3-Phase AC-Drives With Passive Front-Ends

With Focus on the Slim DC-Link Topology

Henrik Rosendal Andersen* , Ruimin Tan** and Cai Kun**
* Zhejiang Holip Electronic Technology Co. & Danfoss Drives/DD-MC, Graasten, Denmark
** Zhejiang Holip Electronic Technology Co. & Danfoss Drives/DD-MC, Beijing, China

Abstract—3-phase AC-drives for HVAC applications (Heat-

ing, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning) typically employ a
passive diode rectifier and an electrolytic DC-link capacitor
to filter the rectified line voltage. The DC capacitor may be
accompanied by AC or DC-chokes for harmonic line-
current reduction. Recently, commercial HVAC drives,
where all traditional passive rectifier components are
replaced with a “small” DC-link film capacitor, have
emerged. These are referred to as slim DC-link AC-drives.
This AC-drive is compared to traditional types below.

I. INTRODUCTION
3-phase AC-drives for HVAC applications (Heating,
Ventilation & Air-Conditioning) are designed to meet
moderate demands on shaft-torque dynamics and high
demands on acoustic noise, efficiency and harmonic
distortion at the line-side. Also, compatibility with long
motor cables is a typical requirement. Traditional AC- Figure 1 a) Traditional drive w.out harm. attenuation (top1
drives employing diode rectifiers, chokes and electrolytic drive). b) Traditional drive w. harm. attenuation (top2 drive).
capacitors have been used for decades. Recently, c) Drive w. slim DC-link (top3 drive).
commercial HVAC drives have emerged, where all
traditional DC-link components are replaced with a
“small” film capacitor. These are referred to as slim DC-
link AC-drives. The aim of the present study is to analyse
consequences, if going for a slim DC-link AC-drive over
traditional types. Topics such as grid impact, life time,
losses and motor-shaft performance are covered.
The power circuit of a first traditional 3-phase HVAC
AC-drive is sketched in fig. 1a (Topology 1 = top1). The
drive employs an integrated RFI-filter at the line-side, a
diode bridge for converting 3 line voltages (50Hz) to a
Figure 2 a) Top1 drive at rated operation. b) Top2 drive at rated
pulsating DC-link voltage and an electrolytic capacitor operation.
bank (Cdc) to attenuate the 300Hz pulsations in order for
the inverter to give ideal PWM output voltages. Cdc is
large enough to provide enough storage energy for the Except for the DC-link chokes Ldc, it is similar to the
internal switched-mode power supply (SMPS), ensuring a top1 drive. Due to Ldc, the capacitors Cdc can be reduced,
proper shutdown of the control circuitry in case of a mains while achieving an even better life time. This concept is
failure. Many commercial drives, such as the VLT® Micro used for many commercial drives such as the VLT®
Drive FC 51 [1], are designed in this way having the AutomationDrive FC 30x [2]. Using a 2% Ldc makes the
drawback that, the harmonics at the line-side are drive comply with IEC1000-3-12(2) at a rated line-current
unfiltered. At a stiff line, the total harmonic distortion of THDi of around 45%. Hence, a top2 drive goes attractive
the line current (THDi) may go to 130%. To obtain compared to a top1 drive, as the power level is increased.
harmonic attenuation AC-chokes are typically offered in a Fig. 2 shows the line currents of a top1 drive (FC 51) and
separate power option. Sometimes one power option may top2 drive (FC 30x) at a rated 400V/7.5kW power level.
be used for a row of drives mounted at a point of common Besides the line current, a sinusoidal motor current and the
connection (PCC). A 3% AC-inductor (see [1] for % DC-link voltage are shown (voltage before DC-chokes for
definition) is required to comply with harmonics standards top2 drive). The difference in line current is 22.4 to
like IEC1000-3-12(2) giving a rated line-current THDi of 13.3Arms. Hence, Ldc reduces the line current by 40% in
around 45%. this case. The line RMS current is smaller than the motor
The power circuit of a second traditional HVAC AC- current in fig. 2b. This is a typical feature of a top2 drive.
drive is shown in fig. 1b (Topology 2 = top2).
 The power circuit of the slim DC-link AC-drive is II. LINE HARMONICS
shown in fig. 1c (Topology 3 = top3). Focusing on control
and modulation, the drive is reported in [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].
The references state that, the top3 drive offers a compact The main reason for using a top3 drive is reduction of
and low-cost approach towards low line-side harmonics. line harmonics. As a part of this, a general CE marking of
The top3 drive is similar to the traditional types, except electronic devices requires IEC1000-3-12(2) compliance.
for the DC-link. A MKP film-capacitor bank is used, Fig. 4 and 5 show a comparison of top1, 2 and 3 drives
which in rough figures exhibits the same physical size as using SABER simulation. The 3-phase front-ends of the
the capacitor bank in fig. 1a, while giving a much smaller topologies are simulated with a rated resistive load of
Cdc value and a much better life time [9]. MKP capacitors 13.5 , being equivalent to a shaft power of 18.5kW at a
intended for top3 drives are available on the market [9]. 400V line. This gives the most stable condition for the
The small Cdc enables the drive to obtain a rated THDi top3 drive and an ideal comparison. A line inductance of
around 30-35% at the line-side. The drive includes a 70µH is used for the top1 and top2 drives, giving a Rsce of
secondary electrolytic DC-link capacitor bank Cb to 220 and 350 respectively as defined in the above standard.
ensure a sufficient hold-up time of the SMPS during a The top3 drive is tested at both 190µH and 300µH, giving
mains failure. Also, the SMPS-supply branch may Rsce values of 120 and 75 respectively. The total DC-link
improve the robustness against line transients as defined capacitance of the top1 drive is 1800µF. The total DC-link
by EN61000-4-4/5 and provide some damping for the capacitor of the top2 drive is 900µF, and the total DC-link
main capacitor back, which is an issue on soft lines [6]. inductance is 1.1mH. The total DC-link capacitor of the
Fig. 3 shows a per-phase model of the drive [3, 6]. Iinv is top3 drive is 40µF, and the total back-up capacitance is
the pulsed inverter load on the DC-link. Lo is the internal 75µF. The results in fig. 4 and 5 verify that, the top3 drive
stray inductance per phase (or Ldc) inside the drive. Lline is gives the lowest RMS current. The respective RMS values
the line inductance per phase. The resonant frequency is of the line currents are 47.4, 34.6 and 32.1Arms. Some
given by (1). data derived from fig. 4 and 5 are given in table I. The
term STD means IEC1000-3-12, which defines THD and
PWHD also. QSW means an ideal quasi-square waveform
1 1 of 120° with a relative harmonic amplitude of 1/n, n being
f reso = ⋅ (1)
2π C dc ⋅ ( Lline + Lo ) the harmonic order [14]. Ix are the harmonic currents. The
fundamental current I1 of the drives varies slightly due to
different average DC-link voltages in the operating
The model applies for top1 and top2 drives also. The conditions.
resonant frequency varies from 100Hz for these types to
several kHz for the top3 drive [6]. Hence, the basic
differential filtering of a top3 drive is poor, making it emit
more differential-mode noise in the frequency range of
EN55011 (150kHz to 1MHz). Scanning commercial units
a way to compensate is to filter common-mode noise
harder than in a traditional drive, by adding more RFI
capacitors and using a larger common-mode choke with
many turns. Due to size, the compromise may easily be a
reduced motor-cable-length specification. The size of the
RFI filter in fig. 1 depends on the basic differential
filtering level along with the motor-cable length, the
voltage/current rating and the relevant EMC standard. By
scanning HVAC drives on the market compatibility with
EN55011/A1 is frequently desired as a built-in feature.
The motor-cable length is specified as a number between Figure 4 Ideal line currents. a) top1 drive. b) top2 drive.
5 and 150m. Top2 drives are in the high-end, whereas
top3 drives are in the low-end. Low-performance micro
drives (top1 drives) will handle around 10m [1].

Figure 3 Per-phase differential model of AC-drive.

Figure 5 Ideal line currents of top3 drives at Rsce = 75.
a) resistive load. b) constant-power load.
 capacitance of the single-phase rectifier is set to
TABLE I 0.94µF/kW (line power). Then 1, 2, 4 and 8kW (P1ø) is
SIMULATED HARMONICS OF TOP1, 2 AND 3 DRIVES. drawn on the single-phase rectifier by a resistive load,
Rsce THD PWHD I1 I5 I7 I11 I13 while the top1, top2 and top3 drives draw rated power.
% % A % % % % This is around 21.5/3=7.2kW/phase. Table II shows data
STD 120 48 46 - 40 25 15 10 for the resulting line current of the phase loaded by 2
QSW - 30 56 - 20 14 9 8 drives. The THD of the top1 drive is improved a lot, as P1ø
top1 220 112 40 31.7 82 66 32 17 is increased towards 8kW. The THD goes from 112 to
top2 350 45 44 31.5 37 20 8 6 54% (see table I & II). The top2 drive is less affected. The
top3 120 30 53 30.8 22 12 9 7 THD stays in the area 41 to 46%, as P1ø is increased. The
top3 75 30 45 30.8 22 12 9 7
top3 drive is negatively affected. It exhibits the worst
PWHD value, and the THD increases from 30 to 52%, as
TABLE II P1ø is increased. P1ø=4kW is a breakeven point, at where
SIMULATED HARMONICS WITH SINGLE-PHASE DRIVE AT PCC. the top2 drive gives a lower line stress. At P1ø=8kW, the
P1ø THD PWHD I1 I3 I5 I7 top1 drive is even comparable to the top3 drive. Note, the
kW % % A % % % top1 drive draws more power in table II, when loaded with
top1 1 92 32 37.6 11 66 56 the 13.5 resistor. Hence, the absolute currents in table II
top2 1 43 39 35.8 12 30 24 cannot be compared directly.
top3 1 29 51 35.6 13 11 17 Summing up, traditional drives are the best single-phase
top1 2 74 28 42.1 21 48 43
compensators. And mixing 3-phase and single-phase top1
top2 2 41 35 40.5 20 22 41
top3 2 34 45 40.1 21 2 22
drives is a simple way of improving the THD of a grid.
top1 4 57 19 50.9 34 27 29
top2 4 42 32 49.4 31 14 21
top3 4 43 40 48.7 32 11 23 III. HIGH-FREQUENCY LINE IMPACT
top1 8 54 17 68.0 45 14 23 An issue of the top3 drive seen from the grid is the poor
top2 8 46 23 66.0 41 12 15
top3 8 52 30 64.8 43 19 18
differential filtering for handling the PWM current
generated by the inverter (see fig. 3). Also, the resonant
frequency (1) is within the switching-frequency range of
HVAC drives, such as 1 to 16kHz. A 7.5kW top3 drive
The top1 drive requires an AC-choke to comply with was tested using a 400V grid. A line impedance of around
the standard, even though the PWHD is fine. The top2 40µH was used. A 400V/11kW/4-pole induction motor
drive complies directly, even at Rsce=350. The top3 drive was used. The shaft torque was set to 50Nm. The motor
fails on the PWHD at Rsce=120, meaning that compliance frequency was programmed for 50Hz giving a speed
is not possible without an AC-choke. An AC-choke in the around 155rad/s. Cdc of the drive was in the range of
range of 0.5% (300-190=110 µH) is required, as seen 40µF. This gives a resonant frequency of 4kHz (1). Fig. 6
from the Rsce=75 test in table I. The PWHD indicates that, shows the line current (10A/div), the motor current
the high-frequency harmonics are too large for the top3 (10A/div) and the DC-link voltage of the drive. The
drive. As seen from table I, the problem begins at the 11th switching frequency was set to 12kHz in fig. 6a and 6kHz
and 13th harmonics, which are 10 to 15% larger than those in fig. 6b. An observation during the test was acoustic-
of the top2 drive. Hence, the top3 drive attenuates the 5 noise emission from the RFI choke of the drive due to the
and 7th harmonics effectively, but tends to fail at higher PWM-modulated line current. The fundamental line
frequencies. The IEC1000-3-12 compliance of the top3 current and respective THDi values may be estimated
drive at Rsce=120, by using a 0.5% AC-choke, comes with from the above data in the 2 operating points (2). tot is the
a risk. In fig. 5b the resistive load is changed to an ideal efficiency from line to shaft.
constant-power load of (1.35·400)2/13.5 21.5kW. This
removes all damping of the top3 drive and provokes huge
resonant oscillations. The RMS current goes from 32 to Pshaft
50 ⋅ 155
46Arms and the compliance is far away, as the resonant η tot 0.85 = 13.2 Arms
I line1 = ≈
frequency (1) is around 850Hz according to fig. 5b. This 3 ⋅ U line 3 ⋅ 400
is within the 2kHz frequency range of IEC1000-3-12(2).
For reference, a real inverter load may be of a constant- 14 2 − 13.2 2
THDiline,12kHz ≈ 100 ⋅ = 35 % (2)
power nature. 13.2
At ideal conditions the top3 drive draws the lowest 16.2 2 − 13.2 2
RMS line current due low 5th and 7th harmonic currents. THDiline,6kHz ≈ 100 ⋅ = 71%
13.2
Compared to a top2 drive the difference is 5% at rated
load. In a real application there may be a mix of 3-phase
and single-phase loads at the PCC. Hence, the total RMS
current should be judged to evaluate the installation stress.
This was analysed by simulation, reusing the above setup
for the 18.5kW drives. On one of the line phases a single-
phase rectifier is connected between phase and neutral.
The inductance of the phase and neutral wire are 70µH.
Another 70µH is added in series with the single-phase
drive to model that, this drive(s) may be connected a Figure 6 Grid impact of top3 drive vs. switching frequency.
distance away from the 3-phase drive. The total DC-link a) 12kHz. b) 6kHz.
 Referring to fig. 6, the respective RMS value of the line
current is 14Arms at 12kHz and 16.2Arms at 6kHz.
Hence, it is possible to obtain a rated THDi of around 35%
practically, when including harmonics over 2kHz as in
(2). This is possible, if the switching frequency is
sufficiently larger than the resonant frequency of the drive
(1). Hence, in general a top3 drive can beat a top2 drive in
terms of the rated line-side THDi at elevated switching
frequencies only. This is valid, if connecting the drive to a
grid similar to the above supporting a typical European
factory. Referring to fig. 6b, it is observed that, the peak-
to-peak current ripple of the line current is up to 35A.
Comparing with the motor current of 17Arms, the 6kHz
switching frequency is able to excite the differential cutoff
frequency substantially. That is, the peak-to-peak line
ripple should normally be less than the peak of the output
motor current, which is 2·17 = 24A in fig. 6. Anyway,
fig. 6 just verifies that, the quality of the line current of a
top3 drive is not easily predictable. It depends highly on
the line conditions.
Referring to fig. 6, an interesting question is how would
a line current like this influence on other electronic
equipment connected to the same PCC (see fig. 7). This
was analysed by simulation and measurement. Here,
measurements are presented only. Problems occur, when a
large top3 drive is used together with some low-power
conventional equipment behaving capacitively. This could
be the top1 drive in fig. 1 having a relatively large Cdc and
minimum differential inductance Lo (see fig. 3). The case
in fig. 7 is treated using a 400V/18.5kW top3 drive and a
400V/0.75kW top1 drive. 2 commercial products were
hooked up at a test site in China. The total DC-link
capacitance of the 2 units is around 40µF and 135µF
respectively. Hence, the capacitance of the smaller drive is
over 3 times larger. The line-impedance of the test site is
relatively high to emphasize that, zline in fig. 7 has nothing
to do with the interaction in fig. 8. Fig. 8a shows the line
current of the 0.75kW top1 drive, when it runs alone at the
PCC. The RMS line current is 2.8Arms at rated load. Then
the top3 drive is started also and operated at rated load.
This changes the line current of the top1 drive
substantially as seen from fig. 8b. The new RMS line
current of the top1 drive is 5.6Arms, which is an increase
of 100%. This line current is highly PWM-modulated, as
the small top1 drive serves as DC-link for the large top3
drive. This increases the losses substantially in the
rectifier side of the top1 drive. The life time of the drive
will be reduced and more components will go hot. Being a
costumer in this situation, the solution is to decouple the 2
units by differential inductance. This suggests a need for
external AC-chokes. Hence, commissioning of a top3
drive is not easy. Referring to fig. 8, the whole wiring
strategy of the installation including power and control
cables have to be evaluated thoroughly in terms of
conducted and radiated EMC.
IV. LIFETIME & ROBUSTNESS
Traditionally, the life time of a top1 or top2 drive is
judged by the life time of the electrolytic capacitors. A
calculation example on a top2 drive is shown below using
simulations. A PWM-modulated current-generator model
is used to load the rectifier part of the drive, giving a
realistic stress on the DC-link components. Assuming an
18.5kW/400V top2 drive, the total DC-link inductance is
set to 1.1mH, and the total DC-link capacitance is 900µF.
The drive is operated at rated load (50Hz). The rated
motor current and displacement factor (cos ) are 36Arms
and 0.86. Hence, the rated output power of the inverter is
3·400·36·0.86 = 21.4kW. HVAC-load characteristics are
assumed. The parabolic torque-speed curve gives the
following data at part load (35Hz). Rated d- and q-axis
motor currents of equal size and linear voltage control in
the speed range are assumed in (3).
0.5 2 + (0.5 ⋅ (35 50) 2 ) 2
I out,35Hz ≈ 36 ⋅ ≈ 28 Arms
0.5 2 + 0.5 2
Pout,35Hz ≈ Pout ,r ⋅ (35 50) 3 = 21.4 ⋅ 0.343 ≈ 7.3 kW (3)
7.3k
cos θ 35Hz ≈ ≈ 0.54
3 ⋅ (400 ⋅ 35 ) ⋅ 28
50

(3) was input for a part-load simulation. Table III shows

the calculated life time (Lop) of the top2 drive at rated
load and at part load. ILdc is the RMS current of Ldc. Icdc,100
is the RMS current of Cdc scaled to an equivalent 100Hz
level. Vair and Tair are the speed and temperature of the
cooling air for the DC-link capacitor set according to
experience. Data for the life time calculation were derived
from the data sheet of the B43511 capacitor series from
EPCOS. Table III shows that, the top2 drive offers a life
Figure 7 Top3 and top1 drive at same PCC. time of 100.000hours at 35Hz being a typical operating
point for a HVAC application.

TABLE III
LIFETIME ESTIMATION OF TOP2 DRIVE.
fm Pout Iout ILdc Icdc,100 Vair Tair Lop
Hz kW Arms Arms m/s C° kH
50 21.4 36 39.8 14.4 0.5 60 50
35 7.3 28 16.3 12.5 0.5 55 95
Figure 8 Top3 and top1 drive at same PCC. a) Line current of
top1 drive w.o. top3 drive running. b) Line current of top1 drive w.
top3 drive running.
 This figure should be compared to the life time offered
by a top3 drive using film capacitors. The film capacitor
beats 100.000hours. The life time is given in [9] as
200.000hours at nominal voltage and 40C°. This gives a
life time in excess of 10years. A relevant question is,
whether this component life time can be transferred to the
life time of the drive itself. A low-cost drive equipped
with film capacitors may not survive over a decade in
harsh environments such as humidity and pollution.
Corrosion of the PCB’s etc. may easily determine the end-
of-life in this case. Another abrupt life-time shortening
factor is line-side transients. The DC-choke of the top2
drive provides the best robustness generally. Comparing a
top1 and top3 drive, the low-impedance top1 drive will
handle high-voltage transients in terms of clamping well,
whereas the top3 drive reduces the current stress on the
diode rectifier due to the larger DC-link impedance.
V. LOSSES & EFFICIENCY
According to fig. 6, a top3 drive has to operate at an
elevated switching frequency to obtain a controlled line
current. Referring this to HVAC applications, this seems
to be a match, because reduction of PWM motor noise is
relevant. A loss comparison between a top2 and top3 drive
at different switching frequencies is given below.
The following data may be assumed for a typical 400V
top2 drive under 18.5kW. The overall rated efficiency is
better than 97% at a 4kHz space-vector PWM modulation
[10]. Here, the conduction and switching losses (Psw,top2,r)
of the power module are similar and equal to 1+1=2% of
the rated input power. The passive loss of the DC-link
components Ldc and Cdc is about 0.2+0.2=0.4% (PLdcCdc,r)
of the rated input power. This passive DC-link loss is not
present in a top3 drive employing a virtually lossless film
capacitor. Hence, PLdcCdc in the top2 drive may be used to
increase the switching frequency for a top3 drive without
increasing the overall losses. The amount of increase in
switching frequency at rated operation is calculated by (4).
f sw,top3 = k 50 Hz,r ⋅ f sw,top 2,
PLdcCdc,r 4kHz
k 50 Hz,r = 1 + ⋅
Psw,top 2,r f sw,top 2
The above data and (4) suggest that, if a top2 drive is
switched at 4kHz at rated load, then a top3 drive may be
switched at a 40% higher switching frequency giving the
same overall loss. This is 5.6kHz. Likewise, if the top2
drive is switched at 10kHz at rated load, then a top3 drive
may be switched at a 16% higher switching frequency
giving the same overall loss. This is 11.6kHz.
f sw,top3 = k 35Hz ⋅ f sw,top 2,
2 2
PLdcCdc,r 1 16.3 12.5
k 35Hz ≈ 1 + ⋅ ⋅( + )⋅
Psw,top 2,r 2 39.8 14.4
PLdcCdc,r 4kHz
= 1+ ⋅ 0.59223 ⋅
Psw,top 2,r f sw,top 2
(5)
At part load (35Hz), where a high switching frequency
is even more important in terms of acoustic noise, (5) is
obtained using table III. According to table III, the
inductor and capacitor loss are reduced by around 85%
and 25%, when reducing the speed from 50 to 35Hz.
Switching losses proportional to output current is assumed
by (5). The above data and (5) suggest that, if a top2 drive
is switched at 4kHz at 35Hz, then a top3 drive may be
switched at a 24% higher switching frequency giving the
same overall loss. This is 5kHz. Likewise, if the top2
drive is switched at 10kHz at 35Hz, then a top3 drive may
be switched at a 9% higher switching frequency giving the
same overall loss. This is 10.9kHz.
Analysing the above data, the top3 drive is marginally
better than the top2 drive in terms of high-switching-
frequency operation. However, there is no practical
difference between 10 or 10.9kHz in terms of acoustic-
noise emission. Actually, if a given HVAC application
exhibits a satisfactory acoustic performance using a low-
switching-frequency random PWM scheme [11], then the
top2 drive is by far the better choice in terms of losses and
efficiency. The assumption is that, the switching
frequency of the top3 drive cannot be reduced due to the
grid impact. For this reason, it seems relevant to use
discontinuous PWM modulation for a top3 drive [12]. But
as verified by simulation, this may give problems at the
rectifier side, because discontinuous modulation gives
steps in the common-mode voltage of the drive. This
contributes to instability problems of the rectifier system.
It should be noticed that, the construction of a top3
drive is the easier one in terms of thermal management.
The minimum passive loss makes the topology interesting
especially for IP54 constructions (operation in humidity).
Also, motor-mount constructions may benefit from this.
VI. MOTOR-SHAFT PERFORMANCE
Top1 and top2 drives exhibit a DC-link voltage ripple
of around 5 to 10%. The ripple of the top3 drive is a factor
1.5 to 3 larger, as the relative ripple voltage is 100· 2·(1-
cos30°)/1.35 14%. Normally, compensation for the
voltage ripple can be done in software, by modulating the
(4) PWM modulation index in anti-phase with the voltage
ripple [7, 13]. Fig. 9 shows a simulated comparison of a
380V/7.5kW top3 drive with and without DC-link ripple
compensation fed from a stiff 380V grid (20µH). The
electric torque of the 4-pole induction motor and a phase
current are shown. A dynamic model of control, grid,
power and motor was programmed in SABER. A linear
load is used for the motor, running at 35Hz, giving a
torque of around 34Nm. The total moment of inertia is set
to 75kgm2. The drive uses space-vector modulation at
8kHz. The ripple compensation reduces the peak-to-peak
300Hz torque ripple from 4Nm to 2Nm. Relative to rated
torque this is from 8 to 4%. Also, the phase current goes
more sinusoidal. The THDi is improved from 3.8 to 2.8%.
36 4kHz
⋅ The result is not compatible with a soft line, such as a
28 f sw,top 2 0.5% AC-inductor for PWHD reduction. Ripple
compensation makes the inverter emulate a constant-
power load. The effect of this on a soft line is shown in
fig. 5b. Hence, some kind of damping strategy is required
[6, 7, 8] not necessarily being compatible with the ripple
compensation. A test of a commercial 400V/18.5kW top3
drive on a soft grid is shown in fig. 10. The speed is 35Hz.

Figure 9 Part-load simulation of top3 drive with & w.out ripple
compensation. a) Electric torque of motor. b) Phase currents.
Figure 10 18.5kW top3 drive on soft line at 35Hz.
Figure 11 Rated-load simulation of top2 and top3 drive with ripple
compensation. a) Electric torque of motor. b) Phase currents.
The DC-link voltage, a line current (20A/div) and a
sinusoidal motor current (20A/div) are shown. The drive
is not ripple compensated as seen by comparison with fig.
9. Stabilizing the line current and DC-link voltage is
prioritized. Another exception to ripple compensation is
rated-speed operation, where the modulation index
saturates partly to give full voltage. Reusing the setup for
fig. 9, a comparison between a top2 and top3 drive was
made in SABER at a rated 7.5kW load. Fig. 11 shows a
torque-ripple simulation. The output frequency is set to
52Hz, and the drives are programmed for overmodulation
and ripple compensation. The average DC-link voltage is
510V in both cases. The relative peak-to-peak DC-link
voltage ripples are 5% and 14% respectively. Due to
saturation of the modulation index and delays, the ripple
compensation is not able to modulate perfect sinusoidal
voltages to the motor. According to fig. 11, torque ripple
at 300Hz is the result in both cases. For the top2 drive, the
peak-to-peak ripple is around 100·1/50=2% of rated
torque. For the top3 drive, the ripple is 100·4/50=8% of
rated torque. Besides the 300Hz ripple, both drives exhibit
a tendency for sub-harmonic oscillation. This is caused by
interactions between the overmodulation effect and the
300Hz voltage ripple. As seen from the phase currents in
fig. 11, the top2 current is more smooth and sinusoidal.
The THDi values of the 2 waveforms are 3.8 and 4.3%.
Hence, the top3 drive produces slightly more harmonic
loss in the motor. If the top3 drive is programmed to
produce less than rated voltage at rated speed, such as a
5% reduction, then the rated-speed torque ripple in fig. 11
can be made smaller by the DC-link ripple compensation.
However, the compromise is more fundamental motor
loss. In terms of the fundamental loss, or the ability to
give full voltage to the motor at rated speed, the top3 drive
is worse. The problem appears at a reduced line-voltage
condition, which is typically on a soft line. Here, active
stabilization of the DC-link is required. An active
stabilization requires some overhead in the modulation
index, meaning that a conventional drive offers the highest
fundamental output voltage then. This tendency goes
worse, as the switching frequency is raised. The result in
fig. 11 may be compared with fig. 6, showing measured
rated output currents of a 7.5kW top3 drive. The motor-
current shape is different in fig. 6a and 6b. This is caused
by the uncompensated voltage ripple and in particular the
alignment of the ripple and phase current. This gives a
continuous sub-harmonic current oscillations and low-
frequency torque ripple. Summing up, a load-oriented
penalty of the top3 drive is the large 300Hz torque ripple.
Depending on the application this is a problem in terms of
mechanical resonances, vibration, mechanical wear and
low-frequency acoustic noise.
Even though, soft motor-shaft dynamics are normally
the case for HVAC applications, a top3-drive issue in
terms of motor-shaft performance is still to avoid tripping
on over/under-voltages caused by line and/or load
transients charging or decharging Cdc. The robustness is
determined by the control performance of the drive.
Besides a requirement for an active damping strategy to
avoid instability of the DC-link voltage, a simple
calculation at an 18.5kW power level illustrates, what is
needed in terms of control-response time. A negative,
rated shaft-torque pulse is assumed. The DC-link voltage
level is 560V, as the disturbance appears. The tripping
level of the overvoltage protection is 850V. The time
duration from disturbance to trip is approximated by (6).
A HVAC drive does not include a brake-chopper circuit to
dissipate excessive DC-link energy generated by such a
load disturbance. Hence, the motor controller has to dump
the pulse energy in the motor.
C dc,regenerative = 0.5 ⋅ (C dc + C b ) = 0.5 ⋅ (80 + 150) = 115µF
Pshaft 18.5k
I inv, generative ≈ = = 33 A
U dc 560
dU dc I inv, generative 33 (6)
= = ≈ 0.3 V
dt C dc, generative 115µ µs
∆U dc 850 − 560
∆t trip = ≈ = 1000 µs
dU dc 0.3
dt
 According to (6), less than 1ms is available to react. At
least, the vector-oriented control has to be executed at a 5
kHz rate to avoid an over-voltage trip, if possible at all. If
not possible, the control must include “catch-a-spinning-
motor” functionality [1], to regain control of the motor on
the fly, after the intermediate coast. Comparing with a
top1 or top2 drive the trip time ttrip is substantially larger
making trouble-free operation much easier. Especially, a
top1 drive is the optimum choice in this sense.
VII. SUMMARY OF COMPARISON
A summary of the above general comparison of top1, 2
and 3 drives is given in table IV. A score on various
parameters is given in the table. The lowest score means
the best performance. The score chart does not assume
effects from external power options. A high switching
frequency is assumed to be mandatory for the top3 drive
throughout the speed range, which is not the case for the
others. On standard-component availability, the top2 drive
is the worst, because a choke is a customized unit in most
cases.
Reviewing the score chart reveals that, a traditional AC-
drive is preferable over a slim DC-link drive generally.
Especially, the top2 drive is competitive. The slim DC-
link AC-drive comes out on top only, if low-frequency
harmonics at the lowest size and cost is requested, while
requiring a minimum EMC specification and paying no
attention to grid and installation issues in the higher
frequency range.
VIII. CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
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Induction Motors & Survey of Market Trends,” IPEMC’2006.
[2] H. R. Andersen, “Earth-Fault Protection of VLT® Automation-
Drive FC 301,” EPE’2007.
[3] M. Hinkkanen, J. Luomi, “Induction Motor Drives Equipped With
Diode Rectifier and Small DC-Link Capacitor,” IECON’2005.
[4] H. Saren, O. Pyrhonen et all, “Verification of Frequency
Converter With Small Dc-Link Capacitor,” PESC’2005.
[5] H. Saren, O. Pyrhonen et all, “Overmodulation in Voltage Source
Inverter with Small Dc-Link Capacitor”, PESC’2005.
[6] M. Hinkkanen, L. Harnefors et all, “Control of Induction Motor
Drives Equipped With Small DC-Link Capacitance,” EPE’2007.
[7] X. Chen, M. Kazerani, “Space Vector Modulation Control of an
AC-DC-AC Converter With a Front-End Diode Rectifier and
Reduced DC-link Capacitor,” IEEE trans. on Power Elec., vol. 21,
no. 5, 2006.
[8] K. Pietiläinen, L. Harnefors et al, “DC-Link Stabilization and
Voltage Sag Ride-Through of Inverter Drives,” IEEE trans. on
Indust. Elec., vol. 53, no. 4, 2006.
[9] EPCOS, “Film Capacitors – Reliability with a long operating life”,
Components, Application & Cases, Edition 2-07.
[10] Paul Thogersen et al, “Stator Flux Oriented Asynchronous Vector
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[11] Konstatin Borisov, A. Trzynadlowski et al,” Experimental
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Based Attenuation of the Acoustic and Electromagnetic Noise,”
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[12] G. Narayanen, H. Krishnamurthy et al, ”Advanced Bus-Clamping
PWM Techniques Based on Space Vector Approach,” IEEE trans.
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[14] K. Thorborg, “Power Electronics”, ISBN 0-13-686593-3, 1998.

Benefits of a slim DC-link AC-drive relative to

traditional AC-drives are a low-cost and compact design
giving a low THDi at the line-side along with a good life TABLE IV
GENERAL COMPARISON OF TOP1, 2 AND 3 DRIVES.
time of the DC-link storage element. Else, the topology
suffers from a reduced performance level in general. The Top1 Top2 Top3
drive is claimed to exhibit friendliness towards the grid in Life time energy storage element (*) 3 2 1
terms of reduced low-frequency current harmonics, but General reliability & robustness (*) 2 1 3
IEC1000-3-12(2) compliance requires installation of Line-side transients 2 1 2
Low-frequency line harmonics/THD (*) 3 2 1
external AC-inductors. This emulates a soft line, giving
Single-phase compensator 1 1 2
potential stability problems of the drive. If the technology High-frequency line harmonics/PWHD 1 1 3
penetrates the market substantially, one may predict IEC1000-3-12(2) compliance 3 1 3
increasing grid problems in the switching-frequency Compatibility w. other devices at PCC 2 1 3
range. Especially, large slim DC-link AC-drives may Size with reduced EMC demand (*) 2 3 1
impact significantly on small high-capacitance electronic Rated output voltage & motor loss 1 1 2
equipment, if installed at the same PCC via a low- Compatibility w. long motor cables 2 1 3
impedance link. This may call for new EMC-regulations Cable installation & EMC (*) 2 1 3
in a frequency range from 2 to 150kHz. In terms of Robustness of DC-link voltage level 1 2 3
smooth operation of the motor load, the slim DC-link AC- Voltage & torque ripple & Low-fre. noise 2 1 3
drive exhibits a substantially larger 300Hz torque ripple, Control complexity & stability. 1 2 3
Simplicity in mechanical build-up (*) 2 3 1
which is less desirable for some applications. Also,
Cooling simplicity (*) 2 3 1
spurious tripping due to under/over voltages will be more Efficiency (*) 1 1 2
frequent compared to traditional drives, regardless of what Acoustic drive noise 1 2 3
modern control algorithms can achieve. High-freq. acoustic motor noise (*) 2 2 1
Summing up, in the opinion of the authors, the slim Standard components availability (*) 1 2 1
DC-link AC-drive should be accompanied by a 3-phase Total score/ (* items considered only) 38/ 33/ 46/
AC-choke to reach a State-of-the-Art performance level 20 20 15
seen from the grid. Unfortunately, this cancels out most
advantages in terms of size, cost and simplicity.