A transformerless motor drive with a five-level diode-clamped pwm inverter for fan/blower loads

Abstract

This paper describes a 6.6-kV adjustable-speed motor drive for use in fans, blowers, and pumps without a transformer. The power-conversion system consists of a diode rectifier, a five-level diode-clamped PWM inverter, and a voltage-balancing circuit. A 200-V 5.5-kW downscale model is developed, constructed, and tested. The five-level PWM inverter and the voltage-balancing circuit are studied in detail. Experimental results obtained from testing the 200-V downscale model confirm the viability and effectiveness of the 6.6-kV adjustable-speed motor drive, indicating that the dc mean voltages of the four split dc capacitors are well balanced under all the given operating conditions. © 2009 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.