Modulation method for DC to DC converters
View Patent ↗Disclosed is a phase-shifted square wave modulation technique for single-phase and three-phase IM2DC applications in HVDC/MVDC systems. A square wave based modulation waveform is applied to each cell of IM2DC and compared to the phase-shifted carrier waveforms to generate device gate signals. As a result, a higher equivalent switching frequency can be achieved, and square wave based arm and AC link waveforms will be generated. In addition, power flow of IM2DC can be controlled by a phase shift angle of the square modulation waveforms between HVS and LVS. The converter cell capacitors can be reduced in size because they are only required to smooth high switching frequency ripple components. In addition, lower TDR can be achieved due to the higher power transferring capability of square waves.
1. A method for reducing power fluctuations in a DC to DC converter to reduce component requirements and improve efficiency, the method comprising: providing an isolated modular multilevel DC to DC converter (IM2DC) comprising a high-voltage side (HVS) modular multilevel converter (MMC) that is coupled by a transformer to a low-voltage side (LVS) MMC, wherein each MMC comprises arms, and wherein each arm includes one or more cells that each comprises a capacitor and switches to charge/discharge the capacitor according to gate signals; generating, using a digital controller, gate signals for each cell, wherein the generating comprises comparing a square waveform with a triangular waveform, and wherein the triangular waveform for each cell in an arm has a different phase; and applying the gate signals for each cell to the switches in each cell to produce an arm voltage, wherein the arm voltage has a square wave aspect and a high frequency aspect that reduce power fluctuations in the IM2DC during DC to DC conversion.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the square wave aspect reduces an energy storage requirement for the DC to DC conversion.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the reduced energy storage requirement reduces the size of the capacitors necessary for the IM2DC.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the square wave aspect increases the efficiency of the DC to DC conversion.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the increased efficiency decreases the total device rating (TDR) of the IM2DC.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the high frequency aspect reduces an inductance requirement for the DC to DC conversion.
7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the reduced inductance requirement reduces the size of inductors necessary for the IM2DC.
8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the high frequency aspect corresponds to a high equivalent switching frequency for the DC to DC conversion.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the IM2DC has a single-phase topology.
10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the IM2DC has a three-phase topology.
11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the IM2DC has a multi-phase topology.
12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more cells are full-bridge cells.
13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more cells are half-bridge cells.
14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein phases of the triangular waveforms for the cells of an arm are separated by 2π/N, wherein N is the number of cells in the arm.
15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the phases of the triangular waveforms for the cells of an arm are separated by π/N, wherein N is the number of cells in the arm.
16. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
performing DC to DC conversion using the IM2DC in a HVDC/MVDC application.