Practical submodule capacitor sizing for modular multilevel converter considering grid faults

Zhijian Yin, Huan Qiu, Yongheng Yang, Yi Tang, Huai Wang

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    7 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Submodule (SM) capacitors are key elements in the modular multilevel converter (MMC), the design of which influences the entire system performance. In practical cases, SM capacitor sizing must consider the abnormal system operation (e.g., grid faults). In order to find a clear design boundary for SM capacitors, a practical capacitor sizing method is presented for the first time in this paper, considering the grid-fault-ride-through operation of the MMC, impact of MMC control system, and aging mechanism of capacitors. The SM capacitor rated voltage, capacitance, ESR, thermal resistance, and lifetime can be decided to ensure reliable operations of the MMC during grid faults. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been verified through experimental tests on a down-scale MMC system.

    Original languageBritish English
    Article number3550
    JournalApplied Sciences (Switzerland)
    Volume10
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1 May 2020

    Keywords

    • Grid faults
    • Modular multilevel converter (MMC)
    • Reliability
    • Submodule capacitor design
    • Transient state

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