• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.248-258
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• 2008

The Voltage Source Converter (VSC) is replacing the conventional line commutated current source converters in High Voltage DC (HVDC) transmission systems. The control of a two-level voltage source converter and its design dealt with HVDC systems and various factors such as reactive power, power factor, and harmonics distortion are discussed in detail. Simulation results are given for the two-level converter and designed control is used for bidirectional power flow. The harmonics minimization is taken by extending the 6-pulse VSC to multipulse voltage source converters. The control is also tested and simulated for a 12-pulse voltage source converter to minimize the harmonic distortion in AC currents.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2015.07a
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• pp.357-358
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• 2015

This paper provides a comparison of power converter loss and thermal description for voltage source and current source type 5MW-class medium voltage topologies of wind turbines. Neutral-point clamped three-level converter is adopted for voltage source type topology while two-level converter is employed for current source type topology considering the popularity in the industry. In order to match the required voltage level of 4160V with the same switching device of IGCT as in voltage source converter, two active switches are connected in series for the case of current source converter. The loss analysis is confirmed through PLECS simulations. In addition, the loss factors due to di/dt and dv/dt snubber and ac input filter are presented. The comparison result shows that VSC-based wind turbine system has a higher efficiency than that of CSC under the rated operating conditions.

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

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2020

This study deals with the modulation index (MI) of a voltage source converter (VSC) HVDC system based on a modular multilevel converter (MMC). In the two-level converter, the purpose of the MI is to maximize the achievable AC voltage of the converter from a fixed DC voltage. Unlike that in a two-level converter, the MI in the MMC topology plays a role in making the converter a voltage source using a capacitor. The circulating current in the MMC distorts the AC voltage reference, and the distortion affects the MI. In addition, the AC network conditions, such as AC voltage variation and reactive power, affect the MI. Therefore, the MI should be optimized with consideration of internal and external factors. This study proposes a method to optimize the MI of an MMC HVDC system.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1725-1734
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• 2016

This paper presents a novel seven-level (7L) voltage source converter for high-power medium-voltage applications. The proposed topology is an H-bridge connection of two nested neutral-point clamped (NNPC) converters and is referred to as an HNNPC converter. This converter exhibits advantageous features, such as operating over a wide range of output voltages, particularly for 10-15 kV applications, without the need to connect power semiconductors in series; high-quality output voltage; and fewer components relative to other classic seven-level topologies. A novel sinusoidal pulse width modulation technique is also developed for the proposed 7L-HNNPC converter to control flying capacitor voltages. One of the main features of the control strategy is the independent application of control to each arm of the converter to significantly reduce the complexity of the controller. The performance of the proposed converter is studied under different operating conditions via MATLAB/Simulink simulation, and its feasibility is evaluated experimentally on a scaled-down prototype converter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.926-936
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• 2014

A simplified and effective space vector pulse-width modulation (SVPWM) algorithm with two and three levels for three-phase voltage-source converters is proposed in this study. The proposed SVPWM algorithm only uses several linear calculations on three-phase modulated voltages without any complicated trigonometric calculations adopted by conventional SVPWM. This simplified SVPWM also avoids choosing the vector sector required by conventional SVPWM. A two-level overmodulation scheme is integrated into the proposed two-level SVPMW to generate the output voltage that increases from a linear region to a six-step state with a smoothly linear transition characteristic and a simple overmodulation process without a lookup table and complicated nonlinear functions. The three-level SVPWM with a proportional-integral controller effectively balances the neutral point potential of the neutral point clamped converter. Results from the simulation in MATLAB/Simulink and the experiment based on a digital signal processor are provided to clearly demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed strategies.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.489-500
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• 2014

This paper presents a simple modified unipolar carrier-based pulsewidth modulation (CB-PWM) strategy for the three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) voltage source inverter (VSI). Analytical expressions for the relationship between modulation reference signals and output voltages are derived. The proposed modulation technique for the three-level NPC VSI includes the maximum and minimum of the three-phase sinusoidal reference voltages with zero-sequence voltage injection concept. The proposed modified CB-PWM strategy incorporates a novel method that requires only of one triangular carrier wave for generate the gating pulses in three-level NPC VSI. It has the advantages of being simplifying the algorithm with no need of complex two/multi-carrier pulsewidth modulation or space vector modulation (SVM) and it's also simple to implement. The possibility of the proposed CB-PWM technique has been verified though computer simulation and experimental results.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1093-1099
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• 2014

This paper proposes a power conversion topology involving a multi-winding transformer and converters. The fundamental idea is described with circuit diagrams, and the voltage output of the proposed topology is analyzed mathematically. The effectiveness of the topology is discussed with test results from a small-scale power conversion system. When conventional hardware consisting of two-level converters and a transformer is employed, multi-level voltage outputs can be applied to the transformer windings by the proposed method.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.146-158
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• 2007

A multi-pulse GTO based voltage source converter (VSC) topology together with a fundamental frequency switching mode of gate control is a mature technology being widely used in static synchronous compensators (STATCOMs). The present practice in utility/industry is to employ a high number of pulses in the STATCOM, preferably a 48-pulse along with matching components of magnetics for dynamic reactive power compensation, voltage regulation, etc. in electrical networks. With an increase in the pulse order, need of power electronic devices and inter-facing magnetic apparatus increases multi-fold to achieve a desired operating performance. In this paper, a competitive topology with a fewer number of devices and reduced magnetics is evolved to develop an 18-pulse, 2-level $\pm$ 100MVAR STATCOM in which a GTO-VSC device is operated at fundamental frequency switching gate control. The inter-facing magnetics topology is conceptualized in two stages and with this harmonics distortion in the network is minimized to permissible IEEE-519 standard limits. This compensator is modeled, designed and simulated by a SimPowerSystems tool box in MATLAB platform and is tested for voltage regulation and power factor correction in power systems. The operating characteristics corresponding to steady state and dynamic operating conditions show an acceptable performance.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.391-400
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• 2008

Multi-pulse topology of converters using elementary six-pulse GTO - VSC (gate turn off based voltage source converter) operated under fundamental frequency switching (FFS) control is widely adopted in high power rating static synchronous compensators (STATCOM). Practically, a 48-pulse ($6{\times}8$ pulse) configuration is used with the phase angle control algorithm employing proportional and integral (PI) control methodology. These kinds of controllers, for example the ${\pm}80MVAR$ compensator at Inuyama switching station, KEPCO, Japan, employs two stages of magnetics viz. intermediate transformers (as many as VSCs) and a main coupling transformer to minimize harmonics distortion in the line and to achieve a desired operational efficiency. The magnetic circuit needs altogether nine transformers of which eight are phase shifting transformers (PST) used in the intermediate stage, each rating equal to or more than one eighth of the compensator rating, and the other one is the main coupling transformer having a power rating equal to that of the compensator. In this paper, a two-level 48-pulse ${\pm}100MVAR$ STATCOM is proposed where eight, six-pulse GTO-VSC are employed and magnetics is simplified to single-stage using four transformers of which three are PSTs and the other is a normal transformer. Thus, it reduces the magnetics to half of the value needed in the commercially available compensator. By adopting the simple PI-controllers, the model is simulated in a MATLAB environment by SimPowerSystems toolbox for voltage regulation in the transmission system. The simulation results show that the THD levels in line voltage and current are well below the limiting values specified in the IEEE Std 519-1992 for harmonic control in electrical power systems. The controller performance is observed reasonably well during capacitive and inductive modes of operation.