Switching Frequency Determination of SiC-Inverter for High Efficiency Propulsion System of Railway Vehicle

Abstract

This paper suggests the reasonable switching frequency determination method for achieving highest efficiency of the railway propulsion system consisting the silicon carbide (SiC) inverter and permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). The SiC power device allows increasing the switching frequency of the inverter because it has the small switching power loss. The total efficiency is taken into account for determining the switching frequency of SiC inverter in this paper. In the efficiency analysis of SiC inverter and PMSM, the PMSM drive control is considered with the hybrid switching method combined the synchronous PWM and asynchronous PWM. The result of the analysis shows the efficiency curve of propulsion system depending on the switching frequency. The switching frequency having the minimum power loss of propulsion system is selected based on the extracted power loss curve.

Electric Vehicle Efficient Power and Propulsion Systems

“…Recent research on WBG power semiconductor devices such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) have attracted significant attention, since the increase in inverter switching frequency contributes to the decrease in switching power loss. In paper [3], Ryu, J.-H. et al investigate a method for switching the frequency determination of a SiC-inverter to improve the efficiency of the railway propulsion system. The hybrid switching method combined with the synchronous PWM and asynchronous PWM was considered in the analysis of the SiC inverter that feeds a PMSM.…”