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This thesis focuses on the design of an electrical drive system for the purpose of high precision motion control. A modern electrical drive is usually equipped with a current regulated voltage source along with powerful motion controller system utilizing one or more micro-controllers and/or digital signal processors (DSPs). That is, the motor drive control is mostly performed by a dedicated digital-motion controller system. Such a motor drive mostly interfaces with its host processor via various serial communication protocols such as Profibus, CAN+, RS-485 etc. for the purpose of receiving commands and sending out important status/control signals. Considering that the motor drives lie at the heart of every (multi-axis) motion control system, the aim of this thesis is to explore the design and implementation of a conventional DC motor drive system suitable for most industrial applications that require precision and accuracy. To achieve this goal, various underlying control concepts and important implementation details are rigorously investigated in this study. A low power DC motor drive system with a power module, a current regulator and a motion controller is built and tested. Several design revisions on these subsystems are made so as to improve the overall performance of the drive system itself. Consequently, important &ldquo / know-how&rdquo / required for building high performance (and high power) DC motor drives is gained in this research.

A split-phase induction motor (SPIM) is obtained by splitting each of the three-phase stator windings of an induction motor into two equal halves. This results in two sets of three-phase windings with a spatial angle difference of 30◦ (electrical) between them. The two sets of windings are fed from two different voltage-source inverters for speed control of the split-phase motor drive. Low dc bus voltage requirement and improved torque profile are some of the advantages of the split-phase motor, compared to the normal three-phase induction motor. A pulse width modulation (PWM) technique is used to produce the gating signals for the power semiconductor devices in the two inverters. The PWM technique can either be a carrier comparison (CC) based method or a space-vector (SV) based scheme. The carrier based PWM methods employ six modulating waves, which are compared against a common triangular carrier to generate the gating pulses. In space-vector based PWM schemes, the voltage reference is specified in terms of a rotating reference vector. In each subcycle, a set of voltage vectors are applied for appropriate durations of time to produce an average vector equal to the reference vector. Unlike three-phase induction motor drives, where the voltage vectors are two dimensional, the voltage vectors in the case of SPIM drive are four dimensional. This thesis presents a detailed survey on carrier-comparison based and space-vector based PWM techniques for the SPIM drive. In this thesis, sine-triangle PWM (STPWM) is analyzed from a space-vector perspective. The set of voltage vectors applied and the sequence of application of the voltage vectors in each half-carrier cycle are studied. The analysis shows that the set of voltage vectors and the switching sequence employed by STPWM are different from those used by the well known SVPWM tech-niques. Two other CC based PWM techniques, based on common mode injection, are considered for the SPIM drive. In one method, the common-mode signal is derived from all the six modulating signals, and is the same for both the inverters. In the second method, the common-mode signal is different for the two inverters; each common-mode signal is derived from the three-phase sinusoidal signals of the respective inverter. The study shows that the latter method has the highest dc bus utilization and results in the lowest total harmonic distortion (THD) among the CC PWM techniques. An experimental comparison of the three carrier-comparison techniques with three well known space-vector PWM techniques is presented. Total harmonic distortion (THD) of the line current is measured at different modulation indices for all six techniques. The experimental results are obtained from a 6kW, 200V, 50Hz split-phase induction motor drive, with constant V /F ratio. The PWM techniques are implemented using an ALTERA cyclone II field programmable gate array (FPGA) digital controller. One of the SV techniques, termed here as 4-dimensional 24-sector (4D24SEC) PWM is found to be the best in terms of line current THD among all the CC and SV based PWM techniques considered. However, compared to any carrier-based technique, implementation of the 4D24SEC PWM based on the space vector approach is found to be resource intensive. Hence, an equivalent carrier-based implementation of 4D24SEC PWM is proposed in this thesis. The feasibility of the proposed approach is verified experimentally, and is found to be consuming much less logical resources than the space-vector implementation (i.e. 4102 logical elements for the CC approach as against 33,655 logical elements for the SV approach). A new space-vector PWM technique is also proposed in the thesis. This technique utilizes a new set of voltage vectors and a new switching sequence, which are motivated by the analyses of the carrier-based methods, presented earlier. The proposed technique is implemented, and is compared with other space-vector and carrier-based methods at different modulation indices and switching frequencies. The proposed PWM technique is found to have the same dc-bus utilization as the existing 4-dimensional SV based PWM techniques. The performance of the proposed method is found to be not better than existing 4-dimensional SV PWM methods. The possibilities for new switching sequence is being explored here.

Current-Controlled Pulse Width Modulated (CC-PWM) Voltage Source Inverters (VSIs) are extensively employed in high performance drives (HPD) because of the considerable advantages offered by them, such as, excellent dynamic response and inherent over-current protection, as compared to the voltage-controlled PWM (VC-PWM) VSIs. Amongst the different types of CC-PWM techniques, hysteresis current controllers offer significant simplicity in implementation. However, conventional type of hysteresis controllers (with independent comparators) suffers from some well-known drawbacks, such as, limit cycle oscillations (especially at lower speeds of operation of machine), overshoot in current error, generation of sub-harmonic components in the current, and random (non-optimum) switching of inverter voltage vectors. Common problems associated with the conventional, as well as current error space phasor based hysteresis controllers with fixed bands (boundary), are the wide variation of switching frequency in the fundamental output cycle and variation of switching frequency with the change in speed of the load motor. These problems cause increased switching losses in the inverter, non-optimum current ripple, excess harmonics in the load current and subsequent additional machine heating. A continuously varying parabolic boundary for the current error space phasor is proposed previously to get the switching frequency variation pattern of the output voltage of the hysteresis controller based PWM inverter similar to that of voltage controlled space vector PWM (VC SVPWM) based VSI. But the major problem associated with this technique is the requirement of two outer parabolas outside the current error space phasor boundary for the identification of sector change which gives rise to some switching frequency variations in one fundamental cycle and over the entire operating speed range. It also introduces 5th and 7th harmonic components in the voltage causing 5th and 7th harmonic currents in the induction motor. These harmonic currents causes 6th harmonic torque pulsations in the machine. This thesis proposes a new technique which replaces the outer parabolas and uses current errors along orthogonal axes for detecting the sector change, so that a fast and accurate detection of sector change is possible. This makes the voltage harmonic spectrum of the proposed hysteresis controller based inverter exactly matching with that of a constant switching frequency SVPWM based inverter. This technique uses the property that the current error along one of the orthogonal axis changes its direction during sector change. So the current error never goes outside the parabolic boundary as in the case of outer parabolas based sector change technique. So the proposed new technique for sector change eliminates the 5th and 7th harmonic components from the applied voltage and thus eliminates the 5th and 7th harmonic currents in the motor. So there will be no introduction of 6th harmonic torque pulsations in the motor. Using the proposed scheme for sector change and parabolic boundary for current error space phasor, simulation study was carried out using Matlab-Simulink. Simulation study showed that the switching frequency variations in a fundamental cycle and over the entire speed range of the machine upto six step mode operation is similar to that of a VC-SVPWM based VSI. The proposed hysteresis controller is experimentally verified on a 3.7 kW IM drive fed with a two-level VSI using vector control. The proposed current error space phasor based hysteresis controller providing constant switching frequency is completely implemented on the TI TMS320LF2812 DSP controller platform. The three-phase reference currents are generated depending on the frequency command and the controller is tested with drive for the entire operating speed range of the machine in forward and reverse directions. Steady state and transient results of the proposed drive are presented in this thesis. This thesis also proposes a new hysteresis controller which eliminates parabolic boundary and replaces it with a simple online computation of the boundary. In this proposed new hysteresis controller the boundary computed in the present sampling interval is used for identifying next vector to be switched. This thesis gives a detailed mathematical explanation of how the boundary is computed and how it is used for selecting vector to be switched in a sector. It also explains how the sector in which stator voltage vector is present is determined. The most important part of this proposed hysteresis controller is the estimation of stator voltages along alpha and beta axes during active and zero vector periods. Estimation of stator voltages are carried out using current errors along alpha and beta axes and steady state equivalent circuit of induction motor. Using this estimated stator voltages along alpha and beta axes, instantaneous phase voltages are computed and used for finding individual voltage vector switching times. These switching times are used for the computation of hysteresis boundary for individual vectors. So the hysteresis boundary for individual vectors are exactly calculated and used for vector change detection, making phase voltage harmonic spectrum exactly similar to that of constant switching frequency VC SVPWM inverter. Sector change detection is very simple, since we have the estimated stator voltages along alpha and beta axes to give exact position of stator voltage vector. Simulation study to verify the steady state as well as transient performance of the proposed controller based VSI fed IM drive is carried out using Simulink tool box of Matlab Simulation Software. The proposed hysteresis controller is experimentally verified on a 3.7 kW IM drive fed with a two-level VSI using vector control. The proposed current error space phasor based hysteresis controller providing constant switching frequency profile for phase voltage is implemented on the TI TMS320LF2812 DSP controller platform. The three-phase reference currents are generated depending on the frequency command and the proposed hysteresis controller is tested with drive for the entire operating speed range of the machine in forward and reverse directions. Steady state and transient results of the proposed drive are presented for different operating conditions.

Multilevel voltage source inverters have been receiving more and more attention from the industry and academia as a choice for high voltage and high power applications. The high voltage multilevel inverters can be constructed with existing low voltage semiconductor switches, which already have a mature technology for handling low voltages, thus improving the reliability of the overall inverter system. These multilevel inverters generate the output voltage in the form of multi-stepped waveform with smaller amplitude. This will result in less dv/dt at the motor inputs and electromagnetic interference (EMI) caused by switching is considerably less. Because of the multi-stepped waveform, the instantaneous error in the output voltage will be always less compared to the conventional two-level inverter output voltage. It will reduce the unwanted harmonic content in the output voltage, which will enable to switch the inverter at lower frequencies. Many interesting multi level inverter topologies are proposed by various research groups across the world from industry and academic institutions. But apart from the conventional 3-level NPC and H-bridge topology, others are not yet highly preferred for general high power drives applications. In this respect, two different five-level inverter topologies and one three-level inverter topology for high power induction motor drive applications are proposed in this work. Existing knowledge from published literature shows that, the three-level voltage space vector diagram can be generated for an open-end winding induction motor by feeding the motor phase windings with two two-level inverters from both sides. In such a configuration, each inverter is capable of assuming 8 switching states independent of the other. Therefore a total of 64 switching combinations are possible, whereas the conventional NPC inverter have 27 possible switching combinations. The main drawback for this configuration is that, it requires a harmonic filter or isolated voltage source to suppress the common mode currents through the motor phase winding. In general, the harmonic filters are not desirable because, it is expensive and bulky in nature. Some topologies have been presented, in the past, to suppress the common mode voltage on the motor phase windings when the both inverters are fed with a single voltage source. But these schemes under utilize the dc-link voltage or use the extra power circuit. The scheme presented in chapter-3 eliminates the requirement of harmonic filter or isolated voltage source to block the common mode current in the motor phase windings. Both the two-level inverters, in this scheme, are fed with the same voltage source with a magnitude of Vdc/2 where Vdc is the voltage magnitude requires for the NPC three-level inverter. In this scheme, the identical voltage profile winding coils (pole pair winding coils), in the four pole induction motor, are disconnected electrically and reconnected in two star groups. The isolated neutrals, provided by the two star groups, will not allow the triplen currents to flow in the motor phase windings. To apply identical fundamental voltage on disconnected pole pair winding, decoupled space vector PWM is used. This PWM technique eliminates the first center band harmonics thereby it will allow the inverters to operate at lower switching frequency. This scheme doesn’t require any additional power circuit to block the triplen currents and also it will not underutilize the dc-bus voltage. A five-level inverter topology for four pole induction motor is presented in chapter-3. In this topology, the disconnected pole pair winding coils are effectively utilized to generate a five-level voltage space vector diagram for a four pole induction motor. The disconnected pole pair winding coils are fed from both sides with conventional two-level inverters. Thereby the problems like capacitor voltage balancing issues are completely eliminated. Three isolated voltage sources, with a voltage magnitude of Vdc/4, are used to block the triplen current in the motor phase windings. This scheme is also capable of generating 61 space vector locations similar to conventional NPC five-level inverter. However, this scheme has 1000 switching combinations to realize 61 space vector locations whereas the NPC five-level inverter has 125 switching combinations. In case of any switch failure, using the switching state redundancy, the proposed topology can be operated as a three-level inverter in lower modulation index. But this topology requires six additional bi-directional switches with a maximum voltage blocking capacity of Vdc/8. However, it doesn’t require any complicated control algorithm to generate the gating pulses for bidirectional switches. The above presented two schemes don’t require any special design modification for the induction machine. Although the schemes are presented for four pole induction motor, this technique can be easily extend to the induction motor with more than four poles and thereby the number of voltage levels on the phase winding can be further increased. An alternate five-level inverter topology for an open-end winding induction motor is presented in chapter-4. This topology doesn’t require to disconnect the pole pair winding coils like in the previous propositions. The open-end winding induction motor is fed from one end with a two-level inverter in series with a capacitor fed H-bridge cell, while the other end is connected to a conventional two-level inverter to get a five voltage levels on the motor phase windings. This scheme is also capable of generating a voltage space vector diagram identical to that of a conventional five-level inverter. A total of 2744 switching combinations are possible to generate the 61 space vector locations. With such huge number switching state redundancies, it is possible to balance the H-bridge capacitor voltage for full modulation range. In addition to that, the proposed topology eliminates eighteen clamping diode having different voltage ratings compared to the NPC inverter. The proposed topology can be operated as a three-level inverter for full modulation range, in case of any switch failure in the capacitor fed H-bridge cell. All the proposed topologies are experimentally verified on a 5 h.p. four pole induction motor using V/f control. The PWM signals for the inverters are generated using the TMS320F2812 and GAL22V10B/SPARTAN XC3S200 FPGA platforms. Though the proposed inverter topologies are suggested for high-voltage and high-power industrial IM drive applications, due to laboratory constraints the experimental results are taken on the 5h.p prototypes. But all the proposed schemes are general in nature and can be easily implemented for high-voltage high-power drive applications with appropriate device ratings.

Variable-speed Induction motor drives are nowadays used for various kinds of industrial processes, transportation systems, wind turbines and household appliances in the world. The majority of drives are for general purpose speed control applications where accurate speed control is not required for entire speed range. But for high dynamic drive application, very precise and fast control of induction motor drive is essential. For such applications, sophisticated and well-performing control design is a key issue. Precise and accurate torque control of the Induction Motor (IM) can only be accomplished by vector control and direct torque control. In terms of space vector theory, vector control implies that the instantaneous torque is controlled by way of the stator current vector that is orthogonal to the rotor flux vector. Precise knowledge of the rotor flux angle is therefore essential for a vector controlled IM. IMs do not allow the flux position to be easily measured, so most modern vector controlled IM drives rely on flux estimation. This means that the flux angle is derived from a flux estimator, using the dynamic model of the IM. Given that the rotor speed of the IM is measured by a mechanical shaft sensor. Flux estimation is a fairly easy task. However, vector control of IM without mechanical shaft speed sensor is of current interest in industrial environment. The driving motivations behind the development in sensorless control are lower cost, improved reliability and operating environment. In this thesis, a sensorless vector control scheme for rotor flux estimation using current error space phasor based hysteresis controller is proposed including the method for estimation of leakage inductance, Ls. For frequencies of operation less than 25 Hz, the rotor voltage and hence the rotor flux position is computed during the inverter zero voltage space vector using steady state model of IM. For above 25 Hz, active vector period and steady state model of IM is used. The whole rotor flux estimation scheme is dependent on current error space phasor and the steady state motor model, with rotor flux as a reference vector. Since no terminal voltage sensing is involved, dead time effects will not create problem in rotor flux sensing at low frequencies of operation. But appropriate device on-state drop are compensated at low frequencies (below 5 Hz) of operation to achieve a steady state operation up to less than 1 Hz. A constant switching frequency hysteresis current controller is used in inner current control loop for the PWM regulation, with smooth transition of operation to six-step mode operation. A simple Ls estimation based on current error space phasor is also proposed to nullify the deteriorating effect on rotor flux estimation. The parameter sensitivity of the control scheme to changes in the stator resistance Rs is also investigated. The drive scheme is tested up to a low frequency operation less than 1 Hz. The extensive simulation and experiment results are presented to show the proposed scheme’s good dynamic performance extending up to six-step operation. In contrast to vector control, direct torque control (DTC) method requires the knowledge of stator resistance only and thereby decreasing the associated sensitivity to parameters variation and the elimination of speed information. DTC as compared to vector control does not require co-ordinate transformation and PI controller. DTC is easy to implement because it needs only two hysteresis comparators and a lookup table for both flux and torque control. This thesis also investigates the possibilities in improvement of direct torque control scheme for high performance induction motor drive applications. Here, two schemes are proposed based on the direct torque control scheme for IM drive using 12-sided polygonal voltage space vectors for fast torque control. The torque control scheme based on DTC algorithm is proposed using 12-sided polygonal voltage space vector. The basic DTC scheme is used to control the torque. But the IM drive is open-end type. For torque control, the voltage space vectors orthogonal to stator flux vector in 12-sided polygonal space vector structure are used as hexagonal space vector based DTC scheme. The advantages achieved due to 12-sided polygonal space vector are mainly fast torque control and small torque ripple. The fast transient of torque with precise control is achieved using voltage space vector placed with a resolution of ±15. The torque ripple will be less as 6n±1 (n=odd) harmonic torque is totally eliminated from the whole range of PWM modulation. The comparative analysis of proposed 12-sided polygonal voltage space vector based DTC and conventional hexagonal space vector based DTC is also presented. Extensive simulation and experiment results are also presented to show the fast torque control at speeds of operation ranging from 5 Hz to the rated speed. The concept of 12-sided polygonal space vector based DTC is further extended for a variable speed control scheme using estimated fundamental stator voltage for sector identification. The conventional DTC scheme uses stator flux vector for identification of the sector and the switching vector are selected based on this sector information to control stator flux and torque. However, the proposed DTC scheme selects switching vectors based on the sector information of the estimated fundamental stator voltage vector and its relative position with respect to the stator flux vector. The fundamental stator voltage estimation is based on the steady state model of IM and information of synchronous frequency which is derived from computed stator flux using a low pass filter technique. The proposed DTC scheme utilizes the exact position of fundamental stator voltage vector and stator flux vector position to select optimal switching vector for fast control of torque with small variation of stator flux within hysteresis band. The present DTC scheme allows the full load torque control with fast transient response to very low speeds of operation below 5 Hz. The extensive simulation and experiment results are presented to show the fast torque control for speed of operation from zero speed to rated speed. However, the present scheme will have all the advantages of DTC scheme using stator flux vector for sector identification. All the above propositions are first simulated by MATLAB/Simulink and subsequently verified by an experimental laboratory prototype. The proposed control schemes are experimentally verified on a 3.7 kW IM drive. The control algorithms of the sensorless vector control using current error space phasor as well as DTC using 12-sided polygonal voltage space vector are completely implemented on a TI TMS320LF2812 DSP controller platform. These are some of the constituents for chapters 2, 3 and 4 in this thesis. Additionally, the first chapter also covers a brief survey on some of the recent progresses made in the field of sensorless vector control, direct torque control and current hysteresis controller. The thesis concludes with suggestion for further exploration.

Voltage source inverter (VSI) is used to control the speed of an induction motor by applying AC voltage of variable amplitude and frequency. The semiconductor switches in a VSI are turned on and off in an appropriate fashion to vary the output voltage of the VSI. Various pulse width modulation (PWM) methods are available to generate the gating signals for the switches. The process of PWM ensures proper fundamental voltage, but introduces harmonics at the output of the VSI. Ripple in the developed torque of the induction motor, also known as pulsating torque, is a prominent consequence of the harmonic content. The harmonic voltages, impressed by the VSI on the motor, differ from one PWM method to another. Space-vector-based approach to PWM facilitates a large number of switching patterns or switching sequences to operate the switches in a VSI. The switching sequences can be classified as conventional, bus-clamping and advanced bus-clamping sequences. The conventional sequence switches each phase once in a half-carrier cycle or sub-cycle, as in case of sine-triangle PWM, third harmonic injection PWM and conventional space vector PWM (CSVPWM). The bus-clamping sequences clamp a phase to one of the DC terminals of the VSI in certain regions of the fundamental cycle; these are employed by discontinuous PWM (DPWM) methods. Popular DPWM methods include 30 degree clamp PWM, wherein a phase is clamped during the middle 30 degree duration of each quarter cycle, and 60 degree clamp PWM which clamps a phase in the middle 60 degree duration of each half cycle. Advanced bus-clamping PWM (ABCPWM) involves switching sequences that switch a phase twice in a sub-cycle besides clamping another phase. Unlike CSVPWM and BCPWM, the PWM waveforms corresponding to ABCPWM methods cannot be generated by comparison of three modulating signals against a common carrier. The process of modulation in ABCPWM is analyzed from a per-phase perspective, and a computationally efficient methodology to realize the sequences is derived. This methodology simplifies simulation and digital implementation of ABCPWM techniques. Further, a quick-simulation tool is developed to simulate motor drives, operated with a wide range of PWM methods. This tool is used for validation of various analytical results before experimental investigations. The switching sequences differ in terms of the harmonic voltages applied on the machine. The harmonic currents and, in turn, the torque ripple are different for different switching sequences. Analytical expression for the instantaneous torque ripple is derived for the various switching sequences. These analytical expressions are used to predict the torque ripple, corresponding to different switching sequences, at various operating conditions. These are verified through numerical simulations and experiments. Further, the spectral properties are studied for the torque ripple waveforms, pertaining to conventional space vector PWM (CSVPWM), 30 degree clamp PWM, 60 degree clamp PWM and ABCPWM methods. Based on analytical, simulation and experimental results, the magnitude of the dominant torque harmonic with an ABCPWM method is shown to be significantly lower than that with CSVPWM. Also, this ABCPWM method results in lower RMS torque ripple than the BCPWM methods at any speed and CSVPWM at high speeds of the motor. Design of hybrid PWM methods to reduce the RMS torque ripple is described. A hybrid PWM method to reduce the RMS torque ripple is proposed. The proposed method results in a dominant torque harmonic of magnitude lower than those due to CSVPWM and ABCPWM. The peak-to-peak torque in each sub-cycle is analyzed for different switching sequences. Another hybrid PWM is proposed to reduce the peak-to-peak torque ripple in each sub-cycle. Both the proposed hybrid PWM methods reduce the torque ripple, without increasing the total harmonic distortion (THD) in line current, compared to CSVPWM. CSVPWM divides the zero vector time equally between the two zero states of a VSI. The zero vector time can optimally be divided to minimize the RMS torque ripple in each sub-cycle. It is shown that such an optimal division of zero vector time is the same as addition of third harmonic of magnitude 0.25 times the fundamental magnitude to the three-phase sinusoidal modulating signals. ABCPWM applies an active state twice in a sub-cycle, with the active vector time divided equally. Optimal division of active vector time in ABCPWM to minimize the RMS torque ripple is evaluated, both theoretically and experimentally. Compared to CSVPWM, this optimal PWM is shown to reduce the RMS torque ripple significantly over a wide range of speed. The various PWM schemes are implemented on ALTERA CycloneII field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based digital control platform along with sensorless vector control and torque estimation algorithms. The controller generates the gating signals for a 10kVA IGBT-based two-level VSI connected to a 5hp, 400V, 4-pole, 50Hz squirrel-cage induction motor. The induction motor is coupled to a 230V, 3kW separately-excited DC generator.

Denna avhandling behandlar analys och styrning av den modulära multinivå omvandlaren (M2C). M2C är en lovande omvandlarteknologi för högspända högeffekttillämpningar. Anledningen till detta är låg distorsion i utstorheterna kan uppnås med låg  medelswitchfrekvens per switch och utan utgångsfilter. Med M2C har utspänningen så lågt övertonsinnehåll att drift av högeffektmotorer är möjlig utan reduktion av märkeffekten. Emellertid innebär det stora antalet styrda switchar att styrningen blir mer komplex än för motsvarande tvånivåomvandlare. Styrningen av M2C måste måste konstrueras så att submodulernas kondensatorspänningar balanseras och är stabila oberoende av driftfall. En aktiv mekanism för val av submoduler, som är integrerad i modulatorn, har visat sig vara effektiv för att ombesörja den interna balanseringen av omvandlararmarna. Utöver balanseringen av de individuella kondensatorerna krävs en strategi för styrning av den totalt upplagrade energin i omvandlaren. Med utgångspunkt i en analytisk beskrivning av omvandlaren föreslås styrlagar för både öppen styrning och sluten reglering, vilka genom både simuleringar och med hjälp av experiment har visat sig vara stabila i hela arbetsområdet. Den potentiella växelverkan mellan den inre omvandlarstyrningen och en yttre strömreglering undersöks också. Både simuleringar och experiment bekräftar att eventuell interaktion inte innebär några avsevärda problem vare sig för omvandlaren eller motorn. En  hårdvaruimplementering av en nedskalad trefasig 10kVA-omvandlare har genomförts för att verifiera modellering och styrning. Implementeringen av styrningen beskrivs i detalj. Styrningen är anmärkningsvärt snabb och kan utökas till godtyckligt antal nivåer. Den kan därför användas för en fullskaleimplementering i MW-klassen. / This thesis deals with the analysis and control of the modular multilevel converter (M2C). The M2C is a promising converter technology for various high-voltage high-power applications. The reason to this is that low-distortion output quantities can be achieved with low average switching frequencies per switch and without output filters. With the M2C the output voltage has such a low harmonic content that high-power motors can be operated without any derating. However, the apparent large number of devices, requires more complex converter control techniques than a two-level counterpart. The internal control of an M2C must be designed so that the submodule capacitor voltages are equalized and stable independent of the loading conditions. An active submodule selection mechanism, included in the modulator, has been shown able to provide voltage sharing inside the converter arm. Apart from the individual capacitor voltage sharing, a strategy has to be designed to ensure that the total amount of energy stored inside the converter will always be controlled. Based on an analytical description of the converter, both feedback and open-loop control methods are suggested, simulated and experimentally evaluated, which will ensure stable operation in the whole operation range. The potential interaction of the internal controllers with an external motor current controller is also investigated. Both simulation and experimental results show that any interaction will not result in any problems neither for the converter nor for the motor control itself. A hardware implementation of a down-scaled 10 kVA three-phase laboratory prototype converter is performed, in order to evaluate the modeling and the controllers developed. The controller implementation is described in detail, as it exhibits remarkably fast response, and can be expanded up to an arbitrary number of levels. Therefore it can be used even by a full-scale converter implementation in the MW range. / QC 20110628

This thesis is about the development and performance enhancement of an induction motor electric vehicle drive system. The fundamental operation of the induction motor drive hardware and control software are introduced, and the different modulation techniques tested are described. A software simulation package is developed to assist in the control design and analysis of the drive system. Next, to establish the efficiency gains obtained by using space vector modulation in the improved drive system, an inverter with hysteresis current control is compared to the same inverter with space vector modulation in steady state and on separate driving profiles. A method for determining induction motor harmonic losses is introduced and is based on obtaining the phase current harmonics from sampled induction motor stator phase currents obtained. Using a semi-empirical loss model, the induction motor losses are compared between different pulse width modulation control strategies throughout the torque versus speed operating region. Next, several issues related to the robustness of the control design are addressed. To obtain good performance in the actual vehicle, a new method for driveline resonance compensation is developed and proven to work well through simulation and experiment. Lastly, this thesis discusses the development of a new method to compensate for the gain and phase error obtained in the feedback of the d-axis and q-axis stator flux linkages. Improved accuracy of the measured stator flux linkages will be shown to improve the field oriented controller by obtaining a more accurate measurement of the feedback electromagnetic torque. / Master of Science

For decades, the Silicon-based semiconductors have been the solution for power electronics applications. However, these semiconductors have approached their limits of operation in blocking voltage, working temperature and switching frequency. Due to material superiority, the relatively-new wide-bandgap semiconductors such as Silicon-Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs enable higher voltages, switching frequencies and operating temperatures when compared to Silicon technology, resulting in improved converter specifications. The current study tries to investigate the impact of emerging medium-voltage SiC MOSFETs on industrial motor drive application, where over a quarter of the total electricity in the world is being consumed. Firstly, non-commercial SiC MOSFETs at 3.3 kV and 400 A rating are characterized to enable converter design and simulation based on them. In order to feature the best performance out of the devices under test, an intelligent high-performance gate driver is designed embedding required functionalities and protections. Secondly, total of three converters are targeted for industrial motor drive application at medium-voltage and high-power range. For this purpose the cascaded H-bridge, the modular multilevel converter and the 5-L active neutral point clamped converters are designed at 4.16-, 6.9- and 13.8 kV voltage ratings and 3- and 5 MVA power ratings. Selection of different voltage and power levels is done to elucidate variation of different parameters within the converters versus operating point. Later, comparisons are done between the surveyed topologies designed at different operating points based on Si IGBTs and SiC MOSFETs. The comparison includes different aspects such as efficiency, power density, semiconductor utilization, energy stored in converter structure, fault containment, low-speed operation capability and parts count (for a measure of reliability). Having the comparisons done based on simulation data, an H-bridge cell is implemented using 3.3 kV 400 A SiC MOSFETs to evaluate validity of the conducted simulations. Finally, a novel method is proposed for series-connecting individual SiC MOSFETs to reach higher voltage devices. Considering the fact that currently the SiC MOSFETs are not commercially available at voltages higher above 1.7 kV, this will enable implementation of converters using medium-voltage SiC MOSFETs that are achieved by stacking commercially-available 1.7 kV MOSFETs. The proposed method is specifically developed for SiC MOSFETs with high dv/dt rates, while majority of the existing solutions could only work merely with slow Si-based semiconductors. / Ph. D. / Despite their mature technology and low manufacturing cost, the traditional Si-based power semiconductors had reached their limitations in operation from different points of view. The SiC MOSFETs which are the new generation of power semiconductors however seem to be able to shift the existing boundaries of operation for the Si-based semiconductors, resulting in significant improvement in design and operation of power electronics converters. This dissertation focuses on investigating the impact of emerging medium-voltage SiC MOSFETs on industrial motor drives, which consume over 28% of the total electricity used in the world. Firstly, the state-of-the-art non-commercial 3.3 kV SiC MOSFETs are characterized. Characterization of the devices is done to extract their key features such as switching and conduction losses, to enable loss calculation and performance evaluation in any target application. Since the mentioned devices are not commercial yet, the gate driving circuitry that can feature the best performance out of them are not commercially available either. Thus, the characterization process starts with design of an intelligent high-performance gate driver for the devices under test. Secondly, total of three topologies that are targeted for the study are discussed and their basics of operation is investigated. For this purpose the cascaded H-bridge, the modular multilevel converter and the 5-L active neutral point clamped converters are designed at three different voltage levels (4.16-, 6.9- and 13.8 kV) and two power levels (3- and 5 MVA). Selection of different voltage and power levels is done to enable comparison from different aspects as the operating point changes. Later, comparisons are done between the surveyed topologies designed at different operating points using different semiconductor technologies. The performed comparisons provide an unbiased input for the manufacturers and customers of these converters for selection of the target topology in motor drive application. Also to verify validity of the conducted simulations and calculations, a full-bridge converter cell is experimentally implemented using 3.3 kV 400 A SiC MOSFETs. Finally, a novel method is proposed for series-connecting lower-voltage SiC MOSFETs to reach higher-voltage devices. As of late 2017, the medium-voltage SiC MOSFETs are not commercially available. Also it is expected that upon commercialization, their price will be multiple times of that of low-voltage SiC MOSFETs. Thus, connecting lower-voltage SiC MOSFETs in series is an effective way of achieving higher-voltage devices and take advantage of superior properties if the SiC MOSFETs, while the availability and high cost problems are taken care of.