Condition Health Monitoring of Modular Multilevel Converter Submodule Capacitors

With a large deployment of power electronic converters in various critical applications, condition health monitoring is increasingly becoming important. In modular multilevel converter, submodule capacitors represent one of the critical components having a strong impact on the overall converter cost and performance. This article proposes a simple method for the submodule capacitance monitoring, deployed directly on the low-cost submodule controller and operating without disturbing or impacting the normal converter operation. Offline and real-time simulations, as well as experimental results, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in identifying changes in the submodule capacitance, which is of high importance for reliable converter operation.

Automated summary

This article proposes a simple method for monitoring submodule capacitance in a modular multilevel converter, which can be deployed without disturbing or impacting the normal converter operation. Offline and real-time simulations, as well as experimental results, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in identifying changes in the submodule capacitance.