Neutral Point Clamped Inverter Research Articles

Nonlinear control of three level NPC inverter used in PV/grid system: comparison of topologies and control methods

With the passage of time, the importance of using renewable energy systems to overcome energy consumption and improve the quality of the grid has emerged through the use of nonlinear control techniques and reliance on advanced types of inverters such as multi-level inverters. This research is focused on comparing two grid-connected converter topologies in a photovoltaic (PV) generation system connected to a three-phase grid that serves a non-linear load. Additionally, the study explores two different control techniques applied to this converter, evaluating their effects on the total harmonic distortion coefficient. A comparison has been made between the traditional inverter and the three-level inverter type neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter, with the use of integral backstepping (IBS) technique which was also compared with the proportional integral (PI) controller. The simulation results in MATLAB/Simulink are presented illustrating the performances and the strong effectiveness of the three-level NPC inverter controlled by the proposed technique (IBS).

Sensorless speed controller of an induction motor with MRAS-based model predictive control

Speed sensors play critical role in induction motor (IM) control systems. However, the use of these sensors cause several drawbacks such as increasing the overall cost, decreased reliability on control and increased noise problems in data acquisition. The sensorless control methods also have been proposed in control systems of IM to increase the overall performance. On the other hand, model predictive controllers (MPCs) which is one of the most recently used controller methods require the speed measurement to perform speed and torque control of an IM. In addition to control method, the topology of voltage source inverter (VSI) affects the overall efficiency of the IM drive because of its losses and total harmonic distortion (THD) ratios delivered by the topology. The main proposal of this study is to implement an IM drive built with a three-level active neutral point clamped (3L-ANPC) voltage source inverter (VSI) and to propose an MPC that eliminates sensor requirement in speed control of IM. The proposed IM drive takes benefits of multilevel inverter topology, which reduces the torque ripple, enables low switching frequency and provides decreased harmonic distortion. The switching pulses of ANPC VSI are generated by the proposed sensorless MPC method for controlling the torque of IM. The modelling and experimental verification of the ANPC based IM drive have been carried out and the sensorless MPC controller has been validated in this study. There two types of model reference adaptive system (MRAS) have been proposed to ensure precise estimation of IM speed that should be supplied to MPC controller. These MRAS methods are titled as the rotor flux based model reference adaptive system (MRASF), and the stator current based model reference adaptive system (MRASCC) according to estimation references. The proposed MPC-based IM drive has been analyzed under variable speed and torque circumstances to detect the efficiency and reliability of MRASF and MRASCC algorithms. The efficiency indicators such as flux and torque responses, and speed control of the suggested MPC IM drive are validated with experimental analysis. The results of revealed that the IM effectively tracks the reference speed and produces the required torque depending to the precise control of proposed MPC algorithm.

Switch fault identification scheme based on machine learning algorithms for PV-Fed three-phase neutral point clamped inverter

Any faults in power electronic switches must be detected and located promptly to certify the unchanging operation and reliability of multilevel inverter (MLI) systems. Machine learning (ML) techniques are increasingly being utilized to diagnose faults in MLIs due to their advantages, such as high precision, less calculation time, and reduced complexity. A faulty switch identification and phase identification method based on different ML classifiers is presented in this paper, explicitly targeting open-circuit faults in switches in a PV-fed 3-phase three-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter. The NPC MLI output voltage and current signals are input signals to classify faults. The information or essential feature from the raw voltage and current data is extracted using a recursive discrete Fourier (RDF) followed by a discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Finally, the standard deviations of the approximate and detailed coefficients are used as input for ML algorithms. To do the comparative analysis, a variety of ML techniques are then applied to these features, including logistic regression (LR), random forest (RF), quadratic discriminate analysis (QDA), K-nearest neighbour (K-NN), and support vector machines (SVM). The experiment results indicate that the RF algorithms achieve the highest classification accuracy of 99.59 % for various switch fault conditions.

A three level NPC inverter fault detection and identification using voltage vector residual evaluation based on current path tracking method

This research describes open circuit detection and fault location for active 3-level NPC (neutral point clamped) inverter switches during normal and connected to the neutral point. This work introduces the current path tracking method to correlate the operating mode of NPC inverter and switch status in abnormal and normal conditions. Furthermore, a hierarchal diagnosis approach is introduced for open circuit faults using output Voltage Vector Residual Evaluation (VVRE). The node potential and conduction path can be derived from the model to indicate the NPC inverter circuit faults. Two steps are involved in the diagnosis. First, OC fault can be determined by analyzing the difference between the reference voltage and actual voltage vector resulting from the specified current path utilization ratio. Therefore, using a current path state reconstruction method, we can distinguish faulty transistors with similar properties. The simulated results demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of the proposed approach.

NOVEL SHUNT ACTIVE POWER FILTER BASED ON NINE-LEVEL NPC INVERTER USING MC-LSPWM MODULATION STRATEGY

This paper presents a novel shunt active power filter (Shunt APF) system based on a nine-level neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter, which can reduce current harmonics under various nonlinear loads. These loads can introduce harmonic currents within the system, which causes excessive power losses and alters the voltage systems' characteristics. Today, multi-level inverters are more suitable for high-voltage applications; their advantages are low harmonic distortions, low switching losses, low electromagnetic interference, and low acoustic noise. The reference signals required to compensate harmonic currents use the synchronous detection method (SDM) with phase disposition sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PD-SPWM) control due to its low complexity and superior performance. The proposed shunt APF configuration simulation is evaluated using MATLAB-Simulink and SimPowerSystem environment with inductive and capacitive non-linear loads. The simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed shunt APF in terms of harmonic compensation and power quality improvement. The results of comparative studies with other less multi-level inverters confirm the superiority of the proposed shunt APF system.

A Hybrid PWM Strategy for Switching Loss Reduction in Three-Level Inverters

The advanced bus-clamping PWM (ABCPWM) sequences are well known to reduce line current THD in a three-level neutral point-clamped inverter. This paper deals with ABCPWM sequences employed optimally to achieve minimum switching loss throughout the linear operating region in a three-level inverter. The work extensively analyzes the performance of these sequences in terms of inverter switching loss and compares them with centered space vector modulation PWM (CSVPWM). Based on the analysis, a hybrid PWM scheme termed as <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">switching loss reduction</i> is proposed by optimally employing ABCPWM sequences in conjunction with variation in power factors. At a given average switching frequency, the proposed hybrid scheme reduces inverter switching loss compared to CSVPWM and the recently proposed discontinuous PWM-based optimization strategy at all power factors and modulation indices. With this scheme, switching loss reduces to 22% to 36% compared to CSVPWM and a maximum of 12% reduction than the existing optimization strategy. Furthermore, the scheme gives lower harmonic distortion compared to these two existing PWM schemes near high modulation indices and near unity power factor load. The theoretical, simulated, and real-time simulation results are presented with experimental results using TMS320F28335 DSP controller for validating the proposed work.

Model Predictive Control Strategy Based on Loss Equalization for Three-Level ANPC Inverters

Targeting the issue of high losses of individual switching tubes in Neutral-Point Clamped (NPC) three-level inverters, an Active Neutral-Point Clamped (ANPC) three-level inverter is used, and a model predictive control strategy using the loss equalization of the inverter is proposed. This method organizes and analyzes multiple zero-state current pathway commutation modes and adds mode three under the original two commonly used zero-state commutation modes. On this basis, the three modes are flexibly switched by model predictive control, and the output is optimized according to the value function for the space vector in each operation, while the midpoint voltage control is added to the value function. The simulation results suggest that the recommended strategy in this study may effectively realize the loss equalization control and midpoint voltage control of the ANPC inverter, which improves the operation efficiency of the electromechanical actuator.

An Open-Circuit Fault Diagnosis Method for Three-Level Neutral Point Clamped Inverters Based on Multi-Scale Shuffled Convolutional Neural Network.

This study constructs a power switching device open-circuit fault diagnosis model for a three-level neutral point clamped inverter based on the multi-scale shuffled convolutional neural network (MSSCNN) and extracts and classifies the fault information contained in the output current of inverters. The model employs depthwise separable convolution and channel shuffle techniques to improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce model complexity. The experimental results show that the new model has lower model complexity, better noise resistance and higher average diagnostic accuracy compared with fault diagnosis models based on CNN, ResNet, ShuffleNet V2 and Mobilenet V3 networks.

Capacitor sizing of three‐level neutral point clamped voltage source inverter for electric vehicles: Effects of modulation and motor characteristics

AbstractA three‐level neutral point clamped (3L‐NPC) voltage source inverter (VSI) topology can be advantageous in electric vehicles with a high DC‐link voltage and a high switching frequency. A bulky DC‐link capacitor is not an option; thus, the DC‐link capacitor's sizing considering the traction system characteristics is an important design step. This paper investigates how the DC‐link capacitor size of a 3L‐NPC VSI gets affected by the combination of the interdependent characteristics of an electric drive, such as its power factor, modulation index, current, and fundamental frequency, with the effects of the modulation methods. Five pulse width modulation (PWM) methods, of which three of them have an active neutral point potential control, are compared in terms of their neutral point potential (NPP) oscillations. Then, the size of the DC‐link capacitor is determined for each PWM method so that the NPP ripple is kept under desired limits at all operating conditions. It is shown that both the modulation technique and the electric machine characteristics influence the capacitor size. For example, electric machine design modifications can introduce more than a 30% reduction in capacitor size. Finally, DC‐link and NPP oscillations with different PWM methods are experimentally validated in a scaled‐down 3L‐NPC inverter.

Design and analysis of L and LCL filters for grid-connected HNPC inverters used in renewable energy systems

With the widespread integration of renewable energy systems (RES) into the electric grid, maintaining power quality within specified limits has become a major focus. The total harmonic distortion (THD) value of the currents transferred to the grid and directly affecting power quality in (RES) such as grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) and fuel cells (FC) should not exceed 5%. To achieve this objective, various filter topologies are used to interface between the inverters, which are components of PV and FC systems, and the grid.Although there are numerous filter topologies, L and LCL-type passive filters are the most commonly used topologies in grid-connected systems. This study analyzes the L and LCL-type filter topologies for the H-bridge neutral point clamped (HNPC) inverter. The study’s modeling was carried out in the MATLAB/Simulink®. By comparing the simulation results, L and LCL filters’ harmonic attenuation capabilities, maximum power transferred to the grid, and effects on grid current have all been investigated.

Airport Microgrid and Its Incorporated Operations

This paper presents the development of an airport bipolar DC microgrid and its interconnected operations with the utility grid, electric vehicle (EV), and more electric aircraft (MEA). The microgrid DC-bus voltage is established by the main sources, photovoltaic (PV) and fuel cell (FC), via unidirectional three-level (3L) boost converters. The proposed one-cycle control (OCC)-based current control scheme and quantitative and robust voltage control scheme are proposed to yield satisfactory responses. Moreover, the PV maximum power point tracking (MPPT) with FC energy-supporting approach is developed to have improved renewable energy extraction characteristics. The equipped hybrid energy storage system (HESS) consists of an energy-type battery and a power-type flywheel; each device is interfaced to the common DC bus via its own 3L bidirectional interface converter. The energy-coordinated operation is achieved by the proposed droop control. A dump load leg is added to avoid overvoltage due to an energy surplus. The grid-connected energy complementary operation is conducted using a neutral point clamped (NPC) 3L three-phase inverter. In addition to the energy support from grid-to-microgrid (G2M), the reverse mcrogrid-to-grid (M2G) operation is also conductible. Moreover, microgrid-to-vehicle (M2V) and vehicle-to-microgrid (V2M) bidirectional operations can also be applicable. The droop control is also applied to perform these interconnected operations. For the grounded aircraft, bidirectional microgrid-to-aircraft (M2A)/aircraft-to-microgrid (A2M) operations can be performed. The aircraft ground power unit (GPU) function can be preserved by the developed microgrid. The MEA on-board facilities can be powered by the microgrid, including the 115 V/400 Hz AC bus, the 270 V DC bus, the switched-reluctance motor (SRM) drive, etc.

Smart current control of the wind energy conversion system based permanent magnet synchronous generator using predictive and hysteresis model

Introduction. Given the increasing demand for performance and efficiency of converters and power drives, the development of new control systems must take into account the real nature of these types of systems. Converters and dimmers power are nonlinear systems of a hybrid nature, including elements linear and nonlinear and a finite number of switching devices. Signals input for power converters are discrete signals that control the ‘opening and closing’ transitions of each component. Problem. In the multilevel inverters connected to grid, the switching frequency is the principal cause of harmonics and switching losses, which by nature, reduces the inverter’s efficiency. Purpose. For guarantee the satisfying quality of power transmitted to the electrical grid, while ensuring reduction of current ripples and output voltage harmonics. Novelty. This work proposes a new smart control, based on a predictive current control of the three level neutral point clamped inverter, used in Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) connected to grid, based permanent magnet synchronous generator, powered by a hysteresis current control for the rectifier. This new formula guarantees handling with the influence of harmonics disturbances (similar current total harmonic distortion), voltage stress, switching losses, rise time, over or undershoot and settling time in WECS. Methods. The basic idea of this control is to choose the best switching state, of the power switches, which ameliorates the quality function, selected from order predictive current control of WECS. Results. Practical value. Several advantages in this intelligent method, such as the fast dynamic answer, the easy implementation of nonlinearities and it requires fewer calculations to choose the best switching state. In addition, an innovative algorithm is proposed to adjust the current ripples and output voltage harmonics of the WECS. The performances of the system were analyzed by simulation using MATLAB/Simulink.

Capacitor voltage self‐balancing using active DC‐link technique for a single‐phase, five‐level neutral point clamped inverter

SummaryThe article proposes a new DC‐link voltage balancing method for a single‐phase, five‐level DC/AC neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter. Nowadays, the NPC converter is a suitable solution for various applications; however, the unequal voltage of the DC‐link capacitors is a significant disadvantage of this topology. In this paper, a simple auxiliary unit is inserted in the DC‐link to enable a self‐balancing capacitor voltage. The auxiliary circuit is composed of two capacitors and four active switching devices. The idea of the proposed method is to construct an active DC‐link bus; thus, the two DC‐link capacitors can be connected in series during the charging process and in parallel during the discharging process. As a result, its capacitance and root mean square (RMS) current are greatly reduced. Unlike other auxiliary circuits, the new method requires no additional storage elements or complex control systems. The operating principle and switching schemes are analyzed. The effectiveness of the introduced method is evaluated experimentally using the balancing circuits under different load conditions and different value of modulation indices.

Improved virtual space vector modulation for neutral point voltage oscillation and common-mode voltage reduction in neutral point clamped three-level inverter

Improved virtual space vector modulation for neutral point voltage oscillation and common-mode voltage reduction in neutral point clamped three-level inverter

Model Predictive Control With Reduced Common-Mode Voltage Based on Optimal Switching Sequences for Nested Neutral Point Clamped Inverter

This paper proposes a new model predictive control strategy with reduced common-mode voltage (CMV) based on optimal switching sequences (OSS-MPC) for a three-phase (3PH) four-level nested neutral point clamped (4L-NNPC) inverter. The proposed method controls load current, mitigates the voltage fluctuations of flying capacitors (FCs) in the entire operating frequency range, and provides a constant inverter switching frequency. In this work, the switching sequences (SSs) are configured so that the peak CMV is limited to <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{dc}/6$</tex-math></inline-formula> . By involving time in the optimization process, the balance of FCs voltages is realized in the entire operating frequency, especially in low-frequency operating mode. Also, the voltage fluctuations of FCs are further mitigated through a mathematical-logic technique. To implement the proposed method on the digital signal processor, the deadbeat control technique is also used to reduce the search space and thus, computation burden. The performance of the proposed method is verified in MATLAB/SIMULINK. The experimental results are carried out based on a scaled-down hardware prototype validating the theoretical claims.

Minimization of Common Mode Voltage and Capacitor Voltage Unbalance of 3-Phase 4-Wire 3-Level NPC inverter using 4D-SVM

This paper elucidates the implementation of Four-dimensional Space Vector Modulation (4D-SVM) for reduction of Common Mode Voltage (CMV) and Capacitor Voltage Unbalance (CVU) of 3-phase 4-wire 3-level Neutral Point Clamped inverter (3L-NPCI). CMV and CVU are major drawbacks of neutral point clamped inverter circuit; It leads to affect the performance of inverter in terms of bearing failure, unequal voltage stress across various switching devices, the magnitude of load current increases, increases in total harmonic distortion (THD), tripping of ground fault relays and malfunction of various sensitive electronics and control unit. The 4D-SVM algorithm is developed to reduce the CMV and CVU; with help of the nearest state vector (NSV) control method CMV range is reduced and by proper utilization of large and small vector capacitor voltage unbalance is minimized. 4D-SVM for 3-phase 4-wire 3-level includes 81 switching state vectors with a non-redundant switching concept. This algorithm is implemented without using any trigonometric equations, lookup tables, and angle determinations. This proposed system provides a comprehensive analysis of 4D-SVM for reduction of CMV range and CVU for the 3L-NPCI system. The minimization of CMV and CVU is achieved using MatLab-Simulink and FPGA processor for simulation and experimental results respectively.

Compatible Selective Harmonic Elimination for Three-Phase Four-Wire NPC Inverter with DC-Link Capacitor Voltage Balancing

In this paper a Compatible Selective Harmonic Elimination (CSHE)-PWM is designed for three-leg four-wire (3L/4W) Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter. The proposed CSHE-PWM is capable of eliminating both triplen and non-triplen harmonics from phase voltages and empowers 3L/4W NPC to handle both single/three-phase and linear/nonlinear loads. It has been mathematically proved that DC capacitors self-voltage balancing is achieved thanks to direct control of phase voltage waveform symmetry. Moreover, the cancellation of specified triplen and non-triplen orders has the advantage of having low capacitors voltage ripple. Therefore, the applied technique not only helps removing one leg of the inverter that reduces associate complex calculations and switching losses, but also directly controls phase voltage harmonic profile compared to SHE-PWM for four-leg four-wire (4L/4W) NPC. CSHE-PWM is practically tested on a NPC inverter prototype to validate the efficient harmonic elimination from the phase voltage waveforms along with capacitors voltages balancing under symmetrical/asymmetrical loads.

Transformerless Inverter with Charge Pump Circuit Concept for PV Application

This paper introduces a new single phase transformerless photovoltaic (PV) inverter for grid connected PV systems using the concept of a charge pump. It consists of four power switches, two diodes, two capacitors and an LC filter at the output stage. The neutral of the grid is directly connected to the negative terminal of PV panel. This common ground creates a constant Common Mode (CM) voltage and zero leakage current. Meanwhile, the charge pump circuit generates the negative bus voltage for the inverter during the negative power cycle. A unipolar Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) technique is applied to the proposed inverter with three level output voltage to reduce the output current ripple and the filter requirements. The main advantages of the proposed inverter are (1) the negative polarity of the PV is directly connected to the grid, so the leakage current eliminated, (2) it has a compact size, (3) peak of output voltage is equal to input dc voltage (unlike Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter, Active NPC (ANPC) and some topologies, which requires two times of the peak ac-voltage magnitude), flexible grounding configuration and high efficiency. The operating principle and analysis of the proposed topology are presented in details. Experimental results of a 500 W prototype are demonstrated to validate the proposed topology and the overall concept. The obtained results clearly verify the performance of the proposed inverter and its practical application for grid connected PV systems.

A Hybrid Active Damping Strategy for Improving the Adaptability of LCL Converter in Weak Grid

In a weak grid, the line impedance variation will cause the resonant frequency of the LCL filter to shift towards lower frequencies, thus reducing the quality of the grid-connected current and affecting the power grid stability. To solve this problem, a hybrid active damping strategy with feedforward compensation is proposed for the neutral point clamped (NPC) LCL grid-connected inverter system. In order to reshape the output conductance of the grid-connected system, suppress the resonance spikes of the LCL filter and improve the adaptability of the grid-connected system to the weak grid. A first-order low-pass filter is designed in the grid-connected current loop, and an active damping control of grid-connected current based on a first-order high-pass filter is also proposed. Compared with the conventional capacitive current active damping, no additional sensors are required, and the use of a differential is avoided, which reduces the high-frequency noise. The use of passive resistors is reduced, which reduces the power loss of the grid-connected system. In addition, a point of common coupling (PCC) voltage feedforward strategy based on a low-pass filter is designed to suppress the background higher harmonics at PCC and improve the quality of grid-connected current. In this work, the robustness of the system is analyzed when the parameters of the LCL filter change. Finally, the virtual space vector modulation strategy is used to balance the neutral voltage of the DC bus. Simulation and experimental results show that the control strategy can effectively improve the adaptability of the system to the weak power grid, improve the quality of grid-connected current, and demonstrate strong stability. The THD can be decreased by 0.2% at least, and the improvements are more significant with larger line impedance; the THD is only 2.33% even at 10 mH line impedance.

Design of 3-Level T-type NPC Inverter for EV Applications

In recent years, there has been a significant demand for lightweight converters that provide exceptional control performance while generating minimal acoustic noise. This has resulted in higher switching signals for hard- switched 2-level low voltage 3-phase inverters. However, the increased switching frequencies have a negative impact on the inverters’ efficiency, requiring the use of expensive switch technology to maintain high efficiency. This paper aims to tackle these challenges by introducing the design and implementation of a extremely effective 3-Level T-Type Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter designed for Electric Vehicle (EV) applications. 3-Level T-Type NPC inverter associates the strengths of both NPC and T-Type inverters. Similar towards the NPC, it offers a lower breakdown voltage for the switching devices, thereby reducing switching losses. Additionally, it shares the characteristics of the T-Type inverter, resulting in fewer conduction losses. To validate the feasibility of the converter, simulation is performed using MATLAB software, followed by the development and testing of a lab-scale prototype. The proposed three-level T-type NPC inverter have several merits over traditional 2-level inverters, including reduced distortion, switching losses, and improved efficiency. These benefits contribute to enhanced motor drive performance, reduced electromagnetic interference (EMI), and extended battery life in EVs.