Abstract

The article presents an overview of state-of-art solutions, advances, and design and research trends in medium-voltage (MV) drive technologies - and also discusses the challenges and requirements associated with the use of such drives. The choice and deployment of MV drives in industries are associated with numerous requirements related to the front-end converter (grid side) and inverter (machine side). The focus is on solutions that present high efficiency; low price, size, and weight; minimum harmonic distortion; reduction in dv/dt; mitigation of common-mode (CM) voltage; avoiding torsional vibration; transformerless solutions; fault detection capability; and condition monitoring. The ever-growing demand for electrical energy and the continuous rise in energy prices compel us to conclude that energy must be used more efficiently. Modern power electronics technology with high efficiency and appropriate control approaches is needed in energy-intensive industries to decrease the immense waste of energy and improve power quality. Since electric motor drive systems are the major consumers of energy, they have the greatest potential for improvement in terms of efficient energy consumption. High-power motors, mostly operating in MV, are of most interest, due to their enormous energy consumption. MV drives have found extensive applications in several industries, such as in the oil and gas, petrochemical, mining, water/waste, pulp/paper, cement, chemical, power generation, metal production and processes, traction, and marine drives sectors. To improve power quality and system response and to reduce operation cost and energy loss, the installed MV drives should be adjustable-speed drives (ASDs). Nevertheless, the deployment of such drives is associated with several requirements and challenges. Significant challenges are with the power line side, motor side, and semiconductor devices. Unfortunately, various challenges related to converters—line side as well as motor side - are faced when installing MV drives. Hence, the motivation behind this article is pointing out the challenges and problems faced when using MV drives and indicating the direction for proper use and understanding of such drives. The article presents the existing MV drive technologies and emphasizes the need for further development and enhancement of MV drives.

Citations

Authors (5)