International Journal of Automation and Computing

9(2), April 2012, 200-210 DOI: 10.1007/s11633-012-0634-4

A New Switching Scheme for Z-source Inverter to Minimize Ripples in the Z-source Elements
Sengodan Thangaprakash1
1

Ammasai Krishnan2

School of Electrical Systems Engineering, University Malaysia Perlis, Perlis 02000, Malaysia 2 Dean (Academic), K.S.R. College of Engineering, Tamilnadu 637215, India

Abstract: This paper presents a modication in pulse width modulation (PWM) scheme with unequal shoot-through distribution for the Z-source inverter (ZSI) which can minimize ripples in the current through the Z-source inductors as well as the voltage across the Z-source capacitors. For the same system parameters, the proposed control technique provides better voltage boost across the Z-source capacitor, DC-link, and also the AC output voltage than the traditional PWM. The ripples in the Z-network elements are found to be reduced by 75 % in the proposed modulation scheme with optimum harmonic prole in the AC output. Since the Z-network requirement will be based on the ripple prole of the elements, the Z-network requirements can be greatly reduced. The eectiveness of the proposed modulation scheme has been simulated in Matlab/Simulink software and the results are validated by the experiment in the laboratory. Keywords: Z-source inverter (ZSI), pulse width modulation (PWM), shoot-through, ripples, total harmonic distortion.

Introduction

Z-source inverter (ZSI) has found widespread applications[110] , and attracted the interest of researchers in recent years, since it overcomes the limitations of the traditional inverters. The schematic of a three phase ZSI is shown in Fig. 1. ZSI based systems advantageously utilize the shoot-through states to boost the direct current (DC) bus voltage by gating on both the upper and lower switches of the same phase leg. Shoot-through mode allows simultaneous conduction of devices in same phase leg and is forbidden in traditional inverter topologies. Therefore, a ZSI can buck or boost the voltage which is equal to a desired output voltage that is less/greater than the DC bus voltage based on the shoot-through time period and boost factor. Since the shoot-through state has no harmful eect on the inverter and is advantageously utilized, the reliability of the inverter is greatly improved. It also provides a low cost and highly ecient single stage power conversion structure for reliable operation. ZSI ensures smooth operation by supplying the desired voltage to the load even during the supply voltage sags and uctuations[11] .

Fig. 1

Three phase ZSI

Inverter bridge with lattice impedance network connected after DC power supply with the feature of buck-boost capability was rst proposed by Peng[11] . In this research, simple boost control (SBC) method with constant boost factor was used to control the shootthrough and DC link voltage of the inverter. The range of shoot-through duty ratio is very limited in SBC in addition to the high voltage stress across the power insulated gate bipolar junction transistors (IGBT). Maximum boost control (MBC) was proposed by Peng et al.[12] to produce maximum voltage gain (boost) under a given modulation index. MBC turns all traditional zero states into shoot-through state and voltage stress across the power IGBT s is greatly reduced by fully utilizing the zero states. Indeed, turning all zero states into shoot-through state can minimize the voltage stress; however, doing so also causes a shoot-through duty ratio varying in a line cycle, which causes inductor current ripple. This will require a high inductance for low-frequency or variable-frequency applications. Shen et al.[13] proposed a constant boost control (CBC), which can obtain maximum voltage gain at any given modulation index without producing any low-frequency ripple that is related to the output frequency. A detailed analysis for how the various conventional pulse width modulation (PWM) strategies can be modied to switch a ZSI either continuously or discontinuously, while retaining all the unique harmonic performance features is discussed in [14]. Modied space vector modulation (MSVM) algorithm for reducing the switching stress by capacitor voltage control with good transient response has been presented in [15]. In this research, the reference capacitor voltages are derived for minimizing the voltage stress at any desired alternating current (AC) output voltage by considering the DC input voltage. In [16], minimization of voltage stress across switching devices in the ZSI has been presented by modifying the space vector

Manuscript received September 24, 2010; revised March 11, 2011

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algorithm to generate shoot-through states. An integrated control algorithm using modied voltage space vector has been presented by Thangaprakash and Krishnan[17] to achieve maximum boost in the DC link voltage with wide range of controllability and the same has been implemented for induction motor drives[18, 19] . The performance of the drive is found to be very smooth when a step change is applied to the load or during the supply voltage sags. Development of a ZSI based power conversion system for photovoltaic applications is proposed in [5] and the same with quasi-Z-source inverters has been discussed in [20]. Detailed comparison of ZSI with traditional inverters in terms of total switching device power, passive components requirement and cost of the overall system has been given in [8]. An indirect controller for the DC link voltage on the DC side of the ZSI along with AC voltage control is discussed in [21]. Controller design for specic applications, namely fuel cell and voltage sag compensation are discussed by Jung and Keyhami[22] . Unied control technique has been presented[23] for ZSI with minimal number of sensors and PI controllers to achieve good stability of the overall system. In [24], an improved ZSI has been proposed with certain modications in the Z-network connections of the traditional ZSI topology. Improved ZSI greatly reduces the inrush current of the Z-network inductors and facilitates the soft start capability. Space vector modulation (SVM) of nine switches inverter and nine switches Z-source inverter was proposed in [25] where the switching sequence is composed of the upper active vectors, the lower active vectors and the zero vectors. In this research, the upper and lower active vectors are determined via two space vector diagrams. Comparative evaluation of dierent PWM schemes that can be used for ZSI control to achieve buckboost energy conversion with random and reduced common mode switching has been presented in [26, 27]. Operation of power inverter fed induction motor drive has been analyzed in [28, 29]. The same space vector modulation strategies of traditional inverters with proper insertion of shoot-through periods could be applied to three phase ZSI with each having the same characteristic spectrum as its conventional counterpart. In these methods, the shoot-through period over a half of the sampling period is divided into three equal intervals and inserted in the switching waveforms without altering the active time periods. Therefore the shoot-through time period is diminished from the traditional zero vector time period. By doing so, one can increase the switching frequency and improve the harmonic prole in the AC output. But this will introduce signicant ripples in the Z-source elements and causes ripples associated with the output frequency. In this paper, a new PWM scheme is proposed which can minimize the ripples in the current through the Z-source inductors and voltage across the Z-source capacitors without sacricing the features achieved by the traditional methods (i.e., DC link voltage boost, voltage gain, switching stress, and AC output voltage). In addition to the above, proposed method provides better voltage boost in the DC link. The theoretical and modulation concepts of continuous and discontinuous switching of ZSI using modied modulation

is presented in this paper, and the same have been veried by the simulation and experimental results.

Modulation (ZSI)

of

Z-source

inverter

Space vector PWM (SVPWM) techniques have been widely used in PWM inverters due to lower current harmonics and a higher modulation index. The unique features of a ZSI presented in [1] can be accomplished by the same SVPWM technique with a few modications to insert the shoot-through. In addition to the six active and two null states associated with traditional inverters, the three phase ZSI has seven shoot-through zero states representing the short-circuiting of a single phase-leg, two phase-legs or all three phase-legs. These shoot-through states again boost the DC link capacitor voltages and can partially supplement the null states within a xed switching cycle without altering the normalized volt-sec average. Shoot-through states short-circuit the corresponding inverter phase leg and produce zero voltage across the output terminals similar to the traditional zero states. Shoot-through states can therefore be inserted into the existing PWM state patterns of traditional inverters to derive dierent modulation strategies for controlling the ZSI. In a continuous centered SVM state sequence of a traditional inverter, there are three state transitions which occur in a half of the sampling period and the traditional zero states are placed at the start and end of the switching cycle. With these three-state transitions (i.e., 000100110111), three equal-interval (T0 /3) shootthrough states are added immediately adjacent to the active states per switching cycle for modulating a ZSI. In the three state transitions, the middle shoot-through state is symmetrically placed about the original switching instant. The traditional switching pattern of a voltage source inverter (VSI) and ZSI for the sector I has been shown in Figs. 2 (a) and (b). In this switching pattern, the active states {100} and {110} are left/right shifted accordingly by T0 /3 with their time intervals kept constant, and the remaining two shoot-through states are inserted in the end within the null intervals, immediately adjacent to the left of the rst state transition and to the right of the second transition[2] . At this switching pattern, the zero state period is reduced from Tz /2 to Tz /22T0 /3 and Tz /2 to Tz /2 T0 /3. As both zero state periods should be greater than 0, the shoot-through time is less than 0.75 times of Tz at period Tz /22T0 /3, and less than 1.33 times of Tz at period Tz /2 to Tz /2T0 /3. In this modulation scheme, the DC link voltage cannot be boosted to the maximum level, since the shoot-through state is limited to 0.75Tz , and also it results ripples in the current/voltage in the Z-source elements.

Modied shoot-through distribution

The process of inserting the shoot-through states in switching waveforms produce ripples in the current through the Z-source elements. These ripples cause additional heating of the elements and ultimately degrade their lifespan. The ripple in shoot-through duty ratio results in ripple in

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Fig. 2

Switching pattern for sector I of (a) traditional inverter, (b) ZSI in continuous mode, and (c) ZSI in 60 0 discontinuous mode

the current through the inductor, as well as in the voltage across the capacitor. These ripples are inuenced by changes in power factor angle, modulation index, shootthrough time period and amplitude of the load current. Instead of having equal shoot-through states, this section presents a modied shoot-through state distribution in SVM scheme for the ZSI which can minimize the ripples in the current through the Z-source inductors and voltage across the Z-source capacitors without sacricing any features derived in the traditional modulation. The proposed method also results reduction in the AC output voltage/current harmonics of the ZSI over the traditional switching. State sequence and the placement of shoot-through for both the continuous and discontinuous switching of the proposed modulation schemes are presented. Fig. 3 shows the continuous and discontinuous switching pattern for the MSVM with modied shootthrough states at the space vector angle 0<<60 (sector I ). In a continuous switching mode, for a half sampling

period, 16 % of the total shoot-through period is inserted in the middle state transition (between active states {100} and {110}), and the rest of the shoot-through periods are equally inserted in the rst and last state transitions (between active and zero states, i.e., {000} to {100} and {110} to {111}) with each of 42 % of the total shoot-through state. To realize the features of the proposed method, the shootthrough time is distributed into 5T0 /12, T0 /6 and 5T0 /12 during the half sampling period in the continuous switching scheme. T0 /6 is inserted in the middle state transition of the switching waveform and 5T0 /12 is inserted at the rst and third transitions. The active state {100} and {110} are left/right shifted by T0 /12 and the remaining two shootthrough states with equal interval of 5T0 /12 are inserted at the zero states. The zero state periods during the start and end of the switching cycle can be equally reduced from Tz /2 to Tz /2T0 . This ensures the optimum harmonic prole of the AC output parameters. The six PWM pulses in the MSVM should be controlled independently. The simulated

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203

Fig. 3 Modied switching pattern for sector I using novel SVM with (a) continuous switching, (b) 60 0 discontinuous switching for +ve DC rail clamping, (c) 60 0 discontinuous switching for -ve DC rail clamping

PWM switching pattern for the MSVM is shown in Fig. 4. As the symmetrical shoot-through time periods with dissimilar duration are inserted in the switching waveforms, the ripples in the Z-source inductor current and the Zsource capacitor voltage can be reduced having retained all the features such as, voltage gain, voltage stress limitation, AC output controllability, and the optimum harmonic prole. In addition to the above a better voltage boost can be achieved in the DC link. During the shoot-through period, both switches of the phase leg are conducted simultaneously for boosting the DC capacitor voltage. Fig. 4 shows the modied switching with unequal shoot-through distribution for sector I. The modied switching can also be realized by carrier based implementation. For carrier based implementation,

the modied reference signals needed to produce the modied switching pulses to the ZSI in the continuous switching can mathematically be expressed as follows,

Vmax(sp) = Vmax + Vo + T T Vmax(sn) = Vmax + Vo + 4 T Vmid(sp) = Vmid + Vo + 4 T Vmid(sn) = Vmid + Vo 4 T Vmin(sp) = Vmin + Vo + 4 Vmin(sn) = Vmin + Vo T

(1)

(2)

(3)

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where {sp, sn} = {1, 4}, {3, 6}, {5, 2} and T = T0 /3Ts . The modied reference signals of all the six switching devices are generated for the switching frequency fs =10 kHz, shoot-through duty ratio D0 = 0.2 and modulation index, ma = 0.79 using modied modulation with unequal shootthrough state and is compared with high frequency triangular carrier signal to generate the switching pulses to the gates of the power IGBT s of the ZSI.

state transitions. There are only two switching transitions in a half of the sampling period. 16 % of the shoot-through period is inserted in between the active states {100} and {110}, and the remaining 84 % is inserted at the active and zero states either in between {000} and {100} or {110} and {111}. The switching pattern of the proposed MSVM with 60 discontinuous switching for positive and negative DC rail clamping is shown in Figs. 3 (b) and (c), respectively. The existing zero state interval is again reduced to Tz /2 T0 . Carrier based implementation of proposed modied modulation with discontinuous switching with positive DC rail clamping (as shown in Figs. 3 (b)) and negative DC rail clamping (as shown in Fig. 3 (c)) is possible with the modied reference signals derived using the same procedure as described in the continuous switching. The reference voltages are given in (7)(9) for positive DC rail clamping and (10)(12) for negative DC rail clamping with 60 discontinuous switching mode.

Fig. 4 Switching pattern for the modied shoot-through distribution

In (1)(3), all the waveforms are altered while inserting the unequal shoot-through states, by switching the ZSI in this way ensures a better voltage boost in the DC link along with added features, however, the voltage stress across the power devices is similar to the traditional modulation. These features can also be realized with reduced switching stress as discussed in the previous section and the switching pattern for the same is shown in Fig. 5. For carrier based implementation, the modied reference signals needed to produce the modied switching pulses with symmetrical unequal shoot-through states inserted by only altering four switching waveforms in the continuous switching can now mathematically be expressed as follows, 5T Vmax(sp) = Vmax + Vo + 4 Vmax(sn) = Vmax + Vo (4) Vmid(sp) = Vmid + Vo Vmid(sn) = Vmid + Vo T 2 (5)

Fig. 5 Modied switching pattern for sector 1 with unequal shoot-through distribution

Modied reference voltages for positive DC rail clamping are as follows: Vmax(sp) = Vmax + Vo Vmax(sn) = Vmax + Vo Vmid(sp) = Vmid + Vo T 6 T Vmin(sp) = Vmin + Vo 6 T Vmin(sn) = Vmin + Vo . 3 Vmid(sn) = Vmid + Vo (8) (7)

Vmin(sp) = Vmin + Vo Vmin(sn) = Vmin + Vo

T 2 7T 4

(9)

(6)

where {sp, sn} = {1, 4}, {3, 6}, {5, 2} and T = T0 /3Ts . In discontinuous PWM, a null state is eliminated either at the start or end of the switching cycle. In the 60 discontinuous switching of ZSI using the proposed SVM two shoot-through states T0 /6 and 5T0 /6 are inserted at the

Modied reference voltages for negative DC rail clamping are as follows: T Vmax(sp) = Vmax + Vo + 3 T Vmax(sn) = Vmax + Vo + (10) 6 T Vmid(sp) = Vmid + Vo + 6

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Vmid(sn) = Vmid + Vo Vmin(sp) = Vmin + Vo Vmin(sn) = Vmin + Vo .

(11) (12)

The null state is divided equally at the start and end of the sampling period. This ensures better harmonic prole in the output parameters. ia = I cos (t ) ib = I cos t ic = I cos t + 2 3 2 3 (18)

The proposed modulation can be adopted for all kinds of applications since it greatly reduces the current/voltage ripples along with additional boost in the DC link for the same system parameters and shoot-through duty ratio. The DC capacitor voltage can be boosted signicantly, since the maximum shoot-through time period in the MSVM is increased to the traditional zero state time period (Tz /2).

Current ripple calculation

Current ripples in the DC link can produce ripples in the output and it would cause ripples in the electromagnetic torque waveform, and ultimately this will lead to torque pulsation in the rotor during operation. This facilitates an undesirable operation to the ZSI fed induction motor drive. Expression for the ripple currents through the DC inductor produced by dierent modied state sequences can conveniently be formulated by assuming that the Z-source capacitors and inductors are symmetrical (implying L1 = L2 = L and C1 = C2 = C ). Current owing through a single Z-source capacitor can then be expressed as: IC2 = IL1 in a shoot-through state during time interval T0 and IC2 = IL1 Iin in a non-shoot-through active or null state during time interval Ts T0 . Averaging the current across a Z-source inductor over a switching period gives Ts T0 IDClink . (13) IL = Ts 2T0 Further the Z-source inductor current in shoot-through and non shoot-through states can be calculated as IL shootthrough = IL non shootthrough = Ts T0 Ts 2T0 T0 Ts 2T0 IDClink IDClink . (14) (15)

where represents the power ow angle. For a balanced three phase load, the three phase output currents expressed in (18), should satisfy the following condition, ia + ib + ic = 0. (19) The RMS value of the DC link current can be calculated by (IDClink )RMS = TS 9 3 ( ma I 2 sin(2 ))+ (20) TS T0 8 6 TS 3 3 ( I 2 (1 sin(2 ))) . TS T0 6

By substituting the RMS value of Idclink into (13), the amplitude of current ripples can be calculated. The current ripples are signicantly reduced while applying modied modulation with unequal symmetrical shoot-through states and has been shown in the results section.

Results and discussion

To proceed with the formulation of RMS expression for the inverter input current IDClink , two assumptions should preferably be made rstly, in order to simplify the derivations without any degradation of accuracy. These assumptions are respectively the presence of smooth three-phase sinusoidal currents at the inverter AC output and a suciently large inductor in the Z-source network with a constant inductor current. The method followed by Gao et al.[26] can then be applied to determining the RMS expressions for IDClink by rst expressing the duty ratios of the active states, k1 and k2 . 3 cos t + k1 = m a 2 6 3 k2 = m a cos t . (16) 2 2 The null duty ratio is then expressed as k0 = T T0 k1 k2 T = TZ T0 2 2 . (17)

Simulations have been carried out to verify the eectiveness of the proposed modied shoot-through distribution over the traditional scheme. A LC lter with 1 kHz cut-o frequency is placed in between the inverter output and AC load. The system parameters considered for simulation are as given below: Source voltage: VDC = 250 V. Z-source inductors: L1 = L2 =1 mH. Z-source capacitors: C1 = C2 = C =1000 F. Load = 5 kW. Power factor = 0.9 (lagging). Modulation index: ma = 0.6. Shoot-through duty ratio: D0 =0.3. Switching frequency: fs =10 kHz. Simulation results of the traditional and proposed PWM for the current and voltage ripples in the Z-source inductor and capacitor respectively, and DC link voltage, AC output (out.) voltage/current waveforms are shown in Figs. 68. From these results, it can be observed that, the continuous switching of the proposed SVPWM oers better DC link voltage boost for the same shoot-through duty ratio than the traditional method. The current ripples of the Z-source inductor (ind.) current in the proposed SVPWM scheme is reduced by 80 % (from 4 A to 0.8 A), and the voltage ripples of the Z-source capacitor (cap.) voltage is reduced by 60 % (from 1 V to 0.4 V). In the proposed scheme, the

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DC link voltage is boosted to 236 V where in the traditional method it is 220 V, hence for the same shoot-through duty ratio and modulation index an additional 16 V boost is oered by the proposed method. After the lter, the voltage waveform becomes sinusoidal and having the RMS phase-phase value as 158 V. In traditional scheme the RMS phase-phase voltage was 148 V. Additional voltage boost is achieved by turning the maximum time period of the traditional zero states into shoot-through zero states by symmetrical unequal shoot-through distribution. The switching stress across the power devices is directly proportional to the shoot-through time period and hence the switching stress is increased while maintaining the shoot-through period for a signicant time. It could again be reduced by the modied modulation scheme which needs only four switches to be altered while inserting shoot-through state.

traditional SVPWM scheme. Proposed SVPWM provides same advantages for the discontinuous switching scheme for positive and negative DC rail clamping as the continuous switching. The results presented in Fig. 8 show 60 discontinuous switching for positive DC rail clamping. Fig. 9 shows the transient response of Z-source capacitor voltage by traditional modied modulation schemes. It can be seen that, the proposed modulation scheme provides better DC voltage boost than the traditional modulation. The output voltage and current harmonic spectra of the proposed modied modulation scheme have been shown in Figs. 10 (a) and (b), respectively.

Fig. 7 Simulation results of novel modied SVM (continuous switching) mode SVM for D0 = 0.3 and ma = 0.6

Fig. 6 Simulation results of traditional modied SVM for shootthrough = 0.3 and modulation index = 0.6

The total harmonic distortion (THD) of the output voltage/current waveforms is also found to be superior to the traditional SVPWM. In the proposed SVPWM, the THD for the output voltage is reduced to 0.53 % from 2.33 % and THD for the output current is reduced to 0.63 % from 2.43 %. Hence the output voltage and current waveforms are also found to be improved proportionally and holds the superior harmonics prole when compared with the

Even though the ripples in the Z-source elements are reduced signicantly than the traditional modulation, still some ripples are seen in the current through the Z-source inductors as well as the voltage across the Z-source capacitors. This is because of increasing the shoot-through duty ratio since shoot-through duty ratio has inverse relationship with ripples in the Z-source elements. The graph between voltage gain and modulation index has been depicted in Fig. 11 and from which, one could see that the possible operation region is extended with the increase of modulation index. The AC voltage gain is high for a lower range of modulation indices and less for higher range of modulation

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indices. Comparatively, the proposed modied modulation provides better voltage gain than the traditional modulation technique. Modied control technique maximizes the shoot-through period without eecting the active states by turning maximum time period of the traditional zero states into the shoot-through zero state, thus maximum output voltage could be obtained for a given modulation index.

Fig. 10 Harmonics prole of the proposed modulation scheme (a) Output voltage; (b) Output current

Fig. 8 Simulation results of novel modied SVM (discontinuous switching mode for +ve DC rail clamping) SVM for shootthrough = 0.3 and modulation index = 0.6

Fig. 11

Graph between voltage gain and modulation index

Fig. 9 Transient response of Z-source capacitor voltage by traditional SVM and modied SVM

The results shown in simulation are veried by the experiment in the laboratory. The control system is implemented by LM3S611 processor for the voltage control and modied space vector modulation with unequal shoot-through distribution. The AC output voltage and current are sensed by isolation devices, ampliers, and a 12 bit analog-to-digital converter within the processor board. The gate driver circuit is placed together with the power circuit board. The PWM signals coming from the control circuit board (LM3S611) are isolated through an optocoupler (6N135) for separating the control and power grounds and UC3705 is used as the IGBT driver. The power circuit components are selected to minimize parasitic eects. The front end

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diode rectier supply is realized using low voltage drop 40CPQ080 Schottky rectier and low on state resistance IGBT (N745AB), respectively. The PWM pulses embedded with shoot-through pulses were then sent out through six independent PWM channels to gate the six switches through the isolation and driver circuit. The Z-source network is constructed with L1 = L2 = L=1 mH/10 A inductors and C1 = C2 = C =1000 F/600 V capacitors. Figs. 12 and 13 show the steady state Z-source inductor current (IL ) waveform in response to the shoot-through pulses using traditional and modied modulation respectively. When the bridge is under shoot-through state, the Z-source capacitors charge the inductors and IL increases. When the bridge is under non-shoot-through state, the energy stored in the inductors discharges over the load decreasing IL . Simulation results for inductor current shown in Figs. 6 and 7 are given for the duration 0.1 s0.2 s whereas in the experimental results they are shown for very small duration to demonstrate with clarity. From Figs. 12 and 13, one could note that, the Z-source inductor current waveform has reduced ripples while applying proposed modied modulation. And also these gures show the shoot-through time period (T0 ) over the total switching cycle (TS ). Fig. 14 and 15 show the experimental results of the traditional and modied modulation of the ZSI, respectively. The DC link voltage, voltage across the Z-source capacitors and the output AC voltage waveforms after a LC lter with cut-o frequency 1 kHz (ma =0.6, D0 =0.3, VDC =150 V, and switching frequency=5 kHz) are shown.

ratio. The voltage across the Z-source capacitor is maintained constantly in desired level during the supply voltage sag/uctuations. It can be observed from the results that the experimental results have a close agreement with the simulation results of the ZSI circuit. This validates that the ZSI operates as expected in the theoretical analysis given in this paper.

Fig. 14 Experimental results for traditional switching (a) DC link voltage (before lter), (b) Z-source capacitor voltage, (c) Output voltage

Fig. 12 Inductor current waveform using traditional modulation with respect to shoot-through pulses

Fig. 13 Inductor current waveform using modied modulation with respect to shoot-through pulses

In addition to that mentioned earlier, the following observations are noted when the unequal shoot-through duration based modied modulation is applied to the three phase Zsource inverter. The DC link voltage has reduced ripples and the voltage across the Z-source capacitor is boosted well, and hence the AC output voltage. The Z-source capacitor voltage and inductor current waveforms during 25 % supply voltage sag have been improved well as discussed above by the proposed modulation as discussed above. The DC boost is found good for the same shoot-through duty

Fig. 15 Experimental results for modied switching (a) DC link voltage (before lter), (b) Z-source capacitor voltage, (c) Output voltage

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Conclusions

A new modulation scheme with modied shoot-through distribution has been presented in this paper for ZSI. Presented scheme has several advantages over the traditional modulation scheme: 1) Reduces currant and voltage ripples in the Z-source elements wile retaining all the unique features oered by the traditional methods. 2) Oers additional voltage boost across the DC link. 3) Provides optimum harmonic spectrum while modifying the shoot-through states. The theoretical and modulation concepts of continuous and discontinuous switching modes of the proposed modulation have been presented.

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International Journal of Automation and Computing 9(2), April 2012 College of Engineering and the Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Tamilnadu, India. Currently he is working as a senior lecturer in the School of Electrical Systems Engineering, University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Malaysia. He has authored more than twenty papers in international journals and conferences. He is a member of IEEE, IEEE-Power Electronics Society, IEEE-Communications Society and a life member of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE). He was an organizing Chair for the IEEE sponsored second International Conference on Computer Communication and Informatics (ICCCI 2012) held at Coimbatore, India during 1012, January 2012. He is an editorial board member for the International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Nigeria and a reviewer for the European Transactions on Electrical Power and technical program committee member for various IEEE international/national conferences. His research interests include power electronics circuits, renewable power conversion systems and solid state control of electrical drives. E-mail: thangaprakash@unimap.edu.my (Corresponding author)

[24] Y. Tang, S. J. Xie, C. H. Zhang, Z. G. Xu. Improved Z-source inverter with reduced Z-source capacitor voltage stress and soft-start capability. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 409415, 2009. [25] S. M. D. Dehghan, M. Mohamadian, A. Yazdian, F. Ashrafzadeh. Space vectors modulation for nine-switch converters. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 14881496, 2010. [26] F. Gao, P. C. Loh, D. M. Vilathgamuwa, F. Blaabjerg. Performance analysis of random pulse-width modulated Zsource inverter with reduced common mode switching. In Proceedings of the IEEE Power and Energy Systems, IEEE, Jeju, Korea, pp. 17, 2006. [27] S. Thangaprakash, A. Krishnan. Implementation and critical investigation on modulation schemes of three phase impedance source inverter. Iranian Journal of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 8492, 2010. [28] S. X. Liu , M. Y. Wang, Y. G. Chen, S. Li. A novel fuzzy direct torque control system for three-level inverter-fed induction machine. International Journal of Automation and Computing, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 7885, 2010. [29] J. Ren, C. W. Li, D. Z. Zhao. CAN-based synchronized motion control for induction motors. International Journal of Automation and Computing, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 5561, 2009. Sengodan Thangaprakash received his B. Eng. degree in electrical and electronics engineering and his M. Eng. degree in power electronics and drives from Bharathiar University and Anna University Chennai, Tamilnadu, India in 2002 and 2004, respectively. He then received his Ph. D. degree in electrical engineering from Anna University Chennai, India in 2011. From 2004 to mid-2011, he was working with the KSR

Ammsasi Krishnan received the B. Sc. degree in electrical engineering and the M. Sc. degree in control systems from Madras University, India in 1966 and 1974, respectively. Then he received the Ph. D. degree in electrical engineering (control, computers) from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1979. He has been in the eld of technical teaching and research for more than four decades at Government College of Technology and Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Tamilnadu, India. From 1994 to 1997, he was an associate professor in electrical engineering at University Pertanian Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia. Currently he is a Dean with K.S.R. College of Engineering, Tamil Nadu, India. He has published more than 200 papers in International Journals and Conferences. He is a senior member of IEEE, life fellow Institution of Engineers of India, IETE of India and Computer Society of India. His research interests include control systems, power electronics and electrical machines. E-mail: a krishnan26@hotmail.com