discussed. The laboratory test results will validate the analysis of the proposed approach, and a discussion will be presented to evaluate the effectiveness of eliminating the neutral-point oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several applications need a high power, high output voltage ac/dc converter. The structure includes a dc/dc resonant stage, which is fed from a three-phase line. Due to standards, rectified dc input voltage varies largely from 400 to 750 V affecting the adversely overall design and current levels. In fact, losses in the inverter become unbearable if both switching frequency and transferred power are desired beyond a certain level. In those cases, it is necessary to connect several switches in parallel. As an alternative, the new switches can configure a new modular structure instead, adding more flexibility in the control to compensate input voltage variations. As a result, the required circulating current is reduced to a half, with benefits in total power losses. Moreover, the nature of the topology allows a reconfiguration of the resonant net (LCC) for low power, reducing even further the minimum circulating current under those conditions (fluoroscopy, for instance). In this paper, the new multilevel resonant topology is mathematically modeled and proposed for radiography and fluoroscopy. An example illustrates the design procedure for a given application at 100 kW, 50–150 kV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel four-leg converter topology and the corresponding SVPWM strategy for a reluctance machine with DC-biased sinusoidal winding current. Compared with the traditional open-winding inverter topology, the number of the power devices and gate driver required for the four-leg converter topology are reduced by one-third, and the power loss is reduced. With the proposed four-leg converter, the cost of the motor drive is reduced and the power density is improved. The vector control and modulation models of the proposed four-leg converter are presented to control the winding current with both AC and DC components. With the proposed four-leg SVPWM strategy, the four-leg converter can achieve the same DC voltage utilization as an open-winding inverter. In addition to the ability to generate αβ-axis voltages, as same with conventional SVPWM, the proposed SVPWM can also generate γ-axis voltages without generating additional zero-sequence alternating voltages on the stator windings. The validity of the proposed converter and the corresponding modulation strategy has been demonstrated by simulation and experiment. The power loss and performance of the four-leg converter are compared with the traditional converter. Contrasting experiments show that the proposed topology can reduce power loss by about 15% at rated operation and achieve the same performance as open-winding inverters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new space vector pulsewidth modulation (PWM) strategies for a single-phase three-level buck-boost neutral point clamped inverter coupled with impedance-source (IS) network. These strategies can be implemented for systems with any IS network with neutral point. The case study system is based on the quasi-Z-source inverter with continuous input current. To demonstrate an improved performance, the strategies are compared with a traditional PWM strategy. The advantages lie in reduced switching number, without output voltage quality distortion. The simulation and experimental results confirm the theoretical predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cascaded H-bridge (CHB) inverter is the most widely used topology for a medium-voltage drive system due to the high degree of modularity, easier implementation of medium output voltage, and the ability to continuous operation under the cell fault condition. Because each power cell of CHB should have isolated dc source, multiwinding input transformer and three-phase active front end (AFE) are generally used for regenerative applications. The whole system can be simplified by replacing the three-phase AFE with single-phase AFE. However, if the control strategy of normal operation is adopted under the cell fault condition, input power imbalance among three phases inevitably occurs. In that situation, not only faulty cells, but also some unscathed cells should be excluded with giving up the maximum capability of the system, not to deteriorate grid current. This paper proposes a control scheme against the cell fault condition of the single-phase AFE CHB. By applying the proposed control scheme to the system, dc-link voltage of each cell and grid current are well regulated without imbalance even under the cell fault conditions. Finally, it can minimize the number of undamaged cells which should be turned off and maximize the capability of the system under the cell fault condition. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central inverter topology based on three-level converters is widely used in large-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants because of its simple and reliable structure and high efficiency. However, when two PV arrays are connected in series for higher dc-link voltage, the single maximum power point tracking (MPPT) operation cannot function properly when there is partial shading between the arrays. This paper presents a configuration where the two PV arrays are connected in series together with an auxiliary power converter feeding a neutral-point-clamped central inverter. This configuration ensures maximum power production from both PV arrays during partial shading conditions, achieving the MPPT operation for both PV arrays. The proposed converter together with their controls are verified by simulation and experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a high-power-density and reliable inverter topology, which transfers the maximum power of a PV array to the load in one power conversion stage. The single-stage power conversion, along with the soft-switching capability of the proposed three-phase PV inverter promises high efficiency at all operating points. Instead of a capacitive dc link that decouples the dc–dc converter and the voltage source inverter in traditional two-stage PV inverters, a high-frequency capacitive ac link is employed in the proposed inverter, which enables exploiting a very small film capacitor, rather than a bulky electrolytic capacitor, for transferring power. Eliminating electrolytic capacitors prolongs the lifetime of this inverter. Considering the long lifetime of PV modules, this feature is of high importance in PV applications. The high-frequency ac link also allows using high-frequency transformers for providing galvanic isolation. Therefore, this inverter is expected to have a very high power density. This paper presents principles of the operation and control, design, and analysis of this inverter, and verifies the performance of the inverter through two prototypes: a 2-kW Si-based prototype and a 2-kW SiC-based prototype operating at different switching frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel method for instantaneous balancing of neutral-point (NP) voltages with stacked multilevel inverters (MLIs) for variable-speed drives. The stacked MLI uses series-connected dc sources and NPs (connecting points of dc sources) to obtain the desired levels. The balancing of NP voltages are obtained by using a low-voltage-capacitor-fed cascaded H-bridge (CHB) per phase of a symmetrical six-phase induction machine (IM), which ensures zero current drawn from NPs (at any given instant). Since no current is drawn from NPs, the single dc-link operation with stacked capacitors is also possible. The scheme is suitable for applications, where low-voltage dc sources and batteries are stacked to form a dc link. A variable-speed operation is done using a seven-level inverter scheme for a symmetrical six-phase IM, which is formed by three dc-link stacked capacitors cascaded with two low-voltage-capacitor-fed CHBs per phase. Furthermore, the method is extended for an open-end IM to obtain a seven-level common-mode eliminated space vector structure using a single dc link. The generalization of this method for any stacked $n$ -level inverter without NP voltage deviation is also presented in this paper. The experimental results and analysis are included to validate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformerless photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected inverters have become more and more popular in distributed PV power generation systems due to the advantages on high efficiency, low cost, and small size. However, common-mode (CM) current in the transformerless PV inverters can result in serious electromagnetic interference and insecurity, which will further reduce the reliability of the PV inverter systems. In this paper, an improved H5 topology, namely H5-D topology, is proposed, in which a clamping diode is added on the basis of H5 topology to eliminate the CM voltage fluctuation in H5 topology. Further, the PSIM simulation results of the H5-D topology and H5 topology are given and compared, especially, the performance of H5-D topology for CM current suppression is presented and analyzed concretely. Finally, the experimental prototypes of the H5-D topology and H5 topology are built and tested, and the experimental results validate the advantages of the H5-D topology. The proposed H5-D topology provides a new practical topology for distributed PV grid-connected power generation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible cooking surfaces represent the most innovative and high-performance induction heating appliances nowadays. This paper presents a multiple-output resonant inverter for multicoil systems featuring high efficiency and flexible output power control for modern induction heating appliances. By adopting a matrix structure, the number of controlled devices can be significantly reduced while high control versatility is ensured. The proposed converter is first analyzed and, in order to prove the feasibility of the proposal, a multiple-output prototype is designed and implemented. The experimental results prove the correct converter operation and output power control with multiple induction heating loads, validating the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the digital implementation of a boundary controller with unipolar switching characteristic for single-phase voltage source full-bridge inverters. This paper expands the application of a second-order switching surface-based control method to unipolar switching of single-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs) using a finite-state machine. The finite-state machine has been formulated considering four different states of the inverter; positive,zero1, negative, andzero2. The second-order boundary control governs the current state of the system and provides proper switching action to keep the system within the desired reference. The control law is implemented digitally in F28m35x digital control card. A full-bridge inverter topology is used to achieve the three-level voltage switching. Various simulations and experiments were performed in a 550 VA, 120 V, 60 Hz VSI with a digitally implemented controller to verify the theoretical predictions. A high-quality voltage output was obtained for various loading conditions. The transient performance of the controller was investigated using a reference and load changes. A comparison of the implementation was made with the existing classical controllers to verify the fast-dynamic response of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]