DC-Link Capacitor Sizing of Three-Level Neutral Point Clamped Voltage Source Inverters for Variable Speed Drives


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Elektrik Ve Elektronik Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2021

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: SERHAT EMİR OGAN

Danışman: Emine Bostancı

Özet:

A three-level neutral point clamped (NPC) voltage source inverter (VSI) topology can be advantageous in electric vehicles with a high DC-link voltage and a high switching frequency due to the flexibility in power switch selection. However, the potential
oscillations in neutral point must be handled to guarantee an efficient operation of this topology. A bulky DC-link capacitor is not an option for EV applications; thus, the sizing of the DC-link capacitor considering the traction system characteristics
is an important design step. This thesis investigates the effect of PWM modulation methods on the DC-link capacitor size of a three-level neutral point clamped voltage source inverter. Five PWM methods, from which three methods have an active
neutral point potential control, are compared in terms of their neutral point potential (NPP) oscillations at various operating conditions. Since the operating conditions in a vehicle traction system depend on the traction motor, the worst-case NPP oscillation condition of each PWM method is determined based on the operation characteristics of a reference electric machine. Then, the size of the DC-link capacitor is determined for each PWM method so that NPP ripple is kept under desired limits under its worst-case operating condition. It is shown that both the modulation technique and the electric machine characteristics are effective on the capacitor size. A 1 kVA prototype three-level neutral point clamped inverter is designed and used to experi-
mentally verify the results of capacitor sizing. Carrier-based PWM method required significantly smaller capacitors than other methods; however, this method had disadvantage of higher switching lossess.