Control and synchronization of distributed controllers in modular converters

Abstract

In order to synchronize the distributed control systems (DCS) in modular converters such as Advanced Modular Multi-level Converters (AMMC) and Modular Transformer Converter (MTC) to the supervisory controller, a network layer must be established, and appropriate control architecture must be designed. In this paper, different control architectures for DCS with application in AMMC and MTC including series (daisy chain), parallel, and parallel-daisy (using both serial and parallel setup) are explored. There are practical issues in synchronization of modules in modular converters that have been addressed by and given solution to in the paper. The laboratory experimental test beds for MTC and AMMC configurations with distributed control systems (series (daisy chain), and parallel) architectures are implemented and experimental results are presented to validate the distributed control configurations.