Active front end rectifier design trade-off between PWM and direct power control method

Active front end rectifiers (AFE) are used widely in industrial area. For an AFE designer, LCL filter and power switches are two of the most critical components. Among the LCL filter components, the main inductor connect to rectifier power switches is the biggest and most expensive. This paper evaluates the design trade-offs of AFE rectifier and LCL filter under different PWM control method. The losses of the IGBT/Diode and the main inductor magnetics core without and without passive damping are studied. Recommendations of how to optimize an AFE rectifier are made in the end of the paper.