Advanced modulation techniques for power converters

Abstract

Pulse-width modulation methods are widely used for the synthesis of ac voltages at the terminals of a voltage-sourced converter (VSC). Traditionally sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation (SPWM) has been used. A powerful alternative for this purpose is space-vector modulation (SVM), in which the converter is placed in a finite number of states in order to best approximate the reference voltage. This method offers better utilization of the dc bus voltage and provides several degrees of freedom for enhancement of the harmonic spectrum as well as switching losses. This thesis studies the SVM method for two- and three-level VSCs. A model for implementation of SVM in the electromagnetic transients simulation program PSCAD/EMTDC is developed. The model is able to generate firing pulses in linear as well as overmodulation range and is used to study the performance of different SVM strategies in terms of their harmonic spectra and associated converter and harmonic losses. The model is also used to demonstrate the suitability of the method for network applications. The thesis also employs genetic algorithms to find an optimized SVM sequence for improved harmonic performance. An objective function is defined that seeks to minimize the most significant harmonic components of the generated waveform, while keeping the other harmonic components within the acceptable range outlined in the available standards. The obtained sequence shows great improvement over the conventionally-used SVM sequence.