Journal
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS
Volume 34, Issue 9, Pages 8405-8416Publisher
IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC
DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2018.2886147
Keywords
Modular multilevel converter (MMC); module topology; modulation; sensorless balancing
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation [1608929]
- North Carolina Biotechnology Center [2016-CFG-8004]
- Duke University Energy Initiative
- FONDECYT Iniciacion 2016 [11160227]
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Modules with series and parallel connectivity add new features and operation modes to modular multilevel converters (MMCs). Compared to full-and half-bridges, the series/parallel modules allow sensorless module balancing and reduce conduction loss with the same semiconductor area. However, in high-voltage applications with limited switching rates, the sensorless operation of the series/parallel modules suffers from large charge-balancing currents. This paper introduces a series/parallel module variant with a small port inductor. The port inductor suppresses the charge-balancing current despite low switching rates. We also propose a carrier-based modulation framework and show the importance of the carrier assignment in terms of efficiency and balancing. The proposed module and the modulation method are verified on a lab setup with module switching rates down to 200 Hz. The module voltages are kept within a narrow band with the charge-balancing currents below 5% of the arm current. The experimental results show practicality and advantages of the new series/parallel modules in high-voltage MMC applications.
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