Switching-Cell Four-Leg Current Source Inverter

Conventional current source inverter (CSI) suffers from open-circuit problem during switch transition. Thus, overlap-time should be inserted in the gate signals for safe commutation. The overlap-time distorts output current waveforms and increases total harmonic distortion of output current. Moreover, it reduces the current source utilization of the inverter. To solve these problems, this article proposes a new three-phase four-leg switching-cell (SC) CSI, abbreviated as H8-SC-CSI. With the help of the SC structure, the reliability of the proposed inverter is greatly enhanced as open-circuit concerns are eliminated. In addition, with the intrinsic voltage clamping action of the SC structure, switch voltage overshoot at turn- off is mitigated. In the proposed CSI, the switch overlap-time can be minimized or eliminated because the inductor current can flow through the SC capacitors. A 1.2 kW prototype inverter is designed and tested to verify the feasibility of the circuit.