A New Current Source GTO Inverter with Sinusoidal Output Voltage and Current

A new current source inverter with sinusoidal output voltage and current is presented. Gate turn-off thyristors (GTO's) and pulsewidth modulation (PWM) control techniques are used in the current source inverter to produce the sinusoidal output voltage and current. Three capacitors are connected to the ac output terminals to absorb overvoltages which occur when the GTO current is cut off and to provide a filter function for reducing harmonics in the output current. Voltage spikes, which have been a serious problem in the practical application of this inverter, are suppressed by adding gate pulses which force the inverter into a state of shoot-through. Moreover, this inverter permits the capacitance of an ac output terminal capacitor for absorbing overvoltages to be reduced to one-tenth or less of that of a commutating capacitor in a conventional thyristor type current source inverter. A 3.7-kW induction motor is driven by the inverter. The motor efficiency and noise level are measured and compared with those obtained when the motor is driven by a conventional voltage source PWM inverter. An operating efficiency five or six percent higher and noise level 10 dB lower are obtained for the former. Therefore, this current source GTO inverter is very suitable for ac motor variable speed drives.