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Multilevel Converter Topology, Design, and Applications

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F3: Power Electronics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 9553

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, Feng Chia University, No. 100, Wenhwa Road, Seatwen, Taichung 40724, Taiwan
Interests: power electronics; motor and magnetic components design; transmission and distribution power systems design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Ph.D. Program, Prospective Technology of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, No.57, Sec. 2, Zhongshan Rd., Taiping Dist., Taichung 41170, Taiwan
Interests: switching converter; soft switching; digital power

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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, 1, Sec. 3, Zhongxiao E. Rd. Taipei 10608, Taiwan
Interests: power electronics; converter topology; thermoelectric energy harvesting control; digital control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

 I invite you to present the results of your studies to this Special Issue of Energies on the topic of “Multilevel Converter Topology, Design, and Applications”.

Multilevel converters have recently attracted increasing attention as one of the preferred choices of electric energy conversion for high-power applications, such as wind power, marine propulsion, train traction, FACTS (flexible AC transmission systems), and HVDC (high-voltage direct current) transmission. Although the development of higher-voltage and higher-current power semiconductor switches make conventional two-level converters capable of driving with high power, multilevel converters still present great merits due to the fact that they can achieve high power using mature medium-power semiconductor components and without using components’ series connection technology. In addition, the high quality of output voltage waveforms of multilevel converters also makes them very attractive to both industry and academia. Researchers all over the world have carried out plenty of work to improve the performance of multilevel converters. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following topics:

  • Topology of multilevel inverters
  • Modeling of multilevel inverters
  • Control of multilevel inverters
  • Design of multilevel inverters
  • Static VAR compensators (SVC)
  • Power factor compensators (PFC)
  • Active filters
  • Sinusoidal current rectifiers
  • Motor drives
  • Electric vehicle drives
  • DC power source utilization
  • High voltage DC and AC transmission lines
  • Back-to-back frequency link systems and applications
  • Interfacing with renewable energy resources
  • High-voltage system interconnections

Submit your paper and select the Journal “Energies” and the Special Issue “Multilevel Converter Topology, Design, and Applications” via: MDPI submission system. Please contact the special issue editor ([email protected]) for any queries. Our papers will be published on a rolling basis and we will be pleased to receive your submission once you have finished it.

Prof. Dr. Jenn-Jong Shieh
Dr. Yeu-Torng Yau
Prof. Dr. Kuo-Ing Hwu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Multilevel converter
  • DC–DC converter
  • DC–AC converter
  • Static var compensator
  • Motor driver
  • Electric vehicle
  • Renewable energy
  • Transmission line
  • Wind power

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 10700 KiB  
Article
Analysis and Modeling of a Single-Power-Source T-Type 7-Level Single-Phase DC-AC Inverter with Voltage Gain of 3
by Jenn-Jong Shieh, Kuo-Ing Hwu and You-Yang Li
Energies 2022, 15(21), 7894; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15217894 - 24 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1762
Abstract
This paper proposes a novel T-type 7-level single-phase DC-AC inverter having a single input power source, self-balancing, and voltage gain of 3 along with low total harmonic distortion (THD). Since the structure of the proposed 7-level DC-AC inverter is symmetrical, the interchangeability of [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a novel T-type 7-level single-phase DC-AC inverter having a single input power source, self-balancing, and voltage gain of 3 along with low total harmonic distortion (THD). Since the structure of the proposed 7-level DC-AC inverter is symmetrical, the interchangeability of mass production can be easily achieved. In addition, because only one switch works for all time, the switch has quite low switching loss and voltage stress as well as the control being very easy. Furthermore, not only the proposed 7-level DC-AC inverter is analyzed in detail by the operating principle, but also the mathematical model for the adopted level-shift sinusoidal pulse width modulation (LS-SPWM) for this multilevel DC-AC inverter is successfully developed by using the well-known state averaging technique widely employed in the DC-DC converter. As a result, the required proportional-integral (PI) controller, used in the closed loop, can be designed systematically and easily. Eventually, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed inverter are verified by simulated and experimental results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multilevel Converter Topology, Design, and Applications)
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26 pages, 11422 KiB  
Article
Multi-Port Multi-Directional Converter with Multi-Mode Operation and Leakage Energy Recycling for Green Energy Processing
by Chih-Lung Shen, Li-Zhong Chen, Guan-Yu Chen and Ching-Ming Yang
Energies 2022, 15(15), 5629; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15155629 - 3 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1929
Abstract
In this article, a novel multi-port multi-directional converter (MPMDC) is proposed. Even though the power stage of the MPMDC belongs to a single-stage structure, it can control power flow direction handily among ports and achieve converter operation in up to five modes. The [...] Read more.
In this article, a novel multi-port multi-directional converter (MPMDC) is proposed. Even though the power stage of the MPMDC belongs to a single-stage structure, it can control power flow direction handily among ports and achieve converter operation in up to five modes. The MPMDC has the feature of galvanic isolation and can obtain a high voltage conversion ratio even under the adoption of only one inductor and one transformer. The leakage energy of the transform can be recycled to improve overall efficiency. Once the MPMDC is applied to deal with renewable energy, battery, and bus energy, the advantage of multi-directional control of power flow can advance an energy storage system to perfectly function power conditioning feature. In addition to the discussion of converter operation, voltage gain, voltage stress, current stress, and inductance design are analyzed theoretically. Comparisons with some of the latest similar converters are also carried out. A 200-W prototype is built and measured. According to the practical results, it is verified that the hardware measurements meet the theoretical derivations and the MPMDC is validated. The maximum efficiency of the converter is up to 94%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multilevel Converter Topology, Design, and Applications)
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15 pages, 4800 KiB  
Article
A Single-Voltage-Source Class-D Boost Multi-Level Inverter with Self-Balanced Capacitors
by Jenn-Jong Shieh, Kuo-Ing Hwu and You-Yang Li
Energies 2022, 15(11), 4082; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15114082 - 1 Jun 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1955
Abstract
A symmetric single-source 7-level DC-AC converter with voltage gain of 3 and self-voltage balance is presented by combining the Class-D amplifier and the diode-clamped DC-AC converter. There is only one switch is switched for any time in this circuit. As a result, the [...] Read more.
A symmetric single-source 7-level DC-AC converter with voltage gain of 3 and self-voltage balance is presented by combining the Class-D amplifier and the diode-clamped DC-AC converter. There is only one switch is switched for any time in this circuit. As a result, the conversion efficiency can be upgraded significantly as well as the control strategy can be simplified considerably. In the paper, the operation principle and circuit design of this converter are analyzed in detail, and its feasibility and effectiveness are verified by simulation and digital control, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multilevel Converter Topology, Design, and Applications)
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25 pages, 7031 KiB  
Article
A New Decentralized Space Vector PWM Method for Multilevel Single-Phase Full Bridge Converters
by Phu Cong Nguyen, Quoc Dung Phan and Dinh Tuyen Nguyen
Energies 2022, 15(3), 1010; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15031010 - 29 Jan 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2936
Abstract
This paper proposes a decentralized control structure and method for a multilevel single-phase power converter using space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM). The focus of this paper is on the decentralized control structure for the power converter cells that will exchange information with [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a decentralized control structure and method for a multilevel single-phase power converter using space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM). The focus of this paper is on the decentralized control structure for the power converter cells that will exchange information with neighboring cells in order to adjust the switching vector and switching time for each cell. In this study, the switching vectors and the corresponding switching times of each cell will be self-determined based on the phase angle of two neighboring cells. Normally, SVPWM applied to the multilevel power converters need complete information about the total cells and cell’s position to build a control algorithm. Meanwhile, a decentralized space vector pulse width modulation (DSVPWM) method is proposed that can be applied to power converters with any number of cells and can be considered as a multilevel SVPWM method. In addition, the decentralized multilevel single-phase power converter has high flexibility with which it is possible to easily adjust the number of active cells, so that the output voltage can be adjusted quickly; this provides the ability to dynamically reconfigure without interrupting the power energy supply process. The proposed control structure and method are effectively verified based on simulation and experimental results. Experimental results are evaluated based on a 9-level single-phase power converter, which has an RL load with rated parameters 220 V/500 W. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multilevel Converter Topology, Design, and Applications)
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