Evaluation of MMCs for High-Power Low-Voltage DC-Applications in Combination with the Module LLC-Design

In this paper, a full-bridge modular multilevel converter (MMC) and two half-bridge-based MMCs are evaluated for high-current low-voltage e.g. 100 - 400V DC-applications such as electrolysis, arc welding or datacenters with DC-power distribution. Usually, modular multilevel converters are used in high-voltage DC-applications (HVDC) in the multiple kV-range, but to meet the needs of a high-current demand at low output voltage levels, the modular converter concept requires adaptations. In the proposed concept, the MMC is used to step-down the three-phase medium-voltage of 10kV, and provide up to 1 MW to the load. Therefore, each module is extended by an LLC resonant converter to adapt to the specific electrolyzers DC-voltage range of 142 - 220V and to provide galvanic isolation. The six-arm MMC converter with half-bridge modules can be simplified and optimized by removing three arms, and thus halving the number of modules. In addition, the module voltage ripple and capacitor losses are decreased by 22% and 30% respectively. By rearranging the components of the half-bridge MMC to build a MMC consisting of grid-side full-bridge modules, the voltage ripple is further reduced by 78 % and capacitor losses by 64 %, while ensuring identical costs and volume for all MMCs. Finally, the LLC resonant converter is designed for the most efficient full-bridge MMC. The LLC can not operate at resonance with a fixed nominal module voltage of 770V because the output voltage is varying between 142 - 220V. By decreasing the module voltage down to 600V, additional points of operation can be operated in resonance, and the remaining are closer to resonance. The option to decrease the module voltage down to 600V, increases the number of required modules per arm from 12 to 15, which requires to balance the losses of the LLCs and the grid-side stages.