• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.419-427
• /
• 2019

Several multilevel converter topologies have been proposed and compared. The three-level (3L) neutral-point-clamped (NPC) topology is promising and widely accepted. However, this topology suffers from uneven loss distribution among switches due to its fixed switching strategy. The 3L active NPC (ANPC) topology, which exhibits improved loss distribution profile, was proposed to address this disadvantage. The 3L T-NPC topology, a hybrid configuration of 2L and 3L NPC topologies, was introduced to address not only the loss distribution problem but also the reduction in the number of switches. In the present research, the application of these three topologies in PMSG-based medium-voltage wind turbines was investigated. The power devices considered were 10 kV IGCTs. Performance was evaluated in terms of a power loss of 10 kV IGCT for each NPC topology, which is a crucial indicator of thermal behavior, reliability, cost, and lifetime of any converter. The comparison was performed using ABB make 10 kV IGCT 5SHY17L9000 and the simulation tool PLECS.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
• /
• 2015.07a
• /
• pp.359-360
• /
• 2015

10kV IGCT has been recently developed and has the potential to push wind turbine systems to higher power and voltage rating. Converters employing IGCTs need snubber and OVP circuit to limit the rate of rise of current and peak over voltage across IGCT during turn on and off state respectively. The conventional RCD snubber which is used in such power converter dissipates a significant amount of power. In order to reduce the amount of energy lost by conventional RCD snubber, this paper proposes an isolated inductor snubber circuit that not only meets all of the IGCTs characteristics during on and off-state but also significantly saves the power loss. Loss analysis of conventional di/dt snubber and OVP circuit is performed for the 3-level NPC type back-to-back VSC supplied from grid voltage of 6.9kV. In comparison with the conventional snubber, isolated inductor snubber has a fewer number of components and improved efficiency leading to a reliable and efficient wind turbine systems.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
• /
• 2018.11a
• /
• pp.86-88
• /
• 2018

The three level(3L) neutral point clamped (NPC) voltage source converter (VSC) topology is widely used for grid interface in high power wind energy due to its superior performance as compared to the two level(2L) VS. However, one of the major drawbacks of this topology is the unequal dispersion of loss and therefore the junction temperature among the power devices. The 3L ANPC topology derived from the NPC topology was proposed to resolve this drawback of unequal loss profile of 3L NPC. The 3L ANPC can work under various switching strategies. In this paper a comparative study of the various switching strategies of 3L ANPC using the recently developed 10kV IGCTs which has the capability to raise the current and voltage rating of the wind turbines is carried out. The comparison is performed using ABB make 10kV IGCT 5SHY17L9000 and PLECs simulations.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
• /
• 2016.07a
• /
• pp.367-368
• /
• 2016

10kV IGCT has been recently developed and has the potential to push wind turbine systems to higher power and voltage rating. Converters employing IGCTs need snubber and OVP circuit to limit the rate of current's rising and peak over voltage across IGCT during turn on and off state, respectively. The conventional RCD snubber which is used in such power converter dissipates a significant amount of power. In order to reduce the amount of energy lost by conventional RCD snubber, this paper proposes flyback type snubber comprising two coils wound on a magnetic core. The flyback snubber not only meets all of the IGCTs characteristics during on and off-state but also significantly saves the power loss. Modern magnetic model using permeance-capacitance analogy leads to more accurate loss analysis of flyback type di/dt snubber circuit in 3-level NPC type back-to-back VSC. In turns, the comparison between conventional and flyback type snubber yield the effectiveness of proposed snubber in wind turbine systems.

• Journal of Power Electronics
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.1380-1391
• /
• 2015

This paper provides a loss analysis and comparison of high power semiconductor devices in 5MW Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) Medium Voltage (MV) Wind Turbine Systems (WTSs). High power semiconductor devices of the press-pack type IGCT, module type IGBT, press-pack type IGBT, and press-pack type IEGT of both 4.5kV and 6.5kV are considered in this paper. Benchmarking is performed based on the back-to-back type 3-level Neutral Point Clamped Voltage Source Converters (3L-NPC VSCs) supplied from a grid voltage of 4160V. The feasible number of semiconductor devices in parallel is designed through a loss analysis considering both the conduction and switching losses under the operating conditions of 5MW PMSG wind turbines, particularly for application in offshore wind farms. This paper investigates the loss analysis and thermal performance of 5MW 3L-NPC wind power inverters under the operating conditions of various power factors. The loss analysis and thermal analysis are confirmed through PLECS Blockset simulations with Matlab Simulink. The comparison results show that the press-pack type IGCT has the highest efficiency including the snubber loss factor.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.410-420
• /
• 2015

This paper provides a comparison of power converter loss and thermal description for voltage source and current source type 5 MW-class medium-voltage topologies of wind turbines. Neutral-point clamped three-level converter is adopted for a voltage source type topology, whereas a two-level converter is employed for current source type topology, considering the popularity in the industry. To match the required voltage level of 4160 V with the same switching device of IGCT as in the voltage source converter, two active switches are connected in series for the case of current source converter. Transient thermal modeling of a four-layer Foster network for heat transfer is done to better estimate the transient junction and case temperature of power semiconductors during various operating conditions in wind turbines. The loss analysis is confirmed through PLECS simulations. Comparison result shows that the VSC-based wind turbine system has higher efficiency than the CSC under the rated operating conditions.