HIGH-VOLTAGE POWER CONVERTER

• US 20130181532A1
• Filed: 11/27/2012
• Published: 07/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
• Original Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
• Inventors: KJR, Philip Carne
• Granted Patent: US 9,374,014 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/82
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/34 Snubber circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/342 Active non-dissipative snubbers
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 5/4585 having a rectifier with controlled elements
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/4835 comprising two or more cells, each including a switchable capacitor, the capacitors having a nominal charge voltage which corresponds to a given fraction of the input voltage, and the capacitors being selectively connected in series to determine the instantaneous output voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/4837 Flying capacitor converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/487 Neutral point clamped inverters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/523 with LC-resonance circuit in the main circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/5387 in a bridge configuration
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/10 Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes

Abstract

The present invention relates to a high-voltage power converter comprising a number of controllable switching valves, each switching valve comprising a plurality of series connected switching units, the high-voltage power converter further comprising a resonance circuit comprising a link inductor and a link capacitor, and a plurality of clamping circuits connected in series, each clamping circuit comprising a clamping capacitor and a clamping switching unit.

Claims

1. A high-voltage power converter comprising a number of controllable switching valves, each switching valve comprising a plurality of series connected switching units, the high-voltage power converter further comprising:

a resonance circuit comprising a link inductor and a link capacitor, and

a plurality of clamping circuits connected in series, each clamping circuit comprising a clamping capacitor and a clamping switching unit.

2. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 1, wherein the power converter is adapted to generate power voltage levels between 10 and 50 kV.

3. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 1, wherein the link inductor is former by distributed link inductors.

4. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 3, wherein each clamping circuit comprises a distributed link inductor.

5. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 1, wherein at least one switching unit comprises a transistor and a diode coupled in an anti-parallel connection.

6. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 1, wherein at least one switching unit comprises a thyristor and a diode coupled in an anti-parallel connection.

7. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 1, wherein a switching valve comprises a first and a second switching unit, wherein the first switching unit comprises a transistor and a diode coupled in an anti-parallel connection, and wherein the second switching unit comprises a thyristor and a diode coupled in an anti-parallel connection, the first and second switching modules being connected in series.

8. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 1, wherein the link capacitor is former by distributed link capacitors.

9. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 8, wherein at least one switching unit comprises a distributed link capacitor.

10. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 8, wherein each switching unit comprises a distributed link capacitor.

11. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of series-connected energy dissipating circuits.

12. A high-voltage power converter according to claim 11, wherein each energy dissipating circuit comprises a chopper switch and a dump load.

13. A high-voltage wind turbine generator comprising a high-voltage power converter comprising:

a number of controllable switching valves, each switching valve comprising a plurality of series connected switching units;

a resonance circuit comprising a link inductor and a link capacitor; and

a plurality of clamping circuits connected in series, each clamping circuit comprising a clamping capacitor and a clamping switching unit.

14. A wind power plant comprising a plurality of high-voltage wind turbine generators, each high-voltage wind turbine generator comprising a high-voltage power converter comprising:

a number of controllable switching valves, each switching valve comprising a plurality of series connected switching units;

a resonance circuit comprising a link inductor and a link capacitor; and

a plurality of clamping circuits connected in series, each clamping circuit comprising a clamping capacitor and a clamping switching unit.