In high-power electric drives, multilevel inverters are generally deployed to address issues such as electromagnetic interference, switch voltage stress and harmonic distortion. The switching frequency of the inverter is always kept low, of the order of 1KHz or even less to reduce switching losses and synchronous pulse width modulation (PWM) is used to avoid the problem of sub-harmonics and beat frequencies. This is particularly important if the switching frequency is very low. The synchronous PWM is getting popularity as its realization is very easy with digital controllers compared to analog controllers. Neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverters, cascaded H-bridge, and flying-capacitor multilevel inverters are some of the popular schemes used for high-power applications. Hybrids of these multilevel inverters have also been proposed recently to take advantage of the basic configurations. Multilevel inverters can also be realized by feeding the induction motor from both ends (open-end winding) using conventional inverter structures. For controlling the output voltage of these inverters, various PWM techniques are used. Chapter-1 of this thesis provides an over view of the various multilevel inverter schemes preceded by a discussion on basic two-level VSI topology. The inverters used in motor drive applications have to be operated in over-modulation range in order to extract the maximum fundamental output voltage that is possible from the dc-link. Operation in this high modulation range is required to meet temporary overloads or to have maximum power operation in the high speed range (flux weakened region). This, however, introduces a substantial amount of low order harmonics in the Motor phase voltages. Due to these low-order harmonic frequencies, the dynamic performance of the drive is lost and the current control schemes are severely affected especially due to 5th and 7th harmonic components. Further, due to these low-order harmonics and non-linear PWM operation in over-modulation region, frequent over-current fault conditions occur and reliability of the drive is jeopardized. The twelve sided-polygonal space vector diagram (dodecagonal space vectors) can be used to overcome the problem of low order 5th and 7th harmonics and to give more range for linear modulation while keeping the switching frequency at a minimum compared to conventional hexagonal space vector based inverters. Thus, the dodecagonal space-vector switching can be viewed as an engineering compromise between low switching frequency and quality load current waveform. Most of the previous works of dodecagonal space-vector generation schemes are based on NPC inverters. However, sophisticated charge control schemes are required in NPC inverters to deal with the neutral-point voltage fluctuation and the neutral-point voltage shifting issues. The losses in the clamping diodes are another major concern. In the second chapter, a multilevel dodecagonal space-vector generation scheme based on flying capacitor topology, utilizing an open end winding induction motor is presented. The neutral point charge-balancing problem reported in the previous works is not present in this scheme, the clamping diodes are eliminated and the number of power supplies required has been reduced. The capacitors have inherent charge balancing capability, and the charge control is done once in every switching cycle, which gives tight voltage control for the capacitors. For the speed control of induction motors, the space-vector PWM scheme is more advantageous than the sine-triangle PWM as it gives a more linear range of operation and improved harmonic performance. One major disadvantage with the conventional space-vector PWM is that the trigonometric operations demand formidable computational efforts and look-up tables. Carrier based, common-mode injected PWM schemes have been proposed to simplify the PWM process. However, the freedom of selecting the PWM switching sequences is limited here. Another way of obtaining SVPWM is using the reference voltage samples and the nearest vector information to switch appropriate devices for proper time intervals, realizing the reference vector in an average sense. In-formation regarding the sector and nearest vectors can be easily obtained by comparing the instantaneous amplitudes of the reference voltages. This PWM approach is pro-posed for the speed control of the motor in this thesis. The trigonometric operations and the requirement of large look-up tables in the conventional SVPWM are avoided in this method. It has the additional advantage that the switching sequences can be decided at will, which is helpful in reducing further, the harmonic distortion in certain frequency ranges. In this way, this method tries to combine the advantages of vector based methods (conventional SVPWM) and scalar methods (carrier-based methods). The open-end winding schemes allowed the required phase voltage levels to be generated quite easily by feeding from both ends of the windings. Thus, most of the multilevel inverters based on dodecagonal space-vector structures relied on induction motors with open-end windings. The main disadvantage of open-end winding induction motor is that six wires are to be run from the inverter to the motor, which may be unacceptable in certain applications. Apart from the inconvenience of laying six wires, the voltage reflections in the wires can lead to over voltages at the motor terminals, causing insulation failures. Where as the topology presented in chapter-2 of this thesis uses open-end winding motor with flying-capacitor inverters for the generation of dodecagonal space-vectors, the topology presented in chapter-3 utilizes a cascade connection of flying-capacitors and floating H-bridge cells to generate the same set of voltage space-vectors, thus allowing any standard induction motor as the load. Of the methods used for the speed control of induction motors, namely sine-triangle PWM and space vector PWM, the latter that provides extra modulation range is naturally preferred. It is a well-understood fact that the way in which the PWM switching sequences are applied has a significant influence on the harmonic performance of the drive. However, this topic has not been addressed properly for dodecagonal voltage space-vector based multilevel inverter drives. In chapter-4 of the thesis, this aspect is taken into ac-count and the notion of “harmonic flux trajectories” and “stator flux ripple” are used to analyze the harmonic performance of the various PWM switching schemes. Although the PWM method used in this study is similar to that in chapter-2, the modification in the PWM switching sequence in the PWM algorithm yields significant improvements in harmonic performance. The proposed topologies and PWM schemes are extensively simulated and experimentally verified. The control scheme was implemented using a DSP processor running at a clock frequency 150MHz and a four-pole, 3.7kW, 50Hz, 415V three-phase induction motor was used as the load. Since the PWM ports are limited in a DSP, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) was used to decode the PWM signals from the DSP to generate timing information required for PWM sequencing for all the power devices. The same FPGA was used to generate the dead-time signals for the power devices also.

Use of multilevel inverters are inevitable in medium and high voltage drives. This is due to the fact that the multilevel inverters can produce voltages in smaller steps which will reduce the harmonic content and result in more sinusoidal voltages and currents as compared to voltages and currents from two-level inverters. Due to the device limitations, use of two-level inverters is not possible in medium and high voltage drive applications. Though multiple devices can be connected both in series and parallel to achieve two-level operation, the output voltages still suffer from high harmonic content. Multilevel inverters have multiple DC voltage levels with switches that enable one of the voltage steps to be applied to the load. Due to decrease in step size during each switching instant, output voltages and currents of the multilevel inverters have considerably less harmonic content. As the number of levels increase, the switching step reduces thereby the harmonic content also reduces drastically. Due to their advantages, multilevel inverters have gained lot of acceptance in the industry even at lower voltages. The three main configurations that have gained popularity are the neutral point clamped converter, the flying capacitor converter and the cascaded H-bridge converter. Each converter has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Based on the requirements of various applications, it is possible to fabricate hybrid multilevel topologies that are combinations of the three basic topologies. Researchers around the world have proposed several such converters for diverse applications so as to suit particular requirements like modularity, ease of control, improved reliability, fault tolerant capability etc. The present thesis explores multilevel converters with single DC link to be used for motor drive and grid connected applications. A novel five-level inverter topology formed by cascading a floating capacitor H-bridge module to a regular three-level flying capacitor inverter has been explored in chapter 2. The three-level flying capacitor inverter can generate pole voltages of 0, VDC /2 and VDC . By cascading it with another floating capacitor H-bridge of voltage magnitude VDC /4, pole voltages of 0, VDC /4, VDC/2, 3VDC /4 and VDC . Each of these pole voltage levels can have one or more switching combinations. However each switching combination has a unique effect on the state of the two capacitor voltages. By switching through redundant switching combinations for the same pole voltage, the two capacitors present in each phase can be balanced. The proposed topology also has an advantage that if one of the devices in the H-bridge fails, the topology can still be operated as a regular three-level flying capacitor inverter that can supply full load at rated power by bypassing the faulty H-bridge. This fault tolerant operation of the converter will enable it to be used in applications like traction and marine drives where high reliability is needed. The proposed converter needs a single DC link. All the required voltage levels can be generated from the single DC link. This enables back to back grid connected operation possible where multiple converters can interact with a single DC link. Various pole voltage switching combination and its effect on individual capacitor has been studied. A control algorithm to balance the capacitor voltages by switching through multiple redundancies for the same pole voltage has been developed. The proposed configuration has been implemented in hardware using IGBT H-bridge modules and the control circuitry is realized using DSP and FPGA. The performance of the drive is verified for various frequencies and modulation indices during steady state by running a three phase induction motor at no load. The stability of the drive during transients has been studied by accelerating the machine suddenly at no load and analyzing the performance of the drive. The capacitor voltages are made to deviate from their intended values and the capacitor balancing algorithm has been verified for its ability to bring the capacitor voltages back to their intended values. The experimental results have been presented and discussed in detail in the chapter 2. In the third chapter a common-mode voltage eliminated three-level inverter using a single DC link has been proposed. The power schematic is similar to the one presented in chapter 2. In this chapter the space vector polygon formed by the three phases of the proposed topology has been presented. The common-mode voltage generated by different pole voltage combinations for same space vector location and the redundant switching state combinations has been studied. The pole voltage combinations with zero common mode voltage have been studied. The switching state redundancies for the the pole voltage have been studied. The space vector polygon formed with the pole voltage combinations has been analyzed. A drive is made with the proposed common-mode voltage eliminated inverter. The performance of the drive is tested for various modulation indices and frequencies by running a three phase squirrel cage induction motor at no load. The transient performance is verified by accelerating the motor suddenly and checking the common-mode voltage along with the capacitor voltages. The results have been presented and discussed in detail in chapter 3. This converter has advantages like use of single DC supply, ability to operate as a regular three level converter in case of failure of one of the H-bridges. The work presented in fourth chapter proposes a novel three phase 17-level inverter configuration which utilizes a single DC supply. The rest of voltages are generated using three floating capacitor H-bridges. The redundant switching combinations for generating various pole voltages and their effect on the capacitors have been studied and suitable capacitor balancing algorithm has been developed. The proposed topology has been realized in hardware and the performance of the drive during steady state has been studied by running an induction motor at various modulation indices and frequencies. The transient response of the drive has been observed by accelerating the motor suddenly under no load. The results have been presented in detail in chapter four. This configuration also needs a single DC link. The advantages of this configuration is in case of failure of any devices in the H-bridge, the drive can be operated at reduced number of levels while supplying full load current. This feature helps the drive to be used in fault tolerant applications like marine and traction drives where reliability of the drive is of prime importance. All the topologies that have been presented in the previous chapters have mentioned about the usage of the proposed genre of topologies use single DC link and hence will enable back to back grid tied inverter connection. In the fifth chapter this has has been verified experimentally. The three phase squirrel cage induction motor is driven by using the seventeen-level inverter drive proposed in chapter four. A five-level active front-end is realized by the converter topology proposed in chapter two. The converter is run and the performance of the drive is studied at various modulation indices and speeds of the motor. Various aspects like re-generation operation, acceleration and other aspects of the drive have been studied experimentally and the results are presented in detail. For experimental setup, Semikron SKM75GB12T4 IGBT modules have been used to realize the power topology. These IGBTs are driven by M56972L drivers. The control circuit is realized using TMS320F2812 DSP along with Xilinx Spartan 3 FPGA (XC3S200) has been used. The voltages and currents are sensed using LEM LV-20P and LA 55-P hall effect based sensors.