Active Thermal Control in Neutral-Point-Clamped Multilevel Converters Based on Switching-Cell Arrays

Neutral-point-clamped multilevel converters are a suitable solution to the implementation of low–medium voltage and power applications at present, thanks to their intrinsic superior voltage and current quality. The conventional configurations of these converters present uneven power loss distributio...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Alepuz, Salvador, Nicolás-Apruzzese, Joan, Rafiezadeh, Roya, Busquets-Monge, Sergio, Raya, Mariana, Filbà-Martínez, Àlber
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/347629
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/347629
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85173852625
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:multilevel converter | neutral-point-clamped multilevel converter | switching-cell array | temperature balancing control
Descripción
Sumario:Neutral-point-clamped multilevel converters are a suitable solution to the implementation of low–medium voltage and power applications at present, thanks to their intrinsic superior voltage and current quality. The conventional configurations of these converters present uneven power loss distribution, causing thermal stress in some power semiconductors, which weakens the power converter reliability. To overcome this, an implementation of the neutral-point-clamped multilevel converter based on a switching-cell array is introduced, adding redundant conduction paths on one side and more options to distribute the switching losses on the other side. An active thermal control is proposed to balance the temperature distribution in the converter. A four-level converter has been implemented to evaluate the proposed solution. The experimental results show that the proposed implementation and active thermal control presents an enhanced temperature distribution in the converter and, therefore, reduced thermal stress and better reliability.