Sharif Digital Repository

Multilevel converters are the best solution in medium and high voltage applications because of their better output votage quality, redundant structure, less power semiconductor losses and common-mode voltages. Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) have additional advantages such as higher degree of modularity, transformerless operation capability and using a single common DC-bus. All these useful features make MMC the first alternative for HVDC systems. Fault detection, defected cells insulation and post fault operation control are necessary to ensure MMC continouse service. A simple, fast and accurate fault detection method is proposed for MMC semiconductor power switches in this thesis.... 

In Modular Multilevel converter, it is necessary to attain different objectives simultaneously. One of the most effective control methods which can cope with this kind of systems is the Model Predictive Control (MPC). This method predicts the values of control objectives based on different feasible states and determines the optimal one using cost functions. The number of feasible states can increase when the number of switches increases in the converter. This makes the MPC unable to be applied in the MMCs with hundereds of submodules (SMs) in each arm because of its heavy computational burden. In this thesis, a modified model predictive control is proposed to reduce the computational burden.... 

Nowadays, multilevel converters are significantly developed in industrial applications as well as energy transmission systems regarding proper quality of output waveforms and fault tolerant operation ability. Among the different topologies of multilevel converters, modular multilevel converter (MMC) due to its modularity feature it more accepted in high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Fast fault detection in power electronics converters is necessary to bypass the defected part in order to prevent failure propagation to other Submodules and to provide continues servicing. On this basis, different researches are reported in literature for MMCs fault tolerant operation. In... 

Modular multilevel converters provide higher output voltage levels than switches rated voltages by switching between cascaded modules. Increasing the number of modules might results in less reliability because of an increase in the number of elements. On the other hand, an increase in the number of modules decreases the semiconductors rated voltage, switches power losses and thermal stresses and consequently a lower switches failure rate is expected. Therefore the optimal number of modules, would minimize the failure rate. To investigate it, in this project, first fundamental elements of converter are designed for a MMC with different number of output levels, to drive a medium voltage medium...