POWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTERS IN POWER SYSTEMS

Power Electronics is an enabling technology with significant potential to address the increasing demand for energy and to alleviate environmental impacts of conventional electric power systems. Power electronic converters are increasingly employed for compensation and active power filtering purposes. In addition, with the acceptance of the Distributed Generation (DG) concept, power electronic converters are expected to play an even more important role in the power system of the future, as grid interface and power conditioner.

The two-level, forced-commutated, Voltage-Sourced Converter (VSC) has been the main building block for AC-DC, DC-AC, and AC-DC-AC converter systems for low- and medium-power applications. However, for some applications, e.g., High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converters, the voltage ratings of power semiconductor devices still are not sufficient to meet the required voltage levels by one single-module of a two-level VSC. To meet high voltage/power levels, high-power converter topologies based on multi-level voltage synthesis strategy, i.e., multi-level and multi-module converters are required. However, employing those converters is expected to entail challenging technical issues with respect to the converter operation and control.

This presentation focuses on addressing and resolving the technical issues associated with the multi-level and multi-module converters for high-power applications. The developed models, proposed switching strategies, and control methods are presented and discussed. Technical feasibilities of the proposed strategies and developed models are investigated and validated based on theoretical and experimental results in the context of FACTS and HVDC system applications.

Finally, an overview of the speaker’s current research activities and also the envisioned research plans are presented.

Dr. Maryam Saeedifard received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, in 1999 and 2002, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto, in 2008, all in electrical engineering. From September 2007 to August 2008, she was an invited Visiting Research Associate with the Power Electronic Systems Group, ABB Corporate Research Center, Baden, Switzerland. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Center for Applied Power Electronics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto. She is the recipient of the prestigious Outstanding Research Fellowships of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Her research interests include power electronics and applications of power electronics in power systems.