Decoupled Current Control of Modular Multilevel Converter for HVDC Applications

Marcelo A. P erez, Ricardo Lizana F., Jos e Rodr guez

Electronics Engineering Department , Universidad T ecnica Federico Santa Mar a Av. Espa na 1680, Valpara so, Chile Email: marcelo.perez@usm.cl, ricardo.lizana@alumnos.usm.cl, jose.rodriguez@usm.cl

AbstractThe continuous growing of energy market prompt for energy sources every time more distant to energy consumption centres. In this scenario, high voltage DC systems have proved to be the best alternative to transmit power over long distances. Among the different converter topologies used in HVDC systems, the modular multilevel converter provides the highest modularity, reliability, availability and power quality. These converters usually have a complex control scheme, due to the coupled currents and the DC voltage balance. This paper is focused on the control of currents and average voltage proposing a decoupled control of output, input and circulating current components which simplies drastically the control scheme. Simulation results using a MMC with 200 cells per arm show the performance of the proposed scheme.

I. I NTRODUCTION The continuous growing of electrical energy consumption of cities and industrial facilities have lead to search for energy sources increasingly distant from these energy consumption centers [1]. In this scenario, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems have received increased attention because they have proved to the best alternative to transmit power over long distances [2]. However, they do not only provide long distant energy transmission, additionally they can be also used to interconnect grids to improve their reliability [3]. Voltage source converters for HVDC systems provide several advantages over current source converters, like high quality output waveforms, low lter requirements and lower control complexity [4][6]. Additionally, they can be used in passive and weak grids [7] make them the preferred choice to fed offshore platform and wind farms [8], [9]. Specically, HVDC systems based on modular multilevel cascaded (MMC) converter have interesting features such as high power quality [10] [11],reliability [12] and a transformerless operation which makes them well suited for scalable systems [13]. In fact, Several applications of MMC in HVDC systems have been reported during last years [14][16]. One of the main disadvantages of this converter is its complex control strategy, which must take care of input output and circulating current [17] and additionally the DC voltage average and DC voltage balance in each cell [18]. The arm currents can be modelled using components of the input current and circulating current [19]. In this case, the average DC voltage can be controlled modifying the reference of these currents [20]. The use of non-linear current decoupler shows also a good dynamic behaviour but turns the control to a
978-1-4673-0158-9/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE

highly complex strategy [21]. The DC voltage balance control scheme is usually embedded in the current controller [22] or adding a different term in each cell modulation [23]. In this paper, a decoupled control of input, output and also circulating current components of the MMC is proposed. This control achieves a minimization of the circulant current without affecting the average DC voltage control or DC voltage balance strategy. The proposed decoupled model simplies the current controller design and allows to completely separate the DC voltage balance strategy from currents control stage. Considering the application an HVDC system, the controlled variable is the output voltage instead of output current [24]. The paper is organized as follows: In section II the power topology and converter model is described. In section III the current controllers are designed. The balancing DC voltage strategy is described in section IV. The average voltage control is designed in section V. Simulation results are given in in section VI. Finally, conclusions are given in section VII. II. MMC CONVERTER TOPOLOGY AND MODEL The power topology of Modular Multilevel Cascaded (MMC) converter is show in Fig. 1. Each phase of the MMC converter is composed by two arms, called positive and negative. Each of these arms is composed by N identical Hbridge cells connected in series. Each cell is composed by a HBridge as shown in Fig. 2. The three-phase load is connected at the middle point of each phase, between both arms. The DC voltage source is connected at the upper and lower side of each phase. A. Arm currents model From [25], the dynamic model of the arm currents, which completely dene the behaviour of all currents inside the MMC converter, is given by d Q ip = (vp vn + (2Ro + R)(ip in )) dt 2(2Lo + L) P 1 + (vs vp vn (2R + 3Rs )(ip + in )) 3Ls + 2L 2 Q (vp + vn + R(ip + in )) (1) 2L
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Fig. 3.

MMC converter output current model

Fig. 1.

MMC converter power topology

Fig. 2. MMC converter power cell topology Fig. 4. MMC converter input current model

for the positive arm current and for the negative arm current is d Q in = + (vp vn + (2Ro + R)(ip in )) dt 2(2Lo + L) P 1 + (vs vp vn (2R + 3Rs )(ip + in )) 3Ls + 2L 2 Q (vp + vn + R(ip + in )) (2) 2L vs vs vs where vs = is the input voltage, ip = T T ipa ipb ipc ina inb inc and in = are the T positive and negative arm currents vp = vpa vpb vpc T and vn = vna vnb vnc are the positive and negative arm voltages. The matrices 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Q = 1 2 1 (3) P= 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 are used to simplify the notation. It is worth to note that vs is a vector composed by the scalar input voltage repeated three times which is used for notation completeness. It is possible to identify three terms in the positive and negative arm current dynamic equations (1)-(2), each one related to output, input and circulating currents, respectively. The controller proposed in this paper uses a separated dynamic model for each one as show in next subsection.
T

B. Decoupled currents model From Fig. 3 the output current is given by the difference between the positive and negative arm current. Therefore, the equation that dene the output current is: io = ip in (4)

deriving this expression and replacing (1) and (2), the output currents model is: d (2Lo + L) io + (2Ro + R)io = Q(vp vn ) (5) dt where io = ioa iob ioc
T

(6)

is the output current vector. The output current has a rst order model dominated mainly by the load parameters Lo and Ro . The equivalent output voltage is the difference between the positive and negative arm voltages multiplied by Q. From Fig. 4 the input current is given by the addition of each arm current, hence it can be calculated as: is = 3Pip = 3Pin (7)

deriving and replacing (1) and (2), the input current model is: Ls + 2L 3 d 2R i s + Rs + dt 3 is = vs P(vp + vn ) (8)

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Fig. 5.

MMC converter circulating current model

where is = is is is
T

(9)

is the input current vector. It could be noticed that as well as the input voltage, the input current vector is the scalar input current repeated three times. The input current dynamics is dominated by the input parameters Ls and Rs . The equivalent input voltage is the input voltage minus the summation of positive and negative arm voltages multiplied by matrix P. From Fig. 5 the circulating current is dened as the currents owing through the converter but they are not viewed from the input nor from the output. Solving the circuital equations, the circulating current can be calculated as ic = Q(ip + in ) (10)

Fig. 6. Block diagram of the proposed decoupled control a) Output current control b) Output voltage control c) Input current control d) Circulating current control

by three independent components, each one related to each current component, 1 1 1 ms + mo + mc 3 2 2 1 1 1 mn = ms mo + mc 3 2 2 replacing in the model of the currents gives mp = (2Lo + L) Ls + 2L 3 (16) (17)

Deriving and replacing (1) and (2), the circulating current model is: d L ic + Ric = Q (vp + vn ) (11) dt where ic = ica vcb vcc
T

d io + (2Ro + R)io = N Vdc mo (18) dt d 2R 2 is + Rs + is = vs N Vdc ms (19) dt 3 3 L

(12)

is the circulating current vector. In this case the dynamic of the current is given only by the arm parameters R and L. C. Arm voltages and modulation indexes The positive and negative arm voltages are dened as map T vdcap man T vdcan vp = mbp T vdcbp vn = mbn T vdcbn (13) mcp T vdccp mcn T vdccn Where mx and vdcx with x {ap, bp, cp, an, bn, cn}, are the modulation index and DC voltage vectors. Both vectors have a length N equal to the number of cells per arm. Considering the same modulation index in all cells of each arm, the arm voltages can be expressed as vp = N diag(vdcp )mp vn = N diag(vdcn )mn (14) (15)

d ic + Ric = N Vdc mc (20) dt These equations show a completely decoupled dynamics for each current and its corresponding modulation index. III. I NPUT, OUTPUT AND CIRCULATING CURRENT
CONTROL

Since the model equations presented in the last section (18)(20) are decoupled from each other, it is possible to dene also decoupled control loops. Considering sinusoidal output currents, a PI controller in a rotating frame synchronized with the output frequency can be used like shown in Fig. 6 a). In this paper the MMC is oriented to HVDC transmission applications, therefore the output voltage is controlled instead of output current. The relationship between the output voltage and the output modulation index is a constant value given by mo 1 = (21) vo N Vdc and can be controlled in an open loop as shown in Fig. 6 b). The input current is a continuous signal, therefore a PI controller can be used directly, like shown in Fig. 6 c).
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Considering balanced DC voltages, i.e. diag(vdcp ) = diag(vdcn ) = Vdc , and the modulation indexes composed

TABLE I MMC CONVERTER SIMULATION PARAMETERS Parameter Input lter inductance Input lter resistance Load inductance Fig. 7. Block diagram of arm balancing control for ap arm Load resistance Arm inductance Arm resistance Input voltage DC capacitance DC resistance DC voltage reference Output voltage reference Output voltage frequency Value Ls = 2[mH ] Rs = 0.1[] Lo = 50[mH ] Ro = 132[] L = 0.1[mH ] R = 10[m] vs = 400[KV ] Cdc = 1000[F ] Rdc = 10[K ] vdc = 2000[V ] vo = 122[KV ] fo = 60[Hz ]

Fig. 8.

Block diagram of MMC converter control

the resulting expressions in equations (23)-(24). Hence, the dynamic power equation is given by Cdc d 1 T T i vs = N vT vdcn + vdcp vdcp 3 s 2 dt dcn 1 N T T vdcn vdcn + vdcp vdcp + RiT + ic Rdc 2 c 2R T 1 1 Rs + is is + (2Ro + R)iT + o io 3 3 2

Circulating currents are sinusoidal but at twice the output frequency [26], therefore they can be controlled using a PI controller synchronized with this dq frame. The control scheme of the circulating currents is shown in Fig. 6 d). To minimize these currents, the references are set to icref = 0. IV. DC VOLTAGE BALANCING CONTROL To balance the DC link voltages a small change is added to the input modulation index in each arm. As shown in Fig. 7, the average DC voltage of each arm is compared with the DC voltage reference, this error is normalized by the nominal DC voltage and subtracted to a constant equal to 1. The resulting term is called the correction factor msx and it is multiplied to the input modulation index. This algorithm regulates the power in each arm and helps to balance the DC voltages. V. AVERAGE VOLTAGE CONTROL To control the average value of DC voltage a model of the voltage in terms of input current amplitude is required. The dynamic model of the DC voltages in each arm is given by Cdc vdcx d vdcx + = mx ix dt Rdc (22)

(25)

Considering vdcp = vdcn = vdc and writing in terms of amplitudes the dynamic power equation is 6N 1 2 Cdc d 2 Vdc + V 2 dt Rdc dc 6R 1 Is 3
2

3 2 2 = Is Vs Rs Is Ro Io 2 + 1 Io 2 2
2

1 Ic 2 2

(26)

Considering that Rs and R are negligible and the term is a disturbance, the model obtained shows a rst order dynamics between the square of the DC voltage and the input current amplitude.
2 3 2 Ro Io

where Rdc and Cdc are the DC parameters of each cell and x {ap, bp, cp, an, bn, cn}. Considering all voltages in each arm equal and using the three-phase vectorial notation the DC voltage dynamic equations are 1 d vdcp + vdcp = diag(mp )ip dt Rdc d 1 Cdc vdcn + vdcn = diag(mn )in dt Rdc Cdc (23) (24)

Cdc d 2 1 2 Is Vs V + V = (27) 2 dt dc Rdc dc 6N The DC voltage in the H-bridge cells of the converter can be controlled modifying the input current reference as shown in Fig. 8 where the complete control of the MMC converter is shown. VI. S IMULATION RESULTS T The total modulation index for each arm (m) is composed of three components as shown in eq. (16)-(17). The output voltage modulation index mo , the circulating current modulation index mc and the input current modulation index ms = [msap msbp mscp msan msbn mscn ]. To obtain the switching state of the converter a PWM phase shifted modulation is implemented. The switches are considering ideal and no turnon/turn-off time is considered. The simulation is performed in Matlab/Simulink using the model described in [25] and the
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The power equation can be obtained evaluating the current dynamic equations (18)-(20) at steady state and replacing

3000 2800 2600 2400 2200 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 150 100 50 0 -50 -100 -150 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 150 100 50 0 -50 -100 -150 0

vdcap

a) vdcan vo

b) io x50

Input Current [A]

3000 2800 2600 2400 2200 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 3000 2800 2600 2400 2200 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 0.16 150 100 50 0 -50 -100 -150 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 -100 -200 -300 150 100 50 0 -50 -100 -150 0

Capacitor Voltage [V]

Capacitor Voltage [V]

vdcan a) vdcap

Voltage [KV] ; Current [A]

Capacitor Voltage [V]

b)

0.18

0.22 0.28

0.3

0.32

is c)

Voltage [KV] ; Current [A]

vo c)

io x50

Output Power [MW]

ica

Circulating Current [A]

icb

icc d)

Po

d)

0.6

0.12

0.18

Input Current [A]

Time [s]
Fig. 9. MMC converter in steady state operation

is e)

parameters of the MMC converter given in Table I. A number of cells equal to N = 200 per arm is simulated. A. MMC converter in steady state operation In Fig. 9 shows the MMC converter starting with a initial DC voltage in the power cells equals to 2000[V ]. Fig. 9(a) shows the dynamics of the DC voltage in one H-bridge cell of the positive and negative arm of phase a. The DC voltages oscillate around the DC voltage reference. In Fig. 9(b) shows the output current and voltage. Is possible to appreciate that the output voltage is perfectly sinusoidal due the high number of H-bridge cells per arms of the converter. The input current is in 9(c). This current has a steady state value equal to is = 428[A]. Finally, Fig. 9(d) shows the circulating currents. These signals have a double fundamental frequency and oscillate around the reference equals to zero with a ripple of 50[A]. B. MMC converter response to load impact Fig. 10 shows the MMC converter when a load impact of +10% at time t = 0.18[s] is applied. This load impact produces an increment in the DC voltage ripple 10(a), in the output and input current and in the output power Fig. 10(c), (e) and (d) respectively. The increment in the DC voltage ripple is due to the increment of the amplitude of the output current,

Circulating Current [A]

ica

icb

icc f)

0.3

0.7

Time [s]
Fig. 10. MMC converter with load impact

although the DC voltage oscillates around the reference value. At time equal to t = 0.3[s] a load impact of 90% is applied. This effect produces a decrement in the oscillation amplitude of the DC voltage of the H-bridge cells 10(a) and also in the output and input current and in the output power Fig. 10(c), (e) and (d) respectively. The amplitude of the circulating current also decrease like show in Fig. 10(f). The voltage of all power cells of the converter oscillates around the reference value. Fig. 10(b) show a zoom of both load impacts.
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VII. C ONCLUSION The paper proposed a decoupled control of input, output and circulating current components of the MMC. The proposed scheme achieves decoupled dynamics of currents and facilitates the controller design. An average DC voltage model is also developed and it relationship with the input current is shown. Simulation results with 200 cells per arm show a good performance under load impacts generating sinusoidal output voltages under all conditions, which make this converter a recommended choice for HVDC systems. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors acknowledge the support of the Universidad T ecnica Federico Santa Mar a, the Chilean National Fund of Scientic and Technological Development FONDECYT Project 1121090 and the Basal Project FB-021. R EFERENCES
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