Modelling and control of a seven level NPC voltage source inverter. Application to high power induction machine drive

Abstract

In this paper, we study a new kind of continuous-alternating converters: a seven-level neutral point clamping (NPC) voltage source inverter (VSI). We propose this inverter for applications in high voltage and high power fields. In the first part, we develop the knowledge and the control models of this inverter using the connections functions of the semi-conductors. After that, we present two pulse width modulation (PWM) algorithms to control this converter using its control model. We propose these algorithms for digital implementation. This multilevel inverter is associated to the induction machine. The performances obtained are full of promise to use it in the high voltage and high power fields of electrical traction.