NEURAL NETWORK BASED ESTIMATION OF POWER ELECTRONIC WAVES

Min-Huei Kim*, M. Godoy Sim8es** and Bimal K. Bose

Department of Electrical Engineering The University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996
Abstract - Artificial neural network techniques are recently indicating a lot of promise for application in power electronic systems. So far, these applications are mainly confined in the control, identification and diagnostic problems, but the application in estimation is fairly new. The paper explores the application of neural network for estimation of power electronic waveforms. The distorted line current waves in single-phase thyristor ac controller and three-phase diode rectifier that feeds an inverter-machine load have been taken into consideration and neural networks have been trained to estimate the total rms current, fundamental rms current, displacement factor and power factor. The performance of the neural network based estimators has been compared with the actual values, and indicate excellent performance. Neural network based estimation has the usual advantages of very fast and simultaneous response of all the outputs, noise and fault-tolerant performance, and can be easily implemented in dedicated analog or digital hardware chips which can coexist with DSP and/or ASIC chips. The estimation techniques can be extended to more complex waveforms in power electronics.

I. INTRODUCTION
Power electronic circuits generate complex voltage and current waves due to their switching mode operation. For control, monitoring and diagnostic purposes, it is frequently necessary to process these waves and generate the outputs, such as rms current, fundamental rms current, active power, reactive power, displacement factor, distortion factor, power factor, etc. It is possible to make estimation from basic closed form mathematical model of the system, if such a model can be obtained. The model equations are often nonlinear, complex and distributed in nature making this approroach difficult. The topological form of the system can be simulated on computer with the known parameters, and then analytical calculations can be made on the resulting waveforms. Sometimes, the mathematical model and parameters may be totally unknown making such estimation approach impossible. For a prototype operating system, electronic instrumentation (both hardware and software) techniques are extensively used for such measurements. For example, the waveforms may be captured and then analyzed by FFT in real time to derive the estimated outputs. Similar techmque can be used for estimation from the waveforms recorded on oscilloscope

or chart recorder. One difficulty in all the above estimation methods is that the response tends to be slow because of the processing involved. To avoid the complexity of estimation, it may be possible to get the solution by one or multi-dimensional lookup tables in microcomputer memory. However, for improvement of accuracy, the size of the look-up table should be large, or interpolation calculation is required. Recently, fuzzy loac was applied [ 11 to solve some of the problems in the estimation of power electronic waveforms. Because of large number of manual iterations necessary for designing the membership functions, fuzzy estimation algorithm development is tedious and time consuming. Besides, sequential computation is generally necessary in DSP to implement the complex steps of the algorithm. In this paper, feedforward neural network techniques have been systematically explored for estimation of power electronic waveforms. Single-phasethyristor ac controller and three-phase diode rectifier line current waves have been taken into consideration and neural networks have been trained to estimate the total rms current, fundamental rms current, displacement factor and power factor. Neuralworks Professional IIPLUS [2] simulator program that uses back propagation training algorithm was used for training the networks. In the beginning, neural network was trained to function as a calculator for estimation of the outputs with the input variables, such as firing angle, impedancemagnitude and angle for the thyristor controller. Then, for both the circuits, the patterns of the waveforms characterized by the width and height were used to train the estimator networks. The performance of the neural network based estimators was found to be excellent.

11. NEURAL NETWORK PRINCIPLES

Since the neural network technology is somewhat new to the power electronics community, it is appropriate here to briefly review its salient features 131-[7]. Neural network or artificial neural network (ANN) is the interconnection of artlficial neurons that tends to emulate the nervous system of human brain. The model of an artificial neuron that closely matches a biologcal

* Dr K m is currently in leave of absence from Yeungnam J m o r College of Korea and is being supported by Academic Research and Promotion Division of Korean Government

** Prof Sunzes is currently in leave of absence from University of SHo Paulo, Bradl and is
kisupported by National Council for Scientific and Technological Development(CNPq).

0-7803-3026-9195 $4.00 0 1995 IEEE

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neuron is gwen by an op-amp-like summer. The input signals X,, X , X,... X are normally continuous signals which flow through synaptic weights and then accumulate in the summing node. The weights can be positive or negative, and correspondingly, accelerate or inhibit the respective signals coming to the summing node. The summed signal then flows to the output through a transfer hction which is usually nonlinear. The transfer function can be threshold type, signum type or linear threshold type, or it can be nonlinear continuously varying type, such as sigmoid, inverse-tan, hyperbolic or Gaussian type. The sigmoidal transfer function is most commonly used, and is given by the equation

where a is the gain that adjusts the slope of the function. At high gain, f(x) approaches a step function. The sigmoidal function is nonlinear, monotonic, differentiable, and has the largest incremental gain at zero signal, and these properties are of p a c u l a r interest in the application of neural network. Note that the nonlinearity of the transfer function gives the network capability to emulate nonlinear mapping property. A neural network can be classified as feedforward or feedback type depending on the interconnection of the neurons. At present, by far the majority of applications (including that in this project), uses feedforward architecture and this type will be discussed in the paper. Fig. 1 shows the structure of a feedforward multilayer network whch consists of three layers: the input layer , the hidden layer, and the output the layer. The circles represent neurons and the dots in the connections indicate the weights. The input and output layers have neurons equal to the respective number of signals.
HIDDEN
LAVER

OUTPur

Lwl
DPF

x,
PF

fundamental rms current (13, displacement factor (DPF) and power factor (PF). The particular network shown with 4 hidden layer neurons can be defined as 2-4-4 network. The input layer neurons do not have transfer function, but there are scale factors to normalize the input signals, as shown. Similarly, there can be scale factors at the output for denormalization. There can be more than one hdden layer. The number of hidden layers and the number of neurons in each layer depend on the complexity of the problem being solved and the desired accuracy. Note that neural network computes very fast in parallel and distributed manner compared to slow sequential computation in a conventional Von Neumann computer that takes help of centralized CPU and central memoq. Besides, the network has fault-tolerant property and provides noise-immune computation [SI. If a few weights are erroneousor several connections are destroyed in a large network, the output remains practically unaffected because of distnbuted knowledge throughout the network. The computation of neural network basically relates to nonlinear mapping or pattern recognition function. This means that if an input set of data corresponds to a definite signal pattern, the network can be "trained" to give a correspondinglydesired pattern at the output. The network has the capability to "learn" because of the distributed intelligence or "associative memory" property contributed by the weights. The input-output pattern matching is possible if the network is trained, i.e., appropriate weights are selected. With the network initially untrained, i.e., with the weights selected at random, the output signal pattern will totally mismatch the desired pattern for a given input pattern. The actual output pattern can be compared with the desired output pattern and the weights can be adjusted by an algorithm until the pattern matching occurs, i.e., the error becomes acceptively small. Back propagation training algorithm is most commonly used for feedfoward neural network. The training is usually automated with off-line computer simulation program that uses a large number of input-output example patterns. The example patterns can be derived ffom analysis, simulation or by experiment ifthe model is totally unknown. At completion of the training, the weights are downloaded to the prototype network. A trained network should be able not only to recall all the example inputoutput patterns (look-up table function) but also to interpolate the example patterns.

I I I .ESTIMATION FOR THYRISTOR AC

CONTROLLER LINE CURRENT

Fig.2 shows the simple circuit of a single-phase anti-parallel

Fig. 1 Structure of a three-layer freedforward neural network showing

back parpagation training.

thyristor ac controller with passive R-L load. The fving angle of the thyristors can be controlled symmetrically to control the power

For example, in Fig. 1, the input signals may be current wave patterns characterized by the width (W) and height (H),and the corresponding output signals may be total rms current (Is),

to the load and the minimum firing angle is restricted to the impedance angle when the conduction becomes continuous. A popular application of the circuit is incandescent light dimmer where the load is resistive, and in this case, the thyristors can be

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replaced by a triac. With purely inductive load, on the other hand, the phase angle control can emulate variable inductance and therefore the circuit is defined as thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR). A TCR in parallel with fixed capacitor is popularly used as static VAR compensator. The line current waveform in thyristor ac controller is highly nonsinusoidal and depends on firing angle, load impedance and the impedance angle [9]. Feedforward neural networks will be trained to estimate the total m line current, hndamental rms line current, line displacement factor and power factor. The supply voltage will alwavs be assumed as sinusoidal and constant.

constant.Thefinng angle is varied in the range of 30 - 180 where the waveform becomes continuous at the minimum firing angle. The training data table was prepared for peak current 1.OA (i.e., V and Vm=220d2 -220d2 Q with 16 steps of firing angle and a neural network of structure 1-4-4 was trained with the help of Neuralworks Professional IIPLUS simulator program. After large number of training steps (1.5 million), the neural network based estimator error was found to be below 0.1%. Fig.3 gives the estimator performance for variable firing angle. While the DPF and PF show the actual values, the I,(pu) and IXpu) can be denormalized after multiplying by the scale factor 1 Z, / I Z . Note that supply voltage variation has a similar scaling effect (see eqn( 1j). An attempt to reduce the hidden layer neurons or less number of training steps gave larger estimation error. Although sixteen a angle steps were used for the training, Fig.3 indicates precision estimation in the interpolated a values
O
~

Fig. 2 Single-phase thyristor ac controller with R-L load

A. Estimation for R-L Load The instantaneous line current in Fig.2 can be expressed as [ 101:
Fig.3 Neural network estimator performance with variable firing angle

where a=fring angle, V,=peak value of supply voltage (42 Vsj, R=load resistance, X=load reactance, I Z 1 =impedance amplitude, o=angular frequency, @=impedanceangle (tan-' (X/R)). Assuming the supply voltage and frequency as constants, i.e., 220 V and 60 Hz,respectively, the eqn.(2) shows that the line current is a h c t i o n of firing angle (a), impedance m a p t u d e (1 Zl) and impedance angle(@). Derivation of mathematical expression for r m scurrent, fundamental rms current, displacement factor and power factor &omeqn.(2) tends to be very complex [ 9 ] . In the present project, the circuit of Fig.2 was simulated by SIMNON to derive the line current wave. Then, the current wave was analyzed by FFT program in the MATLAB and the correct values of Is, I , DPF and PF were derived. This data table relating the input variables and the correspondinglycalculated values was then used to train the neural network which will be described next.

2) Variable Load Impedance (I Zl) Nest, estimation was continued for variable load impedance (magnitude only) maintaining the firing angle and impedance angle constant. With I Z, I //Z 1 as input variable, Fig.4 shows the performance of a 1-4-4 neural network estimator. Again, the estimation error after large number of training steps converges to be less than 0.1%. As indicated before, DPF and PF were insensitive to impedance variation, but I, (pu) and If (pu) show linear variation.
1.0
I
I I
I

1) Variable Firing Angle (a) In the beginning, it was decided to test the feasibility of estimation of I,, I , DPF and PF with the help of a neural network for variable firing angle only, i.e., the load parameters remain

Fig.4 Neural network estimator performance with variable impedance

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B. Estimation from Wave Patterns

3) Variable Impedance Angle (4) Next, neural network estimation was considered with vanable impedance angle only Note that the current wale is alwavs discontinuous except when a{$ Fig 5 shows the estimator performance where the accuracy was comparable with Figs 3 and 4

After vahdation of neural network estimation with control and load parameta variables, it was decided to train the network Lvith the wave pattern input characterized by its width (W) and height (H), and only resistive load was taken into consideration The expressions of DPF, PF, I,(pu) and $(pu) in terms of W and H parameters are given as follows [ 1] :

Fig.6Neural network estimator performance of rms current when firing angle and impedance angle are varying
Fig.5 Neural network estimator performance with variable impedance angle

4) Variable Firing Angle, Impedance and Impedance Angle Once the feasibility of estimation was proved and high accuracy was demonstrated for individual a, IZI and 4 inputs, it was decided to train a network where all the three input variables can change. After a number of trials, it was found that the network requires two hidden layers with 16 neurons in each for reasonable accuracy. Any combination of inputs that results continuous current wave was excluded. For example, any as @ will cause continuous conduction. Large number of 1 Z, I /I Z I values are not desirable because DPF and PF outputs will not be affected by it and I,(pu) and IXpu) will have only linear scaling effect by impedance s mentioned before, I,(pu) and Ikpu) can be converted variation. A to actual values by multiplying with the scale factor Z,!/I Z I for the input condition IZ,,l/IZI=l.O. Very large number of training steps (14.3 million) were used to train the complex network and the error was found to converge below 0.2%. Figs. 6 ; 7,8,9 show the estimator performance for I,(pu), I, (pu), DPF and PF; respectively, where $4 O indicates resistive load. Note that in all the figures, the estimation curve for constant 4 terminates at a= @ so that conduction is always discontinuous. Because of crowding, the estimation curves for Figs. 6 and 7 are shown for only a few values of 4.
~

-- I

b
Fig.7Neural network estimator performance of fundamental rms

current when firing angle and impedance angle are varying

DPF

Fig.8 Neural network estimator performance of displacement factor when firing angle and impedance angle are varying

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Although closed form mathematical expressions as given above were available for the estimated variables, and this data table could be used for training the neural network, the actual wave patterns were obtained by simulation with incremental variation of firing angle. Each wave pattern, characterized by W and H, was analyzed by MATLAB and the correspondingdata table, as discussed before, was used for training a 2-8-4 neural network. Fig. 10 shows the estimator performance where the error was found to be below 0.1YO.

IV. ESTIMATION FOR DIODE RECTIFIER LINE

Fig.9 Neural network estimator performance of power factor \\hen firing angle and impedance angle are varying

CURRENT

A more complex circuit, i.e., a three-phase diode rectifier that feeds an inverter-induction motor load, is shown in Fig. 1 1. Here,
DPF = COS [tan-'( 1 cos(2W) )I . sin(2W) - 2W
~

the supply voltage and current waves with variable motor load require estimation for I,, I , DPF and PF. Unfortunately, no close form mathematical expressionsexist for the above variables. As in Section IIIB, an attempt will be made here to estimate the variables as function of W and H of the current waves.

,I

I,
=

PF'

@ DPF

n radians and H is in amps. Notc that the rms current where W is i and fimdamental rms current are function of W and H, where H varies with the supply voltage and load resistance. Therefore, these two variables which are expressed in terms of per unit values are to be multiplied by H to convert to actual currents.

I'aaL
i f

" " I

Fig.1 1 Three-phase diode rectifier fed inverter-induction motor drive

The magnitude of the variables W and H of a waveform are determined by the dc llnk voltage, supply peak voltage and the Thevinin inductance of the line. The supply voltage imbalance is neglected in our study. Assuming the filter capacitance very large, i.e., neglecting the ripple voltage in the dc link, the following approximate expressions can be derived [ 11:

Fig. 10 Neural nehvork estimator performance with current wave patterns describeded by variable width

"d W = 2 COS-' (-) + A0 V m

(8)

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DPF = A - B . W
PF = DPF-2
IS

(9)

Where V,=dc link voltage, =peak value of supply phase voltage, I,,=per phase source inductance, we =supply frequency and AO=angular interval of current from peak value to zero. The power circuit with the machine load was simulated and the line side waveforms were derived with the load variation. Obviously, both I, and If are very sensitive to W and H variation , but DPF and PF are somewhat insensitive to these parameters. For each simulated wave pattern characterized by W and H, MATLAB analysis was performed to derive I,, I,, DPF and PF, and the con-ebpndmgdata table was used to train a 2-8-4 neural network. Fig. 12 shows the estimator performance with increasing machine load where the error was found to be below 0.25% after a very large number (1 3 million) of training exercises.

networks. In the beginning, the thyristor controller waveforms were estimated by considering the control and/or load variables as the input to the neural network. In this function, the neural network basically acts as a calculator. Then, for both the circuits, the neural network estimates the output from the known wave pattems characterized by their width and height. In this case: the network basically acts like a pattern recognizer. In all cases of estimation, the training data tables were generated by simulation. After large number of training steps, the estimator accuracy \\'as found io be excellent. The estimation principle can be extended to more complex waveforms. The estimator neural network chips can easily be integrated with DSP andor ASIC chips in a pon.er electronic ?stem to relieve their computational burden.

VI. REFERENCES [ 11 M.G.Sim&s and B.K.Bose, "Applicationof fuzzy logic in the estimation of power electronic waveforms", LEEE-IAS Annual Meeting, 1993. pp.853-861. [2] Using Neuralworks Professional IIPlus, Neuralware Reference Manual, 1992 . [3] D.E.Rumelhart and J.L.Mcclelland,Parallel Distnbuted Processing, The MIT Press, 986. [4] T.Ful\uda,T.Shibata, "Theory and application of neural networks for industrial control systems", IEEE Trans. Industrial Electronics, Vo1.39, 1992, pp.472-489 [SI J.G.Kuschewski etc., "Applicationof feedfonvard neural networks to dynamical system identification and control", IEEE Trans. Control Systems Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1 March 1993, pp.37-49. [6] B.K.Bose, "Expert system, fuzzy logic and neural network applications in power electronics and motion control", Proceedings ofthe JEEE, pp. 1303-1323, August 1994 [7] J.Lawence, S.Luedeking, "Intrcductionto Neural Networks" California Scientific Software, 1991. [8] M.G.Sim6es and B.K.Bose, "Neural network based estimation of feedback signals for a vector controlled induction motor drive", IEEE-IAS Annual Meeting, pp. 47 1479,1994. 91 A.W.Kelley and W.F.Yadusky, "Rectifier design for minimumline current harmonics and maximum power pactor", IEEE Trans. Power Electronics, Vo1.7, No.2, April 1992, pp. 332-341. 101 W.Shepherd and L.N.Hully, Power Electronics and Motor
Control, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987.

15
10

- - --

Increasing Machine Load (Exp. I )

15

Fig. 12 Neural network based estimator performance for supply current wave pattems described by p u l s e 0 and h e i g h t 0

V. CONCLUSION
The paper successfully demonstrates the validity of feedfonvard neural network for the estimation of distorted waveforms in power electronics. Two circuit configurations have been considered in the present project: a single-phase anti-parallel thynstor ac controller and a three-phase diode rectzier feeding to an invmer-inductionmotor load. In both the circuits, the line-side
total rms current, fundamental r m s current, displacement factor

and power factor were estimated with the help of trained neural

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