Exploitation of an Industrial Low-Bandwidth Communication Line for Modulation-Level Synchronization of Voltage Source Converters
Source abstract
Abstract
Parallelization of power electronic converter units is a way to meet the high current requirements of modern electrification applications. In case of voltage source converters, parallel operation can be attained only if the voltages of all the units are equal. In the current state of the art, this voltage synchronization can be achieved at the fundamental frequency, but not at modulation frequency, hence requiring bulky filters to limit circulating currents; this lowers the system performance in terms of cost, volume, weight and sustainability. In this paper, the authors propose a novel approach to synchronization, acting directly at the modulation frequency level, thus removing the need for any filter. This technique relies on the natural parasitic inductance and resistance of the wiring among parallel units. Specifically, this paper presents the first of two synchronization stages required to reach the sub-nanosecond synchronization necessary to completely remove the filters. At start-up, a low-bandwidth industrial communication line, based on the CAN protocol, is exploited to guarantee that the error in the synchronization of PWM signals among all the parallel units is lower than 0.1%. This limits the initial circulating current, supporting the subsequent control stage that achieves sub-nanosecond synchronization. The proposed concept is validated by experiments using a commercial MCU unit with an unadorned CAN peripheral.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Microgrid Control and Optimization · Advanced DC-DC Converters · Multilevel Inverters and Converters
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy
Funding
University of Parma · Fondazione Cariparma
References (23)
Show source-provided references
1. Zhang, J., Li, Y., Wang, H., Cai, X., Igarashi, S., and Wang, Z. (2014, January 5–8). Thermal smooth control based on orthogonal circulating current for multi-MW parallel wind power converter. Proceedings of the 2014 International Power Electronics and Application Conference and Exposition, Shanghai, China.10.1109/PEAC.2014.7037844 ↗
2. A Five-Level Space Vector Modulation Scheme for Parallel Operated Three-Level Inverters With Reduced Line Current Distortion10.1109/TPEL.2020.2980770 ↗
3. An Integrated Inductor for Eliminating Circulating Current of Parallel Three-Level DC–DC Converter-Based EV Fast Charger10.1109/TIE.2015.2496904 ↗
4. Control of the Parallel Operation of VSC-HVDC Links Connected to an Offshore Wind Farm10.1109/TPWRD.2018.2841908 ↗
5. Kim, S.A., Han, S.W., Byun, S.I., and Cho, Y.H. (2016, January 27–30). Improved parallel operation mode control of parallel connected 12-pulse thyristor dual converter for urban railway power substations. Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE 17th Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics (COMPEL), Trondheim, Norway.10.1109/COMPEL.2016.7556662 ↗
6. Arnaudov, D.D., and Vuchev, S.A. (2018, January 13–15). Investigation of Resonant Converters Parallel Operation to a Common Load. Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE XXVII International Scientific Conference Electronics-ET, Sozopol, Bulgaria.10.1109/ET.2018.8549661 ↗
7. Zero-Sequence Circulating Current Reduction Method for Parallel HEPWM Inverters Between AC Bus and DC Bus10.1109/TIE.2011.2106102 ↗
8. Deadbeat Control Strategy of Circulating Currents in Parallel Connection System of Three-Phase PWM Converter10.1109/TEC.2014.2297994 ↗
9. Yu, H., Tao, Y., Li, G.J., Yin, S., Zhuang, J., and Sun, C. (2021, January 13–15). Control Strategy for Parallel Operation of Converters Based on Adaptive Virtual Inductance. Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Wireless Communications and Smart Grid (ICWCSG), Hangzhou, China.10.1109/ICWCSG53609.2021.00094 ↗
10. Li, D., Huang, X., Nie, C., Niu, J., Chen, R., Lin, M., Ji, S., Wang, F., Tolbert, L.M., and Giewont, W. (2021, January 14–17). Paralleling Operation of 10 kV SiC MOSFET-Based Modular Multi-Level Converters (MMCs) for Scalable Asynchronous Microgrid Power Conditioning System. Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC), Phoenix, AZ, USA.10.1109/APEC42165.2021.9487255 ↗
11. Choo, K.L. (2008, January 1–3). Parallel connection of DC/AC switched mode power converter in utility distribution system. Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE 2nd International Power and Energy Conference, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.10.1109/PECON.2008.4762691 ↗
12. Gan, J., Yin, Q., Chen, T., Zhao, L., Deng, C., and Liu, Z. (2019, January 11–13). Reasearch on the circulating current suppression for parallel T-type three-level PCS based on on-line synchronization and average current. Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE 3rd Advanced Information Management, Communicates, Electronic and Automation Control Conference (IMCEC), Chongqing, China.10.1109/IMCEC46724.2019.8984035 ↗
13. Gohil, G., Bede, L., Teodorescu, R., Kerekes, T., and Blaabjerg, F. (2016, January 18–22). Evaluation of circulating current suppression methods for parallel interleaved inverters. Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), Milwaukee, WI, USA.10.1109/ECCE.2016.7855089 ↗
14. Asiminoaei, L., Aeloiza, E., Kim, J., Enjeti, P., Blaabjerg, F., Moran, L., and Sul, S. (2006, January 18–22). Parallel Interleaved Inverters for Reactive Power and Harmonic Compensation. Proceedings of the 37th IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference, Jeju, Republic of Korea.10.1109/pesc.2006.1711865 ↗
15. Rannestad, B., Munk-Nielsen, S., and Gadgaard, K. (2017, January 11–14). Discontinuous interleaving of parallel inverters for efficiency improvement. Proceedings of the 2017 19th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE’17 ECCE Europe), Warsaw, Poland.10.23919/EPE17ECCEEurope.2017.8098951 ↗
16. An Integrated Inductor for Parallel Interleaved Three-Phase Voltage Source Converters10.1109/TPEL.2015.2459134 ↗
17. Trintis, I., Gohil, G., Wurzer, M., Franzen, M., Pallesgaard, S.L., Munk-Nielsen, S., and Carne Kjaer, P. (2017, January 11–14). Line reactor for parallel-interleaved high power inverters. Proceedings of the 2017 19th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE’17 ECCE Europe), Warsaw, Poland.10.23919/EPE17ECCEEurope.2017.8099257 ↗
18. Magnetic Integration for Parallel Interleaved VSCs Connected in a Whiffletree Configuration10.1109/TPEL.2015.2514182 ↗
19. Total Flux Minimization Control for Integrated Inter-Phase Inductors in Paralleled, Interleaved Three-Phase Two-Level Voltage-Source Converters With Discontinuous Space-Vector Modulation10.1109/TPEL.2011.2169281 ↗
20. Soldati, A., Undre, V., Concari, C., Alsayid, B.A., and Dradi, M.H. (2020, January 1–3). Parallel Operation of Voltage Source Converters without Filter Inductors: Control of the Circulating Current. Proceedings of the 2020 2nd IEEE International Conference on Industrial Electronics for Sustainable Energy Systems (IESES), Cagliari, Italy.10.1109/IESES45645.2020.9210681 ↗
21. Rumble, J. (2021). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics: A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data, CRC Press. [102nd ed.].
22. Reatti, A., Corti, F., Tesi, A., Torlai, A., and Kazimierczuk, M.K. (2019, January 26–29). Effect of Parasitic Components on Dynamic Performance of Power Stages of DC-DC PWM Buck and Boost Converters in CCM. Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), Sapporo, Japan.10.1109/ISCAS.2019.8702520 ↗
23. (1991). CAN Specification Version 2.0. (Standard No. ISO 11898).