I I

A SINGLE PHASE TO THREE PHASE POWER CONVERTER FOR MOTOR DRIVE

APPLICATIONS
Chingchi Chen Deepakraj M. Divan D.W. Novotny
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Wisconsin, Madison Wi 53706

ABSTRACT - This paper presents a simple and low cost
converter topology for driving a three phase motor load from
a single phase ac supply. Using only two active devices wlth
roughly one p.u. current rating, the converter can retain
nearly full starting torque during motor starting with one
extra capacitor and supply excellent balanced output voltage
to the motor under steady state conditions Under positive
sequence operation, the converter has no low frequency
output harmonic distortion, high total Input power factor, and
reasonable input current distortion. In the text, the
fundamental frequency model for the system, harmonic
distortion on the motor side and the input ac line side, the
ratingktress for devices, reactive component selection, and
the control strategies for starttng and steady state operation
are all detailed. The paper contains analytical, simulation and
experimental results
developed for motor starting and steady state operation. The
merits and limitations of all aspects of the proposed solution
are detailed.
11. BASIC OPERATING PRINCIPLE
Fig. 1 shows a circuit schematic for the proposed drive
system. The converter consists of an input inductor (Lin) to
limit the diode current, a half bridge rectifier, a split
capacitor dc bus, and two devices to realize the inverter
section. The voltage rating of diodes and active switches are 2
P.u., referred to the peak input ac voltage. The voltage rating
of the capacitors can be 1 p.u. if the voltage ripple is not
high. However, a higher rating is recommended considering
the possibility of unbalanced operation.

I. INTRODUCTION

Motor drives constitute a predominant load for the +

agricultural sector. As most rural communities in the U.S. "in
-
are supplied with single phase ac power, these drives have
often had to be realized with single phase motors. Single
phase motors, particularly in the integral horse power range,
tend to have lower performance and higher cost, when
compared with three phase motors. Various solutions have
been proposed for single to three phase conversion in the
literature, some of which are also available commercially.
These include rotary converters, phase shifters and static
converters. Although static converters are potentially capable
of realizing the best performance, they have represented a
rather expensive solution when implemented as a fully Figure 1. Schematic of the proposed single phase to three
featured three phase variable speed drive. Constant speed phase converter.
implementations have also been reported [Nesbitt et. al.,
Enjeti], but have not addressed the issues of voltage balance The motor is connected as shown in Fig. 1, where A, B
under steady state operation, motor starting under heavy load, and C are used to identify positive and negative sequence
inrush current and input power factor. operation for the motor. The input ac voltage is connected
across one pair of motor terminals to form the line-line
This paper proposes a simple two transistor converter voltage VW, and the inverter supplies the other voltage Vbc.
topology and control strategy for realizing a low cost, Ignoring device voltage drops, the inverter can supply an
moderate performance three phase motor drive operating output ac voltage of amplitude of 1 p.u. with a phase shift of
from a single phase ac supply. Control strategies are
OIEEE
0-7803-0634-1/92$03.00
d3 to the input ac voltage to provide a balanced three phase
source for the motor.

The diode bridge on the input side of the converter is
for supplying energy to the inverter, and draws current from
the ac line only at the peaks of the input voltage.
Consequently, the fundamental model of the circuit can
ignore the diodes, giving the simplified equivalent circuit
shown in Fig. 2. From this diagram we see that the input line
current Iin is essentially equal to the motor current Ia, and the
converter current Iinv is equal to Ib. If switching harmonics
and unbalance conditions are also ignored, the circuit can be
analyzed using fundamental components. Phasor diagrams and
symmetrical component analysis can be used to derive most of
the characteristics for the system. For a three phase system,
the inverter can be controlled so that the fundamental
component of the output voltage either lags or leads the input
line voltage by 60". corresponding to positive or negative
sequence operation. Surprisingly, these two modes of
operation yield very different performance.
With a typical motor full load power factor, equations (1) and
(2) show that most of the real power is supplied by the
inverter and that the current drawn from the ac line has low
power factor. The inverter power, in turn comes from the ac
line, and suggests that higher peak currents would be drawn
by the input diode bridge, giving even lower power factor.
Another problem of negative sequence operation is the higher
output voltage distortion. From Fig. 4 (a) it can be seen that
the peak of the output voltage occurs just before the peak of
the input voltage. This indicates that the dc bus capacitor can
be significantly discharged when the peak of the output
voltage occurs. In the positive sequence mode, the input
voltage leads the output, and will have a higher dc bus voltage
when the output peak occurs, thus giving lower output
distortion.
B
Vinvff Vb

P9
+ I
C A
motor 'inv in

Figure 3. Phasor diagram of the system in negative sequence

L operation.

Figure 2. Simplified circuit diagram of the converter.

111. FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS

3. I Negative sequence operation

Fig. 3 shows the phasor diagram of the system in

negative sequence operation. The motor phase voltages of
negative sequence and line currents at lagging power factor
are shown. The inverter output voltage Vinv which equals Yn
motor voltage V h leads the line input voltage V i n by 60'.
From the circuit diagram in fig. 2 and the phasor diagram in
figure 3, the input power from the line side is :

where Bin is the input power angle, and 0m is the power angle
of the motor and is a positive number if power factor is
Figure 4. The relationship between input voltage, output
lagging. Also, the power Pinv delivered from the inverter to
voltage command, and capacitor voltages. (a) negative
the motor is :
sequence case. (b) positive sequence case.

640
 Fig. 5 shows the detailed simulation results for negative
sequence operation. The data used in all the simulations in this
paper are :
Motor:
30, 4 poles, 230Vac induction motor, Rs = Rr = 0.7 R,
Xls = Xlr = 152, Xm = 2452, TL = 20 N-m, Inertia = 0.2 kg-
m2
32 Positive sequence operation
Fig. 6 shows the phasor diagram of the system in
positive sequence operation, where the inverter output voltage
Vinv lags the input voltage Vi, by 60'. From the diagram the
power delivered by the fundamental component from the line
side is :

Converter :
and the power from the inverter is
Input = single phase 240Vac, Lin = 0.5 mh, C1 = C2 =
1OOOpF, fsw = 3KHZ. Cstm = 600 PF, &)limit = 20 A

The results confirm low fundamental input power These equations show that most of the power is obtained
factor, high diode current, and high output distortion. directly from the ac line, while the inverter handles the
reactive power required by the motor. Consequently, the
8 inverter needs less power from the ac line, giving lower peak
currents and higher power factor. It is also possible to obtain
full output voltage, even in the presence of real device drops:
Vin the technique wil be discussed in greater detail in section 4.
(volt) Simulation results confirming the improved performance
characteristics under positive sequence operation are shown in
Fig. 7.

Figure 6. Phasor diagram for the system operated in positive

sequence.

3.2.I Over-voltageproblem in positive sequence operation

One important issue under positive sequence operation

.3
occurs when the motor power factor angle is larger than 60".
Under such conditions, the angle between Vinv and Iinv (Ib)

I I will be larger than 90". This implies that energy is pumped

back into the converter, a condition which is possible when
the motor is lightly loaded. The diode input does not permit
regeneration and results in an elevated dc bus voltage which
can cause the converter to trip. Several strategies can
8 I, overcome this problem :
- ,
0.30 I . 00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5
T (sec) 1) Disable the inverter when dc over-voltage is sensed, thus
reverting to single phase operation. Although this is the
Figure 5. Simulation results for negative sequence operation.
simplest strategy, it suffers from some drawbacks including Vno is zero because of balanced operation. The positive
the possibility of 'hunting' on transfer from three phase sequence quantities Vpo and 6Vp can be similarly calculated.
operation, and higher torque ripple, typical of single phase However, as Vpo is not zero and is much larger than 6Vp,
operation. 6Vp can be neglected. Now, because the negative sequence
0 impedance of the motor at full speed is small, the negative
sequence voltage will cause a noticeable current in the motor.
This current in motor phase B is
Vin
(volt
The total B phase current will be the original current caused
by the positive sequence voltage and the incremental current
3 in equation (6). The angle modifying effect for the current in
B phase is shown in Fig. 8.

A small phase shift is enough to stop the energy

accumulation. A slow control loop is recommended to adjust
the phase shift when overvoltage is sensed. With this control
strategy, no extra power element is required and the cost is
expected to be low. A slightly unbalanced condition is
expected, but based on simulation the torque ripple is only
about 60% of that in single phase operation.

Figure 8. Phase shift operation to overcome the over-voltage

problem in positive sequence operation.
-1 00 I so 2 00 3 00 4.00
3.3 Motor starting
T (sec) *'O-*

The ability to start a motor with high starting torque

Figure 7. Simulation results for positive sequence operation.
2) Introduce a phase shift imbalance in the inverter output
voltage, as shown in fig. 8. Using symmetrical component
analysis, the magnitude of negative sequence voltage Vn can
be calculated.
Vn = (Vab + e-WOVbc)1 3
= ((Vabo - 6Vb) + e-j6O0(Vbc0 + 6Vb)) / 3
= ( V a +~ e-j6O0Vbc0) /3 + e-j12Oo6Vd3
= Vno + 6Vn
and low converter rating is what makes the circuit so
practical and attractive. The proposed start-up strategy is
shown in fig. 9(a), where a starting capacitor Csand a switch
S1 are connected across terminals B and C for positive
sequence 'Peration (across A and B for negative sequence
operation). The phasor diagram in Fig. 9(b) indicates that the
capacitor would draw current orthogonal to the voltage Vbc,
which would reduce inverter current demand to a much
smaller value. The required capacitance Csand the inverter
current rating are :
(5) Cs = Ib COS ( 60" - 0s ) / ( 27tfVk ) (7)

642
 designed to detect that motor speed is near its rated value so
as to disconnect the capacitor.

Fig. 10 shows the simulation result for the motor

Iin
+-) started by three phase full line voltage, while Fig. 11 depicts
the same motor started with the proposed converter. The
"in
simulation results show that the start up time is similar to line
Iinv
operation and the converter rating is only about 1 p.u.

Motor
speed
( rad/sec )

Figure 9. (a) Capacitor and switch to assist the starting of an

induction motor. (b) Phasor diagram of this system.

where Os is the motor power factor during start up.

If a large horse power motor, say 10 HP, is used, the

start up power angle is likely to exceed 60°, causing a re-
occurance of the over voltage problem mentioned earlier, T sec
requiring solutions as discussed. If balanced full terminal
voltages are desired during start up, the magnitude and the
phase of inverter output current will depend on speed and
motor parameters, which change abruptly - - when the speed
approaches the rated value. As the start up capacitor is Figure IO. Simulation results for the motor started by full
normally designed to compensate the current at high slip, the line voltage.
capacitance is likely to be too large when the motor speed is
high. To an extent the inverter can compensate, but only to IV. REACTIVE COMPONENT SELECTION
within its current capabilities. Marginal imbalance can be
As previously discussed, the proposed circuit can
expected under inverter current limit, but with minimal
impact on total motor torque as negative sequence torque is ideally realize a balanced waveform in the absence of device
small at high motor speed. A simple detection circuit can be drops and with large dc bus capacitors* More

643
 realistically, one would expect to over-modulate the inverter,
so as to overcome the dc bus utilization constraint. This
would result in a more complex control strategy, and could
possibly yield higher harmonic currents. It would also
require larger dc bus capacitors, with concomitant problems
of high inrush current and poor power factor due to input
current spiking. A more elegant solution uses smaller dc bus
capacitors with an input inductor (Lin in Fig. 9a).
R-

Motor
speed 2
0 - ’ 1 1
( rad/sec )

- A
3 3c -
“ --
2L 26 28 - 3-
- ? 4

COT
Fig. 12. The resonant behavior when the diode is charging.
L~,,= 0.02 p . ~ c, = 5 pU., = 1 pU..e = -300.

Another important capacitor specification is the ripple

a current rating. These capacitors carry both 60 hertz and
3
carrier frequency ripple, and need to be appropriately rated.
A reasonable choice would be electrolytic capacitors of the
highest value permitted by the curves in Fig. 13.

:::j
vos (P.U.)
U L

I I I I

p.u.
by+- -0.1

p.u.

-
L = 0.1 p.u.
sec -0.2: - 1 * 1 - I - I - I - I
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Capacitance (p.U .)
Fig. 11. Simulation results for the motor started by the
Fig. 13. The voltage overshoot as a function of dc capacitance
proposed converter. Inverter current is limited at 20A.
and input line inductance. A negative Vos value means output
Per unit values are used in these fig. as reference, distortion is not avoidable.
where the input line voltage and the rated motor line current
The smaller bus capacitor reduces inrush current on
are the voltage and current bases, and the frequency W b s e is
start up and realizes smaller current spiking on the input
used to specify impedance base.
under normal operation. Further, the input inductor and dc

7-
bus capacitor resonate to realize a dc bus voltage which is
greater than the peak of the input ac voltage. However, too
small a capacitor discharges almost completely over the half
cycle. and results in a large current peak when the input ac
voltage cuts in. Further, the dc bus voltage may resonate
down to below the value (1 pu) required for realizing an
undistorted output voltage. Consequently. choosing too small
or too large an input capacitor can result in output voltage
distortion. Fig. 12 shows a simulation of the dc bus voltage,
the input line current and the output voltage demonstrating
the voltage boost feature which yields an undistorted output.
Fig. 13 depicts the relationship between the dc bus voltage
overshoot, the input inductor and the dc bus capacitor
showing the range of component choices possible.
V. CONTROL STRATEGIES
The block diagram in fig. 14 shows the control scheme
for the system. The output voltage controller derives its
reference from the input line voltage using a 60' filter to
provide phase shift and noise attenuation. As the dc bus can
-
have significant ripple, a closed loop controller is used to
minimize output distortion. A simple sine-triangle
modulation strategy is used, with simple disable circuits for
current limit and dc bus over-voltage.
GUI
+
'in"
t
ViiV
I 100V/div
m c i t o r Switch ControlleJ
PhSrP dcmoduhor 'd 1
I. - -I I' '1
Figure 14 Control block diagram of the converter.
The capacitor switch controller determines the instant
of disconnecting the starting capacitor. The control principle
is based on the fact that the amplitude and the phase angle of
the inverter output current change dramatically when the
motor speed approaches the rated value. A simple
645
demodulator is used to get a DC voltage that is proportional
to the product of the current amplitude and the cosine value
of the angle between the current and the reference angle. The
demodulated signal is filtered and compared with a reference
value to decide the time to disconnect the capacitor. This
allows the system to operate for a relatively wide range of
load inertia's.
VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In order to prove the proposed drive topology , a
converter rated at 4.5 kw unit has been fabricated. The
converter parameters are :
Input single phase voltage: 24OVac
Switching frequency: 3KHz ( sine-triangle modulation )
Current limit: 20A.
DC bus capacitor: lO00p.F each.
Start-up capacitor: 600pF
A 3@,4-pole. 230V. 3 hp induction motor was used with the
following parameters :
Vin
[in
10A/div
Vinv
100V/div
t
Figure 15 Test results for negative sequence
Smsidiv
I
operation.
This motor drives a DC generator with measured output DC
power of 2 KW at full speed. Fig. 15 shows converter
operation in the negative sequence mode, confirming
simulation results obtained in fig. 5. Fig. 16 depicts the
results for positive sequence operation showing performance
as expected. The input power factor, input current peak, and
the output distortion are confirmed to be better than in
negative sequence operation. The motor current distortion has
been measured to be less than 5%, a fig. which can be further
improved if a better reference is used. Fig. 17 shows the
start-up performance of the motor when operated with 'he
converter. Confirming simulations, the start-up time is seen
to be almost the same as for line start from a three phase ac
supply. The inverter current is seen to be well limited,
indicating that the devices have a very low VA rating, in fact
around 1 pu. The ripple current is also seen to be very
reasonable. It is felt that starting torque and ripple
performance could be best realized if a double cage motor
was used in this application.
Vin
O O L ' 'div
[in
10 - \ , d l V
Figure 16 Test results for positive sequence
operation.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has proposed a simple and potentially low
cost approach to realizing a three phase induction motor drive
from a single phase ac supply. Detailed analysis has revealed
that the problem is significantly more complex than is
apparent at first glance. Important considerations that have
been addressed in this paper include:
Simple low cost, low rated converter topology
Simple operating strategy for balanced operation
Operation with low output distortion
Distinctions between positive and negative sequence
operation
Improved performance of positive sequence mode
646
Simple and economical starting strategy with virtually
full starting torque
Analytical understanding of system operation
Verification of system operation through detailed
simulation and in the laboratory
The single phase to three phase conversion area represents a
vast market, particularly in the U.S. The realization of a high
pcrformance low cost approach is likely to create significant
new product opportunities.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funding from the University of Wisconsin University-
Industry Research Program is gratefully acknowledged. Mr.
Chen has been partially funded by the a scholarship from the
Republic of Taiwan. Laboratory facilities provided by the
Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics
Consortium (WEMPEC) are also acknowledged.
REFERENCES
J. Nesbitt. Chinechi Chen. D.M. Divan, D.W. Novotny., "A
Novel Sin'gle Phvase to Three Phase Converter," Con( Rec.
APECPI, pp. 95-99.
P. Enieti. A. Rahman. R . Jakkli. "Economic Single Phase to
Three-phase Converter.Topologies for Fixed Frequency Output,"
Conf. Rec. APECPI, pp. 88-94.
Chingchi Chen. D.M. Divan, D.W.Novotny., "Single Phase to
Three Phase Power Converter For Motor Loads", U.S. Patent
Application P91 I54US.
S.K. Biswas, "A New Static Converter For The Operation of
Three-Phase Motors on Single-phase Supply," IEEE IAS Conf.
Rec.. 1986. pp.1550-1554.
I I,
I I
-
r
Figure 17. M o t o r start up response with the
motor started by the converter.