Line filter design of parallel interleaved VSCs for high power wind energy conversion systems

The Voltage Source Converters (VSCs) are often connected in parallel in a Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) to match the high power rating of the modern wind turbines. The effect of the interleaved carriers on the harmonic performance of the parallel connected VSCs is analyzed in this paper. In order to achieve low switching losses, the 60 clamp Discontinuous PulseWidth Modulation (DPWM1) is used to modulate the VSCs. A step-by-step design procedure of the line filter, which ensures the desired harmonic performance under all operating conditions, is presented. The analytical harmonic solution for the two parallel interleaved VSCs is derived in order to obtain the worst case voltage magnitude of the individual harmonic components. The required value of the filter admittance for the specific harmonic component is obtained by using the worst case voltage magnitude and the allowable harmonic injection limit. In order to achieve the desired filter performance with optimal values of the filter parameters, the use of a LC trap branch with the conventional LCL filter is proposed. The expressions for the resonant frequencies of the proposed line filter are derived and used in the design to selectively choose the values of the line filter components. The analysis and design methodology are also verified experimentally.