A Practical Algorithm for Selective Harmonic Elimination in Five-Level Converters

Multilevel converters are being widely used in medium-voltage high-power applications including motor drive systems, utility power transmission, and distribution systems. Selective harmonic elimination (SHE) is a well-known modulation method to generate high quality output voltage waveforms. This paper presents a new simple practical method for generating a generalized five-level waveform without selected low order harmonics. This method is based on a phase-shifted expression for the SHE problem, which can analytically calculate the exact values of switching angles and the feasible modulation index range for three-level and five-level waveforms. The proposed method automatically determines the number of transitions between levels and generates proper output waveform without solving complex trigonometric equations. Due to the simplicity of the computational burden, the real-time implementation of the proposed algorithm can be performed by a simple processor. Simulation and experiment results verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method.