Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters

Power electronics based three-stage smart transformers (STs) can be seriously damaged by inrush currents and overvoltages during the start-up phase if the control of the stages is not correctly coordinated. Hence, it is crucial to design properly the start-up procedure, especially in case of modular...

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Main Authors: Pugliese, Sante, Buticchi, Giampaolo, Mastromauro, Rosa Anna, Andresen, Markus, Liserre, Marco, Stasi, Silvio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61305/
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author Pugliese, Sante
Buticchi, Giampaolo
Mastromauro, Rosa Anna
Andresen, Markus
Liserre, Marco
Stasi, Silvio
author_facet Pugliese, Sante
Buticchi, Giampaolo
Mastromauro, Rosa Anna
Andresen, Markus
Liserre, Marco
Stasi, Silvio
author_sort Pugliese, Sante
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Power electronics based three-stage smart transformers (STs) can be seriously damaged by inrush currents and overvoltages during the start-up phase if the control of the stages is not correctly coordinated. Hence, it is crucial to design properly the start-up procedure, especially in case of modular architectures with distributed dc-links. The design of the start-up procedure depends on the ST power stages topologies, their control systems, and the operation modes. This article proposes a soft-shift start modulation technique that allows to limit the inrush current in the dc/dc isolation stage during the dc-link capacitors precharging. A fast voltage-balancing control, performed by the dc/dc isolation stage, is introduced to avoid overvoltages and unbalanced voltage conditions among the different power cells. Under the proposed method, fast control dynamics is guaranteed thanks to the high frequency bandwidth of the dc/dc isolation stage converters. Theoretical analysis, based on a detailed small signal model of the ST, and simulations are used to demonstrate the principle of the operation. Experimental results, carried out in an ST prototype, confirm the performances of proposed solution in realizing a smooth start-up without voltage/current overshoots.
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spelling nottingham-613052020-08-07T08:12:26Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61305/ Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters Pugliese, Sante Buticchi, Giampaolo Mastromauro, Rosa Anna Andresen, Markus Liserre, Marco Stasi, Silvio Power electronics based three-stage smart transformers (STs) can be seriously damaged by inrush currents and overvoltages during the start-up phase if the control of the stages is not correctly coordinated. Hence, it is crucial to design properly the start-up procedure, especially in case of modular architectures with distributed dc-links. The design of the start-up procedure depends on the ST power stages topologies, their control systems, and the operation modes. This article proposes a soft-shift start modulation technique that allows to limit the inrush current in the dc/dc isolation stage during the dc-link capacitors precharging. A fast voltage-balancing control, performed by the dc/dc isolation stage, is introduced to avoid overvoltages and unbalanced voltage conditions among the different power cells. Under the proposed method, fast control dynamics is guaranteed thanks to the high frequency bandwidth of the dc/dc isolation stage converters. Theoretical analysis, based on a detailed small signal model of the ST, and simulations are used to demonstrate the principle of the operation. Experimental results, carried out in an ST prototype, confirm the performances of proposed solution in realizing a smooth start-up without voltage/current overshoots. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2020-02-28 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61305/1/Soft-Start%20procedure%20for%20a%20three-stage%20smart%20transformer%20based%20on%20dual-active%20bridge%20and%20cascaded%20H-Bridge%20converters.pdf Pugliese, Sante, Buticchi, Giampaolo, Mastromauro, Rosa Anna, Andresen, Markus, Liserre, Marco and Stasi, Silvio (2020) Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 35 (10). pp. 11039-11052. ISSN 0885-8993 Soft-Start Procedure; Smart Transformer; Cascaded H-Bridge Converter; Dual Active Bridge Converter. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2020.2977226 doi:10.1109/TPEL.2020.2977226 doi:10.1109/TPEL.2020.2977226
spellingShingle Soft-Start Procedure; Smart Transformer; Cascaded H-Bridge Converter; Dual Active Bridge Converter.
Pugliese, Sante
Buticchi, Giampaolo
Mastromauro, Rosa Anna
Andresen, Markus
Liserre, Marco
Stasi, Silvio
Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters
title Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters
title_full Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters
title_fullStr Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters
title_full_unstemmed Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters
title_short Soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded H-bridge converters
title_sort soft-start procedure for a three-stage smart transformer based on dual-active bridge and cascaded h-bridge converters
topic Soft-Start Procedure; Smart Transformer; Cascaded H-Bridge Converter; Dual Active Bridge Converter.
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61305/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61305/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/61305/