International Journal of Computational Intelligence and Information Security, August 2011 Vol. 2, No.

Z-source Inverter Control Strategies

Pankaj Zope1 ,K.S. Patil1, Dr. Prashant Sonare2 1 Research Scholar, SST COE Jalgaon, India 2 Principal, Professor, SSJ COE Mumbai, India 1 phzope@gmail.com,2prashantsonare@yahoo.co.in Abstract
In this paper modulation method for Z-source inverter is presented. Two different pulse width modulation (PWM) control methods are discussed: Sinusoidal carrier-based PWM and Simple Boost Control. These methods are described in detail and compared on the basis of simulation in MATLAB/ Simulink. The ripple of Z-source element, output voltage, current and their harmonics profile are varied with modulation index and switching frequency. Also it focuses the effect of shoot through state on the traditional and Z-source inverter. Keywords: Pulse width modulation, simple boost control, sinusoidal PWM, Z-source inverter

1. Introduction
In 2002, the topology of the Z-source inverter [1] was proposed to overcome the problems in the traditional inverters. The traditional inverter is either a buck or boost converter and can only produce a voltage lower than or upper the DC bus voltage. A single phase voltage source inverter has two active states and two zero states. A zero state is produced when the upper two or lower two switches are turned on at the same time shorting the output terminals. The upper and lower two switches of any phase leg can never be gated on at the same time; otherwise a shoot-through short state would occur and destroy the inverter. The shoot-through is a forbidden switching state for the traditional inverters. To overcome the problems of traditional inverter a single phase Zsource inverter is simulated with different PWM strategies. A single phase Z-source inverter has seven possible switching states: two active states (vectors) when the dc voltage is connected across the load, two zero states (vectors) when the load terminals are shorted through either the lower or the upper two switches and one shoot through state (vector) when the load terminals are shorted through both the upper and the lower switches of any one leg or two legs. The shoot through state makes it possible to boost up the input voltage. The shoot through state is only applied when the input DC voltage is not high enough to generate the needed output voltage. The Zsource inverter intentionally utilizes the shoot through zero states to boost dc voltage and produce an output voltage greater than the original dc voltage. At the same time, the Z-source structure enhances the reliability of the inverter greatly because the shoot through states that might be caused by EMI noise can no longer destroy the inverter. Figure. 1 shows the configuration of the Z-source inverter. The operating principle has been described in detail in [1, 2 and 3].

Figure 1: Z-source inverter

2. Z-source Inverter Working Strategy

For simplification purposes, Z-source network parameters are selected as L1 = L2 = L and C1 = C2 = C which make the Z-source network symmetrical. Accordingly, the capacitor and inductor voltages of the Z-source network become

VL1 VL 2 VL = =
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VC 1 VC 2 VC = =

(1)

VC is the capacitor voltage and VL is the inductor voltage. Consider the converter in the shoot-through state for an interval of To during a switching cycle T.
IL1 +
Ic1

LL

VC1 VC2 RL
Ic2

IL2

Figure 2: Shoot-through state of simplified Z-source inverter

Figure 2 shows the shoot-through state of simplified Z-source inverter. In shoot-through states, the circuit can be described by the following equations

Vi = 0 VL = VC Vdc 2VC VC 1 + VC 2 = =
where Vdc is dc link voltage.
IL1 + I c1 V C1 L2 IL2
Figure 3: Active state of simplified Z-source inverter

(2)

LL

L1

I c2 V C2 + RL

Figure 3 shows active state of simplified Z-source inverter. For the active states, the output side of the Z-source inverter can be represented by an equivalent current source [3]. So the following steady state equations can be obtained.

Vdc VL + VC = Vi = VC VL = 2VC Vdc

(3)

The total duration of shoot through time and total active time are denoted by T0 and T1, the average voltage VL1 over a switching period T should be zero in steady state [4], which leads to the following equations.

VCTO + (Vdc VC )T 1 = 0 To + T 1 = T

(4) 70

International Journal of Computational Intelligence and Information Security, August 2011 Vol. 2, No. 8

From (4), the boost factor B can be derived as

Vi T 1 = = B = = 1 > Vdc T 1 To 1 2To / T 1

For active states, the peak dc link voltage is

(5)

= Vi

T = BVdc Vdc T 1 To 1 = BmVdc 1 2To / T 1

(6)

Then, from above, the ac output voltage of Z-source inverter can be written as

= Vim mVdc Vac =

Do = To / T

(7)

(8) where m is modulation index and D0 means shoot through duty ratio. As seen from (7), a desired ac output can be obtained by controlling the shoot through duty cycle D0 and modulation index m. There are several PWM control methods reported by the researchers for the Z-source inverter based on traditional control methods [4, 5]. The aim of this paper is to present a development of control strategy sinusoidal PWM and simple boost control scheme and compare them for Z-source inverter.

3. Modulation scheme of Z-source inverter

In most applications the sinusoidal carrier-based pulse width modulation (SPWM) methods are the preferred approach due to the low-harmonic distortion waveform characteristics with well-defined harmonic spectrum, the fixed switching frequency, and implementation simplicity [6]. Two main implementation techniques exist: the triangle intersection technique and the direct digital technique. In the triangle intersection technique, as shown in Figure 4, only one sinusoidal modulating signal is compared with a triangular carrier wave and the crossover points are used to determine the switching instants of PWM signal [7]. States 1 and 2 shown in Table I are used to generate the ac output voltage in this approach. Thus, the ac output voltage waveform features only two values; which are vi and -vi. This is called bipolar sinusoidal carrier-based PWM approach.

Figure 4: bipolar sinusoidal carrier based PWM

In this case, the modulation index m is defined as

m=

Vcontrol Vtri

(9)

where Vcontrol is the peak amplitude of the control signal. The amplitude Vtri of the triangular signal is kept constant.

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Table 1: Component conduction scheme

a b Components conducting State 1 S1 and S4 are ON S2 and S3 are OFF /2 -/2 S1,S4 if >0 S1,S4 if <0 2 S2 and S3 are ON S1 and S4 are OFF -/2 /2 - S2,S3 if >0 S3,S4 if <0 3 S1 and S3 are ON S2 and S4 are OFF /2 /2 0 S1,S3 if >0 S1,S3 if <0 4 S2 and S4 are ON S1 and S3 are OFF -/2 -/2 0 S2,S4 if >0 S2,S4 if <0 5 S1,S2,S3 and S4 all are OFF -/2 /2 - S2,S3 if >0 /2 -/2 S1,S4 if <0
In contrast to the bipolar approach, the unipolar PWM technique uses the states 1, 2, 3, and 4 shown in Table I [8] to generate the ac output voltage. Thus, the ac output voltage waveform can instantaneously take one of three values, namely, vi,-vi , and 0. To generate the states, a carrier-based technique can be used as shown in Figure 5, where two sinusoidal modulating signals (vsin1 and vsin2) are used. The signal vsin1 is used to generate vaN, and vsin2 is used to generate vbN ; thus vbN1= - vaN1. Then vo1= vaN1- vbN1 = 2*vaN1; thus vo1= 2*vaN1 = m * vi. This is called unipolar carrier-based SPWM.

Figure 5: Unipolar carrier-based sinusoidal PWM

Figure 6: Simple boost control

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The simple boost control method is illustrated in Figure. 6. Actually, this control strategy inserts shoot through in all the PWM traditional zero states during one switching period. This control method maintains the seven states shown in table 2 are remain unchanged as in the traditional carrier based PWM. Two straight lines are employed to realize the shoot through duty ratio (Do). The first one is equal to the peak value of the sinusoidal reference voltages while the other one is the negative of the first one. Whenever the triangular carrier signal is higher than the positive straight line or lower than the negative straight line, the inverter will operate in shoot-through. Otherwise it works as a traditional PWM inverter.
Table 2: Switching states of a single phase Z-Source Inverter

Switching states Active states

S1 S2 S3 S4 Output Voltage 1 0 0 1 Finite voltage 0 1 1 0 Zero states 1 0 1 0 Zero 0 1 0 1 Shoot through state 1 1 S3 S4 S1 S2 1 1 Zero 1 1 1 1
Important mathematical expressions are

D0 = 1 M

(10)

= BM G =
= G

M 1 2D0

(11) (12)

M M M = = 1 2 D 0 1 2(1 M ) 2 M 1

vout = M

BV 0 2

(13) (14)

BV 0 = Vinv = 2G 1 B

(15)

Vinv = (2G 1)V 0 =

1 V0 2M 1

(16)

Result and Discussion

In this paper, modulation of a single phase Z-source inverter on unipolar, bipolar and simple boost control PWM techniques has been carried out and the PWM switching sequence, spectrum contents of the load currents, load voltage and harmonics spectra have been compared. Main requirements and parameters of simulation circuit are as follows: the input voltage Vin=200V; the output voltage Vout > 200V; the switching frequency f=10KHzThe Z-source has two inductors L1=L2=1mH, capacitors C1=C2= 1000F; D=0.33 Lf=5-40 mH; R=1-5. Bipolar sinusoidal carrier based PWM switching sequence for Z-source inverter is shown in Figure 7, it generates a two-level voltage by means of switching on and off alternatively the pair of switches S1-S4 and S2S3. Consequently, the output voltage of the switching network takes positive and negative input voltage value Vi. The inverter fundamental voltage and current and total harmonics distortion varies with different modulation index is tabulated in Table 3. 73

International Journal of Computational Intelligence and Information Security, August 2011 Vol. 2, No. 8
Vcontrol 10 0 -10 10 5 0 1
G1

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02 Vtri

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

0.5 0 1

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

G2

0.5 0 1

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

G3

0.5 0 1

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

G4

0.5 0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02 Time

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

Figure 7: Switching sequence bipolar sinusoidal carrier-based PWM

Table 3: Variation of fundamental voltage and current with modulation index

Sr No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

M 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2

Vl 100 120 140 160 180 200 213 220

IL Fundamental IL % THD in IL Fundamental VL % THD in VL 30 29.38 2.51 96.84 7.95 36 36.72 2.91 121.1 9.12 43 43.7 2.41 144 5.94 48 50.25 2.35 165.6 7.54 54 55.94 2.38 184.4 7.90 62 61.22 1.86 201.8 6.03 66 65.56 2.72 216.1 8.20 70 68.93 3.92 227.3 11.76

The bipolar PWM pattem generator is easier to implement than unipolar [8]. Unipolar PWM generates a three level voltage: positive, negative or zero voltage. But the unipolar approach leads to decrease the low-order harmonics, reduce the EMI and, reduces the size of the output filter. The unipolar sinusoidal carrier based PWM switching sequence for Z-source inverter is shown in Figure 8. The inverter fundamental voltage and current and total harmonics distortion varies with different modulation index is tabulated in Table 4.

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Vcontrol
10 5 0 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04

Vtri
10 5 0 0 1
G1

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

0.5 0 0 1 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04

G2

0.5 0 0 1 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04

G3

0.5 0 0 1 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04

G4

0.5 0 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 Time 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04

Figure 8: Switching sequence unipolar carrier-based sinusoidal PWM

Table 4: Variation of fundamental voltage and current with modulation index

Sr No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

M 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1

Vl 95.55 125.18 144.157 165 181.95 200.9 220.37

IL 28.9 36.9 42.4 48.2 53.7715 59.945 64.523

Fundamental IL 28.67 36.52 42.18 48.18 54.05 59.98 64.85

% THD in IL 1.41 2.40 1.75 1.23 0.86 0.86 2.0

Fundamental VL 94.51 120.4 139.1 158.8 178.2 197.7 213.8

% THD in VL 4.13 6.89 5.02 6.65 2.63 2.85 6.04

Figure. 9 shows the simple boost control modulation, the shoot-through periods are generated by two straight lines which are equal or greater than the peak values of the modulating reference sinusoidal signals [4 and 9]. Shoot-through switching pulses are generated by comparing the dc signal (with magnitude equal or greater than the peak of triangular signal) with the high frequency triangular carrier signal. The modulation index (M) and the shoot-through duty ratio (Do) are interdependence with each other. The relation between these two parameters is expressed in equation (10). We can see from the equation that shoot-through duty ratio (Do) decreases with increasing modulation index (M), the inverter will operate in shoot-through, otherwise it works as a traditional PWM inverter.

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1 0 -1 0.3074 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 0.3074 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 0.3074 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 0.3074 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 0.3074 0.3075 0.3076 0.3077 0.3078

G1

0.3075

0.3076

0.3077

0.3078

G2

0.3075

0.3076

0.3077

0.3078

G3

0.3075

0.3076

0.3077

0.3078

G4

0.3075

0.3076 Time

0.3077

0.3078

Figure 9: Switching sequence simple boost control

The inverter fundamental voltage and current and total harmonics distortion varies with different modulation index is tabulated in Table 5. In terms of simple boost control technique shoot through pulse affect the inverter load voltage and current and it has great improvement than the unipolar and bipolar PWM technique.
Table 5: Variation of fundamental voltage and current with modulation index

Sr No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

M 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9

Vl 217 235 242.8 258 273 298 310

IL 61 66 70.4 75 80 85 90

Fundamental IL 61.43 67.31 71.23 76 80.63 85.33 90.76

% THD in IL 1.94 2.08 1.58 1.75 1.67 2.8 5.21

Fundamental VL 202.5 221.9 234.8 250.6 265.8 281.3 299.2

% THD in VL 5.55 5.52 4.78 5.32 5.88 8.32 15.09

The inductor current and voltage across capacitor is shown in Figure 10 and 11. The purpose of the inductors is to limit the current ripple through the devices during boost mode with shoot-through state. Similarly the inductor current increases linearly and the voltage across the inductor is equal to the voltage across the capacitor. During non-shoot through modes, the inductor current decreases linearly and the voltage across the inductor is the difference between the input voltage and the capacitor voltage but the capacitor voltage is always equal to the input voltage. Therefore, there is no voltage across the inductor and only a pure dc current goes through the inductors. The purpose of the capacitor is to absorb the current ripple and maintain a fairly constant voltage so as to keep the output voltage sinusoidal. During shoot-through, the capacitor charges the inductors, and the current through the capacitor equals the current through the inductor.

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g
250 200 150 100 50 0 -50 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

Figure 10: Inductor current p

400

300

200

100

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4 Time

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

Figure 11: Voltage across capacitor

The nonlinearity component introduced in the output are measured by total harmonics distortion.The percentage THD of the output voltage and current with simple boost PWM control harmonics spectra shown in Figure 12 and 13 are less as compared to carrier-based sinusoidal modulation method.

Fundamental (50Hz) = 90.76 , THD= 5.21% 5

Mag (% of Fundamental)

4 3 2 1 0

2000

4000 6000 Frequency (Hz)

8000

10000

Figure 12: Output current harmonics spectra

Fundamental (50Hz) = 299.2 , THD= 15.09% 15

Mag (% of Fundamental)

10

2000

6000 4000 Frequency (Hz)

8000

10000

Figure 13: Output voltage harmonics spectra

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Conclusion
In this paper, two basic pulse width modulation control methods for Z-source inverter have been reviewed and compared. Due to the shoot through switching states in the Z- source inverter, the simple boost control modulation is a suitable for a single-phase Z-source inverter. Simulation results show that the higher magnitude and lower THD load current and voltage can be achieved by the Z-source inverter as compare to the unipolar and bipolar modulated inverter. The simulations have been developed in Matlab/Simulink environment for Z-source inverter.

References
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