The Tenth International Middle East Power Systems Conference, Dec.
13-15, 2005, Port Said, Egypt
OPTIMAL VOLTAGE CONTROL OF A PWM VOLTAGE
SOURCE INVERTER FED AC MOTOR
M. S. Zaky, H. A. Yassin, A. El-Sabbe, and S. S. Shokralla
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shebin
El-Kom, Minoufiya University, Egypt
Abstract-In this paper, the analysis of a
single-phase dc to ac pulse width
modulated (PWM) voltage source inverter
feeding an ac motor is presented.
Differential equations describing the system
behavior are given, and the motor
performance in both transient and steady
state operation is predicted. An optimal
closed loop voltage control with PI
controller is developed. The optimality
condition in the frequency domain is used,
and a weighing matrix (Q) to minimize the
performance index for optimal control law
is selected. The simulation results are given
and proved to yield good agreement when
compared with the relevant experimental
results.
Keywords: UPS analysis, optimal control,
PWM inverter
1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, intensive research has
been performed on the design of
uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems
to provide clean and uninterruptible power
to equipment in critical applications such as
personal computers, medical equipment,
communication systems, industrial and
commercial controls, under essentially any
normal or abnormal utility power
conditions [1,2].
When designing a UPS system, some of
the characteristics may be considered such
Ref. No. PE01
that high reliability, high efficiency, high
power density, and low acoustic noise, low
implementation cost and sinusoidal output
voltage [3].
The output voltage of the UPS inverter is
required to be sinusoidal with minimum
total harmonic distortion. This is usually
achieved by employing a pulse width
modulate (PWM) inverter with a second
order filter at its output.
Several approaches have been
introduced to control UPS systems to
supply constant voltage and constant
frequency [4-7].
Many studies have been reported for dc
to ac UPS inverters, but those are limited to
a static R-L load [1-7]. Relatively fewer
research works have been published
regarding analysis of a UPS inverter fed
dynamic loads.
In this paper, the simulation and
experimental studies are obtained for a
system that consists of an ac series motor
fed from a dc to ac single-phase PWM
inverter using two switches (IGBT’s) and a
second order filter. The system operation is
analyzed at two switching frequencies, the
first at single-pulse per half cycle and the
second at multi-pulses per half cycle of the
supply. Differential equations, which
describe the system behavior in the
different modes of operation, are given.
Those differential equations are placed in a
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state space form and solved using the fourth 3. SYSTEM MODELING AND MODES
order Runge-Kutta method. The dynamic OF OPERATION
and steady state behavior are predicted The two switching states of S1 and S2
using the proposed modeling and give two modes of operation. The
simulation. An optimal voltage control corresponding equivalent circuits of these
system is developed with proportional modes are shown in figure 3. Differential
integral (PI) controller. The optimality equations from 1 to 6, could be written:
Lf Rf Rm Lm Load
condition in the frequency domain is used _
+
Km
ii Cf
im ωm
to design the optimal parameters of the PI M ode 2 M ode 1 vi vm
ic
controller to minimize the quadratic + _
A C M o to r Vf
performance index. Comparison between S e p a r a te ly - E x c ite d
D C G e n e r a to r
the simulation and experimental results Fig. 3 Modes of operation of the circuit
shows close agreement. v = V for mode 1 (1)
i dc
2. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
v i = −V dc
for mode 2 (2)
Figure 1 shows the circuit configuration
di
of a single-phase dc to ac PWM voltage vi = R f ii + L f
i
+ v m (3)
dt
source inverter. The circuit consists of two
di m
power switches (IGBT’s), second order v m = R m im + L m + K m im ω m (4)
dt
filter (Lf, Cf) and ac series motor. The dω
generation of gate pulses is accomplished K m i m2 = J m
+ Bω m + TL (5)
dt
by comparing a saw tooth signal of 1 1
amplitude Vm (modulating signal) with a
vm =
C f ∫i C dt =
C f ∫ (i i − i m ) dt (6)
control voltage VC. Changing the amplitude The system differential equations can be
of the control voltage (VC) varies the ac written in a general form as follows:
output voltage of the inverter due to duty di i (t ) R 1 v
= − f i i (t ) − v m (t ) + i (7)
ratio change. The experimental gate pulses dt Lf Lf Lf
at two switching frequencies are shown in di m (t ) Rm 1 K (8)
=− i m (t ) + v m (t ) − m i m (t )ωm (t )
Fig. 2 for single-pulse per half cycle (Fig. dt Lm Lm Lm
2-a) and multi-pulses per half cycle (Fig. 2- dv m (t )
=
1
ii ( t ) −
1
im (t ) (9)
b). The system parameters are given in dt C f C f
appendix 1. d ω m (t ) K m 2 B T (10)
= i (t ) − ω m (t ) − L
dt J m J J
S1
V dc +
_
Lf Rf Rm Lm
Km
Load Where v i =V dc (2S 1* − 1) and ⎡1 at switch S1 ON
S 1* = ⎢
+ ωm
2 V dc
+
vi
ii Cf
im
⎣0 at switch S1 OFF
_ vm
_ ic SW
4. THE OPTIMAL DESIGN OF A
V dc +
_ S2
A C M o to r Vf
S ep a ra te ly- E x cited CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEM
D C G en era to r Filter Transfer Function
Fig. 1 The circuit configuration of a single- phase Vref + 1 + + v vm Motor ωm
g1 g2 i G Transfer
voltage source inverter _
TS
_ Function
+

KI
Im
Kv
Fig. 4 The closed loop voltage control system
4.1. Theoretical Analysis
(a) At 50 Hz (single pulse per half cycle) Consider an nth order linear time-
invariant system (i.e. the coefficient
matrices A, B are constant in equation 11)
that is described by the state equation,
X ( t ) = A X ( t ) + B u ( t ) (11)
After checking the complete state
(b) At 1200 Hz (multi-pulses per half cycle) controllability, a control law u = K T X is
Fig. 2 Experimental results of gate pulses at two
switching frequency
desired to be optimal for minimizing a

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quadratic performance index J such that the Where the constants a1, a2, a3 and b are
eigenvalues of the closed loop system given in appendix 2.
(A +BKT ) take on the desired For this system, it is required to calculate
values: (s = s i , i = 1,2,....., n ) , where the controller parameters g1, g2 and T such
∞ that the control law u = K 1X 1 + K 2X 2 + K 3X 3
J = ∫ (X Q X + u 2 )d t
T
(12) minimizes the quadratic performance index
0

Q is the weighting quadratic matrix and KT provided that Q is positive semidefinite

is the feedback gain matrix. matrix and at the same time the eigenvalues
4.2. Optimality Condition in the Frequency of the closed loop system, (A + BK T ) , take
Domain on the desired values. The open loop and
The optimal design of the control law in closed-loop characteristic equations are
the sense of minimizing the performance obtained as follows:
index J for Q if and only if q ( s ) = s 3 − a 3 s 2 − a 1a 2 s (20)
d ( j ω) =d1ω2(n−1) +d2ω2(n−2) +..............+dn ≥ 0 (13)
p ( s ) = s + p 1s + p 2 s + p 3
3 2
(21)
for all real frequency ω [8-11]. Then a choice of the desired eigenvalues
Where d (s) = p(s)p(−s) −q(s )q(−s) =W (s)QW T (s) . such that: di ≥ 0 i =1,2,3, Where:
The open loop and closed-loop d1 = p12 −2p2 −2aa
1 2 −a3 , d2 =2p1p3 −p2 +(aa
1 2) and d3 = p3
2 2 2 2

characteristic equations q(s) and p(s) are

defined by: So, the control law u = KT X is optimal
q (s ) = sI − A = s n + q1s n −1 + ....... + q n (14) with respect to the performance index J. the
n vector K and the positive semidefinite
p(s) = sI −A −BKT =∏(s −si ) =s n + ps
1
n−1
+.......+ pn (15) matrix Q are found to be:
i =1

Also, the n-vector WT(s) is given by: ⎡aa2 3 0 0⎤⎡ p1 −q1 ⎤

⎡aad
2 2
2 3 1 aad 3
2 3 1 0⎤
−1 ⎢ 2 ⎥⎢ ⎥ 1 ⎢ 3 ⎥
W T (s ) = adj (sI - A ) B =W T S with: K= ⎢ a3 a3 1⎥⎢p2 −q2⎥,Q=aab aad ad
2 2 2⎢ 2 3 1 3 1 +ad
4 2
3 2 ad
2 3⎥
aab 2 3 ⎢ 2 ⎥
⎣⎢ 0 0 a2⎥⎢
⎦⎣p3 −q3⎦⎥
23
S T = (s n −1, s n −2 ,......,1) . ⎣ 0 da3 2 ad
2 3⎦

The optimal control law may be calculated Also, the required optimal controller
by: parameters (Fig. 4) are:
K1 1 K
u = K T X = −W − 1 ( p − q ) X (16) g1 = − , g 2 = K 2 and =− 3
K2 T K1
Where p =(p1, p2,........, pn ) and q =(q1,q2,........,qn ) .
T T
5. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL
The design strategy is to utilize the RESULTS
condition of Eqn. 13 to select a weighting The proposed experimental system is
matrix Q that is positive semidefinite. designed and implemented in order to
Where, verify the simulated developed model. The
Q =W −1diag(d1, d 2 ,........., d n ) W −T (17) behavior of this system under transient and
So, the optimal design of the PI steady state operations is determined by
controller parameters for the voltage source solving the non-linear differential equations
inverter fed ac series motor is as follows: with simulink fourth order Runge-Kutta
The state variables are: method.
X = ⎡⎣X1 X 2 X 3 ⎤⎦ = ⎡⎣KVVm K I Im e ⎤⎦
T T
(18) 4.1. Open-Loop System
Where e: is the voltage error ( e =Vref −KVVm ). The open loop experimental system is
built and tested to verify the system
Assuming that the resistance associated performance in different operating
with the filter inductance is neglected. The conditions at half the rated load.
system shown in Fig. 4 may be represented 5.1.1. Run-Up Behavior
by Figures 5 and 6 show the waveforms of
⎡ X 1 ⎤ ⎡ 0 a 1 0⎤ ⎡ X 1 ⎤ ⎡b ⎤
d ⎢  ⎥ ⎢ ⎢ ⎥ motor voltage, motor current and motor
X 2 = a2 a3 0⎥⎥ ⎢ X 2 ⎥ + ⎢⎢ 0 ⎥⎥ u (19)
dt ⎢  ⎥ ⎢ speed when the motor is started with a load
⎢ X 3 ⎥ ⎣⎢ −1 0 0⎦⎥ ⎢ X 3 ⎥ ⎢⎣ 0 ⎦⎥
⎣ ⎦ ⎣ ⎦ of half the rated load. It is clear that the

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starting current is about 1.5 of the steady

state value, while the run-up period is about
500 msec.
5.1.2. Steady-State Characteristic
Figure 7 shows the steady–state
waveforms of motor voltage and motor
(a) Simulation
current. It is cleared that the motor voltage
and motor current are nearly sinusoidal
waveforms. Figure 8 shows the steady-state
waveforms of the inverter output voltage
and current.
5.1.3. Load Torque Disturbance
Figure 9 shows the response of motor (b) Experimental
Fig. 6 Simulation and experimental results of motor
current and motor speed due to 20 %
speed and motor current
positive change in the load torque from the
existing load, which is equal to 0.25 full
load torque. It is observed that the motor
current is increased with increasing the load
torque and the motor speed is decreased.
While, when the disturbance is 20 %
negative change in the load torque, the (a) Simulation
reverse effect is observed as shown in
figure 10. In both, the motor voltage is
constant at the predetermined value.
5.1.4. Control Voltage Disturbance
Figures 11 and 12 show the response of
the motor voltage, motor current and motor (b) Experimental
Fig. 7 Simulation and experimental results of motor
speed due to ± 20 % change in the control voltage and motor current
voltage for the existing load. It is observed
that the motor voltage, motor current and
motor speed follow the control voltage in
its increasing and decreasing.
4.2. Closed Loop System
Figure 13 shows the response of motor
speed due to ± 20 % change in the reference (a) Simulation
voltage (Vr). It is clear that the motor speed
follows the desired reference voltage
smoothly. Figure 14 shows the constant
output of motor voltage due to – 20 %
change in the supply voltage. (b) Experimental
Fig. 8 Simulation and experimental results of
inverter output voltage and current due to single-
pulse per half cycle

(a) Simulation

(b) Experimental
Fig. 5 Simulation and experimental results of motor (a) Simulation
voltage

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 The Tenth International Middle East Power Systems Conference, Dec. 13-15, 2005, Port Said, Egypt
(b) Experimental
Fig. 9 Simulation and experimental results of motor
current and motor speed due to 20 %
positive change in load torque
(a) Simulation
(b) Experimental
Fig. 10 Simulation and experimental results of
motor current and motor speed due to 20 %
negative change in load torque
(a) Simulation
(b) Experimental
Fig. 11 Simulation and experimental results of motor
voltage and motor current due to ± 20 %
change in control voltage
(a) Simulation
(b) Experimental
Fig. 12 Simulation and experimental results of
motor current and speed due to ± 20 %
change in control voltage
Ref. No. PE01
Fig. 13 Experimental result of motor speed due to
20 % change in reference voltage
Fig. 14 Experimental results of motor voltage due to
- 20 % change in supply voltage
The duty ratio must be at 50 % to give
symmetric waveforms in positive and
negative sides. Otherwise, the waveforms
contain a dc component which doesn't
require for UPS applications. Therefore the
switching frequency should be higher than
the load voltage frequency (50 Hz) as
shown in figure 2-b. This gives symmetric
waveforms under any duty ratio change as
shown in figure 15.
Fig. 15 Experimental results of motor current and
motor voltage due to ± 20 % change in
control voltage
5. CONCLUSION
Analysis of a single-phase PWM voltage
source inverter fed ac series motor at a
switching frequency equal to 50 Hz and
1200 Hz has been presented. Differential
equations of the different modes of
operation have been given to describe the
system operation. The system performance
in both transient and steady state operation
has been predicted. The design of a closed-
loop voltage control with PI controller has
been developed. The controller has been
designed to give desirable dynamic
response. Also, an optimal closed-loop
voltage control has been applied, and
accordingly constant output voltage under
load or supply voltage disturbances has
been achieved. This technique is suitable
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for uninterruptible power supply (UPS)
applications. Comparison between the
simulation and experimental results for both
open and closed-loop systems has shown
good agreement.
7. REFERENCES
[1] Jiann-Fuh Chen, and Ching-Lung
Chu,” Combination Voltage-Controlled
and Current-Controlled PWM Inverters
for UPS Parallel Operation”, IEEE
Tran. On power electronics, Vol. 10,
No. 5, September 1995, PP. 547-558.
[2] Naser M. Abdel-Rahim, John E.
Quaicoe “Analysis and Design of a
Multiple Feedback Loop Control
Strategy for Single-Phase Voltage
Source UPS Inverters”, IEEE Tran. On
power electronics, Vol. 11, No. 4, July
1996, PP. 532-541.
[3] G. Ioannidis, E. Xanthoulis and S. N.
Manias,” A novel Uninterruptible
Power Supply system with sinusoidal
input-output characteristics and
simplified control circuit”, IEEE
International Symposium on Industrial
Electronics ISIE’95, Vol. 2, July 10-14,
1995, PP. 603-609.
[4] Ramon O. Caceres, Ivo Barbi, “A
Boost DC-AC Converter: Analysis,
Design, and Experimentation”, IEEE
Tran. On power electronics, vol. 14, No.
1, january1999, PP. 408-418.
[5] S. A. Mahmoud, A .S. Zein El-din and
A. Ghazy,” A novel Uninterruptible
Power Supply (UPS) Controlled by
Programmed Logic Controller (PLC)”,
Fourth International Conference on
Electronics, Circuits & Systems
ICECS’97, Vol. 1, December 15-18,
1997, PP. 215-219.
[6] S. A. Mahmoud, A .S. Zein El-din and
A. E. El-Sabbe,” PLC-Based Control of
UPS”, PEMC’98, Prague-Czech
Republic, Sept. 8-10, 1998, PP. (8-1)-
(8-6).
Ref. No. PE01
[7] A. El-Sabbe, H. A. Yassin, S. S.
Shokralla and M. S. Zaky, “ Stability
Analysis of a Single-Phase Voltage
Source Inverter”, Engineering Research
Journal (ERJ), Faculty of Engineering,
Minoufiya University, Vol. 28, No. 2,
April 2005, PP. 159-167.
[8] M. Amin, R. Husson, C. Iung,”
Optimal Speed Control of a
Thyristorized Dc Motor,” Fifteenth
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March 25-27, 1980.
[9] F. Lin and R. D. Brandt,” An Optimal
Control Approach to Robust Control of
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[10] K. Ogata, “Modern Control
Engineering”, Prentice Hall, 1994.
[11] S. D. Silvey,” Optimal Design: An
Introduction to the Theory for
Parameter Estimation”, Chapman and
Hall, 1980.
APPENDICES
Appendix (1)
The test motor is an ac series motor, 220
volt, 1/3 H.P., 1.9 A, rated speed 3000
r.p.m. having the following measured
parameters: Rm = 10.5Ω, Lm = 0.11783 mH,
Km = 0 .345, J = 0.0015 Kg.m2,
B = 0.00001 N.m/Rad./Sec.
The filter parameters are:
Rf = 4 Ω, Lf =51 mH, Cf = 198.668 µF,
G = v m v i (Distortion factor) = 0.9003
The inverter parameters are: -
Vdc =60 V, Vm = 10 V , VC = 0 → 10 V ,
Vr=2 V , KI (Current gain) = 0.033 V/A,
KV (Voltage gain) = 0.0193
Appendix (2)
The coefficients of the state variables are: -
−K K R K K
a1 = V , a2 = I , a3 =−( m + m ωmo) and b= v [1-G]
KC KVLm Lm Lm LC
I f f f
The optimal parameters of the controller
are:
1
g 1 = 0.04, g 2 = 2.8291, = 12.78
T
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