Modular High-Power Shunt-Interleaved Drive System: A Realization up to 35 MW for Oil & Gas Applications

The paper describes experimental results of a medium-voltage, modular, 35 MW drive for oil & gas applications realized by interconnecting voltage-source three-level converters equally sharing the motor current. Drives rated for tens of Megawatts are increasingly needed as torque helpers for gas turbines in the oil & gas industry and one envisions that they will replace them completely in the future. These drives must be very reliable, often capable of reversible power flow and high power quality when connected to weak grids in remote areas. The pronounced torsional eigenmodes of large compressors and gas turbines demand for very low torque harmonic content.