Evaluation of high-speed permanent magnet synchronous machine drive with three-level and two-level inverter

High performance operation of high-speed electric machine leads to a demand on high switching frequency, which results in inverter heating, short lifespan, large heat sink, etc. In this paper, high-speed permanent magnet synchronous machine drive with IGBT based three-level T-type inverter (3LT²I) and two-level inverter are investigated and the losses in the machine and inverter are compared. A 200kW 24 slots 2 poles high-speed PMSM is modeled with FEM and inverter control system is modeled based on Matlab/Simulink. The simulation results indicate that the power losses decrease greatly compared to two-level inverter and will be tested by a 200kW high-speed PMSM and 3LT²I prototype. Finally, an optimal operation point is recommended for low power dissipation and high performance operation.