A new modular Marx derived multilevel converter

Abstract

A new Modular Marx Multilevel Converter, M 3C, is presented. The M 3C topology was developed based on the Marx Generator concept and can contribute to technological innovation for sustainability by enabling wind energy off-shore modular multilevel power switching converters with an arbitrary number of levels. This paper solves both the DC capacitor voltage balancing problem and modularity problems of multilevel converters, using a modified cell of a solid-state Marx modulator, previously developed by authors for high voltage pulsed power applications. The paper details the structure and operation of the M 3C modules, and their assembling to obtain multilevel converters. Sliding mode control is applied to a M 3C leg and the vector leading to automatic capacitor voltage equalization is chosen. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed M 3C topology. © 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.