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Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) have been recognized as the most attractive technology for high voltage direct current (HVDC) applications during the last years. Their advantages include the ability to freely control the internally stored energy in the distributed submodules (SMs) and to independently control AC and DC powers. Recent studies showed that an MMC can take advantage of this degree of freedom to supply ancillary services with low energy requirements such as frequency response or power oscillation damping by connecting energy storage systems (ESSs) to its SM capacitors. This paper proposes a modular DC-DC converter as an interface between the energy storage element and the SM capacitor. As it can be built with switches allowing a high switching frequency, it is shown that the volume of the passive components can be reduced in comparison with interface converters known in the literature. The proposed control strategy avoids to transfer the harmonics of a SM to the ESS that prevents to drastically oversize the system. The proposed control method also provides an appropriate energy exchange without affecting the control philosophy of an MMC and it addresses balancing issues. Simulations and a downscaled prototype confirm the relevance of the proposed control. As the proposed interface converter is able to track the power reference with fast dynamics, it provides the same system-level advantages as other interface converters known in the literature but with a reduced volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes to apply optimal approaches to the design and control of a highly constrained electric machine. The developed approach is applied on a permanent-magnet integrated starter generator (ISG) but may be applied on any high-constrained electric machine. One of the main problems in the use of optimal approaches is the accuracy of the models used by the optimizer. In our approach, we propose to proceed in two steps. 1) Optimal design: the model is purely analytic, and some phenomena are neglected (cross saturation). Under these conditions, the electric machine design is optimal for a limited number of constraints. The design model uses a classic uncoupled d, q reluctant circuit model (with saturation taken into account). 2) Optimal control: once the machine is calculated, the design constraints are validated by a finite-element (FE) method. The FE method allows to use a more accurate model to compute optimal currents for the control on the whole torque-speed plane. In our case, we use FE results to model the cross-saturation phenomenon. The optimizer is common to both cases and is a classic commercial sequential quadratic programming algorithm. This model is validated by experimental results based on an ISG. This paper shows that optimal design and control allows for permanent-magnet machine, high flux-weakening mode, and high-efficiency operations even for a simple machine structure. Index Terms--Automotive applications, cross saturation, design optimization, interior permanent-magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM), optimal control.