2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)
Capacitor Voltage Ripple Analysis of Hybrid
Modular Multilevel Converter in Fan-/Pump-like
Load Applications
Linjie Han, Binbin Li, Shaoze Zhou, Jingkun Wang and Dianguo Xu
School of Electrical Engineering & Automation
Harbin Institute of Technology
Email: 15291211@bjtu.edu.cn
Abstract—Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) has been
considered as one of the next-generation converter in high
voltage and power motor drive applications because of its
flexible design, reliability, motor-friendliness. However, it has a
large submodule (SM) capacitor voltage ripple at low motor
speed. Recently, a hybrid modular multilevel converter
(HMMC), adding a series switch at the dc-link, is proposed. It
has been verified to be able to significantly reduce SM capacitor
voltage ripple at low motor speed. The existing research only
analyzes the HMMC operation for constant torque load, but in
practice, the more widely used is quadratic-torque load such as
fan- or pump-like load. This paper analyzes the SM capacitor
voltage ripple of quadratic-torque loads considering the startup
torque and introduces a method for dimensioning the SM
capacitance. The correctness of the analysis and the feasibility
of the method are proved by the simulation results.
Keywords—HMMC, capacitor voltage ripple, quadratic-
torque loads, startup torque.
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, modular multilevel converters (MMCs)
applied in medium-voltage high-power motor drives is a very
hot research topic and has attracted extensive research efforts ,
due to its prominent advantages [1]. However, because the SM
capacitors are floating, it has voltage ripple when arm current
flows by. The capacitor voltage ripple is proportional to the
amplitude of output ac-current and inversely proportional to
the motor speed [2]. Therefore, the biggest challenge of
MMCs is the large or even unbearable capacitor voltage ripple
when it drives the motor with the constant-torque load at low
motor speed. To eliminate or decrease the capacitor voltage
ripple, several methods have been proposed during the last
few years. It can be classified into two categories, i.e., control
strategy improvement and topology improvement. The most
widely adopted method at present is high frequency injection
method [3]. Common-mode voltages and high magnitude
circulating currents are injected in the MMCs to exchange
power between the upper and lower arms. But the common-
mode voltage will be harmful to the motor and the injected
circulating current will enlarge the current stress of
semiconductors and higher rated switches need to be
employed. Recently, an improved topology with a series
switch inserted between the MMC and the dc source, called
hybrid modular multilevel converter (HMMC), is proposed
and has a remarkable effect in reducing the SM capacitor
voltage ripple when it drives constant-torque loads [4].
Theoretically, the maximum capacitance voltage ripple of
HMMC is twice of that at rated motor speed. HMMC doesn’t
need to add additional power electronics except the inserted
series switch and it also has the same arm current stress as
traditional MMC. Most of the analysis about the capacitor
voltage ripple of HMMC used in motor drives is for constant-
torque load, but more than 80% of the applications in medium-
This work was sponsored by National Natural Science Foundation of
China (51720105008), Science Foundation of Heilongjiang QC2018059
and Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by China Association for
Science and Technology, and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
Universities.
978-1-7281-3398-0/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
978-1-7281-3398-0/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
voltage motor drives is for quadratic-torque load. The motor
with an ideal quadratic-torque load means the torque is
proportional to the square of the motor speed whereas the
constant-torque load keeps constant as the speed changes [5].
That is to say, the capacitor voltage variation of quadratic-
torque load is different from the constant-torque load as the
motor speed changes. Hence, it is more valuable to consider
the case of quadratic-torque load. The existing analysis of the
capacitor voltage ripple of quadratic-torque load is basically
qualitative. This paper will give the expressions of capacitor
voltage ripple and analyze its variation versus frequency. A
startup torque caused by the starting static friction also needs
to be considered [8]. In the centrifugal compressor application,
it is generally assumed that the startup torque gradually
decreases, and when the motor speed is greater than a certain
value, the torque is proportional to the square of the motor
speed [6]. In the fan-/pump load application, the startup torque
keeps constant [9]. To overcome the worst case, the startup
torque is considered to be constant and this kind of quadratic-
torque load with a constant startup torque is named as a
hypothetical quadratic-torque load in this paper. This paper is
to investigate the capacitor voltage ripple of HMMC in
quadratic-torque load applications and find a method to
dimension the SM capacitance.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II
introduces the basic operating principle of HMMC, and
analyzed the capacitor voltage ripple of the constant-torque
load, the ideal quadratic-torque load, and the hypothetical
quadratic-torque load. A method for dimensioning SM
capacitance is presented in Section III. In Section IV,
simulation results are shown to verify correctness of
theoretical analysis. Finally, Section V concludes this paper.
II. CAPCITOR VOLTAGE RIPPLE ANALYSIS
A. Basics of HMMC
Fig. 1 shows the circuit configuration of the HMMC. This
topology adds a series switch SS in the dc-link. Through the
action of the switch, the dc terminal voltage of the MMC can
be reduced, so the capacitor voltage ripple is suppressed.
The basic operating principle of HMMC is shown in Fig.
2. When the switch is on, dc terminal voltage udcm equals to
the dc source voltage Udc. When the switch is off, dc terminal
voltage udcm equals to the twice of the phase output voltage
amplitude UOM.
U dc (switch on)
udcm =  (1)
2U OM (switch off)
Similarly, the circulating current ic is regulated at
1/3Idc(rated) when SS turns on and 0 when SS turns off. From this
the idc and ic can be expressed as
 2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)

Ss Th
idc Half bridge Ss DTh
Series Switch SM1 SM 1 SM 1
1
or SM2 SM 2 SM 2
+
C
t
o
idc
1 Idc(rated)
U SM N SM N SM N
2 dc
t
Rs L L L o
uo io ic
Idc(rated)/3 t
udcm
M o
ud
Cs Motor Udc Ud(avg )
L L L
RC
1
U
Snubber SM 1 SM 1 SM 1
2UOM t
2 dc o
SM 2 SM 2 SM 2 uo
UOM t
o
SM N SM N SM N

Fig. 1. Configuration of the hybrid modular multilevel converter (HMMC) Fig. 2. Sketch waveforms of HMMC.
topology.

From (7) it can be found that U’C1 increases as the motor

 I dc( rated ) (switch on) speed increases. The curve of U’C1 versus frequency ω will be
1
idc =  ic = idc (2) shown later to illustrate it.
0 (switch off) 3
Similar with the above derivation process, we can derive
More detail analysis about the HMMC can be found in [4]. the second-harmonic component U’C2 in the capacitor voltage
According to [7], the fundamental component amplitude of ripple of ideal quadratic-torque load. The amplitude is express
SM capacitor voltage ripple UC1 is listed as follows: as follows:

rated −  2 mrated
4
cos 2  2 I OM-rated 900 2 mrated
(1 + mrated ) +  U ' C2 =
 (8)
I OM rated 4rated
2
4rated C 4π 2 p 2 nrated
2

U C1 = (3)
4rated C
2
mrated cos 2  rated −  It can be seen from (8) that U’C2 is variant with the motor
− (1 + mrated ) speed. The proportion of U’C2 to U’C1 also varies with motor
rated rated speed between 0% and 25%. To simplify the analysis, we can
where IOM is the amplitude of the output current, ω is the ignore the second-harmonic component when analyzing the
output angular frequency, φ is the phase lag angle and m is the capacitor voltage ripple for ideal quadratic-torque load.
modulation index. It can be found in (3) that UC1 decrease as
the motor speed increases when applied in constant-torque Hence, when the motor with ideal quadratic-torque load
loads. operates at rated speed, the SM capacitor presents largest
voltage ripple.
B. Analysis of Ideal Quadratic-torque Load
C. Analysis of Hypothetical Quadratic-torque Load
Firstly, the capacitor voltage ripple of HMMC which feds
ideal quadratic-torque load is analyzed without considering In most practical quadratic-torque loads, it is necessary to
the startup torque. It means the torque is proportional to the consider the startup torque. Here, use a hypothetical quadratic-
square of motor speed in whole speed range. torque load which has an invariant startup torque during the
startup process and then the torque is proportional to the
At rated speed, the amplitude of output ac current can be square of motor speed after the startup process. Fig. 3 shows
expressed as the characteristic of the hypothetical quadratic-torque load.
I OM =I OM-rated (4) The value of the startup torque and when the startup
To compare the capacitor voltage ripple versus frequency process ends depends on the type of practical loads. Here it
of different types of loads, the following assumptions are has two index, α and β. The index α represents the ratio of the
made: startup torque to rated torque. When the motor speed increases
over a certain value (β of the rated speed), the variation of the
I OM = K1TL (5) torque is consistent with the ideal quadratic-torque load.
When used in ideal quadratic-torque load without According to the instructions above, the capacitor voltage
considering the startup torque, it has ripple of this hypothetical quadratic-torque load can be easily

TL = K 2 n 2 (6)
1
where n is the motor speed. The fundamental component U’C1
TL/TL,rated

in the capacitor voltage ripple of ideal quadratic-torque load

can be derived from (3)-(6) as 0.5 N2rm
rated −  2 m cos  2
4 2
ω/ωrated
(1 + mrated ) + rated

' I 900 2 rated 4rated
2
o 0.05
U C1 = OM-rated  2 2 2 (7) 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
4rated C π p nrated m2 cos 2   −
− rated (1 + mrated rated )
rated rated Fig. 3. A hypothetical load torque used in experiments
 2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)


I O M -rated maximum capacitor voltage ripple occurs at zero speed or
4  rated C constant-torque
rated speed. The minimum capacitor voltage ripple occurs at
1.8 ideal quadratic-torque
hypothetical quadratic-torque the critical output frequency βωrated when the starting process
ends. When the motor operates in braking state, the maximum
Voltage ripple [V]

1.2
capacitor voltage ripple occurs at rated speed and the
minimum capacitor voltage ripple occurs at zero speed. For
0.6 ideal quadratic-torque load, when the motor speed is zero
(ω=0), its minimum amplitude of capacitor voltage ripple is:
 rated
'
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 U C1（zero） = 0 (10)
Fig. 4. Comparison between the variation of three types of loads in full When the motor with the ideal quadratic-torque load
frequency ranges.
rotates at rated speed (ω=ωrated), its maximum amplitude of the
derived from (7) and (8). The fundamental component U’’C1 capacitor voltage ripple can be calculated as follows:
can be expressed as follows.
' I OM-rated
U C1（rated） = 4 + mrated
4
cos 2  − 4mrated
2
cos 2  (11)
  −  2 mrated 4
cos 2  2 8rated C
 (1 + mrated rated ) + 
 I OM-rated rated 4rated
2
For hypothetical quadratic-torque load, when the motor
 4 C speed is βnrated (ω=βωrated), its minimum amplitude of
 rated m 2 cos 2   −
− rated (1 + mrated rated ) capacitor voltage ripple can be obtained as
 rated rated
  2 mrated
4
cos 2 
(  rated )
( )
2
  I 1 + m 1-  +
U C1 = 
U ''C1（ nrated） = OM-rated  
''
rated
4
 rated −  2 mrated4
cos 2  2 4rated C
 (1 + m ) +  −  mrated cos  1 + mrated (1- ) 
2 2
rated 4rated
rated 2
 I OM-rated  900
2

 4rated C π 2 p 2 nrated
2
m 2 cos 2   − (12)
 − rated (1 + mrated rated ) Insert ω=0 into Eq. (11), its amplitude can be expressed as
  rated rated
 (  rated )  I OM-rated
 U ''C1(zero) = (1 + mrated ) (13)
(9) 4rated C
It can be seen from (9) that U’’C1 decreases as motor speed Insert ω=ωrated, the amplitude can be calculated as follows:
increases when ω is less than βωrated whereas U’’C1 increases
as motor speed increases when ω is over βωrated. The '' I OM-rated '
U C1（rated） = 4 + mrated
4
cos 2  − 4mrated
2
cos 2  = U C1（rated）
maximum of the capacitor voltage ripple occurs in zero speed 8rated C
or rated speed which depends on the index α. (14)
D. Comparison between Three Kinds of Loads The selected capacitance must meet the requirement of
To illustrate above equation and analysis, Fig. 4 compares capacitor voltage ripple. Thus, the main point is to compare
the capacitor voltage ripple of constant-torque load, ideal U’’C1(zero) and U’’C1(rated) to find the maximum amplitude of the
quadratic-torque load and hypothetical quadratic-torque load capacitor voltage ripple U’’C1(max). Here we define a ratio γ as
(UC1, U’C1, U’’C1). The parameters involved in the expressions follows:
are consistent with that in simulations. Here, given that α=0.4, ''

β=0.05. U C1（zero） 2 (1 + mrated )

= ''
= (15)
The curve of U’C1 versus frequency ω in three different 4 + m cos 2  − 4mrated
U C1（rated） 4
2
cos 2 
rated
loads in full frequency range is shown in Fig.4. It proves that This ratio γ determines whether the maximum amplitude
the relationship of the capacitance voltage with frequency is of the capacitor voltage ripple occurs at zero speed or the rated
consistent with the theoretical analysis above. speed and depends on α, mrated and φ. The index α, mrated and φ
are related to the startup torque, the control strategy, the
III. DIMENSION THE SM CAPACITANCE practical types of loads and operating status, respectively. The
The most important is how to determine the capacitance of maximum amplitude of the capacitor voltage ripple U’’C1(max)
the HMMC. It will be discussed in this section. can be expressed as follows:
In practical quadratic-torque load applications, it is  I OM-rated
 8 C 4 + mrated cos  − 4mrated cos  (  )
4 2 2 2
essential to consider the startup torque when it is in motoring
state. In contrast, it can be treated as an ideal quadratic-torque ''  rated
U C1（max） = 
load in braking state. When a motor in motoring state starts  I OM-rated (1 + m ) (   )
from standstill to rated speed, it has the same characteristic as  4rated C rated

the hypothetical quadratic-torque load mentioned above.

When a motor stops in braking state, it has the same
characteristic as the ideal quadratic-torque load. The analysis
in Section II about the capacitor voltage ripples of three types
of loads has a certain engineering reference value.
It can be found in Fig. 4. that when HMMC drives a motor
with the practical quadratic-torque load in motoring state, the
(16)
Considering the parameters in TABLE I, it can be
calculated that when the starting torque is 38.21% of the rated
torque, the SM capacitance voltage ripple at zero speed equals
to that at rated speed. It means if the startup torque is greater
 2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)

im_A im_B im_C[kA]

1.6
TABLE I
SIMULATION PARAMETERS 0

-1.6
Rated frequency output frated=50Hz uCum_A uCl m_A [kV]
1.1
Rated modulation index mrated=0.8
1
Number of SMs per
N=20 0.9
arm
udcm [kV]
DC source voltage Udc=20kV 20

Rated dc current Idc=1000A 10

0
SM capacitance C=34mF id c [kA]
1
Arm inductance L=1mH 0.5
Rated active power P=20MW 0
0 1 2 3 [s]
Number of pole pairs p=10 (a)
Rated mechanical load TL-rated=528000Nm 0.6
im_A im_B im_C[kA]
torque
0
Phase lag angle cos=0.99
Rated output phase
IOM-rated=1600A uCum_A uCl m_A [kV]
current 1.1
Rated motor speed nrated=300r/min 1
0.9
udcm [kV]
than 38.21% of the rated torque, the maximum amplitude of 20
capacitor voltage ripple occurs at zero speed. On the contrary, 10
if the startup torque is less than 38.21% of the rated torque, the 0
maximum amplitude of capacitor voltage ripple occurs at 1 idc [kA]
rated speed. 0.5

Then the maximum capacitor voltage is the sum of the 0

0 1 2 3 [s]
maximum amplitude of the capacitor voltage ripple and (b)
average capacitor voltage. In actual productions, the 0.6 im_A im_B im_C[kA]
maximum capacitor voltage must be less than the capacitor 0
voltage limitation. Thus, it has: -0.6
'' uCum_A uCl m_A [kV]
U C1（max）+ U C (rated)  U C (limit) (17) 1.1
1
where UC(rated) represents rated capacitor voltage, UC(limit) 0.9
represents the capacitor voltage limit. To meet the limitation, ud cm [kV]
the minimum capacitance can be derived from (16) and (17), 20
10
as follows:
0

 I OM-rated 1 id c [kA]

 8 (U 4 + mrated
4
cos 2  − 4mrated
2
cos 2  0.5
− U )
 rated C (limit) C (rated) 0
 (  ) 0 1 2 3 [s]
Cmin =  (c)
  I OM-rated
(1 + mrated ) Fig. 5. Simulation waveforms of a PMSM motor driven by the HMMC
 4rated (U C (limit) − U C (rated) ) from standstill to 180 r/min. (a) constant-torque load (b) ideal quadratic
 torque (c) hypothetical quadratic-torque load.
 (  )
(18) phase-A. It can be seen from Fig. 5 (a) that the capacitor
Above all, the SM capacitance of the HMMC is voltage ripple decreases as ω increases. The maximum
determined when it feds hypothetical quadratic-torque loads. capacitor voltage ripple occurs at zero motor speed as the
amplitude of output ac current keeps constant.
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
In order to verify the correctness and feasibility of the Fig. 5(b) shows simulation waveforms of HMMC driving
analysis mentioned before, a 20 MW HMMC driving system system with an ideal quadratic-torque load from standstill to
which drives PMSM is set up in Matlab/Simulink. The 180 r/min. The amplitude and frequency of output ac current
detailed simulation parameters of HMMC and PMSM are both increase gradually. It can be seen easily that the capacitor
listed in TABLE I. It is simulated that the PMSM drives three voltage ripple increases as ω increases. The maximum
types of loads. capacitor voltage ripple occurs at rated motor speed.

Fig. 5 (a) shows simulation waveforms of a PMSM motor
driven by the HMMC from standstill to 180 r/min with a
constant-torque load. After three seconds, the motor gets into
steady state. uCum_A and uClm_A represent capacitor voltage
ripples of corresponding SM in the upper and lower arms of
Fig. 5 (c) shows simulation waveforms of the hypothetical
quadratic-torque load from standstill to 180 r/min. Here, it is
given that α=0.4, β=0.1. It can be seen that the capacitor
voltage ripple decreases as ω increases when ω is less than
0.1ωrated and increases as ω increases when ω is more than
 2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)
0.1ωrated. The maximum capacitor voltage ripple occurs at zero
speed.
In a word, the simulation results shown in Fig. 5
demonstrate the correctness of the analysis mentioned above.
V. CONCLUSION
The HMMC can reduce the capacitor voltage ripple in
constant-torque load applications at low motor speed.
However, the capacitor voltage ripple of quadratic-torque
loads is obviously different from that of constant-torque load.
This paper analyzes the capacitor voltage ripple of a motor
driven by HMMC with quadratic load in detail. Then it
compares the capacitor voltage ripple between the constant-
torque load, ideal quadratic-torque load and a hypothetical
quadratic-torque load in the full frequency. Based on this, it
finds the maximum amplitude of capacitor voltage ripple and
gives a method to dimension the SM capacitance. At last,
correctness of the analysis above is confirmed by simulation
results.
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