Experimental research on model predictive control of 3-level 4-leg Flying Capacitor Converter operating as Shunt Active Power Filter

In this paper Model Predictive Control (MPC) with finite control states set (FS) is proposed as the new control approach for 3-level 4-leg Flying Capacitor Converter (FCC) operating as a Shunt Active Power Filter (SAPF). The main concerns and solutions regarding the algorithm development and experimental studies are described. The first is addressed to the modeling of the 4-wire SAPF and 3-level 4-leg FCC. The second relates to the control of Flying Capacitors voltages, which is performed outside the prediction loop. The issue regarding undesirable transitions of switching states is described and the solution to eliminate it is shown. Also, an analysis of possible delays on laboratory model is performed and the compensation method is presented. Finally, the control performance was tested experimentally on the 10 kVA FCC laboratory model and the results are shown in the last section.