Commutation performance of current source converters for switched reluctance motor drives

The commutation operation of the current source converter for switched reluctance motor drives is analyzed in this paper. The commutation operation in the current source converter consists of two modes. At turn-off of phase switch, the phase current decreases sinusoidally, and the sum of two phase currents during commutation period is constant. Frequency of step-down DC chopper in the link of current source converter is low because of the dump inductor. A few switches are needed, and power devices with low switching frequency such as BJTs and GTOs could be used as phase switches instead of power MOSFETs and IGBTs, which result in reductions of switching losses and manufacturing cost compared to the voltage source converter.