New Family of Two-to-Three-Phase AC–AC Indirect Matrix Converters With Open-End Rectifier Stage

Abstract

This article proposes a family of two-to-three-phase ac–ac indirect matrix converters with an open-end rectifier stage (IMCORS) which are direct ac–ac converters, having no energy storage element at their dc-link. The IMCORSs are the first indirect matrix converters (IMC) with an open-end rectifier stage, creating a new category of IMC. The IMCORS is a full-controlled and unidirectional power flow converter. By replacing four active/controlled switches of the rectifier stage of the IMCORS with four diodes, two new configurations are proposed with reduced active switch count, resulting in reduced costs and increased efficiency. Also, by adding an inverting link to the dc-link of the rectifier stage of the IMCORS (which enables the bidirectional power flow operation), another converter is proposed. The IMCORSs topologies are suitable for wind energy conversion systems. A new modulation scheme for the rectifier stage is proposed in this article, which is titled two-phase open-end modulation scheme. The zero dc-link current commutation and the space vector modulation applied to the proposed converters provide a unity power factor for the input system, reduction of power losses, and decrease the complexity of the commutation when compared with classical matrix converters. The proposed converters are verified by simulation and experimentally using a 1.7-kW/liter prototype operating at 1 kW.