Low-complexity model predictive control of a four-level active neutral point clamped inverter without weighting factors

The four-level active neutral point clamped(ANPC)inverter has become increasingly widely used in the renewable energy indus-try since it offers one more voltage level without increasing the total number of active switches compared to the three-level ANPC inverter.The model predictive current control(MPCC)is a promising control method for multi-level inverters.However,the conven-tional MPCC suffers from high computational complexity and tedious weighting factor tuning in multi-level inverter applications.A low-complexity MPCC without weighting factors for a four-level ANPC inverter is proposed in this paper.The computational burden and voltage vector candidate set are reduced according to the relationship between voltage vector and neutral point voltage balance.The proposed MPCC shows excellent steady-state and dynamics performances while ensuring the neutral point voltage balancing.The efficacy of the proposed MPCC is verified by simulation and experimental results.

Modulation and Voltage Balancing Control of Dual Five-level ANPC Inverter for Ship Electric Propulsion Systems

Open-end winding motors are used extensively in ship electric propulsion systems,in which medium-voltage high-power inverters are a critical component.To increase the system voltage and power density,a dual five-level active neutral-point clamped(ANPC)inverter is proposed herein to drive medium-voltage open-end winding motors for ship electric propulsion.Each phase of this inverter comprises two five-level ANPC bridges and all the phases are powered by a common direct-current link.A hybrid modulation method is proposed to control this inverter.The series-connected switches in all the five-level ANPC bridges are operated at the fundamental frequency,and the other switches are controlled with a phase-shifted pulse-width modulation(PWM),which can achieve a natural balance between the neutral-point voltage and flying capacitor voltages in a carrier period.A closed-loop capacitor voltage balancing method based on adjusting the duty ratios of the PWM signals is proposed.The neutral-point voltage and flying capacitor voltages can be controlled independently and balanced without affecting the output phase voltage.Simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the validity of this method.