Power auxiliary resonant commutated pole converters for utility applications

The auxiliary resonant commutated pole converter has the ability to improve the performance of the hard switched converter for utility applications at the distribution power level. Low complexity and modularity are achieved by using integrated active snubber modules with conventional IGBT modules. An improvement in IGBT switching loss of approximately 40% is obtained and switching frequencies of up to 5 kHz are reached at maximum current and voltage ratings, while unwanted high circuit transients are reduced, causing a reduction of at least 10 dB in high frequency currents, voltages and fields generated by the conventional hard switched converter. The paper presents the development of a three phase resonant converter prototype and illustrates its application as a power quality compensator at 100 kVA and discusses the implementation of the same technology at the MVA power levels.