POWER ELECTRONICS KJELD THORBORG Department of Electrical Machines and Power Electronics, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden TKK SAHKOTEKNIIKAN 71 OSASTON KIRJASTO eee OTAKAARI 5 A 02150 ESPOO. 200706 TEKNILLISEN KORKEAKOULUN KIRJASTO TEKNISKA HOGSKOLANS BIBLIOTEK PRENTICE HALL NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY TOKYOFirst published 1988 by Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd, 66 Wood Lane End, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 4RG A division of Simon & Schuster International Group © 1988 Prentice-Hall International (UK) Ltd lll rights reserved, No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission, in writing, from the publisher. For permission within the United States of America contact Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632. Printed and bound in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thorborg, Kield. Power electronics. Translation of: Kraftelektronik. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1, Power electronics. I. Title. TK7881.15.T47513 1988 621.3815'1 _87-12645 ISBN 0-13-686593-3 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Thorborg, Kjeld Power electronics. 1, Power semiconductors. 1. Title 621.3815'2 - TK7871.85 ISBN 0-13-686593-3 (0-13-686577-1 (pbk) 12345 91 90 89 88 87 ISBN O-L3-b86553-3 ISBN 0-13-b8bS7?-1 PBK ~CHAPTER TWELVE FILTERS Converters generate harmonics on the ac side and ripple on the de side, which may be of unsuitable magnitude for the source or for the load. To reduce harmonics or ripple to an acceptable level, filters consisting mainly of inductors and capacitors are used. For power electronic converters there is a demand upon high efficiency and therefore filters must also be highly effective. The losses of the components are minimized, and when resistors are used their power dissipation must be low compared to the rated output power. This chapter deals with voltage filters for self-commutated inverters, current filters for line-commutated converters and dc filters. 12.1 VOLTAGE FILTER Self-commutated inverters for fixed output frequency are often used to replace ac voltage sources with sinusoidal voltage, for which most loads are designed. The inverters des- cribed in Chapter 6 have a nearly rectangular output voltage or a voltage consisting of rectangular parts. To make the output voltage (nearly) sinusoidal, the inverter is provided with a filter. The output voltage is usually called sinusoidal if its relative harmonic content is less than 10%. The demands in common practice are more stringent and the relative harmonic content must be less than 5% or even 3%. The filter shown in Figure 12.1 consists of a series impedance Z’ and a parallel impedance Z” = 1/Y", where Y" is the admittance of the parallel branch. The input voltage u; is assumed to be a nonsinusoidal voltage and uz is the filtered output voltage. ‘The filter may be regarded as a voltage divider, reducing the mth harmonic by a factor (12.1) 1+ Zin * Yin A good filter has a low reduction of the fundamental, i.e. fin is nearly 1, and a high reduction of the harmonics, corresponding to a low value of fc») for n > 1. Only the rms values of the harmonics are of interest; their phase positions are very seldom important. 376SECTION 12.1 VOLTAGE FILTER 377 Figure 12.1 AC voltage filter 12.1.1 Series—parallel resonance filter The series—parallel resonance filter of Figure 12.2 fulfils the requirements of a low reduc- tion of the fundamental and a high reduction of the harmonics. The series as well as the parallel branches are tuned for resonance at the fundamental frequency. In the calculations which now follow, all losses are neglected and the filter is assumed to be open-circuited. The losses and load have for this type of filter usually little influence on the harmonic content of the output voltage. If wis the angular frequency of the fundamental, series and parallel resonance imply 1 L'o=a— (=X! er ag GX) and (12.2) respectively, and for the nth harmonic Zin = jL' + (nw) — (12.3) Figure 12.2 Series~parallel resonance filter378 FILTERS CHAPTER 12 which is inserted in Equation 12.1 to give Son = (12.4) + JX'T azar df] 1 =| (ny)? = XY" This expression shows that fay = 1, and that fin -* 1/(X’¥") + 1/n? for high values of n, i.e. the harmonics are reduced by a factor which is inversely proportional to n?. For a certain value of n the denominator of the expression becomes zero and fin) ~> co, that is We ler) ms Near this resonance frequency, harmonics of the input voltage, if any, are amplified, and the resonance should therefore be chosen lower than the lowest occurring harmonic voltage. If the half-cycles are not symmetrical, which means that the voltage contains even har- monics, then there is a risk that this asymmetry is amplified if the resonance is near n = 2. In the same way a resonance near n = 3 may imply that the third harmonic appears in the output voltage even if it is supposed to be eliminated in the input voltage, but some rem- nants are left. The product of X’ and Y" determines fi), while the harmonic currents Jy», Which flow to the filter from the supply, depend on the ratio of X’ and Y”. The nth harmonic current is (12.6) where the expressions from Equations 12.3 and 12.4 have been inserted. For a filter with a constant output voltage U it is convenient to use a pu system based on U and on the rated load S or the rated output current 7. If the rated power of a component in the series link is x pu for the fundamental, then its impedance as well as the voltage across it at rated current will also be x pu. For a component in the parallel link having the rated power y pu, its admittance and the funda- mental current through it will also be y pu.SECTION 12.1 VOLTAGE FILTER 379 Example 12.1 gives a worked example of a filter. Here a series—parallel resonance filter, having a rated power of 1 pu, is connected to a square-wave voltage. The harmonics of the input voltage are calculated in Equations A.9 and A.10. For each of the harmonics the reduction factor of the filter is calculated, and hence the harmonics of the output voltage. The relative harmonic content may approximately be calculated as the rms value of the relative harmonic components. The approximations are based on the fact that high harmonics are neglected, and that the harmonics are divided by the rms value of the fundamental instead of the total rms value. When designing filter components, consideration must be given to the influence of harmonic currents and voltages which increase the rms values of the currents through the components, and the peak and mean values of the voltages across them. The influence of harmonic currents, if any, generated by nonlinear loads must also be taken into account. EXAMPLE 12.1 ue j____k__ 1-(@-Ifnp 9 fos| = 0.164 Say= 64-9 25 F0~ 576-35 ~ 0.088 49 JO = F304 9 021 Input voltage: Uay=1, Ug) = 1/3, Uy = 1/5, Ug = 1/7 ete. Output voltage: Uw) = 1, Us) = 0164/3 = 0.055, Us) = 0.045/5 = 0.009, Ug) = 0.021/7 = 0.003 ete.380 FILTERS CHAPTER 12 Relative harmonic content: K= AS vs) 3 vin) = Us Ut) [Ue = VU + ts + Ub) = 0.01 - V (5.57 + 0.9? + 0.3) = 0.056 = 5.6% 12.1.2 Filter without series capacitor The series—parallel resonance filter has the advantage that it does not give any reduction of the fundamental component. Filters with series capacitors have, however, the dis- advantage that they often give rise to stability problems if the load comprises induction motors; a phenomenon which is known from series-compensated high voltage power lines. Therefore this type of filter is unsuitable for such a load. jx’ o FO ° = 0.3 3” frag» Uz=1pu + ° ‘Vector diagram of the fundamental Inductive load: Capacitive load: T= ha, 00s 9=0.8 T= hn, cos p= 08 Ur=1.2 pu U; = 0.85 pu Figure 12.3 Filter with a constant output voltageSECTION 12.1 VOLTAGE FILTER 38] Instead a filter with only an inductor in the series link may be used; see the example in Figure 12.3. To keep the reduction of the fundamental at a reasonable level, L' must be chosen so that it is lower than in the previous example, say 0.3 pu or less. A filter with such a low series impedance should not be used for an input voltage which contains a high third harmonic, which would burden the source with a high third harmonic current. The filter is well suited for a symmetrical three-phase system which has no third harmonic in the phase-to-phase voltages, and for single-phase circuits in which the third harmonic is eliminated. The variation of the fundamental output voltage versus the load can be calculated from vector diagrams (see the figures). Here also a pu system based upon the output voltage and output current is employed. The input voltage is calculated taking the con- stant output voltage as equal to 1 pu. To keep the output voltage constant, the input voltage must be varied either by varying the dc supply voltage or by controlling the inverter. This control may even eliminate variations of the de supply voltage. The harmonic content of the output voltage can be calculated in the same way as in the previous example. 12.1.3 Short-cireuit link To reduce a harmonic component from the output of a de or an ac filter, a short-circuit link may be inserted across the output. Figure 12.4 shows a diagram valid for the nth harmonic of a link which is tuned to the pth harmonic; here the third harmonic is chosen as an example. The link consists of an inductor L in series with a capacitor C, being in resonance for the third harmonic. A series resistance R (which may be neglected for all harmonics other than the third) represents the total losses of the circuit. For the fundamental frequency the link is equivalent to a capacitor, and the funda- mental current can be calculated if the voltage across the link is known. This current can be phase-compensated by means of a parallel inductor. The fundamental component of the voltage across the capacitor Ucq) and across the inductor Uzqy can now be calculated. For the third harmonic the link is equivalent to a resistor. The current (3) may with good approximation be assumed to be equal to the third harmonic of the ac supply voltage divided by the series impedance of the filter. == -JXG - 1/3) ie Figure 12.4 Short-circuit link tuned to the third harmonic382 FILTERS CHAPTER 12 Uc = Ure) can now be calculated and the third harmonie of the output voltage will be R- Ig). Therefore the filter must have a high quality factor, if the third harmonic of the output voltage is to be low. The influence of the link on other higher harmonics can be neglected. If the link is tuned for a high harmonic, then one must make sure that no resonances appear for a lower harmonic. In the example given here the capacitor and the inductor must be designed for currents and voltages which consist mainly of a fundamental and a third harmonic component. Note: Ucay > Vay. 12.2 CURRENT FILTER Section 4.6.2 dealt with harmonic currents Iq.) in power networks caused by converters, and the harmonic voltages Ucn which they give rise to: Un = Ten * Zr¢m, (12.7) where Zycm is the equivalent series impedance of the network for the nth harmonic seen from a certain point (‘the critical bar’) at which the harmonic voltages are to be calculated. For these calculations it is difficult to evaluate the right value of Zy¢m. The inductance and resistance of the various components of the network are often frequency-dependent and furthermore there are normally also capacitive components present in the form of phase-compensating capacitors, cable capacitances etc. In plants with limited geographic extension, fed by their own transformers from a primary network, which is stiff compared to the impedance of the transformer, the network impedance will be comparatively well defined, at least for low order harmonics. It can be assumed that Zxom = 2Xcy (12.8) where Xq1) = U?/S, is the network impedance for the fundamental (if U is the phase-to- phase voltage and S, the three-phase short-circuit power, then X( is the inductance per phase). Table 4.1 in Section 4.6.2 gives an example of recommended maximum relative har- monic content and the approximate short-circuit power capabilities of power networks. If the network contains phase compensation capacitors or if a major part of it consists of cables or other power lines with high capacitances, then its impedance for the nth har- monic may deviate considerably from the value given above. Often resonance oscillations for certain frequencies may occur between the inductive and capacitive parts of the net- work, resulting in a noticeable amplification of harmonics. To reduce the harmonics of a plant or network, current filters may be installed, building low-ohmic, alternative current paths for the harmonic currents. The effectiveness of the filter depends on its size as well as the accuracy of tuning, but also, as mentioned, on the total configuration of the network. The filter consists of a number of parallel LC links, tuned to the frequencies of various characteristic harmonics of the converter. The configurations used for a three-phase link are shown in Figure 12.5.SECTION 12.2 CURRENT FILTER 383 ee, tL ean Figure 12.5 Three-phase filter configurations Figure 12.6 shows an example of a filter with short-circuit links for the lowest harmonics, which are expected to be present. The link which is tuned for n= 17 also offers, because of the resistor, a current path with low impedance for higher harmonics. The principle used for calculating the resulting harmonic content after the filter is sim- ple. It is shown in Figure 12.7. The network is here represented by its series impedance Zycn- Its emf is principally of fundamental frequency and it does not have any influence on the harmonic content: for the harmonics it can be regarded as a short-circuit. The con- verter functions as a generator of harmonic currents Jc») and the filter as an impedance Zeon (= 1/Yecm). The resulting mth harmonic network current Iya) will be Inc * Zeca = Con = Icy) * Zeca ie. Zeon 1 Inem) = Kon gO — = en" 12.9) Ten + Boy 1+ ¥en)“ Zn (2-9) and the nth harmonic voltage Ton Um = (12.10) Yon Zeon) | pes 3) 7 i 13 BIT LL Figure 12.6 Filter with short-circuit links for the lowest harmonics384 FILTERS CHAPTER 12 Tx => Zn Zeon Toy : ~ Figure 12.7 Converter and filter connected to a network where Y(n = ¥F(n) + 1/Zncp is the resulting admittance, seen by the converter. In the following these quantities will be calculated for an example. First one link (see Figure 12.8) will be studied, which is tuned to the pth harmonic, and the admittance of the capacitor for the fundamental is Yp pu. The admittance of the link for the nth harmonic, if losses are neglected, is iy Ta YN + GAY) 7? or) Figure 12.9 shows an example of Ym against 1 (curve I) for ¥p=0.2 puand p=, i.e. Ym = (12.11) n Yoo =02- 7 For n <5 the link is capacitive and Yin © for n> 5-3 For n> $ the link is inductive and Yc) — 0 for n> 5+. ‘Assume the filter is to be inserted into an inductive network with the impedance Zx=jXw for the fundamental (see Figure 12.10), ie, with the admittance Ynem = —J/(a* Xx). This is shown in Figure 12.9, curve II, for Xw= 0.1 pu. The total admittance of the network and the filter is the sum of curves I and IJ, shown as curve III in the figure. 3 sve*ron 3 JUMP 3g JUn/(p*¥p)) U/GY5)) (1/GPY¥o)] = ~ JM P¥o)) =e U/Gn¥5)) Fundamental pth harmonic nth harmonic Figure 12.8 Filter linkSECTION 12.2 CURRENT FILTER 385 OT link A I network x TL sum 1 1 | 1 1 -s4 “4 1 I 1 1 1 1 \ Figure 12.9 Filter link and network inductance To the left of the point of resonance p = 5 the filter link is capacitive and the network inductive. For one value of n, here near 4, there will be a parallel resonance between filter and network, where the resulting admittance is zero. To the right of the (series) resonance point both the network and the filter are inductive, and no more parallel resonances will occur. Parallel resonance implies that harmonic currents with frequencies near the resonance frequency meet a high impedance and the harmonic voltages are amplified by the filter, Loy dnp? ¥)) inky 3 =p U/UnY¥,)) Figtire 12.10 Admittance versus386 FILTERS CHAPTER 12 i.e, they are higher with the filter inserted than without. The filter should be designed in such a way that all parallel resonance frequencies appear at a reassuring distance from (remnants of) existing harmonic currents (refer to Section 12.1.1). Figure 12.9 shows that near the resonance frequency, p = 5, the absolute value of the admittance decreases much faster for n < p than for n > p, when n moves away from p.° A filter is in practice never tuned exactly to the desired harmonic because of factors such as tolerance of the component values, temperature variations, aging and frequency variations. It is therefore preferable, if the network is inductive, to tune the filter link to a frequency which is a few percent lower than the ideal, thus ensuring the filter always to be inductive for the harmonic it is supposed to attenuate. For a capacitive network the filter is tuned to a higher resonance frequency, and the filter will be capacitive for the har- monic in question. For a filter with two links tuned to the pth and the gth harmonics, respectively (q> p), containing capacitors which for the fundamental have the admittances Y, and Y>, the total admittance of filter and (inductive) network is Yoo = /Yp¢—— 4 j¥p» a OP Tay 2"? T= Calay* Ins Pe Et rte: my (12.12) n Xx PON T= (njpy T= lay ° Resonance between filter links and network will occur for ¥¢m 1 L Yq: Xn* 7p?) °° Tin) —W7a) 14 14 1 4\/14 - (5-4) + vexn- (4-4) = (4-4) (4-4 (e: 7) “ Ge 7) Ge wy ee 7) 1)? 1a) i1 1 ¥pXn , YoX (ja) ~ ors eres Fatah) pet pig EAs 0 (2.19) 0: From this second degree equation in (1/n?), n can be found, and there are two (positive) values of n for which parallel resonances occur. The circuit blocks for harmonic currents. If the filter in the previous example is extended with a link which is tuned to the seventh harmonic, i.e. g=7, and if ¥,=0.1 pu, then n Yon) = J02 Tapa t 0 which has parallel resonances (Yom =0) for n=6.36 and n= 3.90. These parallel resonances are situated between the series resonances (Yin) > ©) of the filter, here for n=0, 5 and 7. Zero frequency, which meets a high admittance in the network, must be included. Yq) versus n is shown in Figure 12.11. Losses have so far been neglected. They can be taken into consideration by inserting an equivalent resistance Ry in the circuit diagram. Ry is assumed to be independent of fre-SECTION 12.2 CURRENT FILTER 387 x | ! ' I i I | ! I | I 1 5 1 I 1 I I ! I! 1 1 ' I Figure 12,11 Resulting admittance of a filter with two links quency. If the quality factor for a link is Qp at its resonance frequency p, then 1 1 1 1 2 Rp* Cap Rp-p°Ca p Rp Yp (12.14) For the filter of Figure 12.12 1 1 1 Fialp"¥o + (Gn¥py) * Ry” TGV) + LGAYa)IRo * inXw + Rw Yon = yy, n oP n aj. 1 SLT Ga]py + I¥pRy "T= (aay? + in¥pRy” nX~ 1 HRN AXx)I =i%p gy, 1- (n/p) + j(n/p)- 705) */** 1=(n/q)? + i(a/q)* 1/Qa) J 1 1 ~! nXs" T= JU /@O)1 = jfln) + en) (12.15) where g(n) > 0 and f(n) 2 0.388 FILTERS CHAPTER 12 T T T T T T T T ™— 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 on Figure 12.12 The absolute value of the admittance of a filter with losses The absolute value of the admittance Yim) =~ [f()? +g(n)*] is shown in Figure 12.12 for the previous example, for Q, = Qy = Qn = Q= 10 and for Q + « (correspon- ding to the absolute value of the function shown in Figure 12.11). With losses included, the admittance will assume finite values for series resonance, and values different from zero for parallel resonance. For harmonics higher than the seventh the filter shown will not be very effective. For a six pulse converter, the next important harmonic will be the 11th. The filter can be extended with a link, tuned for == 11, which has a resistor in parallel with the induc- tor (see Figure 12.13), The resistance is preferably chosen to be equal to the impedance of the inductor at the resonance frequency. The admittance of the link is (trivial calcula- tions are skipped) 1 = ry, 1m)? W/GnY,) + /0r¥ + 7 ¥)/Gn))" (e/n)* = (r/n)? +1 (12.16) Yr, for n— 0, i.e. a constant value, while the admittance of the network and the rest of the filter approaches zero when n+ <0. Figure 12.14 shows finally an example of the ratio network current/generated harmonic current for a filter according to the previous worked example, calculated fromSECTION 12.2 CURRENT FILTER 3g9 R= Very) SCY) 3 JPY ALO aver 3 O/Gr¥)) WGnY,) WUY) Fundamental rth harmonic nth harmonic Figure 12.13 Filter link for high harmonics Equation 12.9. The filter amplifies harmonics of an order less than about 4 and attenuates the others. Filter calculations are conveniently made on a computer. To get the right picture of the effectiveness of the filter, calculations should be performed with different values of the circuit parameters within their tolerance bands. Trens/Tony 12.3.4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 n Figure 12.14 Network current versus m: Q=15, Xy=0.1, Y¥s=0.2, Yr=Yur=0.1 pu390 FILTERS CHAPTER 12 EXAMPLE 12.2 The figure shows a converter (operating as a rectifier) with the delay angle a =90—¥ which feeds another converter (operating as an inverter) with the delay angle a2 = 90+ y. The converters are connected to the same 50 Hz network. They are current- controlled and the connection functions as a variable inductance. 4, OBER rae dey BOT

BOD k . ‘ Re} sot Tot |u Se | u RI] | te ARE . (a) Connection Tgtiy —> oT - wi -) Us Is Iga (~~) uy “ ‘ ‘ R | «J Us 4 o PF (b) Equivalent diagram Figure 12.15 Converter feeding a resistive load via a filter The ac current i, is the integral curve to m= L di,/dt, i.e. j dim nrie= (Har Y2-Uf sin at -3 c0 a) det =A L La dares 7 atass n= leo ot +3 at cos | -h (12.18) Lo 7 Jost In Figure’ 12.16 the wt-axis is placed in such a way that the shaded areas are equal and ty is a pure ac current. Us=us for wt=4- X (12.19) From Equation 12.17 . 3 cos @ Xo = aresin ¥ When wf increases from wt=7/3+a to 7— xo, then the current increases from its minimum value —/; to its maximum value f, because the positive, shaded voltage—time area applies itself across the inductor.394 FILTERS CHAPTER 12 Ma Figure 12.16 Output voltage uz, ac voltage and ac current, From Equation 12.18 3 tn’ feo wt + at cos 5 (12.20) ater 2U Figure 12.17 shows the normalized value of Af versus a. For a thermal design of the inductor and capacitor the rms value (or possibly the harmonic components) of the ripple current must be calculated. Considering the accuracy which may be obtained, it is often sufficient to make an approximate calculation of the ms value. The pure ac component i, may be approximated by a sine wave of a frequency which is six times the base frequency and with an amplitude which is somewhat lower than halfSECTION 12.3 DC FILTER 395 ar RU/Le on 0.05 20 4 6 80 a Figure 12.17 Normalized peak-to-peak ripple current versus « the peak-to-peak value; that means that the rms value is approximately 1=09-4,-48-0.32- a7 For a= 45° the relative rms value is h W2- 0)/(Le) The capacitor should be designed thermally for this value, and the total rms value of the inductor current may be calculated as V(Jd + I). If the load is not passive, but consists of a converter which generates ripple currents on the de side, then the load current can also be divided into a pure de component, which passes through the inductor, and an ac component, which is assumed to go through the capacitor and there adds itself to the ripple current from the rectifier. The rms value of the capacitor current may usually be calculated as the rms of these two currents, provided that they do not have the same frequency and are phase-locked so that they always have the same phase position. = 0.32 + 0.095 = 0.030