Nonlinear, model-based control of modular multilevel converters

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Albrecht Gensior
• Subject Area: Electrical Energy Systems, Power Management, Power Electronics, Electrical Machines and Drives ; Automation, Mechatronics, Control Systems, Intelligent Technical Systems, Robotics
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 278909121

The research project deals with modular multilevel converters. This topology is relatively new and primarily used in high- and medium-voltage applications. Especially when connected to the grid or to an electrical machine, the controlled system should react quickly to changes in operating conditions or reference inputs, so the main focus of the project lies on the control. Therefore, nonlinear, model-based control concepts will be employed which are currently rarely used in the field of power electronics. This includes the design of trajectory planning algorithms and tracking controllers. While in the preceding project a proof-of-concept for a planning-based control of three-phase modular multilevel converters was achieved, the present project focusses on its improvement. Thus, it is desired to reduce the computational effort for the algorithms executed in real-time and the operating range which is currently still limited should be extended. As an example, it is desired to enable a reversal of power flow as well as operating regimes where the active power is zero. In order to validate the findings, the control algorithms will be implemented in an existing test bench.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants