QUESTION 1

PSCAD MODEL
Consider the PSCAD design of 2-level VSC connected to 66kV network shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 1: PSCAD model of 2-level VSC connected to 66kV network

The converter is controlled by a PWM controller. The modulation index (m) and the phase angle (φ) can
be adjusted with the configuration shown in Fig. 2.

Figure 2: Inputs of Phase Angle and Modulation Index

Figure 3: Reference signal

CALCULATION
To determine the modulation index and the phase angle w.r.t. the infinite bus network, consider the single
line diagram shown in Fig. 1.
Considering the secondary side of the transformer, active and reactive power transmitted can be
expressed as,
Vs ×Vc ×sin(φ) Vs ×Vc ×cos(φ)− V2s
Active Power (P) = X
Reactive Power(Q) = X
Where,
Vs – L-L rms voltage at of the source
Vc – L-L rms voltage of the converter output w.r.t. to the transformer secondary side.
X – Xtransformer + Xtransmission line
φ – angle of Vc with respect to Vs

For the provided scenario, the value of X can be calculated as,

X = X transformer + X transmission line
V2l−l,base 662
= 0.15 × Sbase
+ 0.213 × 2 × π × f 0.15 × 50
+ 0.213 × 2 × π × 60 = 93.3671ohm

Considering the converter side, the modulation index of the 2-level VSC can be determined as,
Vc_peak
m=
Vd /2
Where,
Vc_peak – peak value of the line to neutral voltage of the converter
Vd - input DC voltage

(i) CASE A
 CALCULATION

P= 0 MW Qtotal = 0 Mvar Vs = 66 kV X = 93.3671 ohm

66 × Vc ×sin(φ )
P= =0
93.3671
φ = 0 rad

Substituting φ = 0 in Q,
66 × Vc × cos(φ) − 662
Q = Q total + Q filter =
93.3671
66 × Vc × cos(φ) − 662
0−3=
93.3671
Vc = 61.7560 kV

Obtaining the primary equivalent voltage of Vc and then the peak value of L-N,

9.8 √2
Vc_peak Vc × 66 ×
m= = √3 = 61.7560 × 0.1212 = 0.7881
Vd /2 9.5 9.5
When P =0 MW and Qtot = 0 Mvar, the calculated modulation index and the phase angle are,

m = 0.7881 𝛗 = 0 rad
 PSCAD SIMULATION RESULTS

Figure 4: P and Q for m= 0.7881 and 𝜑 = 0 rad

 OBSERVATION
The desired values are P=0 and Q = 0. The simulation results in Fig. 4show oscillation of Q
around zero and P slightly above zero. With the absence of load inductances, this
oscillations are possible.

(ii) CASE B
 CALCULATION

P= 20 MW Qtotal = 10 Mvar Vs = 66 kV X = 93.3671 ohm

66 × Vc ×sin(φ )
P= = 20 Vc × sin(φ ) = 28.2931
93.3671
 66 × Vc × cos(φ) − 662
Q = Q total + Q filter =
93.3671
66 × Vc × cos(φ) − 662
10 − 3 = Vc × cos(φ) = 75.9026
93.3671
So, tan(φ ) = 0.3728 φ = 0.3568 rad Vc = 81.0046 kV
Obtaining the primary equivalent voltage of Vc and then the peak value of L-N,

9.8 √2
Vc_peak Vc × 66 ×
m= = √3 = 81.0046 × 0.1212 = 1.0334
Vd /2 9.5 9.5
When P = 20 MW and Qtot = 10 Mvar, the calculated modulation index and the phase angle are,

m = 1.0334 𝛗 = 0.3568 rad

 PSCAD SIMULATION RESULTS

Figure 5: P and Q for m= 1.0334 and 𝜑 = 0.3568 rad

 OBSERVATION
P has achieved 20MW and Q is slightly below 10 MVar.

(iii) CASE 3
 CALCULATION
P= 0 MW Qtotal = -30 Mvar Vs = 66 kV X = 93.3671 ohm
66 × Vc ×sin(φ )
P= =0
93.3671
φ = 0 rad

Substituting φ = 0 in Q,

66 × Vc × cos(φ) − 662
Q = Q total + Q filter =
93.3671
66 × Vc × 1 −662
−30 − 3 =
93.3671
Vc = 19.3165 kV
Obtaining the primary equivalent voltage of Vc and then the peak value of L-N,

9.8 √2
Vc_peak Vc × 66 ×
m= = √3 = 19.3165 × 0.1212 = 0.2465
Vd /2 9.5 9.5
When P =0 MW and Qtot = 0 Mvar, the calculated modulation index and the phase angle are,

m = 0.2465 𝛗 = 0 rad

 PSCAD SIMULATION RESULTS

 Figure 6: P and Q for m= 0.2465 and 𝜑 = 0 rad

 OBSERVATION
Q has achieved -30 MVar and P is slightly below 10 MW.

QUESTION 2
(i) PART A
N = 10 SMs per arm m = 0.9 Base frequency (fr) = 60 Hz Switching frequency (fc) =900 Hz

0.8941

Figure 7: Harmonic spectrum of output phase voltage

For the above specified conditions, the value of the fundamental component is 0.8941 and THD is 12.042
%.
The MATLAB code used to obtain the harmonic spectrum of 10 SMs is given below.

 MATLAB CODE
%Design parameters of the PD PWM
m=0.9; fr=60; Tr=1/fr; wr=2*pi*fr; fc=900; Tc=(1/fc);
t=0:0.000001:Tr; %Period of the reference signal
ref= m*sin(wr*t); %Reference signal

N=10; %Number of submodules

len_r=length(t); %Sampling period

%Generate PD PWM signal

for K_sub=((-N/2)+1):(N/2)
%carrier signal is generated from the lowest level to highest and then
%compared with the reference signal. An Offset is given for sawtooth signal
%to obtain the carrier signals.

carrier=((2/N)*0.5*(sawtooth(2*pi*fc*t,0.5)+1)+(2/N)*(K_sub-1));

for x=1:len_r; %compare carrier(K) along n samples

%condition for reference signal to lie within carrier(K) limits
if ref(x)>=(2/N)*(K_sub-1) && ref(x)<(2/N)*(K_sub);
if ref(x)<carrier(x);
pwm(x)=(2/N)*(K_sub-1);
else
pwm(x)=(2/N)*(K_sub);
end
end
end
end

% harmonics generation
t2=0:1:len_r;
fft_pwm=fft(pwm);
%normalizing fft through number of sample points
%determine the absolute value of complex number
fft_pwm2=abs(fft_pwm)*2/len_r;

%Total harmonic distortion

Sum_amp=0;
%cumulative sum of amplitudes without fundamental
for g=3:50;
Sum_amp=Sum_amp+fft_pwm2(g).^2;
end

%THD calculation
THD=sqrt(Sum_amp)*100/m;

bar(t2,fft_pwm2);
xlim([0 50]); grid
set(gca,'XTick',(1:1:50));
set(gca,'YTick',(0:0.025:1.5))
title(['%THD = ', num2str(THD),'%'])
xlabel('Harmonic number');
ylabel('Amplitude');
 (ii) PART B
N = 5-20 SMs per arm m = 0.9 Base frequency (fr) = 60 Hz Switching frequency (fc) =900 Hz

Figure 8: THD of output phase voltage vs N

 MATLAB CODE
%Design parameters of the PD PWM
m=0.9; fr=60; Tr=1/fr; wr=2*pi*fr; fc=900; Tc=(1/fc);
t=0:0.000001:Tr; %Period of the reference signal
ref= m*sin(wr*t); %Reference signal

valueofC=zeros(1,21);
len_r=length(t); %Sampling period

for N=5:20;
%Generate PD PWM signal
for K_sub=((-N/2)+1):(N/2)
%carrier signal is generated from the lowest level to highest and then
%compared with the reference signal.

carrier=((2/N)*0.5*(sawtooth(2*pi*fc*t,0.5)+1)+(2/N)*(K_sub-1));

for x=1:len_r; %compare carrier(K) along n samples

%condition for reference signal to lie within carrier(K) limits
if ref(x)>=(2/N)*(K_sub-1) && ref(x)<(2/N)*(K_sub);
if ref(x)<carrier(x);
pwm(x)=(2/N)*(K_sub-1);
else
pwm(x)=(2/N)*(K_sub);
end
end
end
end
 %% harmonics generation calculation
t2=0:1:len_r;
fft_pwm=fft(pwm);
%normalizing fft through number of sample points
%determine the absolute value from the complex function of fft(pwm).
fft_pwm2=abs(fft_pwm)*2/len_r;

%%Total harmonic distortion calculation

Sum_amp=0;
%cumulative sum of amplitudes without fundamental
for g=3:50;
Sum_amp=Sum_amp+fft_pwm2(g).^2;
end

%THD calculation
THD=sqrt(Sum_amp)*100/m;
%obtain an array of THD corresponding to N
valueofC(N)=THD;

end

bar(valueofC);
xlim([4 21]); grid on
set(gca,'XTick',(0:1:21));
set(gca,'YTick',(0:4:30));
xlabel('Number of SMs');
ylabel('%THD');
title('%THD of the output phase voltage vs N');
text(1:length(valueofC),valueofC,num2str(valueofC'),'vert','bottom','horiz','center');
box off

(iii) PART C
N = 2-10 SMs per arm m = 0.9 Base frequency (fr) = 60 Hz Switching frequency (fc) =180 Hz

Figure 9: fundamental component of output phase voltage vs N

 MATLAB CODE
A modification is done for the MATLAB code in part b to obtain the part c.
%% harmonics generation
t2=0:1:len_r;
fft_pwm=fft(pwm);
%normalizing fft through number of sample points
%determine the absolute value from the complex function of fft(pwm)
fft_pwm2=abs(fft_pwm)*2/len_r;

%determine the array of fundemental component

valueofC(N)=max(fft_pwm2);

(iv) CONCLUSION
Modular Multilevel Converters (MMC) is a fast-developing topology in high power and high voltage
applications such as VSC-HVDC applications. The basic building block of the MMC is known as Sub Module
(SM). The switching signal is provided for each SM individually. By providing switching signal to the SMs
in each phase arm of the MMC, the SMs can be either inserted or bypassed. By properly inserting or
bypassing the SMs, the desired ac side voltage can be achieved.

Here, Phase Disposition PWM (PD PWM) switching method is considered as the switching method for SM
operation. PD PWM switching method was analysed for different conditions.

 Part a – Harmonic spectrum and %THD of output phase voltage for a fixed number of SMs
 Part b – THD of output phase voltage variation for different number of SMs
 Part c – Decrease the switching frequency and obtain the variation of fundamental component of
output phase voltage

From the Fig. 7, it is clearly observed that even harmonics are negligible and only odd harmonics are
present. The harmonic content is located at low frequencies. According to Fig. 7, highest harmonic content
is located at f=15f0, where f0 is the fundamental frequency. The magnitudes of the harmonics are obtained
to an array for further clarification.

Figure 10: the amplitude of the harmonics presented in Part A

Then, behavior of Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) with the number of SMs is observed in following part
of study. THD is given by the equation shown below.

√∑∞ 2
n=2 Vn−rms
THD% = Vfund−rms

Where,

Vn−rms – rms voltage of nth harmonic

Vfund−rms – rms voltage of fundamental component

According to the Fig. 8, THD of the output phase voltage decreases with the increment of the number of
SMs. When the number of SMs =5, THD is 24.16% and then SMs are increased to 20, THD has dropped
significantly to 5.17%. Therefore, number of levels in MMC mainly impact on harmonic content.

According to the Fig. 6, the fundamental component of output phase voltage has been increased gradually
until SMs=6 and then the fundamental component has been decreased. However, when the number of
SMs=4 and above, the magnitude of the resulted fundamental components is above the magnitude of the
reference signal which is 0.9.

So, it can be concluded that PD PWM switching method is reasonable for high level MMC applications due
to the reduction of THD.

REFERENCES

[1] Y. Yuan, P. Li, X. Kong, J. Liu, L. Qun and Y. Wang, "Harmonic influance analysis of unified power flow
controller based on modular multilevel converter," Journal of modern power systems and clean
energy, pp. 10-18, 2016.

[2] K. Sharifabadi, L. Harnefors, H.-P. Nee, S. Norrga and R. Teodorescu, "Design, control and
application of Modular Multilevel Converters for HVDC Transmision systems," John Wiley and Sons
Ltd, 2016.
ECE 8320 - MODULAR MULTILEVEL CONVERTERS
Assignment 1

Erandika Kishani Kalubowilage

7872553
04/02/2019