Multilevel Active Power Filter Research Articles

Improved backward model predictive control for modular multilevel active power filter

Improved backward model predictive control for modular multilevel active power filter

A Multilevel Active CM Noise Power Filter for Multilevel Inverters

Common-mode voltage (CMV) caused by switching operations of power converters can significantly degrade the system's stability and performance. Since the effects of the CMV are more prominent in the WBG-based applications that require fast-switching slew rates, many research works have been proposed to mitigate CM noise generated by the CMV. In addition, as topologies and control methods of the power converters become more complicated for better performance, more advanced CM noise attenuation methods are required accordingly. Therefore, this paper proposes a CM noise attenuation method using a multi-level active CM noise power filter in a five-level inverter system. In this paper, detailed control methods and considerations of the proposed multi-level system are presented, and the validity of the proposed multi-level active CM noise power filter has been verified through experimental results.

Advanced PWM Techniques for Multi-Level Inverters With a Multi-Level Active CM Noise Filter

Pulsewidth modulation (PWM)-based power electronics inverters are being widely used for various applications, including motor drives. However, the common-mode voltage (CMV) resulting from switching operations in the PWM inverters causes significant performance degradation of the system and can cause potential damage to motors. Since the effects of the CMV can be more severe in wide bandgap (WBG) and high switching frequency-based converter systems, various methods have been proposed to mitigate the CM noise issues. This work presents a multi-level inverter system composed of a multi-level inverter with a proposed multi-level active power filter (APF). For attenuating the CMV in multi-level inverters using multi-carrier-based PWM methods, a novel PWM method is presented for the proposed multi-level APF. The three-phase five-level active-neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) II-type inverter using the apparent switching frequency doubling (ASFD) PWM is used as an example of the multi-level inverters and carrier-based PWM methods to analyze and verify the proposed CMV attenuation method. The APF generates and injects the APF voltage equal to the CMV to attenuate the CM noise accurately. Various key challenges, including the dead-time compensation, are addressed through the proposed advanced PWM techniques to improve the CMV attenuation performance. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the comparison and effectiveness of the proposed CMV attenuation method.

Low-Frequency Stability Analysis of Vehicle-Grid System With Active Power Filter Based on dq-Frame Impedance

To eliminate the low-frequency oscillation (LFO) phenomenon in the vehicle-grid system of high-speed railways, a single-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel active power filter (APF) directly accessed to the 27.5-kV traction network is proposed in this article, which can provide the dynamic reactive and interharmonic compensation. To explore the mechanism of APF on LFO suppression, the dq-frame impedance model of vehicle-grid system with APF is established first. The impact of the second-order generalized integrator model and the duty ratio model on the impedance accuracy is discussed in detail. Then, based on the generalized Nyquist stability criterion and system power consumption criterion, the stability of vehicle-grid system and its sensitivity to parameters in different cases are compared. The results indicate that the proposed APF can significantly improve the low-frequency stability of vehicle-grid system and owns much better performance than the STATCOM proposed in previous literatures. Finally, the time-domain simulations in MATLAB and the experiments on the controller hardware in the loop platform are implemented, which further validate the accuracy of theoretical analysis and the superior performance of APF in LFO elimination.

Power Quality Improvement of High Voltage DC Link using Modified Shunt Active Power Filter

A new control strategy for active power filters is proposed, modeled and implemented in order to improve the power quality of a line commutated converter High voltage DC link. The ability of reactive power and harmonics reductions are generally met by using passive and active power filters. In this paper, modified active power filter with a modified harmonics pulse width modulation algorithm is used to minimize the source harmonics and force the AC supply current to be in the same phase with AC voltage source at both sending and receiving sides of a line commutated converter high voltage DC link. Therefore, it is considered as power factor corrector and harmonics eliminator with random variations in the load current. The modified harmonics pulse width modulation algorithm is applicable for active power filter based on a three-phase five-level and seven-level cascaded H-bridge voltage source inverter. Simulation results show that the suggested modified multilevel active power filters improve total harmonics distortion of both voltage and current with almost unity effective power factor at both AC sides of high voltage DC link. Therefore, modified active power filter is an effective tool for power quality improvement and preferable for line commutated converter high voltage DC link at different load conditions.

Single-phase Cascaded H-bridge Multilevel Active Power Filters in AC Electric Railway Systems

The power quality of AC electric railways has become an issue worthy of more and more concern. Many active compensators based on power converters have been proposed, but with complex transformers or coupled branches. This paper presents a single-phase cascaded H-bridge multilevel active power filter (APF), which can directly connect to the 27.5-kV power supplies to deal with power quality problems. According to field measured data, the load characteristics are analyzed, and the system configuration and control system are designed based on the load characteristic analysis. Finally, simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed APF system, considering some problems such as the supply voltage fluctuations and transient inrush currents in AC electric railway systems.

Single‐phase cascaded H‐bridge multi‐level active power filter based on direct current control in AC electric railway application

A single-phase cascaded H-bridge multi-level active power filter (APF) to deal with the power quality problems in the AC electric railway systems is presented. The APF can connect to the traction busbar directly without any transformer or resonance branch. The direct current control combining the current decoupling transformation is introduced in the control strategy. This strategy simplifies the control system, enabling the least amount of current measurement with the existing sensors and removing complex current reference extraction algorithms. The control system design process, especially for the parameter tuning, is mainly discussed. Finally, simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed APF system applied in the AC electric railway systems.

A New Multilevel Active Power Filter Using Switches Meticulously Controlled

Shunt active power filter based on multilevel inverter is used to compensate the power factor and to delete the harmonics. This one permits to reduce the inverse voltages applied to the filter switches and their switching frequencies. Nevertheless, the high number of used switches requires a complicated controller and increases the switching losses; where the necessity of finding another resolution system. In this work a new topology of multilevel inverter is proposed as a shunt active power filter using two IGBT transistors in series of opposite sense meticulously controlled by a parallel control algorithm, with the concept of reduced number of six switches which are able to create five levels of the output voltage. This system substute the classical system of eight switches. The harmonic currents identification is carried out using the instantaneous active and reactive power method. The simulation is performed using Matlab/Simulink. The obtained results show that the filtering performances are well enhanced.

Command of the Novel Multilevel Active Power Filter by an Algorithm Through the P-Q Developed

Multilevel shunt active power filters are used to suppress the harmonics and make the power factor nearer to unity. That’s also, allows reducing the inverse voltages applied to the filter switches. But, the elevated number of the switches requires a difficult control and increases the switching losses; where the innovations of these systems are necessary. In this paper a novel five-level inverter is presented as a shunt active power filter to eliminate these anomalies. The deployment of this topology limits the stress in inverse voltage supported by switches via dividing the continue voltage bus DC. However, it is composed of a small number of six bipolar switches able to generate five levels of the output voltage. The simulation is performed using a new algorithm through the P-Q developed theory for harmonic currents identification in Matlab/Simulink. The obtained results show that the filtering performances are well improved.

Finite set model predictive control to a shunt multilevel active filter

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to implement a finite set model predictive control algorithm to a shunt (or parallel), multilevel (cascaded H-bridge) active power filter (APF). Specifically, the purpose is to get a controller that could compensate the mains current and, at the same time, to control the voltages of its capacitors. This strategy avoids the use of multiple PWM carriers or another type of special modulator, and requires a relatively low processing power. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is focussed in the application of the predictive controller to a single-phase parallel APF composed for two H-bridges connected in series. The same methodology can be applied to a three-phase APF. In the DC buses of each H-bridge, a floating capacitor was connected, whose voltage is regulated by the predictive controller. The controller is composed by, first, a model for the charge/discharge dynamics for each floating capacitor and a model for the output current of the APF; second, a cost function; and third, an optimization algorithm that is able to control all these variables at the same time, choosing in each sample period the best combination of firing pulses. Findings – The controller can track the voltage references, compensate the current harmonics and compensate reactive power with an algorithm that evaluates only the three nearest voltage levels to the last voltage level applied in the inverter. This strategy decreases the number of calculations required by the predictive algorithm. This controller can be applied to the general case of a single-phase multilevel APF of N-levels and extend it to the three-phase case without major problems. Research limitations/implications – The implemented controller, when the authors consider a constant sample time, gives a mains current with a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD-I) slightly greater in comparison with the base algorithm (that evaluates all the voltage levels). However, when the authors consider the processing times under the same processor, the implemented algorithm requires less time to get the optimal values, can get lower sampling times and then a best performance in terms of THD-I. To implement the controller in a three-phase APF, a faster Digital Signal Processor would be required. Originality/value – The implemented solution uses a model for the charge/discharge of the capacitors and for the filter current that enable to operate the cascaded multilevel inverter with asymmetrical voltages while compensates the mains currents, with a predictive algorithm that requires a relatively low amount of calculations.

Multi-level Shunt Active Power Filter Using Modular Cascade H-bridge and Delay Firing

A novel design of a multi-level shunt active power filter using a modular cascade H-bridge is presented in this article. The proposed approach enables a modular approach in the design of a multi-level active power filter. As an illustration, a five-level H-bridge active power filter with a novel switching strategy has been implemented. The design is able to reduce the voltage stress across the filter inductor and to reduce the average switching frequency. Proportional plus integral controllers have been implemented for the current control loop, overall voltage control loop, and voltage balancing loop. A feedforward controller has also been added to the current control loop to improve the current tracking. By delaying the firing time of one of the H-bridges, five levels can be realized from a cascade H-bridge active power filter. The proposed switching strategy and the realization of the five-level switching scheme are presented. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed filter scheme.

Design of a Discrete-Time Linear Control Strategy for a Multicell UPQC

A discrete-time linear control strategy for a multilevel three-phase unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) based on single-phase power cells is presented. The multi-variable, nonlinear, and coupled features of these topologies make the control strategy design a difficult task. Controlling this kind of system with single-variable linear controllers-as proposed in this work-presents significant advantages compared with other approaches as simplicity in the design steps due to the large amount of tools developed for this kind of schemes. Particularly, a classic design method based on the root locus approach is used to choose the controllers parameters in order to achieve a given dynamical behavior. Compensation of reactive power and fundamental frequency disturbances is presented in this paper as part of a general control strategy for multilevel active power filters. The proposed control strategy is implemented on the TMS320C6713 DSP-based system for a low-power laboratory prototype, and thus the controllers design is carried out on the discrete-time and -frequency domain. Also, due to the inherent asymmetries among the power cells in a modular topology, a dedicated local control strategy is proposed to ensure a symmetrical distribution of the power among the power cells. This feature allows the semiconductor devices of each module to operate under the same voltage and current ratings. Simulated and experimental results showing stationary and transient conditions demonstrate the feasibility of the control scheme.

Control Strategies for Multilevel APFs Based on the Windowed-FFT and Resonant Controllers

This paper presents control strategies for cascaded H-bridge multilevel active power filters (APFs). A current loop controller is implemented using a proportional-resonant (PR) regulator, which achieves zero steady-state error at target frequencies. The power balancing mechanism for the dc-link capacitor voltages is analyzed and a voltage balancing controller is presented. To mitigate the picket-fence effect of the conventional FFT algorithm under asynchronous sampling conditions, the Hanning Windowed-FFT algorithm is proposed for reference current generation (RCG). This calculates the frequency, amplitude and phase of individual harmonic components accurately and as a result, selective harmonic compensation (SHC) is achieved. Simulation and experimental results are presented, which verify the validity and effectiveness of the devised control algorithms.

Analysis and effective controller design for the cascaded H‐bridge multilevel APF with adaptive signal processing algorithms

SUMMARYThe cascaded H‐bridge (CHB) multilevel inverter is being recognized as the most suitable topology for high‐power medium‐voltage power quality conditioning applications. This paper presents mathematical modeling and effective controller design methodology for the CHB‐based active power filters (APFs), which achieves dynamic reactive power and harmonic compensation. The most crucial problems in CHB‐APF control are the simultaneous requirements of both accurate harmonic current compensation and the dc‐link voltage stabilization among the H‐bridges, which is the prerequisite for the stable operation of CHB‐APF. To achieve dc‐link stabilization, a novel voltage balancing algorithm is proposed by splitting the dc‐link voltage control task into two parts, namely, the average voltage control and the voltage balancing control, where the sine and cosine functions of the phase angle of the fundamental component of the grid voltage are used, respectively. To ensure accurate phase tracking, a novel phase‐locked loop (PLL) is proposed by using the adaptive linear neural network (ADALINE), where the grid voltage background distortion is also taken into account. The superior performance of the ADALINE‐PLL is validated by comparison with the existing PLLs in literatures. Furthermore, the proportional‐resonant (PR) controller is used for the reference current tracking. A separate ADALINE algorithm is applied for reference current generation (RCG) for the CHB‐APF. The excellent performance of the ADALINE‐based RCG scheme is verified by comparison with the existing RCG schemes, namely, the low‐pass filter approach and the single‐phase p − qmethod. The experimental results on the three modules CHB‐APF are presented, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modeling and controller synthesis for the cascaded H-bridge multilevel active power filter with ADALINE-based identifiers

This paper presents the averaged state-space modeling and controller synthesis methodology for the cascaded H-bridge multilevel active power filters (CHB-APFs). The accurate harmonic current compensation and dc-link stabilization among the individual H-bridge modules are crucial problems for the CHB-APF, which is the prerequisite for the global stability of the system. In this study, a novel voltage balancing algorithm is devised by splitting the dc-link control task into two parts, namely, the average voltage control and the voltage balancing control, where the sine and cosine functions of the phase angle of the fundamental grid voltage are used, respectively. To ensure accurate phase tracking, a novel phase-locked loop algorithm is proposed by using the adaptive linear neural network (ADALINE). Moreover, a separate ADALINE identifier is applied for reference current generation, and the proportional-resonant controller is used for current tracking. The simulation results obtained from the Alternative Transient Program (ATP/EMTP) are provided under dynamic reactive power compensation and active filtering scenarios. The experimental results from the prototype system are also presented, which verifies the effectiveness of the devised algorithms.

Selective Compensation Strategies for the 3-phase Cascaded Multilevel Active Power Filter using ANF-based Sequence Decoupling Scheme

A new control strategy for the 3-phase multilevel cascaded H-bridge (CHB) active power filter is presented. The selective compensation of load side reactive and harmonic components is adopted to reduce the current controller bandwidth. The adaptive notch filters (ANFs) are utilized at the d-axis and q-axis of the load side currents to extract the positive- and negative-sequence components of individual harmonic component. The theoretical derivations of the ANF-based sequence decoupling scheme is outlined, followed by the design issues of the current regulators and the dc-link voltage controllers. Simulation results under balanced and unbalanced load conditions with transient load disturbances are presented for verification. The validity of the proposed control scheme is validated by the simulation results. Ill. 10, bibl. 11 (in English; summaries in English, Russian and Lithuanian).

A Robust Multilevel Hybrid Compensation System for 25-kV Electrified Railway Applications

On many electrified railway systems with single-phase 25-kV industrial frequency supply, the power quality can be particularly poor when conventional thyristor based locomotives are operating, and this constrains the amount of power that can be delivered to the locomotives. This paper presents a hybrid shunt compensation system consisting of alternatively a cascaded or a reduced topology multilevel active power filter, and a low rating passive damping filter. The active power filter is controlled by a novel hysteresis current regulation strategy, and both mitigates low-order voltage harmonic distortion along the feeder and provides root mean squared voltage support. The passive filter damps harmonic resonances that are typical in such 25-kV traction systems. The results show that the filter system can significantly increase traction system power transfer capacity with only a relatively small capital investment, allowing older thyristor based locomotives and increased traffic levels to be supported without necessarily requiring a complete system upgrade. Simulation and experimental results are included showing the performance of the filter for both steady state and transient conditions.

High-power-factor single-phase capacitor clamped rectifier

A control scheme for a single-phase capacitor clamped rectifier is proposed. Flying capacitor configuration has been employed as a power factor correction to achieve a high-input power factor and low-current harmonics. The adopted rectifier allows higher voltage than the voltage stress of the power switches to be achieved. The control scheme, based on a look-up table with hysteresis current controller (HCC), can (i) draw a nearly sinusoidal line current, (ii) achieve a unity power factor, (iii) reduce the current harmonics, and (iv) improve the unbalance problem between capacitor voltages. The applications of the adopted converter can be also used in multilevel active power filters, uninterruptible power supplies and high-power motor drives. The experimental results are shown to confirm the validity of the proposed concept.