A Novel Bidirectional T-Type Multilevel Inverter For Electric Vehicle Applications
A Novel Bidirectional T-Type Multilevel Inverter For Electric Vehicle Applications
A Novel Bidirectional T-Type Multilevel Inverter For Electric Vehicle Applications
fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TPEL.2018.2871624, IEEE
Transactions on Power Electronics
Abstract—This paper introduces a new configuration of voltage to be at the level required to allow the power to flow to
bi-directional multilevel converter in electric vehicle (EV) the electric machine in motoring mode over the designed range
applications. It has multilevel DC-DC converter with a of modulation index (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚). In breaking mode (regenerative), the
direct current (DC) link capacitor voltage balance feature. bi-directional converter stepped the DC voltage to allow the
The multilevel DC-DC converter operates in bi-directional power to flow in reverse direction from the electric machine
manner, which is a fundamental requirement in EVs. back to the utility grid or electrical storage units as in electric
Compared to the conventional configurations, the proposed vehicle. Based on the power source connected to the propulsion
one only implements two extra power switches and a system, the bi-directional converter can be designed as boost
capacitor to balance the voltage of the T-type MLI converter in motoring mode and buck converter in during
capacitor over a complete drive cycle or at fault conditions. breaking, or vice versa.
Therefore, no extra isolated sensor, control loops and/or Although conventional dc-dc converters are very reliable in
special switching pattern are required. Moreover, the controlling the dc bus voltage, it is not always the case when
proposed configuration due to the high frequency cycle-by- are connected to a multilevel inverter [11], [12]. As mentioned,
cycle voltage balance between 𝑪𝑪𝒏𝒏 and 𝑪𝑪𝒑𝒑 the bulky multilevel inverter that is connected to a single dc power source
electrolytic capacitors used in T-type MLI are replaced with is relying on split capacitor as an input stage to produce its sub-
longer life more reliable film capacitors. This will result in level output voltages. Such arrangement is susceptible to
a size and weight reduction of the converter by 20%. This unbalanced capacitor voltages and hence voltage deviation of
allows more real estate for the EV battery in the chassis’ the neutral point [1]. Therefore, an extra circuitry with or
space envelope; to increase its capacity. The proposed without control loop is to be added to ensure a balanced voltage
configuration is tested and validated using a on the capacitors and balance the neutral point [13], [14] .
Matlab/Simulink simulation model. A laboratory prototype Another solution is applying a modified switching scheme [15]
1 kW is built to provide the proof of concept results as well. that chooses between a different set of switching state to
reestablish the voltage balance once detected.
Keywords—Multilevel inverter, T-type MLI, Multilevel Nonetheless, modified switching as presented in [16] [17]
DC-DC converter, bi-directional converter, Capacitor voltage [18] can successfully mitigate this issue. Without a feedback
balance, natural voltage balance; controller, the converter still susceptible to temporary faults
that affected the balance in capacitor voltages. A voltage
I. INTRODUCTION balance circuit offers a much robust and accurate method to
Many multilevel inverter topologies has been introduced to balance the voltage on the capacitors and control inverter’s
address different types of applications [1] [2] [3]. Generally, neutral point. While the first method is preferable when it
multilevel inverters either rely on isolated dc power sources or comes to the power train cost and space envelope. The second
split capacitors connected to a single dc power source to one can recover the balance and control neural point against
synthesis its stepped output voltage levels. The first type is more wider range of faults. With proper design, it also has advantage
reliable but require as mentioned increasing number of dc power of reducing the control complexity and eliminate the need for
sources and power switches such as cascaded H-bridge isolate voltage sensors, which not only affect the cost but the
multilevel inverter. On the other hand, the split capacitor based inverter lifetime as well.
MLI such as neutral point clamped NPC MLI [4], flying Many techniques are presented to control the capacitor
capacitor FC MLI [5] and T-type MLI [6] [7] required lower voltages and the neutral point in split capacitor based multilevel
number of power components. Nonetheless, as the voltage inverters. In [16], a hybrid space vector modulation SVM is
across each capacitor is relaying on an ideal natural balance, introduced. It integrates two modulation techniques to cover the
their voltages in practical are susceptible for voltage drifting total range of modulation index. An optimized SVM at low
which leads to voltage imbalance operations. modulation which results in low total harmonics distortion and
reduce the switching states. The high modulation area is covered
In electric vehicle applications, the three-phase inverter in
by simplified SVM which reduce the complexity of the required
propulsion system is fed by a bi-directional DC-DC converter
calculations. Such technique sustain the balance in the capacitor
[8] [9] [10]. It controls the dc bus voltage by regulating its
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Transactions on Power Electronics
voltages and allow for operating in both motoring and breaking converter which make it impractical in electric machine drive
modes. On the other hand, it requires an addition of isolated applications especially in EV. Therefore, the proposed
sensors and a controller that can handle the necessary converter configuration modified its structure by replacing the
calculations. Hence, increase the system cost and reduce its clamping diodes connected with 𝐶𝐶𝑀𝑀 by two active power
reliability. Similar balancing techniques based on the modified switches. These two switches are operated in a complementary
modulation are also introduced in [17] and [18], which also manner and in conjunction with the boost converter
suffers from the same drawback by adding more isolated voltage synchronous switches as shown in Fig. 2. So, the simplicity of
sensors and control loops. the original contracture is reserved as well as the number of
controlling signal. Therefore, the proposed converter
In conclusion, the modified modulation based techniques do
configuration is able to achieve a bi-directional operation where
not require adding an extra components in terms of power
the input voltage is boosted in motoring mode, and the
components (active/passive switches, capacitor and/or
combined capacitors’ voltage is bucked in breaking
inductors). Thus, it has been seen as an optimum solution.
(regenerative) mode.
However, it requires adding extra sensors and control loops if a
This paper is organized as follow, first the operation of the
wide range of operation and fault tolerance are to be achieved.
proposed configuration has been explained in details, including
Moreover, their ability to control and equalize the capacitors’
the switching states in different operating modes. Then, the
voltages are limited by the redundancy states that are offered by
converter’s capacitor sizing is discussed. Finally, the validity of
the construction of multilevel converter itself.
the proposed configuration has been investigated using both
As mentioned, capacitors’ voltage balance in multilevel simulation model and experimental prototype.
inverter can also be achieved by adding an extra circuitry T-Type MLI
between the input power source (batteries connected to a bi-
directional in EV) and the MLI, as shown in Fig.1. The added
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Transactions on Power Electronics
boosting gain by two for the same duty cycle in conventional power will be transferred from CM to CN as shown be the
boost converter. It is done without increasing the reverse arrows in Fig. 3 (c). Consequently, when CM is connected to CP
blocking voltage seen by any of the power switches. In other it will be charged though Q4 as shown in Fig. 3 (d) and the cycle
words, for the same output voltage, multilevel dc-dc converter will be repeated. In regenerative mode, the electric machine
utilized power switches with half of the blocking voltage Vb , acts as a generator forcing the power back to the dc bus.
and operates in half of the duty cycle D in comparison with the Therefore, in order to increase the efficiency of the driving
conventional boost converter. system, the bi-directional operates as a buck converter to
Capacitor T-Type MLI recovers this energy back to the DC power source. Fig. 3. (a)
balance and (b) show the operating states over a complete switching
Q4
period TS .
In motoring mode, the first state occurs at DTS > t > 0 in
Boost Q3 CP which Q2 and Q4 are ON while Q1 and Q3 are OFF. The
Converter CM
Q4 regenerative power is transferred from CN to the DC source and
Q2 Q8
a
L
b charging the inductor L and the capacitor Cin . Meantime, Cp is
DC c
Q1
CN Q7
Q5 charging to CM through Q4 as VCP is now higher that VCM , as
shown in Fig. 3 (a).
The second state occurs at TS > t > DTS , where, Q1 and Q3
are ON while Q2 and Q4 are OFF. While Q1 allows the power
to transfer from the inductor L and the input capacitor Cin , Q3
connects CM to CN as shown by the arrows in Fig. 3 (b). Due to
the power transfer from CN to the input DC its voltages VCN is
reduced compared to VCP and VCM . Thus, CM charges CN which
Fig. 2. The proposed configuration, a multilevel bidirectional
increases its voltage again.
DC-DC converter connected to the T-type MLI.
Nonetheless, it is possible for the power flow between CN ,
A. Circuit operation CM and CP to be reversed as shown in Fig. 4 (c) and (d). For
The operation of the proposed converter configuration is example when the voltage across CN is higher than Cp (VCN >
divided based on the two modes of operation into VCP ). In such case, at TS > t > DTS the power will be
1) Step-up mode in in machine motoring state; and 2) bucking transferred from CN to CM as shown be the arrows in Fig. 4 (d).
mode in machine breaking (regenerative) state. It is important Consequently, when CM is connected to CP it will charge it
to notice that the boost converter is operating in continuous though Q4 as shown in Fig. 4 (c) and the cycle will be repeated.
conduction mode where the average inductor current is more It can be notice that, the converter can now work as bi-
than its ripple. Fig. 3 (a) and (b) show the electrical power flow directional converter instead of being only able to work as a
from the input dc voltage to the lower capacitor CN to the CM uni-directional one. In typical operations, the dc-dc converter
and to the upper capacitor CP over a complete switching (in boosting mode) charges the lower capacitor CN at output
period TS . In such case, the multilevel inverter operates in voltage VCN = VDC /(1 − D) . CM acts as an intermediate
typical condition where the power delivered by each capacitor storage that charges from CN and charge CP at the same
CN and CP are qual. Hence, the boost converter always pushes voltage, all within once switching cycle. At the bucking mode,
the power to CN which is transferred to CP via CM as will be CM is charged from CP then charges CN which ensures the
explained. voltage balance in reverse power flow. Therefore, the balance
Fig. 3 (a) shows the first state where DTS > t > 0. The switch between the capacitor is sustain and the voltage across the dc
Q1 is ON while Q2 is OFF allowing the inductor current to bus equals VCP + VCN = 2VDC /(1 − D) (in boosting mode). It
increase iL . At the same time, Q3 is ON and Q4 is OFF, is worth to mention that the reverse voltage seen by any of the
connecting the middle capacitor CM to CN . Because of being power switched Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 is clamped to the Vrev =
connected directly to the boost converter, CN has a higher VCN = VCP = VDC /(1 − D).
voltage VCN than CM voltage VCM , thus, the power is transferred
from CN to CM as shown by the arrows. The second state is Q4
shown in Fig. 3 (b) where TS > t > DTS , in which, Q1 is OFF
Three phase T-type MLI
L
voltage ( VCM = VCN ) fromCN ) to Cp by connecting Q4 and
DC Cin CN
disconnecting Q3. Q1
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Q4
Q2
L M
Q2
DC L
Cin CN
Q1
DC Cin CN
Q1
(b)
(a)
Q4
L
M
Q2
DC Cin L
CN
Q1
DC Cin CN
Q1
(c)
(b)
Q4
Three phase T-type MLI
CP
CM Q3
Q4
M
L
CP
CM Q3
DC Cin CN
Q1 M
Q2
L
DC Cin CN
Q1
(d)
(c)
Q4
Three phase T-type MLI
CP
CM Q3
M
Q2
DC Cin CN
Q1
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a 1uH inductor is enough to limit the inrush current to about the Unlike three phase voltage source inverter, in typical three-
load nominal current at switching frequency fs = 50kHz. phase T-type multilevel inverter, the capacitors are designed to
compensate for the variation in the load power at low frequency
B. Capacitor design
f = 180Hz (for 60Hz system) with voltage ripple =10%, as
Fig. 5 (a) to (c) shows the output ac voltage generation at shown in Fig. 6. Nonetheless, because of the voltage ripples
the load terminals for one phase (phase a) of T-type multilevel seen across the capacitors (VCP and VCN ) are 180° out of phase,
inverter. In the positive half cycle, the load is connected to the resultant will be a dc voltage level VDC bus with only the high
capacitor CP through Q4, as shown in Fig. 5 (a). While in the frequency ripple of the bi-directional converter [26] as shown
negative half cycle the load is connected to CN through Q5, as in Fig. 7 (a).
shown in Fig. 5 (b). The zero voltage level is generated by Therefore, even tough the bi-directional converter operates
clamping the load using the bi-directional switch configured by at higher switching frequency compared to the multilevel
Q7 and Q8, as shown in Fig. 5 (c). inverter. It can not detect and compensate for the capacitors
Therefore, the capacitance of CP and CN should be high voltage variation due to the low frequency power variation.
enough to supply the load rated power and maintain their
VCp
voltage ripple at minimum. The capacitance can be calculated
as follow: Va Vb Vc
P
C= 2 (1)
2∗π∗f∗dv∗V
variation.
Fig.6. Compensate for the variation in the load power at low
Q4 frequency f = 180Hz (for 60Hz system) in T-type MLI.
Q3 CP
CM
Q2 Q8
Q4 Vdc
L Va=Vcp
DC CN Q7
VCp
Q1 Q5 VCn
Load
t
(a) Capacitor voltages of T-type MLI connected to a
(a) conventional bi-direction DC-DC converter
Q4
Vdc
VCp
Q3 CP
CM VCn
Q4
Q2 Q8
L Va=-Vcn
t
DC CN Q7
Q1 Q5 (b) The capacitor voltages of T-type MLI in the proposed
Load
configuration.
(b) Vdc
Q4
Q3 CP t
CM
Q4
Q2 Q8
(c) The capacitor voltages of T-type MLI in the proposed
L Va=0
configuration after compensated by the controller.
DC
Q1
CN Q7
Q5
Fig. 7. The variation of the dc bus VDC bus voltage and
Load
capacitors’ voltages.
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equation (1), then, for a 120kW, 750V dc bus voltage with waveform with output levels ( 750V, 375V, 0V, −375 and −
dv=10% and rated speed at 60Hz. The minimum values of the 750V). Therefore, the peak output voltage is 750V multiplied
dc bus capacitors is 1.9mF which is only available in range of by the modulation index mi = 0.8 at switching frequency fs =
the electrolytic capacitors. 5kHz.
In the proposed configuration, on the other hand, the voltage The capacitors voltages, three phase line-to-line output
of both capacitors (Cp and CN ) VCP and VCN are balanced by the voltage and the three phase output currents in the motoring
middle capacitor CM as shown in Fig. 4. That means in every mode are shown in Fig. 10. Where the motor is represented by
switching period Ts of the bi-directional converter, the voltage series RL load (R=5Ω and 1mH). The dc-dc stage is connected
across all the capacitors are equalized, VCN = VCM = VCP . to the battery to boost its voltage from Vdc = 200V to 375V at
Hence, all the capacitors voltage ripples are in phase and the duty cycle D = 0.53 at switching frequencyfs = 50kHz.
resultant voltage ripple at VDC bus is increased, as shown in Fig.
7 (b). Although, this is consider a disadvantage, it allows the
feedback controller of the bi-directional converter to detect and
compensate for the voltage variation. Thus, it maintains all
voltages of all capacitors at their reference values as shown in
Fig. 7 (c).
Therefore, the capacitance of each capacitor is chosen based
on the design of the high frequency bi-directional converter to
filler its switched voltage, which can lead to implement
capacitors with significantly lower capacitance. Thus,
electrolytic capacitors normally associate with such multilevel
inverter can be replaced with film capacitors that offers much
higher life-time and stable performance [27], [28]. This is all
done without affecting the dc bus voltages or introduces
unwanted harmonics to the drive train. Equation (2) is then used Fig. 8. Three phase line to line output voltage.
to calculate the minimum capacitance required by any high
frequency boost converter as follow:
VD
C= (2)
2 fs dv R
Where V is the VDC bus , D is the boost nominal duty cycle, fs is
its switching frequency, dv is the allowed voltage ripple in
voltage (V) and R is the load equivalent Ohmic resistance.
Thus, following the same input of the pervious example, (with
200V input voltage), the required capacitance is 15 uF which is
within range of film capacitors available in the market.
Nonetheless, as the low frequency ripple is to be compensated
from the boost input side, such ripple will be reflected in its
input current (inductor current). Thus, an attentional should be
paid to when designing the values of the inductor and the
capacitors in accordance to maximum allowing low frequency Fig. 9. Low frequency ripple on capacitors voltage Vcn, Vcm
ripple in the inductor current, to prevent the converter from and Vcp in corresponding to the three phase output power;
operation in discontinuous conduction mode, where, the three phase output voltage; and three phase output current.
inductor current may reach zero ampere. Equation (3) shows
the boundary that must be satisfied for any boost converter to
operate in continuous conduction mode.
2Lfs
> D(1 − D)2 (3)
Rcritical
Where, L is the inductance value of the inductor of boost
converter and R critical is the equivalent output resistance that
caused the boost to operate in discontinuous conduction mode.
III. SIMULATION RESULTS
Fig. 10. Capacitor voltage at steady state.
A simulation model is constructed to test and validate the
performance of the proposed configuration. The output voltage The dc-dc stage inductor is 52 uH and the three capacitors
of the multilevel inverter is shown Fig. 8. The voltage of each and the input capacitor connected to the battery (used in
capacitor in the T-type multilevel inverter is controlled to be at bucking mode in regenerative mode) are equal and equal to
375V. Thus, the line-to-line output voltage is a five levels 10uF / 400V which is in the range of film capacitors available
( +2Vdc , +Vdc , 0, −Vdc and − 2Vdc ) stepped sinusoidal
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in the market. A better sizing of the components of the proposed and T-type MLI, the capacitor ripples as 180ᵒ out of phase at all
configuration (capacitors and inductors) can be achieved with time, as shown in Fig. 7 (a). Thus, it can’t be detected by the
optimized type three compensator that will provide an accurate controller of the dc-dc converter. Hence, the voltage balance
control of the dc bus and hence reduces its voltage ripple. cannot be restored without extra control loops and sensors.
Benefit from the capacitor voltage balance circuit the
middle capacitor CM charges the upper capacitor CP as
explained up to the output voltage of the boost converter VCP =
VCM = VCN . Fig. 10 shows the capacitors voltages at steady
state operation where the converter is able to stabilize and
equalize the output voltage of the capacitors CM , CN , and CP .
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battery. The converter successfully is able to transfer the power (T-type based MLI) is shown in Fig. 18 (a), which is
in the reverse direction by bucking the DC bus voltage 750V to constructed by connecting the load terminal to the upper
375V and then to 190V. This is being done which keeping the capacitor CP at the positive half cycle and to the lower one CN
capacitors’ voltage balanced over the complete breaking cycle, at the negative half cycle. The zero voltage (freewheeling) state
as shown in Fig. 15. is achieved by clamping the load voltage by the bi-directional
switch as mentioned earlier. Thus, a line-to-line 5 levels output
voltage is achieved (400V, 800V, 0V, −400V and −800V).
(a) Capacitor voltage VCN (Ch2), VCP (Ch3) and VCM (Ch4)
(200V/div); line-to-line output voltage (Ch1) (1000V/div).
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Balance Control of Five-Level Modular Composited Converter With
Hybrid Space Vector Modulation," IEEE Transactions on Power Mohamed Z. Youssef (SMIEEE); completed his
Electronics, vol. 33, no. 7, pp. 5629-5640, July 2018. Ph.D. in Power Electronics at the ePEARL Lab,
[17] R. M. S. Busquets-Monge, J. Nicolas-Apruzzese, E. Lupon, S. Munk- Queen’s University, Canada in 2005, where he was
Nielsen and J. Bordonau, "Enhanced DC-Link Capacitor Voltage later an adjunct Assistant Professor involved in
Balancing Control of DC–AC Multilevel Multileg Converters," IEEE teaching and research. In 2007, he joined Bombardier
Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 62, no. 5, pp. 2663-2672, Transportation where he worked as a Senior Research
May 2015. and Development engineer. In 2012, he joined
Alstom Transport as a Research and Development
[18] A. M. Y. M. Ghias, J. Pou, M. Ciobotaru and V. G. Agelidis, "Voltage-
Engineering Manager. His research interests include
Balancing Method Using Phase-Shifted PWM for the Flying Capacitor
Electromechanical Systems for the Transportation Industry, Electromagnetic
Multilevel Converter," IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol.
Compatibility (EMC) for the Railways and Power Electronics Applications for
29, no. 9, pp. 4521-4531, Sept. 2014.
the Information Technology. Mohamed was the motor and electronics manager
[19] K. Hasegawa and H. Akagi, "Low-modulation-index operation of a for Armstrong Pumps before coming back to Academia. Dr. Youssef is
fivelevel diode-clamped PWM inverter with a DC-voltage-balancing currently an Assistant Professor in the ECSE department at the University of
circuit for a motor drive," IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. Ontario, Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Canada. He is the director of power
27, no. 8, pp. 3495-3504, Aug. 2012. electronics and drives lab (PEDAL) at UOIT and the university leader of Space-
[20] Z. Shu, X. He, Z. Wang, D. Qiu and Y. Jing, "Voltage Balancing X team. He has more than 80 papers in the top tier IEEE journals and
Approaches for Diode-Clamped Multilevel Converters Using Auxiliary conferences with 5 US/Canadian patents. He is a fellow of the Canadian
Capacitor-Based Circuits," IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Council of Professional Engineers. He is a senior IEEE member and a
vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 2111-2124, May 2013. professional engineer in the province of Ontario. He is an appointed Adjunct
Professor at the Royal Military College (RMC) of Canada. Mohamed is a
[21] X. Liu and e. al., "A Novel Diode-Clamped Modular Multilevel
member of the IEEE committee of Transportation standards and a fellow expert
Converter With Simplified Capacitor Voltage-Balancing Control," IEEE
of the Canadian government on many future infrastructure directives. He was
recently appointed to the consultancy board of Sustainable Development
0885-8993 (c) 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TPEL.2018.2871624, IEEE
Transactions on Power Electronics
0885-8993 (c) 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.