A novel control scheme for the multilevel rectifier/inverter

Abstract

A novel three-level pulsewidth modulation (PWM) rectifier/inverter is proposed: this single-phase three-level rectifier with power factor correction and current harmonic reduction is proposed to improve power quality. A three-phase three-level neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter is adopted to reduce the harmonic content of the inverter output voltages and currents. In the adopted rectifier, a switching mode rectifier with two AC power switches is adopted to draw a sinusoidal line current in phase with mains voltage. The switching functions of the power switches are based on a look-up table. To achieve a balanced DC-link capacitor voltage, a capacitor voltage compensator is employed. In the NPC inverter, the three-level PWM techniques based on the sine-triangle PWM and space vector modulation are used to reduce the voltage harmonics and to drive an induction motor. The advantages of the adopted th-ree-level rectifier/inverter are (1) the blocking voltage of power devices (T1, T2, Sa1-Sc4) is clamped to half of the DC-link voltage, (2) low conduction loss with low conduction resistance due to low voltage stress, (3) low electromagnetic interference, and (4) low voltage harmonics in the inverter output. Based on the proposed control strategy, the rectifier can draw a high power factor line current and achieve two balance capacitor voltages. The current harmonics generated from the adopted rectifier can meet the international requirements. Finally, the proposed control algorithm is illustrated through experimental results based on the laboratory prototype.