Comparative Evaluation of 800V DC-Link Three-Phase Two/Three-Level SiC Inverter Concepts for Next-Generation Variable Speed Drives

Cittanti, Davide; Guacci, Mattia; Mirić, Spasoje; Bojoi, Radu; Kolar, Johann W.

doi:10.23919/icems50442.2020.9291123

Cited by 29 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The 2-L converter shows the worst overall performance, as already expected from previous analyses [3,5,6]. The 3-L SNPCC instead requires the lowest total semiconductor chip area and offers an efficiency comparable to the one of the 3-L NPC converter.…”

Section: Performance Comparisonsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…800 V, the voltage rating of the devices must increase accordingly, leading to higher switching losses and larger overall semiconductor chip area. Three-level (3-L) inverters, such as the Neutral-Point Clamped (NPC) and T-Type topologies, rep-resent excellent candidates for higher voltage drives, as they employ devices with reduced voltage ratings ensuring superior overall performance [3][4][5]. Moreover, taking advantage of the increased number of output voltage levels, they reduce the high-frequency harmonic current stress on the driven machine [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis and performance evaluation of a three-phase sparse neutral point clamped converter for industrial variable speed drives

et al. 2021

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This paper analyzes the operation and characterizes the performance of a three-phase three-level (3-L) Sparse Neutral Point Clamped converter (SNPCC) for industrial variable speed drives (VSDs). The operating principle of the SNPCC, which advantageously employs a lower number of power transistors than a conventional 3-L inverter, is described in detail, focusing on the AC-side differential-mode and common-mode voltage formation and on the DC-side mid-point current generation processes. The degrees of freedom in the SNPCC modulation scheme are defined and several switching sequences are investigated. Afterwards, the stresses on the active and passive components (e.g. semiconductor losses, machine phase current ripple, DC-link capacitor RMS current, etc.) are calculated by analytical and/or numerical means, enabling a straightforward performance comparison among the identified switching sequences. The most suited modulation strategy for VSD applications is then selected and a chip area sizing procedure, aimed at minimizing the total semiconductor chip size, is applied to a 800V 7.5kW three-phase system. The performance limits of the designed SNPCC are evaluated and finally compared to the ones of conventional 2-L and 3-L solutions, highlighting the promising cost/performance trade-off of the analyzed topology.

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Section: Performance Comparisonsupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis and performance evaluation of a three-phase sparse neutral point clamped converter for industrial variable speed drives

et al. 2021

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“…When the power is only required to flow from the grid to the load, three-level unidirectional rectifiers represent perfect candidates for general active rectification [7][8][9]. In particular, these converter topologies trade higher efficiency and power density for a slight complexity increase, thus achieving improved performance with respect to conventional two-level inverters [3][4][5].…”

Section: DCmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(3) control of the DC-link mid-point voltage deviation under normal operating conditions (i.e., balanced split DC-link loading). Other desired features include, but are not limited to, (4) minimization of the DC-link mid-point third-harmonic voltage oscillation [8,10], which directly affects the size of the DC-link capacitors and may be hard to reject by the subsequent conversion stage [11]; (5) full control of the DC-link mid-point voltage deviation under unbalanced split DC-link loading [7], which may occur when separate DC/DC units are connected to the two DC-link halves (e.g., in DC fast chargers [12]); and (6) operation under non-unity power factor, to support the reactive energy flows in distribution grids [13]. All the aforementioned required and desired features can be addressed either with a proper converter control strategy (1)-( 6) [14][15][16], with an accurate AC-side filter design (1) [17,18], or with an appropriate selection of the converter modulation strategy (4) [8,19].…”

Section: DCmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this topology has two major drawbacks, as it features a two-level output voltage waveform and requires semiconductor devices with relatively high voltage rating, both negatively affecting the converter losses and the grid-side filter size. Even though modern semiconductor technologies (e.g., high-voltage SiC MOSFETs) can substantially improve the two-level inverter performance by reducing losses and allowing for higher operating frequencies, multi-level converter solutions have demonstrated higher achievable performance, both in terms of efficiency and power density [3][4][5]. In fact, these topologies simultaneously reduce the stress on the AC-side filter components and allow the employment of semiconductor devices with lower voltage rating and thus better figures of merit [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Three-Level Unidirectional Rectifiers under Non-Unity Power Factor Operation and Unbalanced Split DC-Link Loading: Analytical and Experimental Assessment

et al. 2021

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Three-phase three-level unidirectional rectifiers are among the most adopted topologies for general active rectification, achieving an excellent compromise between cost, complexity and overall performance. The unidirectional nature of these rectifiers negatively affects their operation, e.g., distorting the input currents around the zero-crossings, limiting the maximum converter-side displacement power factor, reducing the split DC-link mid-point current capability and limiting the converter ability to compensate the low-frequency DC-link mid-point voltage oscillation. In particular, the rectifier operation under non-unity power factor and/or under constant zero-sequence voltage injection (i.e., when unbalanced split DC-link loading occurs) typically yields large and uncontrolled input current distortion, effectively limiting the acceptable operating region of the converter. Although high bandwidth current control loops and enhanced phase current sampling strategies may improve the rectifier input current distortion, especially at light load, these approaches lose effectiveness when significant phase-shift between voltage and current is required and/or a constant zero-sequence voltage must be injected. Therefore, this paper proposes a complete analysis and performance assessment of three-level unidirectional rectifiers under non-unity power factor operation and unbalanced split DC-link loading. First, the theoretical operating limits of the converter in terms of zero-sequence voltage, modulation index, power factor angle, maximum DC-link mid-point current and minimum DC-link mid-point charge ripple are derived. Leveraging the derived zero-sequence voltage limits, a unified carrier-based pulse-width modulation (PWM) approach enabling the undistorted operation of the rectifier in all feasible operating conditions is thus proposed. Moreover, novel analytical expressions defining the maximum rectifier mid-point current capability and the minimum peak-to-peak DC-link mid-point charge ripple as functions of both modulation index and power factor angle are derived, the latter enabling a straightforward sizing of the split DC-link capacitors. The theoretical analysis is verified on a 30kW, 20kHz T-type rectifier prototype, designed for electric vehicle ultra-fast battery charging. The input phase current distortion, the maximum mid-point current capability and the minimum mid-point charge ripple are experimentally assessed across all rectifier operating points, showing excellent performance and accurate agreement with the analytical predictions.

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Comprehensive modeling and formulation of split DC link capacitors balancing problem in Three-Phase Three-Level bidirectional AC/DC converters operating with arbitrary power factor

Vule,

Siton,

Kuperman

2023

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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Comparative Evaluation of 800V DC-Link Three-Phase Two/Three-Level SiC Inverter Concepts for Next-Generation Variable Speed Drives

Cited by 29 publications

References 20 publications

Analysis and performance evaluation of a three-phase sparse neutral point clamped converter for industrial variable speed drives

Analysis and performance evaluation of a three-phase sparse neutral point clamped converter for industrial variable speed drives

Three-Level Unidirectional Rectifiers under Non-Unity Power Factor Operation and Unbalanced Split DC-Link Loading: Analytical and Experimental Assessment

Comprehensive modeling and formulation of split DC link capacitors balancing problem in Three-Phase Three-Level bidirectional AC/DC converters operating with arbitrary power factor

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