Power converter based on H-bridges

• US 9,036,379 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2011
• Issued: 05/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Schroeder, Stefan, Wijekoon, Piniwan Thiwanka Bandara
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dang, Trinh
• Application Number:
  US13/296,349
• Publication Number:
  US 20130121041A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,281 Days
• Field of Search: 363/36, 363/37, 363/38, 363/43, 363/65, 363/66, 363/67, 363/71, 363/98, 363/148, 363/132, 363/127, 363/20, 363/35, 363/40, 363/41, 363/34, 363/45
• US Class Current: 363/37
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/007 Physical arrangements or structures of drive train converters specially adapted for the propulsion motors of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0095 Hybrid converter topologies, e.g. NPC mixed with flying capacitor, thyristor converter mixed with MMC or charge pump mixed with buck
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/12 Arrangements for reducing harmonics from ac input or output
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 5/4585 having a rectifier with controlled elements
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/487 Neutral point clamped inverters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/49 Combination of the output voltage waveforms of a plurality of converters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 Electric machine technologies in electromobility

Abstract

A power converter includes an active front end (AFE) that is coupled by a dc link stage to a plurality of H-bridge inverters. One or more multi-phase electro-magnetic energy conversion devices, such as transformers or electric machines, with open windings that are connected to only the AFE or only the H-bridge inverters or to both the AFE and H-bridge inverters, provide a regenerative or partial regenerative power converter.

Claims

1. A power converter comprising:

a multi-phase transformer;

a multi-phase input conversion section comprising an active front end (AFE) coupled to the multi-phase transformer, wherein the AFE comprises at least one multi-phase input converter stage and at least one multi-phase diode rectifier converter stages, an input converter stage and a multi-phase diode rectifier converter each having an input side that is coupled to each phase of the multi-phase transformer at a secondary winding for the multi-phase transformer;

a second multi-phase output section comprising a plurality of H-bridge inverters, wherein the plurality of H-bridge inverters is coupled via a dc link stage to the AFE; and

a multi-phase machine comprising isolated open windings that are connected to only the H-bridge inverters to provide a regenerative power converter.

2. The power converter according to claim 1, wherein the multi-phase transformer has open secondary windings.

3. The power converter according to claim 1, wherein the AFE comprises a plurality of H-bridge converters.

4. The power converter according to claim 1, wherein the dc link stage comprises a plurality of dc link capacitor sections, each dc link capacitor section isolated from every other dc link capacitor section.

5. The power converter according to claim 1, wherein the dc link stage consists of a single dc link capacitor section common to both the AFE and the plurality of H-bridge inverters.

6. The power converter according to claim 1, wherein the AFE consists of a single multi-phase, input conversion stage.

7. The power converter according to claim 1, wherein the AFE comprises a plurality of multi-phase input conversion stages.

8. The power converter according to claim 1, wherein the AFE comprises a plurality of multi-phase, input converter stages and a plurality of multi-phase, diode rectifier converter stages.

9. The power converter according to claim 1, wherein the multi-phase transformer second multi open windings are connected to only the AFE when the multi-phase machine open windings are connected to the H-bridge inverters, and further wherein the multi-phase transformer second multiphase EMECD open windings are connected to only the H-bridge inverters when the multi-phase machine first multiphase EMECD open windings are connected to the AFE to provide the regenerative power converter.

10. The power converter according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the plurality of H-bridge converters comprises a three-level neutral point clamped H-bridge.

11. The power converter according to claim 9, wherein the dc link stage consists of a single dc link capacitor section common to both the AFE and the plurality of H-bridge inverters.

12. The power converter according to claim 9, wherein the multi-phase machine is a transformer with open secondary windings.

13. The power converter according to claim 9, wherein the AFE comprises a plurality of H-bridge converters.

14. The power converter according to claim 13, wherein at least one H-bridge converter comprises a three-level neutral point clamped H-bridge.

15. A power converter comprising:

a multi-phase transformer;

a first multi-phase input conversion section comprising at least one H-bridge converter and at least one multi-phase diode rectifier converter, the H-bridge converter and the multi-phase diode rectifier converter each having an input side that is coupled to each phase of the multi-phase transformer at a secondary winding for the multi-phase transformer;

a second multi-phase output section comprising a plurality of H-bridge inverters, wherein each H-bridge inverter is coupled by a corresponding dc link stage to a corresponding H-bridge converter such that each dc link stage is isolated from every other dc link stage; and

a multi-phase machine comprising open windings that are connected to only the plurality of H-bridge inverters to provide a regenerative power converter.

16. The power converter according to claim 15, wherein the multi-phase machine EMECD is a transformer with open secondary windings that are connected to only the plurality of H-bridge converters.

17. The power converter according to claim 15, wherein the multi-phase machine has open windings that are connected to only the plurality of H-bridge inverters.

18. The power converter according to claim 15, wherein at least one H-bridge converter comprises a three-level neutral point clamped H-bridge.

19. The power converter according to claim 15, wherein a degree of freedom in the common mode voltages or currents within the multi-phase machine EMECD is utilized to control power flow between dc-links.

20. A power converter comprising:

a multi-phase transformer;

a first multi-phase input conversion section comprising at least one H-bridge converter and at least one multi-phase diode rectifier converter, the H-bridge converter and the multi-phase diode rectifier converter each having an input side that is coupled to each phase of the multi-phase transformer at a secondary winding for the multi-phase transformer;

a second multi-phase output section comprising a plurality of H-bridge inverters coupled to the first section by a single common dc link; and

a multi-phase electro-magnetic energy conversion device (EMECD) comprising isolated phase windings that are connected to only the plurality of H-bridge inverters to provide a regenerative power converter, wherein each EMECD isolated phase winding is isolated from each other EMECD isolated phase winding.

21. A power converter comprising:

a multi-phase transformer;

a first multi-phase input conversion section comprising at least one a plurality of H-bridge converter converters and at least one multi-phase diode rectifier converter, the H-bridge converter and the multi-phase diode rectifier converter each having an input side that is coupled to each phase of the multi-phase transformer at a secondary winding for the multi-phase transformer;

a second multi-phase output section comprising a plurality of H-bridge inverters, wherein the first multi-phase input conversion section is coupled by a single common dc link stage to the second multiphase output section;

wherein the multi-phase transformer comprising comprises isolated phase windings that are connected to only the plurality of H-bridge converters, wherein each of the multi-phase transformer first isolated phase winding is isolated from each other of the multi-phase transformer first EMECD isolated phase winding; and

a multi-phase EMECD comprising isolated phase windings that are connected to only the H-bridge inverters to provide a regenerative power converter, wherein each second EMECD isolated phase winding is isolated from each other second EMECD isolated phase winding.