Powerline Communication (PLC) through power converter's DC bus: Applicability assessment

Many applications based on variable speed drives require motors to be installed in remote locations, sometimes even inaccessible. This is the case, for example, in oil extraction on subsea environment and underground mining. This paper aims the proposition of an analysis of the applicability of Power Line Communication, when used for data transmission between the supervisory system and remote systems, in an application based on static frequency converters, using the converter DC link as a transmission medium. For this purpose, computational models for the DC link cable and an experimental prototype on a small scale have been developed, enabling the analysis of quantitative and qualitative parameters related to the quality of communication achieved. Finally, the results show that the proposed scheme is feasible, which is a good option for reducing costs and increasing simplicity of installation, particularly in situations where the actuator is located on inaccessible places. The main contribution of this paper is an analysis of PLC remote communication for three-phase motor-inverter drive applications. The high frequency data was modulated into the DC-link power line in order to reduce cost and the proposed method was validated experimentally.