Analysis of Asymmetric Hybrid Modular Multilevel Topology for Medium-Voltage Front-End Converter Applications

Muhammad Ali (), Ajmal Farooq, Muhammad Qasim Khan, Muhammad Mansoor Khan and Lucian Mihet-Popa ()
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Muhammad Ali: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Mardan 23200, Pakistan
Ajmal Farooq: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Mardan 23200, Pakistan
Muhammad Qasim Khan: Department of Electrical Engineering, SEIEE, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Muhammad Mansoor Khan: Department of Electrical Engineering, SEIEE, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Lucian Mihet-Popa: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Ostfold University College, 1757 Halden, Norway

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-22

Abstract: Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) have been conceived as an alternative in front-end converter applications to enhance the converter system’s reliability, minimize total harmonic distortion, and improve power quality. These converters utilize several DC-link capacitors and power electronic switches, along with switches operating with high switching frequencies, to attain the desired characteristics. Thereby, this paper systematically proposes a novel three-phase asymmetric hybrid modular multilevel converter (AHMMC) for front-end converters used in lower-medium-voltage applications. The AHMMC configuration is based on a three-phase converter connected to a per-phase series arrangement with a cascaded converter module (CCM). The study investigates the AHMMC and proposes a control scheme, which minimizes the voltage range on switches and maintains the current to its reference value. Furthermore, the study also introduces an active balancing of voltage across DC-link capacitors based on the phase opposition disposition PWM (POD-PWM) method. Our new configuration has features such as low switching loss, reduced DC-link voltage, a wider modulation range for the unity power factor (PF), and low voltage and current harmonic distortion. The simulation results are added to verify the performance of the new AHMMC topology and the usefulness of the modular control scheme. In addition, a low-voltage laboratory prototype based on customized control and power boards is built to validate the proposed converter and its control scheme in practice.

Keywords: asymmetric hybrid converter; front-end converter; hybrid modulation; modular multilevel converter; MMC; power-factor correction; PFC; series-active filter; space-vector pulse-width modulation; SV-PWM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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