Comprehensive comparison of three-phase AC-AC Matrix Converter and Voltage DC-Link Back-to-Back Converter systems

This paper provides a comprehensive comparison of a Direct Matrix Converter, an Indirect Matrix Converter, and a Voltage DC-Link Back-to-Back Converter for a 15 kW permanent magnet synchronous motor drive. The comparison involves the investigation of the passive components including the EMI input filter, the required silicon chip area for a defined maximum admissible thermal loading of the power semiconductors, the total losses and achievable efficiency, and a prediction of the resulting volume of the passive components. With this comparative evaluation a systematic procedure is presented that ultimately allows for determining the application area of the considered converter topologies.