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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Generation of electrical power from variable speed sources such as wind energy systems
needs frequency changers as part of power conversion technology. Also, IMs are widely
used in industrial applications because of their low cost, reliability and performance [1].
The speed of the IM can be controlled by many techniques such as stator voltage control
and frequency control. The frequency control method is best suited for variable speed
operation of IMs. To perform frequency control, the power converters should be capable
of handling frequency conversion also.
1.1 Voltage Source Converters (VSC)
In the traditional power converters, control is obtained in two stages. Fig.1.1 shows
traditional VSC which can generate variable voltage and variable frequency ac output
from a constant voltage and constant frequency input source [2]. The first stage converts
the AC input into DC. The second stage converts DC into AC. The Pulse Width
Modulation technique is used in the inverter stage to produce sinusoidal output with
desired amplitude and desired frequency. The two stages are coupled by an energy
storing DC link capacitor. This DC link capacitor provides constant DC voltage to the
inverter stage. The size of the capacitor is large compared to the semiconductors used in
the rectifier and inverter stages and also the capacitors are temperature sensitive. The
input current delivered to the inverter stage will have 5th and 7th harmonics. These
harmonics will be injected to the mains at higher power levels and will lead to power
losses. The main drawback of this converter is the energy storing DC link capacitor
which makes the circuit bulky, adding weight and cost of the system.

Fig. 1.1: Voltage Source Converter Arrangement

1.2 Cycloconverters
To eliminate the drawback of DC link capacitor in two stage converters, single stage
power converters were designed in early 1930s and are called cycloconverters. In
cycloconverters the power conversion is obtained in single stage without the bulky
energy storing DC link capacitor as shown in Fig.1.2. The rectifiers are used in positive
and negative half cycle to produce alternating currents of variable frequency from a fixed
voltage and fixed frequency AC input supply [3-4]. The advantages of cycloconverters
are natural commutation of power semiconductor switches and simplicity in construction.
The maximum output frequency produced by the cyclcoconverter is less than the input
frequency. In most of the industrial applications, the frequencies used are 50Hz and
60Hz. So the cycloconverters are used in industrial applications despite their frequency
limitation. A three phase to three phase cycloconverter uses 36 thyristors to conduct
current. Due to the large number of power semiconductor switches, the complexity of
control circuit increases and hence the converters become very expensive.
Cycloconverters are used in variable frequency drive applications with ratings ranging

from a few megawatts up to tens of megawatts. The thyristor based cycloconverters are
still used in industrial applications such as mill drives, ore processing ball mills, cement
kilns and ship propulsion.

Fig. 1.2: Three Phase to Three phase Cycloconverter

1.3 Conventional Matrix Converters

The term MC was coined by Alesina and Venturini [5] in early 1980. MC is the most
general type in the family of AC to AC power converters. The MCs are called All
Silicon Solution [6] because of their ability to perform direct AC to AC frequency and
voltage conversion without the need for intermediate energy storage components such as

the DC link capacitor as seen in the VSCs. It consists of a matrix of bidirectional switch
elements as shown in Fig. 1.3.

Fig. 1.3: Conventional MC [7]

It can be seen that there are only nine power semiconductor switches used in the
converter. The 9 semiconductor switches can give 512 (= 29) switching combinations [8].
The duty cycle of switches can be properly modulated to connect any input phase to any
output phase. Alesina and Venturini proposed a general MC model and a modulation
algorithm. The MCs can provide sinusoidal voltage at the load side. The converter is
capable of operating at lagging, unity or even leading fundamental input displacement
factor. The converter offers the advantages of four quadrant operation, sinusoidal input
and output waveforms, minimum energy storage components and controllable
displacement factor.

1.4

Advantages of Conventional MC over VSCs

The output voltage of a VSC can assume only two discrete fixed potential values those of
the positive and negative DC bus values. In MCs the output voltages can assume any
input voltages a, b or c and their value are not time variant and it reduces the switching
harmonics. In the traditional VSC converters, the input current to the inverter stage
contains 5th and 7th harmonics. In MCs if the switching frequency is kept higher than the
input and output frequency, the input current drawn by the converter can be maintained
sinusoidal. In VSCs the power factor calculation needs the knowledge of the load
displacement angle in order to control the output power factor whereas in MCs the
knowledge of load displacement angle is not needed to control the output power factor.

1.5 Disadvantages of Conventional Matrix Converters

1.5.1 Realisation of Bi-Directional Switches

A bidirectional switch capable of conducting current and blocking voltage in both
polarities based on the control signal was not available in the market till recently. Hence
the bidirectional switch used in the converter is realized by connecting two unidirectional
semiconductor switches back to back with freewheeling diodes. The switch configuration
is shown in Fig. 1.4.

Fig. 1.4: MC with Bi-directional Switch [9]

1.5.2

Requirement of Input Filter

Due to the absence of dc link capacitors the fluctuations in the AC mains bring
significant changes in the input voltage of the converter during each cycle. Due to
discontinuous input currents, the MC behaves as a source of current harmonics which are
injected back into the AC mains. The current harmonics results in voltage distortion that
affects the overall operation of the system. The current harmonics have to be reduced to
improve the system performance. Hence the input filter arrangement is used in MCs to
reduce the input current harmonics. The design of input filter has to meet the following
requirements
a. It should carry out the switching noise attenuation
b. The input displacement angle between the filter output voltage and current should
be low
c. Overall system stability must be guaranteed.
The input filter arrangement is shown in Fig. 1.5.

1.5.3

Overvoltage and Overcurrent Problems

Overvoltage can occur due to any of the following causes in MC

a. Overvoltage due to extreme voltage surge at the AC mains
b. Overvoltage due to switch commutation error
c. Inaccuracy in timing of actuation signals
The overcurrent can occur in MC due to short circuit of any two input phases, due to
output line to line or line to earth short circuits can be avoided by providing freewheeling
paths. To protect MCs from overvoltage and overcurrent, clamp circuits can be used at
the input as shown in Fig. 1.5.

Fig. 1.5: MC with Input Filter and Clamp Circuit [10]

Implementation of clamp circuits will make the design more bulky than the VSCs.
Choosing proper modulation and commutation strategy can avoid this bulky design. Also,
implementation of bidirectional switches leads to commutation problems due to the
absence of freewheeling paths. This can be handled by selecting the proper timing and
synchronization of command signals for the switches. This can also be controlled by
proper modulation and commutation techniques.

1.6 Modulation Techniques

The selection of proper switching combination of switches in the MC is based on the
Modulation technique and its implementation. The system performance is also affected
by the modulation technique. The first modulation technique was proposed by Venturini
and it uses a scalar model. The maximum voltage transfer ratio of 0.5 was achieved in
this method. This voltage transfer ratio was increased by injecting the third harmonic of
the input and output voltages. MCs are devised as two stage converters and are called
indirect MCs. In both the stages nine bidirectional switches are used and are arranged in
matrix form. The first stage operates as a rectifier to provide a constant dc voltage. The
second operates as an inverter to produce the desired output voltage at the required
frequency. The indirect MC uses PWM technique in both rectifier and inverter stages.
The maximum voltage transfer ratio of 0.86 was achieved. The SVM technique was also
employed in the Indirect MC and the maximum voltage transfer ratio of 0.86 was
achieved.

1.7 Closed Loop Operation of IM

IMs are widely used in industrial applications. The use of MCs as IM drive increases the
reliability and performance of the IM in speed control applications. In order to minimize
the current distortions at a given switching frequency and for accurate speed - torque
control operations control scheme is necessary. There are two types closed loop control
schemes available for IMs
a. Field Oriented Control (FOC)
b. Direct Torque Control (DTC)
In FOC System the control of torque and flux is decoupled. The detailed study about the
conventional FOC system is discussed in Chapter 3. In the conventional FOC system PI
controllers are used to regulate the stator voltage and to calculate the stator current. The
required voltage is then synthesised by SVM technique to produce proper switching
vector.
In DTC System, the torque produced is dependent on the stator flux magnitude, rotor flux
magnitude and the angle between the stator and rotor flux vectors. The conventional DTC
system is analysed in detail in Chapter 3. In the conventional DTC system PI controllers
are used as flux and torque controllers. The major drawback of PI controllers is antiwindup process due to which the overshoot in the output will be high. Also, the
fluctuations around the steady state value will be high. This decreases the performance of
MC drive for IM in high power applications and speed control applications.

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1.8 Objectives of the thesis

Even though the MC has several advantages the application of MC in ac drives especially
in the speed control application of IM is limited due to the limitations of modulation
techniques in closed loop operation. In order to determine the suitability of MC drive for
IM, the present research work is focussed on to propose soft computing technique based
control strategies and controllers. These intelligent controllers are implemented in FOC
System and DTC Systems.

The first objective of this research is to design a MC using SVM and test the performance
of the design using IM load. The input current and output voltage waveforms produced
by the switching cycle are plotted.

The second objective is to design FOC system using PI controllers. The intelligent
control techniques using Fuzzy, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Adaptive NeuroFuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) and Fuzzy Extreme Learning Machine (FELM)
controllers are implemented in FOC Technique. The speed - torque curve of IM is plotted
and compared with intelligent and Conventional PI Controllers.

The third objective of this research is to design DTC system using PI controllers. Then
the Fuzzy, ANN and ANFIS controllers are implemented using Fuzzy, ANN and ANFIS
techniques in DTC System. The speed - torque curve of IM is plotted and compared with
intelligent and Conventional PI Controllers. The detailed description of design of MC
drive and intelligent controllers using Matlab/Simulink software is presented.

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1.9 Dissertation Outlines

The content of the thesis is organized in five chapters in the following manner. Chapter 1
introduces the various types of variable voltage variable frequency drives available for
IM. The concept of conventional direct MC is introduced. The advantages and
disadvantages of Conventional Direct MC are discussed. Reviews of previous work in
modulation methods for MC are also discussed. Then, the objective of this research work
is presented.

In chapter 2, the design of MC and the design of IM d-q model using Matlab/Simulink
software are presented. Alesina and Venturini Algorithm used in the design is discussed.
The output of MC with IM load is also presented.

In chapter 3, the design of conventional FOC system and DTC System is discussed. The
implementation of FOC and DTC systems using conventional PI controllers is discussed.
The simulation results of MC drive with IM load using conventional PI controllers is
presented.

In chapter 4, the design of conventional FOC closed loop system is discussed. The
implementation of Fuzzy, ANN, ANFIS and FELM controllers is discussed. The
simulation results of MC drive with IM load using conventional PI controllers, Fuzzy,
ANN and ANFIS are presented.

The speed control performance of the IM using

intelligent controllers is compared with Conventional Controller.

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In chapter 5, the design of conventional DTC closed loop system is discussed. The
implementation of Fuzzy, ANN and ANFIS controllers is discussed. The simulation
results of MC drive with IM load using conventional PI controllers, Fuzzy, ANN and
ANFIS are presented.

The speed control performance of the IM using intelligent

controllers is compared with Conventional Controller.

Chapter 6 summarizes the contribution of research work in the field of MC for IM load
applications. The scope for future work is also included in this chapter.