1286 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 2S, NO.
6, NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 1992
Design Aspects of Synchronous PWM
Rectifier-Inverter Systems under
Unbalanced Input Voltage
Conditions
Luis Morhn, Member, IEEE, Phoivos D. Ziogas, Fellow, IEEE, and Geza Joos, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract-Synchronous front-end PWM rectifiers are compati-
ble with variable-frequency inverters because they generate a
near sinusoidal input current with a controllable power factor
and allow for the instantaneous reversal of power flow. Of the
numerous publications in this area, however, none has dealt
with the problems caused by input line voltage unbalance. As
this paper shows, such problems include a significant distortion
in the input current waveforms, considerable increase in the dc
capacitor ripple current and voltage, and more importantly, the
generation of subharmonic components in the inverter output
voltages. The objective of this paper is to analyze the effects of
input line voltage unbalance starting with the distortion in the
input line currents and extending to the dc bus components and
inverter output line voltages and currents. Analytical results are
next used to obtain system design curves as a function of input
voltage unbalance for all major system components. Finally, key
predicted results are verified on a 2-kVA prototype unit.
I. INTRODUCTION
I N RECENT YEARS, increasing interest has been
shown in static frequency conversion either for motor
speed control, induction heating, power conditioning, or
power factor management. Of the different rectifier-in-
verter frequency changer topologies that have been pro-
posed [11-[4], those that use a synchronous front-end
PWM rectifier offer better performance because of their
capability for instantaneous reversal of power flow, lack of
a dc link reactor, lack of an inverter output filter, and
their excellent input power factor characteristics. More-
over, this topology yields a nearly sinusoidal input current,
an intermediate dc voltage with fixed polarity-which
allows the use of a small low-cost dc capacitor-and
continuous input and output currents.
Although this synchronous link topology has been ana-
lyzed by several investigators [1]-[3], all previously pub-
lished work is based on balanced input line voltages. The
purpose of this paper is to present the complete analysis
Paper IPCSD 92-2, approved by the Industrial Power Conversion
Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society for presentation
at the 1989 Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, San Diego,
CA, October 1-5. Manuscript released for publication February 1, 1992.
L. Mordn is with the Departimento Ingenieria Electrica, Universidad
de Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile.
P. D. Ziogas and G. Joos are with the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
IEEE Log Number 9203296
0093-99Y4/92$03.00
of a frequency changer that uses a synchronous front-end
PWM inverter as a rectifier under unbalanced input line
voltage conditions. The analysis includes a complete eval-
uation of the rectifier input current and inverter output
voltage harmonic components for different output fre-
quencies. It is noted that for an output frequency equal to
twice the ac source frequency, a potentially disastrous dc
component is generated in the inverter output voltages.
Special emphasis is given to the generation of a second-
order harmonic component in the dc voltage and the
increase in the current and voltage ripple factor. Design
curves as a function of the input voltage unbalance for all
major system components are generated. Finally, key pre-
dicted results obtained on a 2-kVA prototype are pre-
sented, discussed, and evaluated.
11. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
AND PRINCIPLES OF
OPERATION
Because force-commutated PWM voltage-source invert-
ers allow real power to flow in both directions, the dc
ports of two such inverters can be connected together,
and the combination constitutes the synchronous front-end
PWM rectifier-inverter system shown in Fig. 1. The first
PWM inverter (i.e., PWM rectifier) converts fixed fre-
quency ac power into dc power. The function of the dc
capacitor is to “sink” the ripple current generated by both
converters and to provide a controllable dc bus voltage.
The output inverter converts the dc power into regulated
variable-frequency ac power. The ac input inductor acts as
a first-order filter, and its function is to minimize the
amplitude of the ac mains current harmonics.
Power flow in the synchronous front-end PWM con-
verter is controlled by adjusting the phase shift angle S
between the source voltage Vu and the respective con-
verter reflected input voltage, Vurl[2]. When V , leads
E,,, the real power flows from the ac source into the
converter (i.e., dc bus). Conversely, if Vu lags Vur,,power
flow is from the converter (i.e., dc bus) into the ac source.
The real power transferred is given by the equation
0 1Y92 IEEE
MO& et al.: DESIGN OF SYNCHRONOUS PWM RECTIFIER-INVERTER SYSTEMS 1287

1 I I

SOURCE'NOUS LINK; iLINKi SOURCE lNVERTER LOAD

I 1

Fig. 1. Synchronous front-end PWM rectifier-inverter frequency change topology

The ac source power factor is adjusted by controlling the Iar 1

amplitude of Varl.The phasor diagram in Fig. 2 shows Va
1j x i r a r i
that to achieve a unity ac source power factor, l/arl has to
be

Fig. 2. Phasor diagram of the input current and voltages.

reflected input voltages are equal to

a = 1/120" (4) Var,(w i t ) = V,, * A , sin ( w i t )

+
and Iar(0),ZJ 1, and IJ -) are the zero, positive, and
Vbr,(w , t ) = Vdc* A , sin ( w , t - 120")
negative sequence components of the rectifier input cur-
rent Zar(wit). The sequence components of the unbal-
anced line-to-line source voltages are I/crl( w,t) = V,, * A , sin ( wlr + 120") (6)

where V,, is the average value of the dc capacitor voltage,

(5)
Since the sum of the line-to line voltages in a three-phase
system is always zero, zero sequence components are
never present in the line-to-line voltage (i.e., IJO) = 0).
Fig. 3 shows the equivalent circuit of the front-end recti-
fier for positive sequence component at fundamental fre-
quency. The fundamental components of the rectifier
and A , is the fundamental component of the rectifier
switching function. Equation (6) shows that the rectifier
reflected input voltages are always balanced. For this
reason, no negative sequence voltage components are
present at its terminals. The equivalent circuit of the
front-end PWM rectifier for negative sequence compo-
nents at fundamental frequency is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 shows that negative sequence components of the
line currents are limited only by the ac reactor XI and by
the ac source impedance.
1288 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 28, NO. 6, NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 1992

I INPUT
I
I PWM
I
II
Developing (9) for different values of k gives
AC-MAINS / FILTER j RECTIFIER: r
I I

Ic,cr(w,t> = ~ d c r + C Id,rkCOS(kw,t + or,). (10)

k= 1

Equations (9) and (10) show that input current unbal-

ance generates harmonic components of the order
2w,,4w,,Sw,,... in the dc current and dc voltage fre-
quency spectra. The first of these harmonics (i.e., 2w,) is
of concern because its low frequency and relative large
amplitude can considerably increase the dc link ripple
j "I lcf2 voltage. This in turn influences the size of the dc link
m - capacitor required to maintain the dc ripple voltage within
Fig. 4. Three-phase equivalent circuit of the input rectifier for negative
acceptable limits. The second-order dc current harmonic
sequence component. generated by the rectifier results from the interaction of
the fundamental component of the switching function
with the fundamental component of the input currents
The dc current generated by the fundamental compo- (see (9)). Thus, the magnitude of the dc current second
nent of the rectifier input currents is given by harmonic depends on the degree of the input unbalance
r (U)
and on the modulation index of the switching function.
Idcr(
w,t) = Iarl sin ( w , t - +U) * A , sin ( k w , t ) The general expression is given by
k= 1
+ Ibrl sin ( w , t - 120 - +b) *
z (b)
A , sin ( k w , t - 120)
k= 1
+ Zcrl sin ( w i t + 120 + c ) - *
r (C)
Icrl * A I c o s ( 2 o ; t + 240 - +c).
A , sin ( k w , t + 120)
-~
(7) (11)
i
k= I
where superscripts (a), (b), and (c) are the rectifier switch- Second-order harmonic components in the dc bus also
ing functions. By using the trigonometric identity generate uncharacteristic low-frequency harmonics in the
reflected rectifier input and inverter output voltages. Fig.
1
sinasinp= -[cos(a-p) -cos(a+P)] 5 shows the single-phase equivalent circuit of the rectifier
2 when only the harmonic components are considered. The
(7) becomes reflected input voltage V,,(w,t) is equal to
1 E

A , cos [ w , t ( k - 1) + 4U] vor( wit) y ~ i c ( t ) * C A , sin(kwit) (12)

k=l k= 1

- CA,cos[w,t(k+l)-+,] where
k= 1 r

vdc&COS(kW,t+ 6,).
+? 'brl
/\k=l
CA,cos[w$(k - 1)
Vdc(t) = vd, f
k=2
(13)

Replacing (13) in (12) and then using (8) gives

-120(k - 1) + +b]
r
1 CE

- A,C0S[Wjt(k + 1) V,,(w,t) = -I/dc* C A , s i n ( j o , t )

k=l J-1
1 x / x
- 120( k + 1) -
c
+ + k = 2 v d c , ~j C=Al, s i n [ w , t ( k + j ) +

+120(k - 1)
A , cos [ w ; t ( k - 1)

+ +cl
-
r

CA,sin[w,l(k - j )
]=I
+ e,] } . (14)

72

- A,cos[o;t(k + 1) The average value V,, defines the fundamental compo-

k=l
nent of the reflected input voltage Varl plus unwanted
high-frequency harmonics. These high-frequency harmon-
+120(k + 1) +cl -
i . ics can be easily minimized by the selection of an appro-
priate PWM technique [6]. However, the interaction be-
MORAN et

-
ai.: DESIGN OF SYNCHRONOUS PWM RECTIFIER-INVERTER SYSTEMS

Iark 1kXl Vaodc

1.5
[pU]

T
1289

Fig. 5 . Single-phase equivalent circuit of the input rectifier for har-

monic components.

tween the second-order harmonic of the dc voltage and

the fundamental of the switching function creates a
third-order harmonic in the reflected input voltage, which
increases the total harmonic distortion of the input cur-
rent significantly. From (14)

1 0 4 8 12 16 2 0 AV [%I
Vur(3wit) = -Vdc2* A , sin(3wit
4
+ 0,). (15) Fig. 6 . Inverter output voltage dc component Voodcversus input volt-
age unbalance AV plots with different dc capacitor values and X , =
0.2168 pu.
B. Output Stage Analysis
The waveform of the inverter output voltage can, in
presents a dc component of magnitude
general, be obtained by multiplying the waveform of the
dc capacitor voltage with the waveform of the inverter
switching functions [7], that is

Fig. 6 shows the amplitude of the dc component of the

z ance. If the load is a motor or a transformer, a small dc
Bj sin ( j w o t ) (16)
j= 1
where Bj represents the Fourier coefficients of the in-
verter switching function.
As shown in (81, the product of any two frequency
components yields corresponding components with fre-
quencies equal to the sum and difference of the multi-
plied components. Therefore, to avoid the generation of
low-frequency components in the inverter output voltage,
the dominant harmonic of the inverter switching function
can be chosen anywhere in the high-frequency spectrum.
In the case of input voltage unbalance, however, the
presence of the second harmonic component in the dc
voltage generates potentially disastrous uncharacteristic
low-frequency harmonics in the inverter output voltages,
which, in general, cannot be avoided. These harmonics, on
a line-to-neutral basis, are given by
inverter output voltage for different values of the dc
capacitor and different degrees of input voltage unbal-
component in the output voltage will cause a large dc
component of current owing to the small winding resis-
tance.
I v . SYSTEM DESIGN
CONSIDERATIONS
Standard design procedures for rectifier-inverter fre-
quency changers are based on the maximum values of the
total harmonic distortion THDi and the ripple factors Ku
allowed in the ac input current and the dc bus voltage. By
definition, the THDi of the rectifier ac input current is
where Iurkrepresents the input current harmonics and
Iarl the fundamental component. From Fig. 5

1
E,(t) = -Vdc2B,(sin[(2wi
4
+ w,)t + e,]
Replacing (20) in (19)
-sin [(20, - w,)t + 0 2 ] } . (17)
When wi < U,, the output waveform of the inverter will
contain frequency components lower than the fundamen-
tal frequency (i.e., subharmonics). In ac motor drive ap- The ripple factor of the dc bus voltage is given by
plications, such voltage subharmonics, even of small
amplitude, can have a serious effect on the machine
performance. However, the worst case occurs when the
output frequency w, is equal to twice the ac source
frequency mi.In this case, the inverter output voltage
1290 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 28, NO. 6, NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 1992

[PUI . 8
THDi t /X,=O. 1 5 4 9 pu

0
0 4 8 12 16 20 AV [%I
0 4 8 12 16 20 AV [%I
Fig. 7. Total harmonic distortion of the input current THDi versus
input voltage unbalance AV plots with different values of XI, X, = 10.54 Fig. 8. dc voltage ripple factor K , versus input voltage unbalance AV
pu and 0.8 inductive load power factor. plots for different values of X , and X , = 0.2168 pu.

and THDi

[Y:t
.1
where V,, and VdCkare the average value and the har-
monic component of the dc voltage, and Idck is the .08
harmonic component of the current flowing through the
dc capacitor. Replacing (23) in (22) .06

.04

*02 t
is equal to the current harmonic generated by the
rectifier and by the inverter. For the design of the dc .05 .1 .15 .2 .25 x1 IPu1
capacitor, it is assumed that the ripple current generated Fig. 9. Total harmonic distortion of the input current THDi versus
by the inverter and by the rectifier are equal in magnitude input reactor XI plots for 5 and 10% of input voltage unbalance and 0.8
and are phase shifted by 180" (i.e., worst operating condi- inductive load power factor.
tion).
The use of PWM techniques yields a significant reduc-
tion in the value of the line inductors and the dc capacitor ance for the input reactor XI and the dc capacitor reac-
as compared with the six-step rectifier-inverter configura- tance X,. Fig. 9 gives a value of XI and X , that will keep
tions. However, the smaller the values of L and C, the K , equal to 5% for an input voltage unbalance of 5 and
more sensitive the system becomes to input voltage unbal- 10%. Fig. 10 shows the THDi of the rectifier ac input
ance. If the value of the input inductor L is smaller, the current for the given values of XI and X , obtained from
negative sequence component of the input current will be Fig. 10. These curves are valid for a rectifier-inverter
larger (see Fig. 41, thus increasing the value of the second system working with the third harmonic injection tech-
harmonic of the dc voltage (see (11)). In addition, a small nique, a carrier frequency w, = 42wi, an inverter output
dc capacitor (i.e., large value of X,) will generate a large frequency w, = 2wi, and a load of 0.8 inductive power
second harmonic in the dc voltage. Figs. 7 and 8 show how factor.
the input voltage unbalance affects the THDi of the ac
input current and the ripple factor K , of the dc voltage. V. DESIGN EXAMPLE
With appropriate values for X , and X,, significant
improvements can be achieved in the THDi and K , for To illustrate the significance and facilitate the use of
unbalance input voltage conditions. Figs. 9 and 10 show the theoretical results obtained in the previous section,
system design curves as a function of input voltage unbal- the following example is given.
MORAN et ai.: DESIGN OF SYNCHRONOUS PWM RECTIFIER-INVERTER SYSTEMS 1291

"r
.05 .1 -15 .2 .25 XI [PU]
Fig. 10. dc capacitor value X , versus input reactor Xi plots for 5 and
10% of input voltage unbalance K , = 5% and 0.8 inductive load power
factor.

-- _.12
r
.!2 $; (pu)
37 4143 47
The design data presented in this section have been
obtained with the following assumptions:
a) The rectifier and the inverter use the third-
harmonic injection technique with a carrier fre-
quency w, = 4 2 q and modulation index 1.
b) The inverter output frequency is twice the ac source
frequency.
c) The load is balanced with a 0.8 inductive power
factor.
d) The total harmonic distortion of the input current
is less than or equal to 5%, for a maximum input
line-to-line voltage of 10%.
e) The dc ripple voltage is less than or equal to 5%
for maximum input line-to-line voltage unbalance
of 10%.
Fig. 10 shows that for a THDi equal to 0.05 pu and AV
equal to lo%, XI is 0.14 pu. For X , equal to 0.14 pu and
AV equal to lo%, from Fig. 9, X , is found to be 0.3 pu.
For a 2-kVA system with a 120-V phase-to-neutral ac
source voltage (Zbase= 5.56 a),the real values for XI
and X , are

X, = 0.14 pu X, = 0.7784 a L = 2.06 mH

.5151

X, = 0.3pu X, = 1.668 Cl C = 1.59mF. *

02 4 0286 F

VI. SIMULATED
RESULTS *
mt
Fig. 11 shows the simulated results for a balanced input -2 c
voltage applied to a system designed for balanced input
conditions (XI = 0.2168 pu, X , = 7.35 pu). Fig. ll(c) and
(8) shows the input and output current waveforms. Both
waveforms are near sinusoidal, and the input power factor
1 -- .79
is near unity. Fig. 12, on the other hand, shows the effect 1 .E4 .03 .03 .03
0 -
of an input voltage unbalance of 5% when the system is
the same as for Fig. 11. Fig. 12(b) shows that the input
current is no longer sinusoidal as was the case in Fig.
ll(c). Fig. 12(g) shows that the dc voltage waveform
contains a second harmonic component that leads to a
third-harmonic component in the input current (Fig. 12(b))
1292 IEEE TRANSACTIONSON INDlJSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 28, NO. 6, NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 1992

0 - 4 ::: : : I : : -I?- : : :: : I : :: : : : : : ; :
90 1%
8 ?7l7 mt
-2 - -

.E404
t
1 3 4143 F

.
~.. ..._-.

1 .-
.E4 .E3 . E 3 .E3
0 .FE7

Fig. 13. Simulated waveforms for 5% input voltage unbalance ( X , =

0.14 pu and X , = 0.3 pu): (a) Rectifier input line-to-line voltage; (b)
rectifier input current; (c) rectifier input current frequency spectrum; (d)
inverter line-to-line output voltage; (e) inverter output voltage frequency
spectrum; (f) inverter output current for a 0.8 inductive load power
factor; (8) dc bus voltage; (h) dc bus voltage frequency spectrum.

and a dc component in the inverter output voltage (Fig.

12(d)). Finally, Fig. 13 shows the effects of the unbalanced
(5%) input voltage on a system that has been designed as
given in Section V. In this case, the distortion in the dc
voltage and in the input and output currents is much
lower (dc component of the inverter output voltage is
1%).
To verify the results of the simulation and the previous
system analysis, a 2-kVA prototype was tested.
(c)
VII. EXPERIMENTAL
RESULTS Fig. 14. Experimental waveforms with X , = 0.2168 pu and X , = 7.35
pu: (a) Rectifier input current and its frequency spectrum; (b) dc
The results of tests on the 2-kVA prototype are shown capacitor voltage and its frequency spectrum; (c) inverter output current
in Figs. 14 and 15. In Fig. 14(a), the input current wave- and its frequency spectrum.
form is shown for a 5% input voltage unbalance and with
X , = 0.2168 pu and X , = 7.35 pu. The effect in the dc
voltage and the output currents is shown in Fig. 14(b) and output current is negligible. Comparison of Figs. 12- 15
(c). The frequency spectrum of the rectifier input current show that the analysis and simulation of the system is
(Fig. 14(b)) shows the third-order harmonic generated by supported by the results obtained from the prototype.
the second-harmonic component of the dc voltage. Fig.
14(c) shows the inverter output current with its respective VIII. CONCLUSIONS
frequency spectrum. The frequency spectrum shows the In this paper, the complete analysis of a synchronous
dc component generated by the dc bus voltage. Fig. 15 front-end PWM rectifier-inverter system under unbal-
shows the system waveforms again for 5% voltage unbal- anced input voltage conditions has been presented. The
ance but with X , = 0.14 pu and X , = 0.3 pu. Fig. 15 analysis has included the harmonic assessment of
shows that the effect of the unbalance on the input and input/output current and voltage waveforms. It has been
MOR^ et ai.: DESIGN OF SYNCHRONOUS PWM RECTIFIER-INVERTER SYSTEMS
Fig. 15. Experimental waveforms with Xi = 0.14 pu and X , = 0.3 pu:
(a) Phase-to-neutral source voltage and rectifier input current; (b) in-
verter output current and line-to-line voltage.
shown both theoretically and experimentally that input
voltage unbalance generates uncharacteristic low-
frequency harmonic components in the input and output
currents. Special emphasis was given to the generation of
a dc component in the inverter output voltage in the case
that the output frequency is twice the input frequency.
System design curves for different degrees of unbalance
for all major system components have been reported.
Finally, key predicted results have been confirmed experi-
mentally.
REFERENCES
X. Ma, “High performance PWM frequency changers,” IEEE
Trans. Industry Applications, vol. IA-22, no. 2, pp. 267-280,
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J. W. Wilson, “The forced-commutated inverter as a regenerative
rectifier,” IEEE Trans. Industry Applications, vol. IA-14, no. 4, pp.
335-340, July/Aug. 1978.
G. Smollinger and W. Raddi, “Reverse energy through an ac line
synchronized pulse width modulated sine-wave inverter,” in Proc.
INTELEC 81, pp. 126-131.
P. Ziogas, Y. Kang, and V. Stefanovic, “Rectifier-inverter fre-
quency changers with suppressed dc link components,” IEEE
Trans. Industry Applications, vol. IA-22, no. 6, pp. 1027-1036,
Nov./Dec. 1986.
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[5] R. Yacamini and W. Smith, “Negative sequence impedance of
convertors,” Proc. Inst. Elec. Eng., pt. B, vol. 128, no. 3, pp.
161-166, May 1981.
[6] M. Boost and P. Ziogas, “State-of-the-art carrier PWM tech-
niques: A critical evaluation,” IEEE Trans. Industry Applications,
vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 271-280, Mar./Apr. 1988.
[7] P. D. Ziogas, E. Wiechmann, and V. Stefanovic, “A computer-aided
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Sept./Oct. 1985.
Luis Moran (S’78-M’Xl) received the degree in
electrical engineering from the University of
Concepcibn, Chile, and the Ph.D. degree from
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, in 1982
and 1990, respectively.
He is currently an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Electrical Engineering at the
University of Concepcibn, Chile. His research
f interests are in the areas of static var compen-
sators, power converters, power distribution, and
power system protection. He also has partici-
pated as a consultant in several industrial projects.
Phoivos D. Ziogas (S’75-M’78-SM’BY-F‘92) re-
ceived the B.S., M. Sc., and Ph.D. degrees from
the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, in
1973, 1974, and 1978, respectively.
Since 1978, he has been with the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Con-
cordia University, Montreal, Canada, where he
is engaged in teaching and research in the area
of static power converters. He also has partici-
pated as a consultant in several industrial pro-
jects.
Geza Joos (M’79-SM’89) received the M. Eng.
and Ph.D. degree from McGill University, Mon-
treal, Canada, in 1974 and 1987, respectively.
Since 1988, he has been with the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Con-
cordia University, Montreal, Canada. His re-
5earch interests are in rotating machines, power
converters, and electrical drives. From 1975 to
1978, he was with Brown Boveri and from 1978
to 1988 with the Ecole de Technologie Su-
perieure, University of Quebec