A SiC and Si Hybrid Five-Level Unidirectional Rectifier for Medium Voltage Applications

Yifan Zhang, Chushan Li, Chengmin Li, Zhen Xin, Runtian Chen, Wuhua Li, Xiangning He, Hao Ma

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Following the continuous development of wide bandgap (WBG) devices and multilevel converter technology, medium voltage active front ends are becoming promising in future high-power-density and high-power applications. However, the cost issue is one of the major drawbacks, which stops the WBG devices from being widely applied in high-power areas. This article proposes a silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon (Si) hybrid five-level unidirectional rectifier. It requires only four SiC MOSFETs with relatively low blocking voltage and four Si diodes. Meanwhile, by adding snubber capacitors, all the Si devices are with low-speed switching, and the voltage stresses of fast SiC MOSFETs are minimized. In this article, operational analysis and carrier-based phase-disposition pulsewidth modulation scheme for this circuit are discussed in detail. The capacitor voltage balancing and unity power factor are both realized. Simulation and scaled-down experimental results are demonstrated to verify the proposed rectifier. Furthermore, the comparison of the hybrid five-level rectifiers is given to show the advantages of the proposed rectifier in terms of voltage stress, efficiency, and cost.

Original languageEnglish
Article number9519533
Pages (from-to)7537-7548
Number of pages12
JournalIEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
Volume69
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Active front end (AFE)
  • five-level rectifier
  • hybrid rectifier
  • medium voltage (MV)
  • silicon carbide (SiC)

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