An Unified Neutral-Point Voltage Controller for

NPC Converter Fed Induction Machine Drive

Ramkrishan Maheshwari
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
New Delhi, India
e-mail: rkmahesh@ee.iitd.ac.in

Abstract—The control of the neutral-point (NP) voltage is one A modulation strategy which ensures zero NP current
of the major challenges in the operation of the neutral-point- averaged over a switching period is proposed in [5] for any
clamped (NPC) three-level converter. Some controllers are load for three-phase three-wire system. Therefore, the dc-link
proposed in the literature which are based on the continuous capacitor size can be reduced. In addition, the output harmonic
system model. However, those models are function of either distortion is low at low modulation indices. However, this
active or reactive power which limits their operation under requires an extra switching transition for the phase which has
certain operating point. As an example, the model with the active middle voltage value among the three-phase output voltage as
does not work properly for an induction machine drive under no compared to standard SPWM and SVPMW method. A carrier-
load condition. In this paper, a hybrid modulation strategy is
based implementation of this PWM method is proposed in [6].
proposed which causes the NP current to be proportional to the
sum of the active and reactive power. Using this, the dynamics of
the NP voltage difference is modeled as a function of the sum of
the active and reactive power. This approach is used to improve
the performance of NPC converter feeding the induction machine
under no load condition. In addition, a method to extend the limit
of the control variable is also described. Simulation results are
shown to verify the proposed modulation strategy and the
controller based on that.

Keywords—Three-level converter; neutral-point voltage

control; Pulsewidth modulation

I. INTRODUCTION
Three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) converters have
found its use in low-voltage drive applications [1]-[3]. The
main advantages of the NPC converter are low device stress,
high efficiency, and low output voltage distortion.
The NPC converter requires two dc-link capacitors
connected in series, as shown in Fig. 1, which are fed by a
single source, typically, and the voltage across the dc-link
capacitors should be equal for proper operation of the
converter. The dc-link voltage can become unbalanced due to
unequal currents through them. Under this condition, the
current flowing through the midpoint of the capacitors, also
known as the neutral-point (NP) current, is not zero. To
maintain the capacitor voltage balance, the NP current should
be equal to zero.
The NP current averaged over an output fundamental
period is zero if the ac load connected to the converter is
balanced. However, if the converter is modulated using
sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation (SPWM) or space-vector
PWM (SVPWM), the NP current has a component with three
times the output fundamental frequency [4]. Therefore, the dc-
link capacitance requirement is high to suppress this harmonic
component with low frequency.
Fig. 1. NPC three-level converter.
Although the NP current is zero in a switching period, the
NP voltage can change due to transients in the load as well as
source side. This can cause unequal dc-link capacitor voltages
and high output harmonic distortion. Therefore, a NP voltage
controller is required. Several control methods for the dc-link
voltage balance using the PWM method of [5] and [6] are
proposed [6]-[8]. The method proposed in [6] requires the
knowledge of the phase current to implement the controller. A
simple controller is proposed in [7] which adds a common-
mode (CM) offset, which is a function of control variable, to
the PWM reference signals. The control variable is chosen in a
way that the plant transfer function becomes first-order
continuous function. This simplifies the implementation and
design of the controller. However, the plant transfer function
depends on the active power. Therefore, if the controller is
designed for rated power conditions, the bandwidth of the
control system at low power reduces which is a disadvantage if
the converter is feeding an induction machine (IM) drive at no
load condition, and the dynamic performance is poor.

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 To improve the performance of the NPC converter fed IM
t = vmax + vc
m
drive, a new modulation method which combines the PWM vmax
methods of [7] and [8] are proposed in this paper. The PWM m
vmaxb =0
methods used in [7] and [8] are an extension of the method in
[5]. Using the PWM methods of [7] and [8], the NP voltage can vmid
t = + vc1
m
vmid
be modelled as a function of active and reactive power, 2 (3)
respectively. Therefore, combining the PWM methods of [7] vmid
b = + vc 2
m
and [8], the NP voltage is modelled as a function of the sum of vmid
2
the output active and reactive power as discussed in Section II.
t =0
m
However, the method described in [8] may have some vmin
limitation of operation due to the reference signal values m
vminb = vmin + vc
exceeding the limits of the carrier signals even with small
variation of the control signal. To get rid of this limitation, a with
method to extend the range of operation is also discussed in
Section II. Using this method and the hybrid model of
combining [7] and [8], an NP voltage controller is designed in vmin v
vc1 = − , vc 2 = − max
Section III. The simulation results are presented in Section IV 2 2 , (4)
to verify the controller design. Finally, Section V presents the v
conclusions. ⇒ vc = vc1 + vc 2 = mid
2

II. PROPOSED PWM METHOD the NP current averaged in a switching period will be zero [5]-
[7]. The subscripts, t and b, represent the reference voltage
A set of three-phase normalized reference signals for a dc-
waveforms to be compared to carrier 1 and carrier 2,
ac converter is, typically, given by
respectively. The superscript m represents the modified
reference signals after adding the CM offset. vc1 and vc2 are the
vA, ref = m cos (ωt ) CM offsets added to the two reference signals of the phase
(1) having middle value.
vB, ref = m cos (ωt − 2π 3)
vC, ref = m cos (ωt + 2π 3) The carrier signals, three-phase reference signals, and
corresponding output voltage signals in a switching period are
shown in Fig. 2. It can be seen that the phase with the middle
where m = vm/vdc is the modulation index, vdc is the dc-link
voltage value switch four times while other phases switch only
voltage across a dc-link capacitor, and vm and ω are the
twice in a switching period. This increases the effective
fundamental peak amplitude and fundamental frequency of the
switching frequency of the output voltage.
required output ac phase voltage, respectively.
The reference signals can be sampled in a switching period,
and the sampled reference signals can be sorted as given by

vmax = max (vA, ref , vB, ref , vC, ref )

vmid = mid (vA, ref , vB, ref , vC, ref ) (2)
vmin = min (vA, ref , vB, ref , vC, ref )

where vmax, vmid, and vmin are the maximum, middle, and
minimum values of the reference signals.
A CM offset can be added to the reference signals given by
(1). Although the CM offset does not change the line-line
voltages, it can be used to affect the NP current which in turn
controls the NP voltage. If the modified reference signals after
addition of the CM offset are given by

Fig. 2. Reference signals, carrier signals and corresponding pole voltage.

To control the NP current by using the CM offset, the

reference signals given by (1) can modified as given by [7]

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 for case II (π/3 < ωt ≤ 2π/3, π < ωt ≤ 4π/3, and 5π/3 < ωt ≤ 2π).
t = vmax + vc
m
vmax
Using (5), (9), and (10), the reference signals can also be
b =0
m
vmax given by
t = k P .v mid + vc1
m
vmid
(5)
b = (1 − k P ).vmid + vc 2
m
vmid m
v max ( )
t = 1 − k Q (v max − v mid ) + k Q (v mid − v min )
v m
mint =0 v m
=0
max b

b = vmin + vc ( )
m
t = 1 − k Q (v max − v min ) − k Q (v max − v mid )
vmin m
v mid (11)
with v m
mid b ( )
= − 1 − k Q (v max − v min ) + k Q (v mid − v min )

t = 0
m
v min
vc1 = −k P vmin , vc 2 = −(1 − k P )vmax (6)
m
v min ( )
b = − 1 − k Q (v mid − v min ) + k Q (v max − v mid )

for case I, and

Using (5) and (6), the reference signals can also be given by

v X , reft = k P (v X , ref − vmin )

, (7)
m
vmax ( )
t = k Q (v max − v mid ) + 1 − k Q (v mid − vmin )

v X , refb = − (1 − k P )(vmax − v X , ref ) v m

max b =0
v m
mid t ( )
= kQ (vmax − vmin ) − 1 − k Q (vmax − vmid ) (12)
and the NP current averaged over a switching period can be
given by v m
mid b ( )
= − kQ (vmax − vmin ) + 1 − k Q (vmid − vmin )
v m
min t =0

1 − 2k P
io = p (8)
Ts Ts
v dc
where p is the converter output active power. Equation (5) and
(6) yield (3) and (4) for kP = ½, and for this value of kP, the NP
current averaged over a switching period will be zero.
Eq. (8) shows that the NP current can be controlled by
changing the factor kP. It is shown in [7] that the factor kP can
be used as a control variable to control the NP voltage, and (8)
can be linearized to obtain a first order continuous function
defining the NP voltage dynamics. The function can be used to
design the NP controller with the help of classical control
theory. The controller designed by the approach in [7] has very
high dynamic performance if the active power drawn by the
converter is high. However, the dynamic performance of the
controller is not good if the active power drawn by the
converter is low. An example of such case is induction
machine running under no load condition where the load is
mostly reactive.
To improve the dynamic performance under reactive load
condition, another set of CM offsets are proposed in [8] which
are given by
m
vmin ( )
b = − k Q (v mid − vmin ) + 1 − k Q (v max − v mid )
for case II, and the NP current average over a switching period
is given by
1 − 2 kQ
io = 3 q (13)
Ts Ts
vdc
where q is the converter output reactive power. Equation (11)
and (12) yield (3) for kQ = ½, and for this value of kQ, the NP
current averaged over a switching period will be zero.
The factor kQ can be used as a control variable to control
the NP voltage, but the controller can demand the value of kQ
in a way that a reference signal value, which corresponds to
carrier 1, is not between 0 and 1, or a reference signal value,
which corresponds to carrier 2, is not between 0 and −1. Phase
A reference signals for m = 1, kQ = 0.55, for which the
reference signals are not within the specified limits, are shown
in Fig. 3. The limitations can be violated for some conditions
such as if (vmax − vmin) > (vmid − vmin) and kQ > (vmax − vmin)/(vmax
m
+ vmid − 2vmin), vmid b > 0 for case I. Similar conditions can be
t < 0 and vmidb > 0 for case II.
m m
obtained for vmid

( )
vc1 = 1 − k Q (vmax − vmin ) − k Q vmax
(9)
( )
vc 2 = − 1 − k Q (vmax − vmin + vmid ) + k Q (vmid − vmin )

for case I (0 < ωt ≤ π/3, 2π/3 < ωt ≤ π, and 4π/3 < ωt ≤ 5π/3),
and

(
vc1 = k Q (vmax − vmid − vmin ) − 1 − k Q (vmax − vmid ) )
(10)
(
vc 2 = − k Q (vmax − vmin ) − 1 − k Q vmin )

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 1 modulation strategy is proposed in the paper, which is a
0.75
combination of the PWM methods proposed in [7] and [8]. The
modified reference signals for the proposed PWM method are
Phase A Ref. Signal

0.5
given by
0.25
0
-0.25
v max t =
( )
k P (v max − v min ) + 1 − k Q (v max − v mid ) + k Q (v mid − v min )
-0.5 2
-0.75 v max b = 0
-1
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
v mid t =
(1 − k )(v Q max − v min ) − k Q (v max − v mid ) + k P (v mid − v min )
Angle(deg)
2 (15)
Fig. 3. Phase A reference signals for m = 1 and kQ = 0.55.
v mid b =
(
− 1 − k Q (v max ) − v min ) − (1 − k P )(v max − v mid ) + k Q (v mid − v min )
2
In that case, to maintain the reference signals within v min t = 0
specified limits and satisfy eq. (13), the reference signals for
v min b =
( )
− 1 − k Q (v mid − v min ) − (1 − k P )(v max − v min ) + k Q (v max − v mid )
the phase with middle voltage value need to be modified. If the 2
modified reference signals for the phase with middle voltage
value, calculated from (11) and (12), is not between the for case I and
specified limits corresponding to the carrier signals, the
updated reference signals are calculated by using (3) with
v max t =
k P (v max − v min ) + k Q (v max − v mid ) + 1 − k Q (v mid − v min ) ( )
2
m
if vmidt <0 ( ) v max b = 0
vc1 = −0.5vmid v mid t =
( )
k Q (v max − v min ) − 1 − k Q (v max − v mid ) + k P (v mid − v min )
(16)
vc 2 = − 3
1 − 2k Q
q
v (v − v )
− max − mid min iv min
2
− k Q (v max − v min ) − (1 − k P )(v max − v mid ) + 1 − k Q (v mid − v min ) ( )
2vdc iv max Ts
2 2iv max v mid b =
(14) 2
m
if vmidb >0 ( ) v min t = 0
1 − 2k Q vmin (vmax − vmid ) v min b =
− k Q (v mid − v min ) − (1 − k P )(v max − v min ) + 1 − k Q (v max − v mid ) ( )
vc1 = 3 q Ts
− + iv max 2
2vdc iv min 2 2iv min
vc 2 = −0.5vmid for case II.
The reference signals used in (15) and (16) are the average
It should be noted the CM offset has two components. One
of the PWM reference signals of (7) and (11) and (7) and (12),
of the component is half of the middle voltage value of the
respectively. Therefore, (15) and (16) also yield (3) and (4) for
original reference signals obtained from (2). Another
kP = kQ = ½, and the NP current averaged over a switching
component depends on the reactive power and ac side currents.
period will be zero. For the PWM reference signals as given by
This method is valid only for the cases when the reference
(15) and (16), the NP current averaged over a switching period
signals for the phase with middle voltage value are outside the
is given by
specified limits of the carrier signals. This method is used to
calculate the reference signals for phase A for m = 1, kQ = 0.55,
and the results are shown in Fig. 4. This increases the range of 1 − 2k P 1 − 2k Q
the factor kQ which is used as the control variable. io = p + 3 q (17)
Ts
v dc Ts
vdc Ts

1
0.75 From (17), the equation defining the dynamic of the NP
Phase A Ref. Signal

0.5 voltage is given by

0.25
0
1 − 2k Q
-0.25
-0.5
C dc
d
dt
(
v dc1 Ts
− v dc2 Ts
) = 1 −v2k P
p Ts
+ 3
v dc
q Ts
(18)
dc
-0.75
-1
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360 It should be noted here that the final dynamic equation of
Angle(deg) the NP voltage is a continuous equation which can simplify the
Fig. 4. Phase A reference signals for m = 1 and kQ = 0.55 using (11), (12), and design of the controller as discussed in the next section. In
(14). addition, one output is affected by two control variables, kP and
To improve the performance of the NP controller, the kQ.
abovementioned methods are combined, and a hybrid

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 III. NEUTRAL-POINT VOLTAGE CONTROLLER DESIGN IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
As discussed in the previous section, the difference in the An NPC converter fed induction machine drive system is
dc-link voltages is affected by two control variables. Typically, simulated in MATLAB Simulink®. The induction machine is
control problems deal with one control variable controlling one controlled using open loop constant V/f control method. The
output of the system. Therefore, this creates a problem for the block diagram of the system is simulated in Fig. 6. The
controller design. To simplify the situation in this paper, kP and parameters for the induction machine (400 V, 50 Hz, 7500 W,
kQ are kept equal which yield 1470 rpm) are given in Table I. The induction machine is fed
by a three-level NPC converter. The NPC converter has the
switching frequency of 10 kHz. The neutral-point controller is
C dc
d
dt
(
v dc1 Ts
− v dc2 Ts
) = 1 −v2k ( p Ts
+ 3 q Ts
) (19) simulated as described in the previous section. The controller
parameters are given in Table II. The proposed controller
dc
performance is compared with that of the proposed method in
using (18), where k = kP = kQ. [7] under no load and full load conditions.
Since the dynamic equation is a nonlinear function of the Fig. 7 shows the dc-link voltage under no load and full load
active and reactive power, it is required to find the small-signal condition with the controller proposed in [7]. The difference in
linearized model about an operating point. The model can then the dc-link voltages is not zero under no load condition while
be used to design the controller parameters using the classical the dc-link voltages are same under full load. This is due to the
linear control theory. Using (19), the small-signal model of the fact that the closed loop bandwidth increases as power
system is given by increases.
Fig. 8 shows the dc-link voltage under no load and full load
~ condition with the proposed controller. The difference in the
C dc
dt
(
d ~
v dc1 Ts
− v~dc2 Ts
)= − 2k
Vdc
(P + 3Q ) (20) dc-link voltages are zero under no load condition as well as the
full load conditions. The proposed controller performance is
better than that of the proposed in [7] under no load condition
where ~ denotes the small-signal value of a variable, and the for the IM drive, and no difference between the performances
capital letters denote the dc operating point value of a variable. of two controllers is found under full load conditions. The
Using (20) as the plant equation, a simple proportional-integral machine currents under no load and full load conditions are
(PI) controller can be used as the controller. The block diagram shown in Fig. 9 when the proposed NP controller is used.
of the controller is shown in Fig. 5.
TABLE I. INDUCTION MACHINE PARAMETERS
~ Δ~
v dc
− 2k
Vdc
(P + 3Q ) Stator Resistance
Rotor Resistance
0.75
1.06
Stator Leakaga Inductance 6.64 mH
Rotor Leakage Inductance 6.64 mH
Magnetizing Inductance 140 mH
No. of Poles 4
Fig. 5. NP voltage controller block diagram.

TABLE II. PI CONTROLLER PARAMETERS

It can be seen from Fig. 5 that the dc operating point value Proportional Gain 0.0018
of the active and reactive power can be considered as a factor Integral Gain 20
in the gain term of the open loop transfer function of the
system which decides the bandwidth of the control system.
The main problem with the method used in [7], where the
reactive power term was not considered, and the bandwidth
becomes low under no load condition of the induction machine.
This problem in overcome by the proposed PWM method and
the system model. In the proposed model, even the active
power becomes zero, the reactive power is not zero since this is
required to magnetize the induction machine. Therefore, the
variations in the gain of the open loop transfer function and
control system bandwidth are reduced.
In addition, to improve the control range, the method
described by (14) is used. However, it requires extra Fig. 6. Block diagram of the system.
computation of calculation of the reference signals using the
phase currents.

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 310 25

15

305
5

I (A)
V (V)

s
300 -5
dc

-15

295
-25
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
Angle(deg)

290 (a)
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20 0 25
Time (ms)
(a) 15
310

I (A)
305

s
-5
Vdc(V)

-15
300
-25
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
Angle(deg)
295 (b)
Fig. 9. Stator currents under (a) no load and (b) full load condition.
290
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20 0
Time (ms)
(b) corresponding carrier signal peak values. The method which
Fig. 7. Dc-link voltage using controller proposed in [7] under (a) no load and
extends the control range does not change the NP voltage
(b) full load condition. dynamic equation, but it requires extra computational efforts.
310 The simulation results demonstrates the better performance by
the controller using the hybrid modulation strategy.
305

REFERENCES
Vdc(V)

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[3] R. Teichmann and S. Bernet, “A comparison of three-level converters
290
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20 0
versus two-level converters for low-voltage drives, traction, and utility
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[4] C. Wang and Y. Li, "Analysis and Calculation of Zero-Sequence
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[5] S. Busquets-Monge, J. Bordonau, D. Boroyevich and S. Somavilla, "The
V (V)

300 nearest three virtual space vector PWM—A modulation for the
dc

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0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20 0 voltage oscillations in the neutral point,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.,
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(b)
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Fig. 8. Dc-link voltage using the proposed controller under (a) no load and (b) neutral-point voltage controller of a three-level NPC inverter with small
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V. CONCLUSION [8] R. Maheshwari, S. Munk-Nielsen, and S. Busquets-Monge, “Neutral-
point voltage dynamics model of three-level NPC inverter for reactive
A hybrid modulation strategy is proposed in this paper. load,” 38th Annual Conference on IEEE Industrial Electronics Society,
With the proposed hybrid modulation strategy, the NP current IECON 2012, pp. 585-589.
is modelled as a function of the sum of the active and reactive
power. A method to extend the control range is also described
in case the modified reference signal values are outside the

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