EnCon 2013, 6th Engineering Conference, "Energy and Environment" 2 nd -4th July 2013, Kuching Sarawak

A novel topology to implement the Space Vector Pulse

Width Modulation based Matrix Converter System for
direct conversion of single phase to three phase system
1

Norman Mariun, 1Mohd Amran, 1Nashiren Farzilah and **2Vengadeshwaran Velu

Abstract
Numerous research initiatives are being employed in the design and development of single phase to three phase ac-ac converters with
sophisticated transfer characteristics. Many topologies are being proposed to achieve the optimal transfer characteristics. Space Vector
Pulse Width Modulation is a relative new technique that has the high potential in the implementation of single phase to three phase
conversion. Bidirectional Switches based Matrix Converter is employed for the direct ac-ac conversion. The treatment of the output three
phase currents into a single resultant vector reduces the number of switching states and makes the hardware implementation much simpler.
This paper presents a novel topology to implement the Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation based Matrix Converter System for direct
conversion of single phase to three phase system.
Keywords: Space Vector, Pulse Width Modulation, AC-AC Converters, Bi directional Switches, Matrix Converters

I.

INTRODUCTION

phase loads has many advantages compared to their single phase counter parts in terms of rated output power,
performance efficiency and stability. Due to its proven advantages, single phase loads such as single phase induction
motors are being replaced by poly phase loads in many applications. This demand requires the three phase power supply
source readily available everywhere, but in real world, only single phase supply sources are available in most locations and
its considered to be the most convenient form of energy source. In order to meet this demand, techniques are being
developed to utilize the readily available single phase source to produce a variable frequency three phase supply.
OLY

The growth of high powered integrated circuits and the power electronics technology has taken the direct AC-AC
converters to the next level and the progress is commendable in the past two decades. Due to this growth, newer topologies
are being introduced with superior characteristics such as minimum harmonic content and unity power factor operation.
Matrix Converter is currently being employed in many direct ac-ac applications. Nowadays, due to the rapid development of
technological advancement in the firing techniques, the task of implementing complex firing techniques becomes much
simpler. These advancements simplify the complexity of design and reduced the cost of production in complicated AC-AC
converters. One of such an advanced firing technique is the Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM). Attempts are
being made to utilize the unique features of the space vector pulse width modulation techniques in the variable frequency
drives. In SVPWM, the three phase quantity is represented as a single resultant space vector whose trip traces a circle with
constant angular velocity. Firing sequences are derived from the displacement of the space vector to generate the PWM
signals. Multiple modulation modes are being adopted in the implementation of SVPWM [1].

**Corresponding author
1
Norman Mariun is with the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia. Serdang.
Malaysia. (e-mail: norman@eng.upm.edu.my).
1
Mohd Amran is with the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia. Serdang. Malaysia.
(e-mail: amranmr@eng.upm.edu.my).
1
Nashiren Farzilah is with the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia. Serdang.
Malaysia. (e-mail: nashiren@eng.upm.edu.my).
2
Vengadeshwaran Velu is with Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University College. Jalan Raja Laut.
Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia. (corresponding author to provide phone: +6011 1299 8552; fax: +603-2691 4079; e-mail: Vengadeshwaran.velu@klmu.edu.my).

Figure 1 Single Phase to Three Phase Matrix Converter.

Matrix Converters is one of the advanced direct ac-ac converter that is being employed in the high frequency electric
drives. IGBT based bi-directional switches are employed in forming the structure of Matrix Converters. The structure can be
designed using (m x n) bi-directional switches. Matrix Converters are employed in three phase to three phase conversion, dc
to three phase conversion and single phase to three phase conversion. This research presents a novel topology in
implementing the Space Vector PWM algorithm for controlling the Matrix Converter.

2. STRUCTURE OF MATRIX CONVERTER

The structure of the Matrix Converter is formed by using Six IGBT directional switches. It has a single phase input port
and a three phase output port. A single phase alternating source is used as an input whereas three output terminals are
connected three phase output load. Figure 2(a) shows the circuit diagram of the Matrix Converter model with the
bidirectional switches and Figure 2(b) shows the internal structure of each bidirectional switch. Each pole will have two
states say 1 and 0. If the top switch is ON, then it is represented as 1 whereas the bottom switch is ON, then it is
represented as 0. In total, there are eight states (23 states) of operations.

Figure 2 (a) Matrix Converter with Bidirectional Switches (b) A single Bidirectional Switch.

The conditions of the 8 states can be represented as 000, 100, 110, 010, 011, 001, 101, 111, where 000 and 111 are Zero
States means 000 represents all the three bottom switches are ON and the output is shorted to bottom switches. On the other
hand, 111 mean all the three top switches are ON and the output is shorted to the top switches. The eight states of the
switches can be represented in the phasor representation as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Hexagon representation of SVPWM technique.

The radii of the hexagon are equal to the voltage space vector. For a two level converter, all the six active voltage vectors
lie along the radii of the hexagon. It is also called as six step converter [2].

3. SPACE VECTOR PULSE WIDTH MODULATION

Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation technique is defined as the combined effect of the three phase voltages or currents
into an equivalent single space vector component derived from all the three phase quantities. The derived equivalent vector

component is termed as Space Vector. When a three phase machine is excited with the three sinusoidal currents, three
sinusoidal alternating fluxes will be produced which is found to be rotating at synchronous speed. These fluxes can also be
represented in and components. Superimposing on the three phase fluxes, the flux produced in the direction and the
flux produced in the direction can be represented as in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Representation of and Components.

The and components of the resultant fluxes can be expressed in terms of flux linkages as
( )
( )
( )
The equivalent and current components can be expressed in terms of the balanced current vectors
( )
( )
( )
The resultant flux space vector can be expressed in complex form in terms of the and components as
( )
( )
( )]
[ ( )
Where is is the Current Space Vector which can be represented as
| |
[
]
Similarly the Voltage Space Vector also can be represented as
| |
[
]

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)

Thus, the flux space vector is produced by the current space vector whereas the current space vector is produced by an
equivalent voltage space vector [3]. For any sinusoidal three phase excitations, the tip of the Space Vector of the alternating
quantity traces a circle with uniform velocity equals to the input frequency. In order to generate switching sequences, the
Reference Vector (VR) should trace the circle with uniform velocity. If VR is in sector-1 and rotating at uniform speed, high
frequency sampling signals can be used to sample the rotating reference space voltage vector V R. Low sampling periods will
enhance the quality of the SVPWM signals. The average value is closest to the sinusoidal. On the other hand having high
frequency switching will also increases the losses, so an optimum sampling frequency has to be chosen. During sampling,
until the next status is reached, the amplitude and phase angle of VR is assumed to be constant. During that period, the
switching takes place between the boundary active vectors of the sector and with the zero vectors. The sampling period
should be designed in such a way that volt-sec (VR-T) balances the required amplitude of the voltage at that particular
moment.
The components of VR-T along alpha and beta should be volt-sec equal to the volt-sec of active vectors of the particular
section and with that of the zero vectors. If the VR in sector-1 and the boundary voltage space vectors are V1 and V2
respectively, then the sampling period Ts and be represented by
, where the T1, T2 and T0 are the sampling
period for the active vectors V 1 & V2 and the Zero Vectors respectively [3]. In Sector-1, the sequence of triggering would be
V0 V1 V2 V7 V7 V2 V1 V0, however, the sum of the time taken for this triggering sequence should be equal to the sampling
time.
The resultant voltage vector can be represented in components as shown below
[

] where

(8)

The Sector Voltages can be represented as

(9)
The average value of the resultant voltage vector can be stated as:

(10)

And the Sampling Time Ts is

(
)
(11)
The average voltage of the Vo and V7 are Zero. Thus the fictitious time of the reference voltage vector is represented as:
(
)
(
) (
)
(12)

By substituting the values of the

|

[|

, the reference voltage vector can be represented in the components as

and

( )

( )

( )

( )

]|

(13)

(14)

The triggering duration for the various sectors can be expressed in terms of components as
( )

( )
)

] |

(15)

Thus, we can state that in a sector, varies between 0 60 and TO = TS (T1 + T2) where TO is the zero states. In
order to minimize the switching losses, the switching must be done with minimum changes. For examples, the switching
pattern for the sector-1 will be 000, 100,110,111,111,110,100,000.
4. SWITCHING SEQUENCES
The sampling duration period is to be selected in such a way that the switching losses are minimum. This can be ensured
by having appropriate switching sequences. Figure 5 shows the sampling duration in Sector-1.

Figure 5 Sampling Durations in SVPWM.

It can be conclude that when the top or bottom switch is closed, a voltage equals to V rms available across the windings.
The average values of each phase can be represented as follows:
(

(17)

(18)

(16)

By substituting the values of T1 and T2 in the above equation, we can solve for the average values of the phase voltages in
each phase of the output voltage waveforms.
|
(

|
(

(19)

(20)
(21)

5. SAMPLED REFERENCE PHASE AMPLITUDE (SRPA) ALGORITHM FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The active vector sampling periods can be expressed as follows:
[
],
[

(29)
(30)

Similarly, the active vector sampling time can be estimated. Table .1 provides the sampling time of both active and zero
vectors in various sectors. The implementation of the SRPA Algorithm adopts the following procedure. The orthogonal
components of the space vector V and V can be estimated using the sampled reference phase amplitudes. Using the
sampled reference phase amplitudes of each phase, source voltage and the sampling period (T S) of the carrier signal, the
fictitious sampling times (Tas, Tbs, Tcs) can be estimated. The effective sampling time for active vectors (T eff ) can be
derived using the 3-element sorting algorithm. Using T eff, the sample time of the zero vectors and the offset time can be
estimated. The offset is then added to the fictitious time to get the gate trigger periods.

Sectors

Table 1 Fictitious Sampling Time for various sectors

T1
T2
(

1
2
3
4
5
6

The offset will then be added to the sampling time to make it accurate value. The SRPA algorithm is simple to implement,
no complex operations are used. No lookup table and sector identification are required.
6. MODELING SINGLE PHASE THREE PHASE MATRIX CONVERTER
Figure 6 shows the Simulink model of the Space Vector PWM circuit. A sinusoidal signal is given as a V bus reference
input and a three phase, 415 V, 50 Hz balanced signals are taken as reference vectors. The switching time module calculates
the switching time for various sectors and the gate logic modules generates the PWM signals to the drive circuit of the
bidirectional switches.

Figure 6 Simulink model of Space Vector PWM circuit.

In the Simulink model of the Matrix Converter circuit, six bi-directional switches are used to construct the Matrix
converter module. Each bidirectional switch is designed using two IGBT switched with reversing blocking diodes and the
snubber circuits. A three phase balanced resistive load is used to study the output signals.

7. SIMULATION RESULTS OF MATRIX CONVERTER

When the single phase voltage of 240 V is applied to the input terminals of the Matrix Converter, the following
waveforms are absorbed at the output terminals. In order to produce the three phase balanced alternating signals across the
output terminals, the input signal has to be segregated into three alternating signals that differ at 120 degrees from each
other. So the segregation has to be done at every 120 degrees of the input signal. Other conditions that are to be satisfied are
both positive and negatives halves of the every phase voltage should resemble same and has to alternate at constant
frequency at desired value. Figure 7 shows the individual phase voltages of the output signals.

Figure 7 Output phase voltages.

The frequency of the output signal is at 50 Hz. Each cycle is formed using 6 states of triggering sequences resulting in
six sectorial divisions at 60 degrees of the input waveform. Figure 8 shows the line to line values of the output voltages. In
every sector, one of the phase is at zero potential and the other two phases are used for forward and reverse phases. The
transition takes place at every 3.33 ms for 50Hz output signals. Even though the output voltages satisfy the 120 degree
requirement, there exists a high distortion due to the presences of harmonics.

Figure 8 Line to Line voltages.

Due to the presences of harmonics content, the rms values of the output voltages for each phase differ from each other.
Phase a signal has THD percentage of 29.5%, Phase b has the THD percentage of 52.5% and Phase c has the THD
percentage of 65.05%. The presence of harmonics causes vibration when the induction motor is connected as the load. In
general, it can be stated that Space Vector PWM based Matrix Converter technique produces the desired results by satisfying
the requirement of three phase system.
8. POSSIBLE AREA OF RESEARCH
Implementing space vector PWM for single phase to three phase Matrix Converter is a novel attempt and has produced a
reasonably acceptable results. However the output voltages suffer from high harmonic presence. There are plenty of
opportunities to explore and extend this research in reducing the percentage of THD and to obtain the balanced output
voltages.
9. CONCLUSION
Based on the results obtained, it can be stated that the firing sequences produced by the Space Vector PWM produces
optimum results in implementing the Single phase to Three phase Matrix Converters systems. Three phase alternating
voltages that are 120 degrees away from each other are produced across the output terminals as expected. However, unequal
rms values and high harmonic presences are found to be the noticeable levels. By introducing passive filter circuits and
inductive booster circuits, the percentage harmonic content can be decreased and the system can be enhanced.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by the Faculty of Engineering of University Putra Malaysia in
materializing this paper. The authors would also like to acknowledge the referenced researchers for their contribution and
sharing of their research findings without which this paper wouldnt be possible.
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