Multilevel converters -- A new breed of power converters

Conference · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 UTC 1995

OSTI ID:102173

Lai, J S ^[1]; Peng, F Z ^[2]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Engineering Technology Div.
2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Multilevel voltage source converters are emerging as a new breed of power converter options for high-power applications. The multilevel voltage source converters typically synthesize the staircase voltage wave from several levels of dc capacitor voltages. One of the major limitations of the multilevel converters is the voltage unbalance between different levels. The techniques to balance the voltage between different levels normally involve voltage clamping or capacitor charge control. There are several ways of implementing voltage balance in multilevel converters. Without considering the traditional magnetic coupled converters, this paper presents three recently developed multilevel voltage source converters: (1) diode-clamp, (2) flying-capacitors, and (3) cascaded-inverters with separate dc sources. The operating principle, features, constraints, and potential applications of these converters will be discussed.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 102173
• Report Number(s): CONF-9510203--2; ON: DE95017389
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
DC TO DC CONVERTERS
DESIGN
POWER CONDITIONING CIRCUITS
POWER SUPPLIES
POWER SYSTEMS