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To extend the lifetime, improve the power density and reduce the system cost, the film capacitor is applied to replace the large-volume electrolytic capacitor in motor drives. As the dc-link voltage fluctuates periodically, the rotor position estimation error and operation stability are necessary to be concerned in the position sensorless control methods. A cross-decoupling complex filtering-based position estimation method is investigated for the reduced capacitance interior permanent magnet synchronous motor drive system. Harmonic components of the extended back electromotive force (EEMF) caused by the dc-link voltage fluctuation are analyzed to evaluate the additional rotor position error. A cross-decoupling complex filter realized by the multiple first-order complex filters with different center frequencies is designed to improve the position estimation precision. Harmonics of the EEMF are suppressed and the position error can be eliminated. The estimation precision and operation ability are improved. Experimental results are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the Vienna rectifier operates at unbalanced dc links, the conventional carried-based discontinuous pulsewidth modulation (CB-DPWM) strategy suffers from the neutral point (NP) voltage fluctuation and the input current distortion. An optimized CB-DPWM strategy adopting self-adjusted redundant clamping modes is proposed in this article to solve the above issues. To reduce the input current distortion under unbalanced dc links, the modulation waves of CB-DPWM are modified according to the subsector redivision, and the limited operation region can be obtained. To extend the operation range of the Vienna rectifier, the voltage vector trajectory of CB-DPWM is optimized combined with the current error minimization and the voltage loss area compensation. To minimize the NP voltage fluctuation, the redundant clamping modes under unbalanced dc links are self-adjusted in real time according to the unbalanced degree. Moreover, the NP voltage fluctuation of the proposed strategy is evaluated by the root mean square of the NP current fluctuation. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified by experiments on a Vienna rectifier platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexagon voltage extension is an effective method to improve the maximum output torque of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) in flux-weakening (FW) region. But, the hexagon voltage extension can cause the voltage harmonic inevitably, leading to torque ripple. In this article, it is proved that the increasing rate of voltage harmonic gradually increases during the extension from the inscribed circle voltage to the hexagon voltage. To avoid the voltage harmonic at low torque demand conditions, it is expected that the hexagon voltage extension is only employed at the maximum torque demand conditions. However, the conventional methods employ the nonadjustable hexagon voltage in the whole torque range. To realize the torque-adaptive hexagon voltage extension and suppress the voltage harmonic at low torque demand conditions, this article proposed the dual PI cascade voltage control structure. Two PI controller are designed for adjustments of the extended voltage trajectory and the flux amplitude, respectively. By establishing the Rouse table, the stable conditions of the proposed method are calculated. The effect of suppressing voltage harmonic is theoretically demonstrated. Finally, the comparative experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The errors of gain and offset caused by the current sensor measurement can lead to the first and second harmonics in dq-axis currents of the permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. An adaptive-frequency harmonic suppression strategy based on the vector reconstruction for current measurement error is proposed. The dq-axis current vector is recoordinate transformed using the division-frequency position as the transformation matrix angle. Thus, the frequency of the fundamental component can be decoupled from that of the harmonics in the current vector. In this way, the single-frequency harmonic suppressor can be established in the reconstructed coordinate frame. The current vector error is converged by adaptively adjusting the filtering weight and frequency so as to eliminate the harmonics. In view of the change of fundamental frequency, the variable step of the convergence is used to obtain the ideal filtering effect at different speeds and reduce the negative impact of current sensor measurement errors. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified on the 11.7-kW PMSM drive platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overmodulation strategy plays an important role in the field weakening control for high-speed permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. However, the voltage jumps between the output voltage vectors (OVVs) in high overmodulation regions result in the deterioration of both current performance and loading capability. In order to solve this problem, a novel overmodulation strategy based on the voltage vector space division is proposed. The overmodulation regions are divided by the amplitude and the phase of reference voltage vectors to guarantee the continuity of OVVs. When the overmodulation region changes, the voltage jump can be efficiently suppressed, which contributes to eliminating current ripples. In addition, the proposed parallel projection replaces the traditional center projection to increase the modulation index, which can also improve the fundamental voltage amplitude, and make a reduction of the field weakening current and its current overshoot. By improving the utilization of the dc bus voltage, the higher capability of the output torque can be achieved in the field weakening region. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified on a high-speed surface-mounted PMSM platform by the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrolytic capacitorless Vienna rectifiers have many advantages, such as longer lifetime and higher power density. However, the reduced dc-link capacitance aggravates the voltage stress due to the neutral point (NP) fluctuation. In this article, a hybrid modulation strategy combining the modulations of redundant vector and compression vector is proposed, which can realize the NP voltage balance for electrolytic capacitorless Vienna rectifiers. On the basis of analyzing the limitation of NP-balance capability of conventional space vector pulsewidth modulation (PWM) strategy in the region of high modulation index, the negative influence of reduced capacitance on the NP fluctuation and the input current harmonics is revealed. To suppress the NP fluctuation, the compression coefficient is introduced to redistribute the duty cycles of voltage vector, which can reduce the negative effect of medium vector on the NP voltage. In addition, the phase voltage error is modeled to reduce the input current harmonics with the appropriate adjustment factor. The implementation of the proposed strategy is realized by the equivalent carrier-based PWM, which can avoid the sector judgment and angle calculation. By using the proposed strategy, the NP voltage balance and the input current harmonics reduction can be realized simultaneously. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified on an electrolytic capacitorless Vienna rectifier platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharp LC resonance peak may enlarge inherent harmonics, dominant harmonics of the supply voltage generated by a three-phase diode rectifier, around the resonance frequency, which will intensify fluctuations of the dc-link voltage, and grid currents in motor drives with small dc-link capacitor. In this article, a novel resonance suppression strategy based on inherent harmonics impedance shaping is proposed specially for three-phase input permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives with small dc-link capacitor. Instead of increasing the damping of the whole system for resonance suppression, the motor side power disturbance can be reduced by designing the impedance for inherent harmonics around LC resonance frequency based on the new model with the consideration of motor side characteristic. For damping current generation, the angle of the virtual admittance is modified to eliminate the influence of the dc-link voltage sampling delay. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the method on a prototype of electrolytic capacitorless PMSM drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to improve the accuracy of rotor position estimation for the high-performance operation of position sensorless permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. To mitigate the position harmonic error caused by the nonideal factors in high-frequency signal injection based methods, an adaptive quasi-proportional-resonant rotor position observer (AQPRO) for sensorless PMSM drives is proposed in this article. The AQPRO can track the estimation error and generate the compensation value, which can realize online suppression for position error. By analyzing the stability and the influence of parameters of the proposed position observer on the suppression performance, a proportional-resonant gain self-tuning strategy is investigated to improve the suppression effect of the position harmonic error for different loads and speeds. The influence of self-tuning regulator parameters is modeled and analyzed in detail. The proposed method does not require offline detection and has a strong suppression ability for different harmonic error components. The effectiveness is verified by experiments on a 2.2-kW PMSM drive platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive diode bridge rectifier with LC filter is widely used in wireless power transfer (WPT) system due to its simple structure and uncontrolled characteristics. However, as the load resistance decreases, its input phase angle will also decrease rapidly until it shows obvious capacitive. Therefore, a novel rectifier topology with an input-series inductor (hereafter called ISIR) is proposed in this article to solve this problem. What is more, the ISIR can avoid the duty cycle loss and improve the dc–dc efficiency. First, the mechanism of ISIR is analyzed in detail combined with the operating status of topology. Then, the inductance and compensation parameters are determined based on theoretical calculation and simulation results. Finally, a prototype with a maximum load of 7 Ω is built to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of ISIR, and 88% efficiency is achieved under this condition. Compared with the traditional method, it has increased by 1.05%. The maximum efficiency of WPT system is as high as 91.14% with the proposed ISIR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate rotor position estimation is important to ensure the high-performance operation of position sensorless permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. To suppress the estimated rotor position harmonic error (ERPHE) caused by inverter nonlinearities, flux spatial harmonics, and the current measurement error in high-frequency signal injection-based schemes, an adaptive iterative learning control-based online suppression method is proposed in this article. This method constructs a P-type iterative learning rotor position observer with the forgetting factor to obtain the tracking error and generate the compensation value in real time. The stability, the convergence, and the parameter sensitivity of this observer are analyzed in detail. To improve the suppression effect of the ERPHE for different loads and speeds, an iterative learning gain self-tuning strategy is investigated. The proposed method does not require the offline detection and the discrimination of harmonic frequencies, which has strong suppression ability for different harmonic error components. The effectiveness is verified by experiments on a 2.2-kW interior PMSM drive platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonlinearity of the voltage source inverter (VSI) leads to the error between output voltage and reference voltage, and causes the phase current harmonics. It is necessary to compensate its influence in the fields such as parameter identification, sensorless control, and servo drives. In this article, an industrial solution for VSI nonlinear compensation method based on lookup table (LUT) is introduced. The characteristics of semiconductor devices, equivalent dead-time and influence of parasitic capacitance effects are calculated quantitatively though injecting increase and decrease current during self-commissioning process. The critical current value for parasitic capacitor and the variation of equivalent dead time are verified through different distorted voltage curves. Considering dc-link voltage variation is irresistible for industrial products, 3-D linear interpolation is adopted to compensate the variation of VSI nonlinearity under different voltage conditions. Proposed LUT method does not require VSI datasheet and complicated calculation formula during implementation. Experiments are carried out on a commercial permanent magnet synchronous motor drive system to verify the proposed LUT method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated zero common-mode voltage (ZCMV) modulation algorithm is developed in this article for dual-parallel neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverters treated as an integrated system. While the conventional methods achieve CMV elimination with the cost of worse harmonic performance, the proposed method guarantees a ZCMV and better current quality simultaneously by taking advantage of the extra space vectors provided by paralleling. Specially designed switching sequences are developed to maintain a balanced neutral point of dc bus and keep the averaged value of the circulating current to be zero, ensuring the normal function of parallel NPC inverters. In addition, although the switching sequence design is complicated, a simple approach is proposed and implemented on a commonly used digital signal processor. A laboratory prototype is developed to test the system performance under steady-state conditions and dynamic process in grid-connected operation. Compared with the conventional ZCMV modulation, experimental results verify the effectiveness of the integrated modulation in eliminating the CMV, in addition to the dramatically reduced output current distortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the impedance/admittance model of modular multilevel converter (MMC) considering internal harmonic is discussed extensively in the literature, few attentions have been focused on how to determine the number of harmonics to be included in the model. This article fills this gap by developing the MMC signal-flow graph (SFG), providing the analytical transfer function to quantitatively estimate the attenuation degree of MMC harmonics, so as to guide the model truncation. Besides, SFG offers an intuitive understanding on the mathematical characteristic of MMC, including the conjugate symmetry and the effect of phase reference on admittance, which helps to reduce the modeling calculation. Moreover, conversion formula of MMC multiple input multiple output and single input single output admittance is derived based on the truncated model to further simplify the stability analysis. The correctness of this article has been verified by simulation and experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current loop is the key to realizing high-precision permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. However, the performance of the current loop is deteriorated by the dc and ac disturbances. To deal with the problem, this article proposes a discrete-time repetitive control-based active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) for the current loop. The discrete-time repetitive controller is embedded in the control law of the ADRC and operates in parallel with the discrete-time extended state observer (DESO), which is the core of the ADRC. The repetitive controller is designed to compensate for the ac disturbance, while the DESO is designed to suppress the dc disturbance. The stability and antidisturbance capability of the studied scheme are analyzed theoretically in the discrete-time domain, which can guide the tuning of control parameters. Compared with the existing ADRC-based PMSM control schemes, the studied scheme can suppress the dc and ac disturbances simultaneously, thereby improving dynamic- and steady-state performance of the current loop. Finally, the effectiveness of the studied scheme is validated on a 4.4-kW PMSM drive platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overmodulation-based nonlinear voltage extension could increase the maximum output torque of the induction motor (IM) in the field-weakening (FW) region. Since the voltage distortion increases with the deepening of overmodulation degree, the extreme nonlinear voltage extension (six-step voltage) is only worthwhile in maximum torque demand conditions. However, the conventional overmodulation-FW scheme always adopts the six-step voltage regardless of torque demand, leading to severe torque ripple. To solve this problem, the minimum-nonlinear-voltage (MNV) method is proposed to satisfy the torque demand with minimum overmodulation-voltage nonlinearity. The difference between the limiting and the feedback values of the torque current is used for suppressing the nonlinear voltage extension during a nonmaximum torque demand state. The quantitative relation between the torque ripple and torque demand of the MNV method is calculated and compared with that of the conventional six-step-FW method. Analysis shows that the MNV method can eliminate the torque ripples of low and medium torque demand conditions completely and partially, respectively. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified experimentally on a 3.7 kW IM platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous wireless power and data transfer (SWPDT) is widely investigated because of the increasing requirement for real-time communication between the primary and secondary sides in wireless power transfer systems. This article classifies SWPDT systems into four categories according to the type and number of data channels and data carrier generation method. They are power carrier-based SWPDT system, high-frequency data carrier-based SWPDT system, multiple inductive channels SWPDT system, and inductive–capacitive hybrid channels SWPDT system, respectively. Four key issues, including cross-talk minimization, improvement of signal-to-noise ratio, modulation method for high data rate and low bit error rate, and special design to achieve full-duplex communication and improve misalignment tolerance, are discussed. The advantages, disadvantages, and applications of the four types of SWPDT systems are summarized. Finally, conclusions and outlook of the SWPDT system are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a position and speed detection method based on the cross-decoupling network filtering (CDNF) method combined with phase-locked loop (PLL). This method is used to enhance the detection precision of position and reduce the speed fluctuations at low-speed operation for gearless traction motor drives with an ordinary-resolution encoder. The harmonic distributions of the discontinuous orthogonal position signal in low-speed region are analyzed. On this basis, the position and speed detection method based on CDNF with PLL is presented to obtain the harmonics of the discontinuous position signal adaptively for eliminating the position detection error and improving the accuracy of the speed feedback. The criteria of the filter parameter design are presented based on the maximum phase margin theory to maintain the stability of the system. Experiments were carried out on an 11.7 kW permanent magnet gearless traction motor drive with an ordinary-resolution encoder installed. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method at low-speed operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel 20-MHz high-frequency high-performance dc–dc resonant converter is analyzed, which owns the characteristics of soft-switching, low voltage stress, and small volume. The numerical analysis is conducted in time domain and the resonant parameters can be accurately calculated based on the corresponding expressions. A full resonant rectifier stage is adopted without using choke inductors, and the value and volume of inductors can be greatly reduced. A 12-V input, 5 V/5 W output prototype is proposed in the laboratory and the experimental results verify the feasibility of the proposed converter and numerical design methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmonic state space (HSS) is seen as an effective impedance modeling method to precisely characterize the internal harmonic features of the modular multilevel converter (MMC). However, the existing MMC impedance models assume the ideal grid, ignoring the grid impedance, and they also do not incorporate the widely used dual-loop control and phase-locked loop (PLL). In this article, a complete MMC impedance model based on HSS is proposed to reveal the grid impedance coupling effect of MMC. The model analysis results demonstrate that the MMC impedance is coupled with the grid impedance due to the internal harmonics. This coupling causes MMC to be affected by the grid impedance and may cause instability. On the other hand, the proposed model not only consists of the ac current and the circulating current control, but also incorporates dc voltage outer loop and PLL with a clear physical meaning. Based on the proposed model, this article illustrates the factors that will enhance the coupling, which shows that the proposed model has to be used to improve the accuracy of the analysis. Finally, effectiveness of the proposed model is verified by simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Initial rotor position detection is important to ensure the start-up operation of sensorless permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. In order to suppress the annoying noise caused by the additional signal injection during the detection process in the existing methods, a pseudorandom high-frequency (HF) square-wave voltage injection based low-noise initial position detection method is proposed in this article. Two fixed HF square-wave voltage signals are injected into the estimated d-axis randomly. As the magnetic pole position is detected, the magnetic polarity can be identified at the same time, based on the accumulation of the induced random HF current peak pairs without any extra signal. In addition, a saturated peak current delay compensation strategy is proposed to reduce the digital delay effects on the magnetic polarity detection. The proposed method makes the entire detection process simpler and faster. Furthermore, power spectral density (PSD) analysis of random HF currents is adopted to provide the theoretical support for noise reduction. Finally, the proposed method is verified by experiments on a 2.2-kW interior PMSM drive platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An envelope-prediction-based sensorless rotor position observation scheme is proposed for a load commutated inverter (LCI)-fed electrically excited synchronous motor (EESM) at zero and low speed. The proposed rotor position observation scheme does not need to utilize the full controlled power device, nor to modify the LCI drive topology. An interval trigger mode for the exciter control is proposed to generate the appropriate fixed-frequency injected signal. The bandpass filters (BPFs) are optimized to extract the target signal, and the observation error due to the BPF is analyzed and compensated. A specific signal sampling method and an envelope-prediction algorithm are presented to simplify calculation and improve the observation accuracy. A normalized phase-locked loop is designed such that the observer has a better observational performance. Finally, the proposed rotor position observation scheme is verified by a 15-kW LCI-fed EESM experimental platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a six-step mode-combined field-weakening control scheme to improve the maximum output torque of induction motor (IM) in the voltage-extension region. Compared with the conventional inscribed circle and hexagon methods, the proposed six-step mode method can increase the utilization of dc-link voltage, leading to extended maximum output torque capability. However, the six-step mode operation will inevitably result in torque ripple and current harmonic. To figure out the quantitative relation between the torque extension and ripple, an “equivalent-circuit”-based method is proposed for theoretical torque analysis in six-step mode. To cut off the main current harmonic (sixth harmonic), a second-order generalized integrator based band-stop filter is designed for the feedback current in the current loop. The designed filter can achieve IM stable operation in a six-step mode without affecting the bandwidth of the current loop. The experimental results from a 3.7-kW IM setup verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In ac motor drives, the fixed-frequency harmonic components of output voltage and current from the inverter with fixed-frequency pulsewidth modulation usually lead to electromagnetic interference (EMI). The spread spectrum clock generation (SSCG) is a widely used solution for this problem. Adjusting the switching frequency to reduce EMI is one kind of practicable scheme among SSCG methods. How to design an optimal or suitable modulation profile is a research emphasis of scholars and has been discussed in depth in many literatures. However, apart from the modulation profile, the mode and quality of carrier are also important and can be improved. In most frequency modulation methods, due to the limitation of the conventional carrier generation mode, the implementation of the new frequency instruction has to wait for the termination of the last switching period. In order to eliminate the waiting state and design a simpler algorithm, this paper has proposed a wait-free phase-continuous carrier frequency modulation (WPCFM) strategy by combining the direct digital frequency synthesizer theory and proper temporal planning of control interruptions. Besides, a theoretical analysis of WPCFM, including quantization error, frequency jitter, phase delay, and voltage distortion, has been finished. Moreover, compared with conventional methods, a more convenient, feasible, and simpler field-programmable gate array based algorithm implementation method and the control structure of WPCFM are also introduced. The analysis shows that, although WPCFM causes a slight increase of the current ripple, it can solve the partial frequency nonuniform distribution problem of the conventional method, and it has a potential value of applications in the wide band gap motor drive systems. The effectiveness of the WPCFM is verified by several sets of EMI reduction experiments where classical periodic carrier frequency modulations are applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instability issue is an important concern in the reduced dc-link capacitance motor drive system, which is caused by the interaction of the LC resonance and the negative impedance of the constant power load (CPL). Harmonics of the grid current also need to be concerned to meet the requirement of the application standards. In this paper, the impedance model of the drive system is established considering the dc-link voltage fluctuation, which is applied to evaluate the drive system stability. The grid current harmonics issue could also be analyzed by the grid input impedance model. A novel grid current feedback based stabilization control method is proposed to stabilize the drive system, which could formulate the Nyquist plot of the drive system. Besides, the grid current harmonics could also be suppressed effectively by adopting the proposed stabilization control method. Experimental results are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modular multilevel converter (MMC) has attracted extensive research in recent years. An appropriate model is necessary to analyze stability or to design MMC controllers. Several published MMC models have been derived in single-phase form to simplify the modeling mathematics. However, little attention is given to the zero-sequence voltage, which introduces coupling in the single-phase model and leads to significant error. In this paper, after revealing the mechanism behind the zero-sequence voltage, a more accurate generalized single-phase MMC model is proposed, which eliminates the zero-sequence voltage coupling effect and is linearized based on harmonic state space (HSS) theory to precisely characterize the internal harmonic features of MMC. A systematic HSS modeling process is presented for both open-loop and closed-loop conditions. And the proposed model is generalized as it can incorporate different control strategy by controller transfer function substitution. Hence it is valuable to analyze MMC stability and dynamics. Model effectiveness is verified by simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In distributed generation, grid-connected and islanded modes are essential, but usually they have different control cores to satisfy their respective control targets. Transferring between the cores may therefore lead to prominent disturbances, if the cores are complex and noticeably different in structures. To introduce seamlessness, some techniques have been recommended, but they usually lack unification of control blocks for the front dc–dc converter and rear dc–ac inverter. Moreover, when connected to the grid, some seamless techniques do not control the grid current directly. Hence, its dynamics may be slow, in addition to distortion caused by grid-voltage harmonics. When islanded, most techniques also use two control loops to regulate a drooped voltage across local loads. This double-loop structure works fine, but it has more state variables to change during a transfer of modes, which may not be as seamless. An alternative technique has thus been proposed here, whose purpose is to identify a simple unified control core, which will remain unchanged during the mode transfer. The transfer may then be viewed as a normal change of power reference, instead of an internal change of control structure. Hence, seamless operation may be ensured, as it is tested in simulations and experiments. These tests have additionally shown that the proposed scheme can regulate the grid current directly when connected to the grid, without compromising the droop-voltage regulation when islanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a high-frequency isolated dc/dc converter, whose switching frequency is 20 MHz. Meanwhile, the switch voltage stress is reduced based on optimal switch impedance. In the proposed converter, the switch can operate in ZVS condition, which can help to reduce the switching loss. A mathematical model of the proposed high frequency converter is built, which provides an effective design method for the system parameters. Meanwhile, the design method for PCB air-core transformer has been proposed and depicted. To verify the feasibility of the proposed converter and mathematic model, a 10 W prototype is built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an isolated high-frequency converter with optimal switch impedance is proposed, which can achieve soft-switching characteristics and a low switch voltage stress. Meanwhile, the topology makes full use of the parasitic components of the transformer, which can reduce the number of system components and improve the system efficiency. The detailed design method of the proposed converter is analyzed. Simultaneously, an air core printed circuit board (PCB) transformer is employed to eliminate the core loss and reduce the vertical space. On the basis of the mathematical analysis, the transformer parameters can be effectively designed. A 20-MHz prototype based on the proposed topology is built. The experimental results verify the advantages of the proposed converter and the corresponding design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a sensorless rotor position estimation method based on the field current harmonic for a load-commutated inverter (LCI)-fed electrically excited synchronous motor (EESM) operating at zero or low speed is proposed. A detailed theoretical analysis and mathematical deduction are presented. The field current harmonic is used instead of the extra high-frequency signal injection. A reasonable harmonic frequency is selected, and a realizable field current control method is given. To simplify the complex signal processing and improve the measurement accuracy, a specific bandpass filter and a normalized quadrature phase-locked loop are designed. The phase change caused by the filters is compensated properly. The proposed approach is demonstrated through the simulation and experiment with a 15-kW LCI-fed EESM drive platform, confirming its feasibility and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circulating current is an undesirable phenomenon in modular multilevel converter which should be attenuated to reduce current stress and power losses. This letter presents a comparative study of the active and passive circulating current suppression methods. Voltage penalty of the active circulating current control is derived, and design of the passive circulating current filter parameters is provided. Simulations and experiments are performed to validate the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DC-link electrolytic capacitor critically affects the lifetime of the motor drive system. This paper proposes an inverter power control strategy based on dc-link voltage regulation for the electrolytic capacitor-less interior permanent magnet synchronous motor drive system. The dc-link electrolytic capacitor is replaced by a small film capacitor and the power factor correction circuit is also eliminated. Hence, the inverter power should be regulated effectively to achieve high input power factor and low grid current harmonics. The inverter power control loop based on proportional resonant (PR) controller is established to regulate the inverter power into sinusoidal wave. The PR controller can be designed to achieve a high gain at the desired frequency and the parameters are easy to design due to the simple structure. In addition, a power compensation method based on the dc-link voltage regulation is used to diminish the error of inverter power control, which does not depend on the precise calculation and is easy to realize. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by the experimental results on an air conditioner. The input power factor can reach 0.992 and the harmonics of grid current are considerably lower than the requirement of EN61000-3-2 standard. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Rotor position estimated with high-frequency (HF) voltage injection methods can be distorted by voltage errors due to inverter nonlinearities, motor resistance, and rotational voltage drops, etc. This paper proposes an improved HF square-wave voltage injection algorithm, which is robust to voltage errors without any compensations meanwhile has less fluctuation in the position estimation error. The average position estimation error is investigated based on the analysis of phase harmonic inductances, and deduced in the form of the phase shift of the second-order harmonic inductances to derive its relationship with the magnetic field distortion. Position estimation errors caused by higher order harmonic inductances and voltage harmonics generated by the SVPWM are also discussed. Both simulations and experiments are carried out based on a commercial PMSM to verify the superiority of the proposed method and the investigations in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an asymmetric mode control for a modular multilevel converter (MMC) operating at low-frequency and low-output-voltage conditions. Differently from conventional symmetric operations, affected by large capacitor voltage ripples caused by the large dc-link voltage, with the proposed asymmetric mode MMC operations, one arm does not produce output current and applies the major dc-link voltage, whereas the other arm sustains almost all output current with low dc-link voltage. Variations of the power level in arms remain bounded and the MMC does not need any other power exchange technique such as high-frequency or harmonic current injection in a low-frequency/low-voltage condition to suppress the capacitor voltage ripple. The asymmetric control realization, and arm energy regulation and its optimization are presented in detail. Experimental and simulation results show that the proposed method is suitable for motor drives operating under 20 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modular multilevel converters (MMC) represent an interesting and emerging topology in medium-voltage motor drive applications. The main challenge of using such a topology in variable-speed drives is the large voltage ripple of submodule capacitors at low speed with constant torque. In this paper, an improved circulating current injection method is proposed, which does not completely eliminate the capacitor voltage ripple, but maintains it bounded within reasonable values. As a result, magnitude of injected circulating current is reduced, leading to converter efficiency improvement and reduction of semiconductor current ratings. Dimensioning of submodule capacitance is also discussed, which is an important consideration when designing the MMCs in variable-speed drives. The proposed method has been successfully validated by simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

De-icing of overhead transmission lines is necessary to prevent damage to the transmission system and outages. In this paper, a modular multilevel dc De-Icer (M2D2) is introduced, based on the structure of the modular multilevel converter with full-bridge submodules. The M2D2 exhibits a lot of salient features: high modularity, scalability, compactness, high efficiency, wide dc voltage range, and no harmonic filter requirements, etc. Moreover, during good weather, the M2D2 can be configured as a static synchronous compensator, providing reactive power support to the grid and alleviating power quality problems. Operating principle of the M2D2 is explained, harmonic features under phase-shifted carrier modulation are analyzed, and selections of the phase-shifted angle are derived to achieve best harmonic performance. Control schemes for the M2D2 are also developed, including control of de-icing current, capacitor voltages, and reactive power. Finally, experimental results, utilizing a downscaled prototype, confirm the validity of this topology and effectiveness of the proposed control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Alternating-current motor drive systems consume the majority of global electricity, but most of them are still not efficient enough. This paper proposes a complete solution to the efficiency enhancement of general induction motor (IM) drive systems with the least cost and a high reliability. On the motor side, the squirrel-cage rotors of IMs are replaced with optimally designed interior permanent-magnet (PM) rotors without damping windings; meanwhile, other assemblies remained unchanged. Stators with both wye- and delta-connected windings are investigated, and super premium efficiency (IE4) is achieved on all the remanufactured motors in this paper. On the drive side, the maximum efficiency per ampere algorithm is realized based on the position-sensorless control to better exert the motor efficiency and reduce the system cost. For applications where an original IM is used under a grid drive, this paper safely switches the remanufactured interior PM synchronous motors from an inverter to the grid drive. A total of seven prototypes with different rated powers and velocities are remanufactured, and various experiments are provided as the verifications of the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed solution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To diminish the harmonic ripple in the rotor position estimation error for sensorless interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drives, an adaptive linear neural (ADALINE)-network-based filter with a quadrature phase-locked loop (PLL) position observer is proposed. A fundamental model-based sliding-mode observer is used to obtain back electromotive force information. The harmonic content in the position estimation error caused by inverter nonlinearities and flux spatial harmonics is analyzed. According to the harmonic characteristics of the estimated rotor position, the ADALINE-network-based filter is adopted to track and compensate the selective harmonic ripple in the rotor position estimation error through continuously updating the filter weights online. Whereby, the position estimation accuracy can be improved and the position sensorless control performance can be promoted. The proposed method was verified for a 2.2-kW position sensorless IPMSM drive. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the method in suppressing the harmonic ripple in the rotor position estimation error. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To diminish the position estimation error with harmonic fluctuations for position sensorless interior permanent-magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drives, a multiple adaptive vector filter (AVF) cross-feedback network (CFN) is proposed for a model-based position observer. A full-order Luenberger observer is utilized to obtain back electromotive force (EMF) information. The harmonic fluctuations in the position estimation error caused by inverter nonlinearities and flux spatial harmonics are analyzed. Accordingly, a newly proposed multiple-AVF CFN with an easy-to-implement structure is adopted to detect and compensate the back-EMF harmonic distortions and, hence, to eliminate the position error harmonic fluctuations. Consequently, the position estimation accuracy can be enhanced, which improves the position sensorless control performance. The proposed scheme was verified on a 2.2-kW sensorless IPMSM drive. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the method in eliminating the harmonic fluctuations in the position estimation error. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The papers in this special section are devoted to the topic of solutions for power quality management. Although the power quality problems, such as, reactive and harmonic currents, distortion and fluctuations in the supply voltage, are not new to power system and power electronics researchers, the ever changing landscapes in the power generation and distribution systems have given rise to additional power quality challenges. The growing interest in the smart grid concepts, vehicle to grid operation, inverter based large scale photovoltaic (PV) and wind integration, distributed generators (DGs) as ancillary service provider, multilevel inverters for high power applications and so on is making the power quality aspects more prevalent. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For the purpose of improving the performance of sensorless interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drives, an enhanced electromotive-force (EMF)-based position observer adopting second-order generalized integrator (SOGI) to eliminate the harmonic error is proposed. The inverter nonlinearities and flux spatial harmonics that give rise to the harmonic error of position estimation are analyzed. A harmonic decoupling network consisting of multiple SOGIs based adaptive filters is adopted to achieve the multiple selective EMF harmonic elimination (MSEHE). The application of the frequency-locked loop ensures the SOGI resonance frequency adaptive, which is critical for the variable-speed operation in IPMSM drive applications. Using the SOGI-MSEHE in the position tracking estimator, the low-order harmonics in the estimated EMF can be effectively eliminated, contributing to cancelling the position estimation harmonic error. The effectiveness of the proposed enhanced position observer is verified by the experimental results at a 2.2-kW IPMSM sensorless drive. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]