Phase Current Reconstructions from DC-Link Currents in Three-Phase Three-Level PWM Inverters

Abstract

This paper describes phase current reconstruction methods from dc-link currents in three-phase three-level PWM inverters. Since the three-level inverters have three paths between dc-link and power switches, the reconstructions differ from that in two-level inverters which have two paths there. Considering these paths in three-level inverter, this paper proposes the methods for phase current reconstruction. While the reconstruction method is executed by the currents sampled on the dc-links, the system encounters current-unmeasurable areas where the dc currents cannot be sampled due to the lack of measurement time according to the PWM status. This paper analyzes the areas and proposes a minimum voltage injection method for minimizing them to guarantee accurate current reconstruction. The method provides the expanded operating areas especially in low-output voltage operation and the minimized distortions in output voltages. The feasibility of the proposed method has been assessed in experiments.