Modeling and simulation of the Dynamic Control of a Cascaded Multilevel Inverter Using Single DC Source for Induction Motor

Drive Application

Sardis Azongha Dept. of ECE FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA mailto:azongha@caps.fsu.edu

Hui Li Dept. of ECE FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA mailto:hli@caps.fsu.edu

Keywords: multilevel inverter, induction motor, dynamic modulation

control

Abstract
A new type of cascaded multilevel inverter with single DC source presents particular advantages in high power quality and high reliability motor drive applications, and therefore suitable for Navy ship propulsion systems. Control of the dynamics of this type of inverter is important since the charge/discharge state of the capacitors and the modulation index vary with time. This paper presents an algorithm for the dynamic control of this inverter topology. In order to analyze and verify the proposed control algorithm, PSIM is integrated with MATLAB/Simulink to formulate a detail system simulation platform. Simulation results are presented to verify the proposed method.

vao Sa1 Sa 2 v = S v + S v bo b1 dc b 2 c vco Sc1 Sc 2

(1)

1.

INTRODUCTION

Cascaded multilevel converters have gained popularity in recent years due to a number of unique advantages such as high power quality, reduced electromagnetic interference (EMI), low switching losses, and low dv/dt [1-5], and these attractive features make them very suitable for Navy propulsion systems. When compared to the traditional power converters, multilevel converters require a large number of semiconductor devices. This does not lead to an increase in cost since lower voltage rated semiconductor devices can be used. It however leads to a more complicated gating circuitry and mechanical layout [7]. A cascaded multilevel inverter with a single DC source is proposed in [5]. A low frequency control method is given for the fixed modulation index operation. This structure is favorable for high power drive applications since it provides the capacity to produce high voltage with low switching frequency. It also improves the reliability by reducing the number of DC sources. This paper presents a dynamic control method for this type of inverter for induction motor drive applications. Simulation using an integration of PSIM into MATLAB/Simulink proves the validity of the proposed control method.

In (1), Sa1-2, Sb1-2, and Sc1-2 are the switching functions of the cascaded inverters and the value of these functions can be 1, 0, or 1 according to the switching states of the inverters. vdc is the DC source voltage and vc is the capacitor voltage, which is chosen to be vdc/2 for equal voltage level output. There are seven-voltage output levels based on the combination of the source and capacitor voltages. The relationship between the output voltage and the switching function S is listed in Table 1. Figure 2 shows the voltage output of the cascaded Hbridge inverter when switching at fundamental frequency. For a threephase system, the triple harmonics are cancelled in the line-line voltage. The switching angles 1, 2, and 3 can be found by solving the following equations:

2vdc

cos(51 ) + cos(5 2 ) + cos(53 ) = 0 cos(71 ) + cos(7 2 ) + cos(7 3 ) = 0

[cos(1 ) + cos( 2 ) + cos(3 )] = v1

(2)

ia ib
a b c

Induction Motor

ic

vdc
Cascaded Multilevel Inverter with Single DC Source

2.

PROPOSED MODULATION CONTROL TECHNIQUE

2.1 Steady State

The topology of the cascaded three-phase H-bridge inverter is shown in Figure 1. There is one common end (o) and three output ends (a, b, and c). Each phase includes two H-bridge inverters connected in series. Compared to the conventional multilevel inverter, only one DC energy source is used in each phase and the other one is replaced by a capacitor. The output voltage of each phase can be expressed as a function of the switching state by

1 vdc 2

Fig. 1. Cascaded multilevel inverter with single DC Source

These three equations are derived from the Fourier series expansion of the 7-level equal step waveform. The second and third equations in (2) are used to eliminate the 5th and 7th harmonics. The first equation adjusts the magnitude of the desired fundamental waveform, where v1 is the peak of the fundamental voltage.

happens when the output voltage is set to

1 v dc 2

or

1 v dc . 2

3vdc / 2 vdc vdc / 2

0

In steady state, the output current of the cascaded inverter is a periodical variable, so the switching function can be chosen based on the current flow information in the last cycle, but the average current will keep changing cycle by cycle during transient state operation. A dynamic control method is proposed here to solve the problem.

2.2 Dynamic Control

1 2 3

0.01 0.012 0.014

0.016

The current flow in the redundant switching state, say,

1 < < 2

can be divided into four categories, which are listed in figure 3 below The current is assumed to vary linearly in the small time interval and the
0
0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008

Time (S)

(1) i (1 ) 0 and i '(1 ) 0 (2) i (1 ) < 0 and i '(1 ) < 0 (3) i (1 ) < 0 and i '(1 ) 0 (4) i (1 ) 0 and i '(1 ) < 0.
derivative equation

Fig. 2. Voltage output of the cascaded H-bridge inverter

i '(1 )

is with respect to and can be calculated by the

i '(1 ) =

di / dt d / dt

=
=1

1 di

dt =1

(3)

The current measured is filtered by a low pass filter, and is the radian frequency. The average current in category (1) is clearly positive, and clearly negative for category (2). For the other two categories, the current at = 2 can be estimated by the equation

i ( 2 ) i (1 ) + ( 2 1 )i '(1 )
The solutions to these transcendental equations can be obtained by the method in [6] and the switching angles corresponding to the different fundamental output v1 are stored in a lookup table during implementation. Capacitor voltage balancing is possible due to the existence of redundant switching states. One can choose charging or discharging the capacitor by specifying the switching function, but this regulation mechanism only

The average current in the region will be

i (1 ) + i ( 2 ) 2i (1 ) + ( 2 1 )i '(1 ) = 2 2 (4) ( 2 1 )i '(1 ) = i (1 ) + 2 Knowledge of the average current direction and the capacitor voltage status during dynamic control in any of the inverter redundant switching states is used to decide the switching function. By hysteresis control algorithm, the capacitor voltage can be maintained around the desired value. Table 2 summarizes the operation principle during the redundant switching states. iavg =

2.3 Modulation Index Analysis

The modulation index for this cascaded inverter topology can be obtained from (2) and is defined as

v1 v = 1 2vdc 2vdc

(5)

For an inductive load, high frequency harmonics are diminished by the inductive reactance, and the load current can be regarded as sinusoidal with fundamental frequency, and lagging the voltage by a phase angle (see Figure 4). The current is given as Ipsin(-), where Ip is the peak value of the current. The switching function is here again set to charge the capacitor and using (7), Q is formulated as Q= 2 I p cos

cos 2 cos1 + cos 3

(8)

Previous literature [6] shows that the conventional cascaded inverter with multiple DC sources can operate with modulation index in the range 0 m 2.52 . Due to voltage regulation of the capacitor, the cascaded inverter with one DC source cannot attain the same high modulation index because the DC source charging process cannot compensate for the electric charge drawn from the capacitor by the load. In order to find the modulation index range, variation of the electric charge on the capacitor must be studied first. In the positive half cycle, it is given as

The switching angles must satisfy the following inequality derived from (8)

cos 2 cos 1 + cos 3 0

(9)

The modulation index range satisfying (9) is 0 m 1.54 .

3.

MULTILEVEL CASCADED SYSTEM MODELING

INVERTER

Q=

0 i( )S2 ( )d

(6)

Where i() is the output current and S2() is the switching function for the capacitor source inverter with values 1, 0, 1. A positive value for Q means the total electric charge on the capacitor is decreasing, and the reverse is true for a negative Q. considering the interval where S2() = 0, (6) can be rewritten as Q= 1

[ i ( ) S2 ( )d +
1 1 2

i ( ) S2 ( )d

(7)

i ( ) S2 ( )d ]

Equation (7) is then applied to the case of a pure resistive load and an inductive load to determine the respective modulation index range.

2.3.1

Pure Resistive Load

3 , the capacitor is discharged by

In the interval 3

the load current, so to compensate the loss, the switching function is chosen to be 1 in the intervals 1 2 and 2 1 . For a pure resistive load, the output current is in phase with the output voltage and is given as

1 v dc , where R is the load resistance. Using (7) to compute Q and 2R

noting from previous discussion that the capacitor voltage is maintained only if Q 0, the switching angles must satisfy the following inequality

3 63 2 2 + 21 0
By checking the switching angles corresponding to different modulation indexes, it can be shown that the modulation index range for resistive load is 0 m 1.4

The Simulink block diagram, including all the control systems and the inductor motor model, are shown figure 5. SimCoupler is an add-on in PSIM software, which provides interface between PSIM and Simulink for co-simulation. The cascaded inverter (figure 6) is implemented in PSIM while the system control and the mathematical model for the induction motor are implemented in Simulink. Cosimulation is used firstly because of the ease of implementation of the system the control and the mathematical model of inductor motor in matlab/Simulink, and secondly because PSIM is more suitable for handling power electronic circuits of this magnitude. Signals from PSIM to Simulink include the phase voltages for the cascaded inverter (vao, vbo, and vco) and the capacitor voltages (vca, vcb, and vcc) while signals from Simulink to PSIM are the gating signals for the inverter switches. The subsystem labeled Theta_m generates the angle and the index m, which is used to select the switching angles for the different modulation indexes. As mentioned earlier, the switching angles corresponding to different modulation indexes are computed and stored in a lookup table. The modulation index ranges from 0 to 2.52 in steps of 0.01. Therefore, an index m = 140 corresponds to a modulation index of 1.40. The blocks labeled Phase_A, Phase_B, and Phase_C are the control blocks for each phase of the cascaded inverter. These blocks are similar, except that the angles (thetaA, thetaB, and thetaC), generated by the block Theta_m, are phase-shifted by 1200 in order to generate three-phase voltages. The inputs to each of these blocks include the sawtooth signal that generates (thetaA, thetaB, and thetaC), the index m, to access the lookup tables for the switching angles, the actual capacitor voltage for each phase from PSIM, and the reference capacitor voltage. The capacitor voltage is maintained to within 0.5V of its nominal value by charging the capacitor when its voltage reaches the lower limit of the hysteresis band, and discharging it when its voltage reaches the upper limit of the band. The switching angles (1, 2, and 3) from the lookup table and the angle ( = t) are used to determine the operation interval of the cascaded inverter. Each block outputs four switching signals, based on table II, which are fed back into PSIM as gating signals for each phase of the cascaded inverter.

4. 2.3.2 Induction Machine Load

SIMULATION VERIFICATION

The dynamic control algorithm is verified by connecting the cascaded inverter with a 5 HP induction machine model. The parameters of the induction motor are shown in the appendix. A higher power induction motor can be used here, but the simulation time is much longer due to the large mechanical inertia. The DC source voltage for each phase is 200 volts, and the capacitor voltage is maintained around 100 volts. The capacitor is chosen to be 0.01 F. The large capacitance can stabilize the terminal voltage better, but it will also slow down the voltage build-up during the initialization and increase the cost. The induction machine runs under constant Volts/Hz operation. The modulation index varies in the range 0 to 1.5. Figure 7 shows the capacitor voltage build-up when the machine is started. The capacitor reaches the desired operating voltage of 100 volts in less than 1 second, and stays around the this value by hysteresis control.

Motor Model

Phase A

Cascaded inverter from PSIM

Phase_ B

Phase_C Theta_m

Fig. 5. Simulink implementation of cascaded multilevel inverter with induction motor

Fig. 6. Multilevel cascaded inverter circuit in PSIM

The noticeable voltage oscillation between 0.7 second to 1.2 seconds is caused by the large transient current during machine start up. Figure 8 gives the machine speed trajectory starting from synchronous frequency 0 to 20 Hz in the capacitor charging process. Figure 9 plots the acceleration and deceleration of the induction machine after the capacitor charging process is complete. The synchronous frequency increases from 20 Hz to 60 Hz, and then decreases to 30 Hz. Figure 10 and 11 present the capacitor voltage variation during this process. It can be seen that the variation is less than 1% and well regulated. Figure 12 and 13 show the voltage output of the cascaded inverter while the speed is increasing and decreasing respectively. The fundamental frequency and modulation index is boosted in Figure 12 and lowered in Figure 13. The current waveforms corresponding to the speed trajectory in Figure 9 are also presented in Figure 14 and 15.

5.

CONCLUSION

This paper presents a dynamic control method for the cascaded multilevel inverter using a single DC source. By predicting the average current flow direction in the redundant switching state, the capacitor voltage can still be successfully maintained in the transient state. Simulation results are presented to verify the method for induction motor drive application. In addition, this paper provides a systematic way to calculate the modulation index range based on the capacitor charge analysis.

[6]

[7]

Cascade Multilevel Inverter Using a Single DC Source, in Proc. IEEE APEC, 2006, pp. 426-430. J. N. Chiasson, L. M. Tolbert, K. J. McKenzie, and Z. Du, Control of a Multilevel Converter Using Resultant Theory, IEEE Transactions on control systems technology, Vol. 11, No. 3, May 2003 K. A. Corzine, J. R. Baker, Multilevel, Voltage-Source DutyCycle Modulation: Analysis and Implementation, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 49, No. 5, Oct. 2002, pp. 1009-1016.

Sardis Azongha received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Florida State University in 2004, and is currently a PhD Candidate in the ECE Department at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. His research interest is cascaded multilevel inverter for inductor motor drive applications.

5.

APPENDIX

Hui Li (S'97-M'00-SM'01) received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Huazong University of Science and Technology, China in 1992 and 1995 respectively, and a PhD also in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2000. She worked for Oakridge National Laboratory Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center from 1999-2000, Tyco Electronics from 2001-2002, and is currently Assistant Professor in the ECE Department, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Her research interests include bidirectional dc-dc converters, cascaded multilevel inverters, advanced digital control technique, and renewable energy generation. Dr. Li has served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Industry Application and Chair of the special activities committee of the industrial power converter committee of IEEE Industry Application Society. She is a member of the IEEE Industry Application Society and Power Electronics Society. She has received NSF Career Award in 2007.

Parameters of induction motor: Power rating 5HP

Number of poles Stator resistance

2 0.5814 Rotor resistance 0.4165

Stator inductance Rotor inductance

81.729 103 H 82.4 103 H 78.25 103 H

Magnetizing inductance

Moment of inertia 0.1kg m2

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