Development of a Hardware Simulator for Reliable Design of Modular Multilevel Converters Based on Junction-Temperature of IGBT Modules

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a hardware simulator based on the junction-temperature of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules in modular multilevel converters (MMCs). The MMC consists of various power-electronics components, and the IGBT is the main factor determining the lifetime of the MMC. The failure of IGBTs is mostly due to the junction-temperature swing; thus, the thermal profile of the IGBT should be established to predict the lifetime. The thermal behavior depends on the current flowing to the IGBT, and the load-current profile is related to the application. To establish the thermal profile of the IGBT, the proposed hardware simulator generates various shapes of output currents while the junction temperature is measured. Additionally, a controller design is presented for simulation of the arm current, which includes a direct current component as well as an alternative current component with a fundamental frequency. The validity and performance of the proposed hardware simulator and its control methods are analyzed according to various experimental results.

Hardware-Simulator Development and Implementation for Hydraulic Turbine Generation Systems in a District Heating System

“…It is designed by TMS320F28335 as a high-performance controller from Texas Instruments. The TMS320F28335 is operated as 150 MHz clocks, and it has 12 ports of PWM and 16 channels of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) [23,24]. The 6 ports of PWM in each control board of the BTB converter are used to operate the switch module in each power board of the generator-side inverter and grid-side converter.…”

Effect of Temperature Change on Acoustic Emission Signal in IGBT Transistors of Marine Propulsion System Converters

“…The failure of the bond wire distorts the current flowing to the IGBT module and accelerates the lifting of bond-wire liftoff and the tearing of the remaining bond wire [11]. These failures can lead to a no-load failure or catastrophic failure of switching devices, such as thermal runaway and damage to semiconductor chips.…”

“…These failures can lead to a no-load failure or catastrophic failure of switching devices, such as thermal runaway and damage to semiconductor chips. Furthermore, temperature fluctuations can lead to solder joint fatigue [11,12]. A standard IGBT module has two solder joints: between the IGBT chip and the direct bond copper substrate (DBC) and between the DBC substrate and the ground plane.…”

Dynamic Surface Backstepping Control for Voltage Source Converter-High Voltage Direct Current Transmission Grid Side Converter Systems

“…The insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) has the advantages of large safe working area, current shock resistance, and high switching speed [5][6][7][8][9]. Therefore, the voltage source converter-high voltage direct current transmission (VSC-HVDC) based on IGBT switch technology [10][11][12][13] has been widely used in the offshore wind power grid connected technology.…”