Digital control/modulation platform for a modular multilevel converter system

Author

Lago, Jackson ; Sousa, Gean J. M. ; Heldwein, Marcelo L.

Author_Institution

Electron. & Electr. Eng. Dept., Fed. Univ. of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianopolis, Brazil

fYear

2013

fDate

27-31 Oct. 2013

Firstpage

271

Lastpage

277

Abstract

Modular Multilevel Converters (MMC) have proven to be suitable for high-power medium-/high-voltage energy conversion. They are based on the series connection of multiple submodules and have all the advantages of high modularity in the power stage. However, the control and proper generation of switching signals for all the power switches including the MMC capacitors voltage balance is not straightforward. This work presents a flexible digital control/modulation platform able to drive an MMC. The resulting digital platform enables future research of modulation and control schemes. A grid synchronization technique is included to improve modulation harmonic performance in a grid-tied MMC. Experimental results shows the practicability of the proposed platform.

Keywords

power convertors; power grids; rectifying circuits; switches; MMC capacitor voltage balance; MMC system; flexible digital control/modulation platform; grid synchronization technique; grid-tied MMC; high-voltage energy conversion; medium-voltage energy conversion; modular multilevel converter system; modulation harmonic performance; power switches; switching signals; Field programmable gate arrays; Modulation; Switches; Synchronization; Voltage control; Voltage measurement; Modular multilevel converter; active rectifier; capacitor-voltage balancing; multilevel converter modulation;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power Electronics Conference (COBEP), 2013 Brazilian

Conference_Location

Gramado

ISSN

2175-8603

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/COBEP.2013.6785127

Filename

6785127