Control, Topology and Component Investigations for Power-Dense Modular Multilevel Converters

In the era of ever-increasing electrification, power-electronic converters play the crucial role of transforming electrical energy from one form to another. However, converters today face multiple challenges in meeting ever-growing demands for higher power density, broader operation ranges, and lower costs. The cost-benefits of economies of scale further emphasize the need for modular and scalable converters.

While no single converter for high-power applications satisfies all criteria, the modular multilevel converter (MMC) emerges as the clear frontrunner. MMC is extremely modular, being developed using multiple smaller units or building blocks called power electronic building blocks (PEBBs) or submodules (SMs). The SMs are themselves developed using fast-switching low-voltage (LV) semiconductors meaningfully combined with energy storage components like capacitors or batteries. MMCs are highly modular and scalable and have a very broad operation range, making them a key solution already used today for a wide range of high-voltage applications like high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission.

However, the use of voluminous and heavy capacitors in SMs also makes MMCs much lower in power density compared to other similar voltage source converters (VSCs). Employing at least twice the number of devices compared to a conventional two-level VSC for the same ratings also increases the converter costs. These challenges have hindered MMC applications in medium-voltage (MV) and more power-dense HVDC systems.

This research aims to overcome these limitations by enhancing MMCs in terms of power density, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. These modifications would expand MMC's applications to much broader HV and MV markets. Three fundamental aspects are targeted to achieve such improvements: Topology, Components, and Controls. The first modification focuses on changing the topology by replacing some fast-switching LV-switch-based SMs with fewer low-frequency HV/MV switches. This greatly reduces the total number of components and, when combined with intelligent control, decreases costs and losses.

The second modification focuses on components, proposing the replacement of fully controlled MV switches with more efficient and cost-effective but partially controlled ones like thyristors. Despite thyristors' historical controllability challenges, incorporating SMs can help resolve control challenges, creating a modular, scalable converter with a wide operation range, high power density, and lower costs.

The third avenue explores advanced control strategies while maintaining the traditional MMC topology. By accelerating and precisely controlling the capacitor current, the SM capacitor energy, SM capacitor size can be significantly reduced. Although these control methods are complex, they offer potential improvements across all five criteria: modularity, scalability, power density, cost, and operational range.

These innovations extend MMCs' applicability to emerging fields such as energy storage systems, electric vehicle charging stations, motor drives, and data centers. Moreover, these modifications enhance MMCs for traditional high-voltage direct-current transmission applications. The research emphasizes the advantages and addresses each modification's limitations, paving the way for a more efficient and versatile power electronics technology.