Arm-Balancing Control and Experimental Validation of a Grid-Connected MMC With Pulsed DC Load

Jankovic, Marija; Costabeber, Alessando; Watson, Alan James; Clare, Jon C.

Abstract

This paper focuses on the operation of a grid connected Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) supplying a pulsed DC load. The goal is to achieve minimum AC power fluctuation despite the high power fluctuation present on the DC side. The MMC has been selected for its inherent ability to decouple AC and DC current controllers. How¬ever, if no additional provisions are taken, the pulsed load causes imbalance of cell capacitor voltages between upper and lower arm in each phase. The paper presents the the-oretical analysis of the imbalance problem, and proposes a simple arm balancing controller to enable the operation of the converter under pulsed DC load. The effectiveness of the controller has been successfully verified on a 7 kW MMC experimental prototype with a 3 kA pulsed DC load.

Citation

Jankovic, M., Costabeber, A., Watson, A. J., & Clare, J. C. (2017). Arm-Balancing Control and Experimental Validation of a Grid-Connected MMC With Pulsed DC Load. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 64(12), 9180-9190. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2017.2711516

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 8, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 2, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017-12
• Deposit Date: Jun 7, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 7, 2017
• Journal: IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
• Print ISSN: 0278-0046
• Electronic ISSN: 1557-9948
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 64
• Issue: 12
• Pages: 9180-9190
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2017.2711516
• Keywords: Arm balancing control, Grid-connected converter, Modular Multilevel Converter, Pulsed power
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/859703
• Publisher URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7938353/
• Additional Information: 2017 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.