Direct predictive control of five-level dual flying capacitor active neutral point clamped converters with extended horizons

Five-level dual-flying-capacitor active-neutral-point-clamped converter (5L-DFC-ANPC) exhibits attractive properties, e.g., soft switching possibilities of line frequency switches, elimination of the transient voltage balancing snubbers, more even loss distribution, etc. Therefore, it has become a very attractive topology to electrical drives, e-mobility, grid-tied photovoltaic applications, etc. However, the existing great amount of switch combinations and capacitors render the modulator design tedious and complicated. Direct control without modulator can be a viable alternative, among which direct model predictive control (DMPC) shows straightforward concept meanwhile excellent control dynamics. In this work, we proposed a DMPC solution for the control of a PMSM drive system with 5L-DFC-ANPC converter. The proposed solution is simple in realization but good in transient control performances. To improve the steady state control performances, we further extended the prediction horizon, resulting in lower current distortions.