access icon free Analysis of a seven-level asymmetrical hybrid multilevel converter for traction systems

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Received 23/12/2016, Accepted 15/07/2017, Revised 02/06/2017, Published 19/07/2017

A medium-voltage high-power electric traction system, due to its non-linear nature results in serious power quality issues in power system such as low-power factor and high-harmonic distortion. To mitigate the aforementioned problems, this study presents a seven-level asymmetrical hybrid multilevel converter that can be implemented using a single dc source and two capacitors. The proposed converter is a series connection of a five-level cascaded module (CM) converter with an H-bridge cell to meet the demand of medium-voltage high-power traction applications with improved power factor at minimum harmonic distortion. A modulation scheme presented will operate an H-bridge cell and a CM with a fundamental frequency and high-frequency switching, respectively. The unbalancing of dc-link capacitors voltages due to active power transfer requires corrective control action including current control, voltage control and voltage balancing that has been proposed to keep the dc-link capacitor voltage balanced. Working principle of the proposed topology and its mathematical analysis is presented in this work. The effectiveness of the controlled pulse-width modulation strategy and stability of the proposed control method have been validated through simulation and experimental results.

Inspec keywords: power supply quality; electric current control; harmonic distortion; traction; power factor; voltage control; power convertors; capacitors

Other keywords: five-level cascaded module converter; high frequency switching; controlled pulse-width modulation strategy; low-power factor; capacitors; dc-link capacitors voltages; voltage balancing; current control; modulation scheme; single dc source; voltage control; medium-voltage high-power electric traction system; active power transfer; fundamental frequency; high-harmonic distortion; minimum harmonic distortion; H-bridge cell; mathematical analysis; power quality issues; seven-level asymmetrical hybrid multilevel converter; corrective control action

Subjects: Power convertors and power supplies to apparatus; Control of electric power systems; Current control; Transportation; Power electronics, supply and supervisory circuits; Voltage control

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