• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.68-71
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• 2020

As a T-type three-level PWM converter has several intrinsic advantages, it has been widely studied for many applications. However, it requires an additional voltage control loop for balancing each DC link voltage. Generally, satisfying this requirement involves the use of an offset voltage to provide a neutral point current without affecting other variables, such as the total DC link voltage and three-phase input current. In this study, the theoretical relationship between the offset voltage and the neutral point current is analyzed. The results can be beneficial for effective voltage balancing controller design. The effectiveness of the analytical modeling is verified by simulation and experimental results.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.442-450
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• 2020

A small-signal modeling approach for a three-level boost (TLB) converter and a design methodology for a double-loop controller are proposed in this study. Conventional modeling of TLB converters involves three state variables. Moreover, TLB converters have two operation modes depending on the duty ratio. Consequently, complex mathematical calculations are required for controller design. This study proposes a simple system modeling method that uses two state variables, unlike previous methods that require three state variables. Analysis shows that the transfer functions of the two operation modes can be expressed as identical equations. This condition means that the linear feedback controller can be applied to all operational ranges, that is, for full duty ratios. The design method for a double-loop controller using a PI controller is presented in step-by-step sequences. Simulation and experimental verifications are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the small-signal analysis and control system design.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.946-956
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• 2014

Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) converters can be directly connected to medium-voltage grids without using transformers and they possess the advantages of large capacity and low harmonics. They are significant tools for providing grid connections in large-capacity renewable energy systems. However, the reliability of a grid-connected CHB converter can be seriously influenced by the number of power switching devices that exist in the structure. This paper proposes a fault-tolerant control strategy based on double zero-sequence voltage injection and DC voltage optimization to improve the reliability of star-connected CHB converters after one or more power units have been bypassed. By injecting double zero-sequence voltages into each phase cluster, the DC voltages of the healthy units can be rapidly balanced after the faulty units are bypassed. In addition, optimizing the DC voltage increases the number of faulty units that can be tolerated and improves the reliability of the converter. Simulations and experimental results are shown for a seven-level three-phase CHB converter to validate the efficiency and feasibility of this strategy.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.531-540
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• 2014

A novel carrier-based PWM (CBPWM) strategy of a three-level NPC converter is proposed in this paper. The novel strategy can eliminate the low-frequency neutral point (NP) voltage oscillation under the entire modulation index and full power factor. The basic principle of the novel strategy is introduced. The internal modulation wave relationship between the novel CBPWM strategy and traditional SPWM strategy is also studied. All 64 modulation wave solutions of the CBPWM strategy are derived. Furthermore, the proposed CBPWM strategy is compared with traditional SPWM strategy regarding the output phase voltage THD characteristics, DC voltage utilization ratio, and device switching losses. Comparison results show that the proposed strategy does not cause NP voltage oscillation. As a result, no low-frequency harmonics occur on output line-to-line voltage and phase current. The novel strategy also has higher DC voltage utilization ratio (15.47% higher than that of SPWM strategy), whereas it causes larger device switching losses (4/3 times of SPWM strategy). The effectiveness of the proposed modulation strategy is verified by simulation and experiment results.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2018.07a
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• pp.316-317
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• 2018

This paper propse the DC link capacitor voltage balancing control for three level neutral point clamped converter with harmonic component injection method. The injcetion voltage consists of harmonic component and DC link capacitor voltage difference. Theoretical analysis is provided to balance the DC link voltage, and it shows that harmonic component compensates the unbalanced condition between the capacitors. Both simulations and experiments are carried out to show that the voltage unbalance have been decreased by the proposed method.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.9-10
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• 2014

최근 신재생에너지 및 전기자동차, 통신 IT 서버 전원 및 가전기기 등의 발전에 따라 고 전력밀도(High Power Density), 고 응답(Fast Transient Response) 및 고정밀(Tight Regulation) 출력제어를 위한 다 출력 절연형 DC/DC 컨버터가 개발 및 연구되고 있다. 본 논문에서는 개별적인 정밀제어를 요구하는 다 출력 DC-DC 컨버터에 대한 내용으로 위상천이(Phase-shift) DC-DC 컨버터와 LLC 공진컨버터 제어개념을 하나의 주회로를 사용하여 위상천이제어(Phase-shifted Modulation, PM)와 가변주파수제어(Variable Frequency Modulation, FM)를 통해서 개별적으로 정밀 제어할 수 있는 하이브리드 다 출력 3레벨 DC-DC 컨버터에 관한 내용이다.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2013.11a
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• pp.15-16
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• 2013

전기자동차용 급속 충전기에서 전력변환 효율은 절연형 DC-DC 컨버터에 의해 좌우된다. 이때 DC-DC 컨버터의 출력 전압 범위가 넓기 때문에 기존의 3레벨 컨버터를 사용할 경우 충전전압이 낮을 때 순환전류가 커지는 문제점이 있다. 본 논문에서는 넓은 충전전압범위를 갖는 전기자동차용 급속충전기를 위한 3레벨 DC-DC 컨버터의 하이브리드 스위칭 기법을 제안한다. 제안한 하이브리드 스위칭 기법은 충전전압이 낮을 때 순환전류를 줄일 수 있어 주로 낮은 배터리 전압에서 동작하는 CC충전 모드 시 도통 손실을 줄일 수 있다. 또한 커플인덕터를 사용하여 순환전류를 줄이고 Lagging Lag 스위치의 ZCS 턴오프를 성취시켜 손실을 줄일 수 있다. 기존의 스위칭 방법과 하이브리드 스위칭 기법에 따른 손실을 비교하여 제안한 스위칭 기법의 타당성을 검증하였다.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.344-356
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• 2012

In recent years, multilevel technology has become an effective and practical solution in the field of moderate and high voltage applications. This paper discusses an APF with a three-level NPC inverter. Obviously, the application of such converter to APFs is hindered by the problem of the voltage unbalance of DC capacitors, which leads to system instability. This paper comprehensively analyzes the theoretical limitations of the neutral-point voltage balancing problem for tracking different harmonic currents utilizing current switching functions from the space vector PWM (SVPWM) point of view. The fluctuation of the neutral point caused by the load currents of certain order harmonic frequency is reported and quantified. Furthermore, this paper presents a close-loop digital control algorithm of the DC voltage for this APF. A PI controller regulates the DC voltage in the outer-loop controller. In the current-loop controller, this paper proposes a simple neutral-point voltage control method. The neutral-point voltage imbalance is restrained by selecting small vectors that will move the neutral-point voltage in the direction opposite the direction of the unbalance. The experiment results illustrate that the performance of the proposed approach is satisfactory.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1528-1538
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• 2018

In this paper, configuration of $1-{\phi}$ seven-level boost DC-link cascade based reversing voltage multilevel inverter (BDCLCRV MLI) is proposed for uninterrupted power supply (UPS) applications. It consists of three level boost converter, level generation unit and full bridge circuit for polarity generation. When compared with conventional boost cascaded H-bridge MLI configurations, the proposed system results in reduction of DC sources, reduced power switches and gate drive requirements. Inverter switching is accomplished by providing appropriate switching angles that is generated by any optimization switching angle techniques. Here, round modulation control (RMC) method is taken as the optimization method and switching angles are derived and the same is compared with various switching angles methods i.e., equal-phase (EP) method, and half-equal-phase (HEP) method which results in improved quality of obtained AC power with lowest total harmonic distortion (THD). Reduction in DC sources and switch count makes the system more cost effective. A simulation and prototype model of $1-{\phi}$ seven-level BDCLCRV MLI system is developed and its performance is analyzed for various operating conditions.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.78-90
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• 2017

This paper presents the design of closed loop controllers operating a single-phase AC-DC three-level converter for improving power quality at AC mains. Closed loop inhibits outer voltage controller and inner current controller. Simulations of three level converter with three different voltage and current controller combinations such as PI-Hysteresis, Fuzzy-Hysteresis and Fuzzy tuned PI-Hysteresis are carried out in MATLAB/Simulink. Performance parameters such as input power factor and source current total harmonic distortion (THD) are considered for comparison of the three controller combinations. The fuzzy-tuned PI voltage controller with hysteresis current controller combination provides a better result, with a source-current THD of 0.93% and unity power factor without any source side filter for the three level converter. For load variations of 25% to 100%, a THD of less than 5% is obtained with a maximum value of only 1.67%. Finally, the fuzzy-tuned PI voltage with hysteresis controller combination is implemented in a Xilinx Spartan-6 XC6SLX25 FPGA board for experimental validation of power quality enhancement. A prototype 100 W, 0-24-48 V as output converter is considered for the testing of controller performance. A source-current THD of 1.351% is obtained in the experimental study with a power factor near unity. For load variations of 25% to 100%, the THD is found to be less than 5%, with a maximum value of only 2.698% in the experimental setup which matches with the simulation results.