Title: A multilevel converter for medium voltage application.

Objective of invention
The aim of the present invention is to show how the converter that is employed in this work is
effective in injecting balanced three phase power, even when the power generated by the
upper leg is different from the lower arm, thereby creating a self-balancing multilevel
converter with reduced switch count, lower switching frequency and lower losses. A novel
multilevel converter for a medium voltage application is proposed here is suitable for a
medium voltage system.
In basic configuration of the converter in each leg, the supply terminal can be connected to
the converter through single pole triple throw (SPTT) switch having the options to be
connected with +DC, neutral, -DC bus of the converter. The DC kink consists of two wave-
shaper legs. The central point is connected to neutral. An active neutral point clamped
(ANPC) leg is used in place of the SPTT switch to realize the converter. With the use of
ANPC, two switch are coming in series to block the line voltage. This will increase the
voltage rating of the converter.
Summary
The proposed converter is realized using an active neutral point converter (ANPC) leg. The
converter consists of a DC link of cascaded half -bridge modules (HBMs). The cascaded
HBM DC-link acts as a waveshaping module that generates a unipolar multilevel voltage
which is then inverted by the inverter legs. The switches in each phase of the inverter is
switched at the fundamental frequency of voltage. The DC-link has two arms, namely the
upper leg and the lower leg connected in cascade. The central point is the neutral point of the
converter. The waveshaping part can also be retrofitted to an existing ANPC converter easily.
When the load current is unbalanced the multilevel converter injects necessary negative
sequence current to make the source current balanced. The converter upper arm and lower
arm are considered to have five half-bridge modules. This converter has self-balancing
properties, which ensures balanced current injection into the grid even though the power
generated by the upper arm is different from the lower arm. Topology can be extended to PV
applications where balanced power can be injected with this converter on the AC side even
with partial insolation on PV module on the DC side. This is happened due to the inherent
energy balancing capability of the converter. The proposed converter is an inverter and can be
employed in medium voltage applications that may include STATCOMs, PV STATCOMs and
motor drives.

Detailed description of invention

The present invention is regarding a multilevel converter for medium voltage application
which comprises a DC link of cascaded Half Bridge Modules (HBMs) acting as wave
shaping module generating a unipolar multilevel voltage. The DC link has two arms stated as
an upper leg and a lower leg.
The upper leg and lower leg are connected in cascade, together they have five half-bridge
modules, plurality of switches which are switched at the fundamental frequency of voltage.
Converter having a wave shaping DC link with some switches operating at low frequency, the
switching losses are reduced and it also simplifies the inverter control.
The DC link of all three phases has separate cascaded half bridge modules connected in series
across the phases providing a common DC link.
The DC link further comprises a wave shaper based inverter with active neutral point
clamped (ANPC) leg. The central point is the neutral point of the converter. The waveshaping
part can also be retrofitted to an existing ANPC converter.
In active neutral point clamped leg two switches connect in series. The unipolar multilevel
voltage received by the DC link is inverted by the active neutral point clamped legs of the
wave shaper based inverter.
When the load current is unbalanced the multilevel converter for medium voltage application
injects necessary negative sequence current into the grid. The multilevel converter also
provides positive sequence reactive power according to the requirement. The converter upper
arm and lower arm are considered to have five half-bridge modules. This converter has self
balancing properties, which ensures balanced current injection into the grid to make the
source current balanced when the power generated by the upper leg is different from the
lower arm.
The number of levels can be increased by adding more number of HBMs in series. The two
legs of the waveshapers are shared by all the three phases. The converter is semi modular in
structure. The number of voltage levels can be increased by adding half bridge submodule in
the waveshaping arms.
With the wave shaper (WS) module shared by all the phases, capacitor voltage balancing
doesn’t require any zero sequence voltage or current injection. The capacitors are naturally
balanced. So, the current rating of the converter does not increase. This is happened due to
the inherent energy balancing capability of the converter. The converter may be connected
before the load to compensate load generated harmonics. It can also provide negative
sequence current to mitigate current unbalance at the grid side.
The converter can be used to integrate Photo Voltaics (PV) with the grid. The converter is
found more suitable to extract maximum power during partial shading and is capable to inject
balanced power during non-uniform interphase shading.

Advantages of invention
Converter having a wave shaping DC link with some switches operating at low frequency, the
switching losses are reduced and it also simplifies the inverter control. The number of
switches required for this converter for a medium voltage application is less in comparison to
existing converters of similar rating and voltage levels. The number of levels can be increased
by adding more number of HBMs in series. With the wave shaper (WS) module shared by all
the phases, capacitor voltage balancing doesn’t require any zero sequence voltage or current
injection. The capacitors are naturally balanced. So, the current rating of the converter does
not increase.
The converter can be used to integrate Photo Voltaics (PV) with the grid. The converter is
found more suitable to extract maximum power during partial shading and is capable to inject
balanced power during non-uniform interphase shading.

ABSTRACT
 A multilevel converter for medium voltage application

The present invention is regarding a multilevel converter for medium voltage application
which comprises a DC link of cascaded Half Bridge Modules (HBMs) acting as wave
shaping module generating a unipolar multilevel voltage. The proposed converter is realized
using an active neutral point converter (ANPC) leg. The converter consists of a DC link of
cascaded half -bridge modules (HBMs). The DC link has two arms stated as an upper leg and
a lower leg. The upper leg and lower leg are connected in cascade, comprising five half-
bridge modules, plurality of switches which are switched at the fundamental frequency of
voltage. Converter having a wave shaping DC link with some switches operating at low
frequency, the switching losses are reduced and it also simplifies the inverter control. With
the wave shaper (WS) module shared by all the phases, capacitor voltage balancing doesn’t
require any zero sequence voltage or current injection. The capacitors are naturally balanced.
So, the current rating of the converter does not increase.