Multilevel Middle Point Clamped (MMPC) Converter for DC Wind Power Applications

Awais Karni (), Omid Beik, Mahzad Gholamian, Mahdi Homaeinezhad and Muhammad Owais Manzoor
Additional contact information
Awais Karni: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102, USA
Omid Beik: Department of Electrical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Mahzad Gholamian: Department of Electrical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Mahdi Homaeinezhad: Department of Electrical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Muhammad Owais Manzoor: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: This manuscript introduces a novel multilevel middle point clamped (MMPC) DC-DC converter and its associated switching scheme aimed at maintaining the desired medium-voltage DC (MVDC) collector grid within offshore all-DC wind farms. Building upon previous work by the authors, which proposed an all-DC structure serving as a benchmark system, this study explores the application of the MMPC DC-DC converter within this framework. Within the all-DC wind generation system, a 9-phase hybrid generator (HG) integrated into the wind turbine is linked to the MVDC collector grid through an AC-DC stage, which is a passive rectifier. This passive rectifier offers elevated voltage ratings and protection against back power flow. The conventional neutral point clamped (NPC) converter concept has been thoroughly investigated and expanded upon to develop the proposed MMPC DC-DC converter. The proposed MMPC DC-DC converter integrates boosting capabilities, facilitating the connection of the generator’s rectified voltage to the MVDC collector grid while regulating variable rectified voltage to a fixed MVDC collector grid voltage. The MVDC collector grid is further interconnected with high-voltage DC (HVDC) through a DC-DC converter situated in an offshore substation. This paper further provides a comprehensive overview of the proposed MMPC DC-DC converter, detailing its operational modes and corresponding switching schemes. Through an in-depth examination of operational modes, duty cycles for each switch and mode are defined, subsequently establishing the relationship between rectified input voltage and MVDC output voltage for the MMPC DC-DC converter. Utilizing the middle point clamped architecture, this innovative converter offers several advantages, including low ripple voltage, a modular structure, and reduced switching stress because of the multilevel voltage and the incorporation of a hard point, which also facilitates the capacitor voltage balancing. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed converter is evaluated via simulation studies of a wind turbine conversion system utilizing two cascaded MMPC DC-DC converters operating under variable input voltage conditions. The simulations confirm its efficacy, supported by promising results, and validating its performance.

Keywords: all-DC wind generation system; DC-DC converter; MVDC; multilevel converter; wind power; wind turbine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/17/7563/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/17/7563/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:17:p:7563-:d:1468843

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().