A detailed power loss analysis of modular multilevel converter

Author

Erturk, Feyzullah ; Hava, Ahmet M.

Author_Institution

Electr. & Electron. Eng. Dept., Middle East Tech. Univ., Ankara, Turkey

fYear

2015

fDate

15-19 March 2015

Firstpage

1658

Lastpage

1665

Abstract

This paper thoroughly examines the semiconductor power loss characteristics of modular multilevel converters (MMC). Power loss behavior is examined under different pulse width modulation (PWM) methods and operating conditions. The effects of stored energy level, circulating current control utilization, power factor and submodule voltage balancing method on power loss are studied. Furthermore, unbalanced power losses and specific semiconductor stresses within a submodule are visualized by investigating the loss distribution in a submodule. The paper aids in understanding and design of MMC converter modules, selecting PWM and control methods with power loss perspective.

Keywords

DC-AC power convertors; PWM power convertors; electric current control; losses; MMC; PWM methods; circulating current control utilization; loss distribution; modular multilevel converter; power factor; power loss analysis; pulse width modulation methods; semiconductor power loss characteristics; semiconductor stresses; submodule voltage balancing method; unbalanced power losses; Capacitors; Current control; Energy states; Pulse width modulation; Reactive power; Sorting; Switches; modular multilevel converter; phase disposition (PD) PWM; phase shift PWM; power loss; sorting algorithm;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC), 2015 IEEE

Conference_Location

Charlotte, NC

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APEC.2015.7104570

Filename

7104570