Multiscale Electrothermal Design of a Modular Multilevel Converter for Medium-Voltage Grid-Tied Applications

Feng, Xuhui; Kotecha, Ramchandra; Narumanchi, Sreekant; Singh, Akanksha; Mather, Barry; Wang, Ke; Hu, Boxue; Wang, Jin

doi:10.1109/TIA.2023.3256389

Multiscale Electrothermal Design of a Modular Multilevel Converter for Medium-Voltage Grid-Tied Applications

Journal Article · 14 March 2023 · IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2023.3256389· OSTI ID:2005583

; Kotecha, Ramchandra; ; ; ; Wang, Ke; Hu, Boxue; Wang, Jin

As a key feature of modular multilevel converters (MMCs), a large number of semiconductor devices are employed in the converter and distributed over a stack of submodules. Each submodule has a strict temperature limit that imposes constraints on the operating range of the converter. Different loading conditions/losses in the submodules lead to unavoidable temperature variations inside the MMC, which consequently affect the system-level performance and reliability. This paper is focused on the electrothermal analysis and design of a medium-voltage silicon carbide (SiC)-based MMC system, from submodule power semiconductors to the overall MMC system integration of multiple submodules, for grid-connected applications. Loss calculations are performed to estimate the cooling requirements and aid thermal design at different levels. The performance of a forced-air cooling approach is analyzed within a numerical modeling framework. Maximum temperature of the SiC power modules is predicted using numerical tools. Thermal design of the MMC cabinet with various arrangements of air inlet(s) and outlet(s) is investigated and compared from a cooling performance perspective. A fully resolved model of the arrangement that yields optimal results is developed to accurately predict the temperature profile of the essential components in the submodules.

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Technologies Office (AMMTO)

DOE Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 2005583

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5400-83362; MainId:84135; UUID:d1fba188-14f8-4b07-ab8b-c96a0bb5ed3f; MainAdminID:70740

Journal Information:: IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 59, Issue 3

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (17)

Analysis of thermal cycling stress on semiconductor devices of the Modular Multilevel Converter for drive applications Han, Xiangyu; Yang, Qichen; Wu, Liyao 2016 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC.2016.7468283	conference	March 2016
Thermal Modelling of IGBT Devices Trigkidis, G.; Bousbaine, A.; Thorn, R. Proceedings of the 41st International Universities Power Engineering Conference https://doi.org/10.1109/UPEC.2006.367545	conference	September 2006
Submodule Temperature Regulation and Balancing in Modular Multilevel Converters Goncalves, Jorge; Rogers, Daniel J.; Liang, Jun IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 65, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2018.2795588	journal	September 2018
Thermal Management on IGBT Power Electronic Devices and Modules Qian, Cheng; Gheitaghy, Amir Mirza; Fan, Jiajie IEEE Access, Vol. 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2793300	journal	January 2018
Modelling and Control of the Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) Abildgaard, Elisabeth N.; Molinas, Marta Energy Procedia, Vol. 20 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2012.03.023	journal	January 2012
Dynamic Electro-Magnetic-Thermal Modeling of MMC-Based DC–DC Converter for Real-Time Simulation of MTDC Grid Lin, Ning; Dinavahi, Venkata IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 33, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPWRD.2017.2774806	journal	June 2018
Assessment of 10 kV, 100 A Silicon Carbide mosfet Power Modules Johannesson, Daniel; Nawaz, Muhammad; Ilves, Kalle IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 33, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2017.2728723	journal	June 2018
Thermal Analysis and Balancing for Modular Multilevel Converters in HVDC Applications Hahn, Frederik; Andresen, Markus; Buticchi, Giampaolo IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 33, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2017.2691012	journal	March 2018
System-Level Thermal Modeling of a Modular Multilevel Converter Zhang, Yi; Wang, Huai; Wang, Zhongxu 2020 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC39645.2020.9124434	conference	March 2020
Multiscale electrothermal design of a modular multilevel converter for grid-tied applications Feng, Xuhui; Kotecha, Ramchandra; Narumanchi, Sreekant 2021 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) https://doi.org/10.1109/ECCE47101.2021.9595660	conference	October 2021
Simplified Thermal Modeling for IGBT Modules With Periodic Power Loss Profiles in Modular Multilevel Converters Zhang, Yi; Wang, Huai; Wang, Zhongxu IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 66, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2018.2823664	journal	March 2019
Compact Heat Sink Simulations in both Forced and Natural Convection Flows Narasimhan, Susheela; Majdalani, Joseph 8th AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2002-3212	conference	June 2002
Thermal management in high-density power converters Marz, M. IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology, 2003 https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIT.2003.1290835	conference	January 2003
Thermal design considerations for medium voltage power converters with 15 kV SiC IGBTs Madhusoodhanan, Sachin; Mainali, Krishna; Tripathi, Awneesh 2015 IEEE 6th International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) https://doi.org/10.1109/PEDG.2015.7223105	conference	June 2015
Hardware design of a 1.7 kV SiC MOSFET based MMC for medium voltage motor drives Li, He; Potty, Karun; Ke, Ziwei 2018 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC.2018.8341238	conference	March 2018
Medium voltage power converter design and demonstration using 15 kV SiC N-IGBTs Kadavelugu, Arun; Mainali, Krishna; Patel, Dhaval 2015 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC.2015.7104530	conference	March 2015
Recent progress and development on power DC-DC converter topology, control, design and applications: A review Hossain, M. Z.; Rahim, N. A.; Selvaraj, Jeyraj a/l Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 81 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.07.017	journal	January 2018

Similar Records

Multiscale Electrothermal Design of a Modular Multilevel Converter for Grid-Tied Applications

Conference · 2021 · OSTI ID:1844358

Feng, Xuhui; Kotecha, Ramchandra; Narumanchi, Sreekant; +5 more

A Novel Voltage Balancing Control With dv/dt Reduction for 10-kV SiC MOSFET-Based Medium Voltage Modular Multilevel Converter

Journal Article · 2020 · IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics · OSTI ID:1777700

Ji, Shiqi; Zhang, Li; Huang, Xingxuan; +3 more

Hardware Design of Medium Voltage SiC-Based Modular Multilevel Converters for Grid-Tied Applications

Conference · 2021 · OSTI ID:1846937

Wang, Ke; Ma, Dihao; Hu, Boxue; +3 more

Related Subjects

POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
computational fluid dynamics
electrothermal model
heat transfer
modular multilevel converter
SiC devices

Multiscale Electrothermal Design of a Modular Multilevel Converter for Medium-Voltage Grid-Tied Applications

Citation Formats

References (17)

Similar Records

Related Subjects