Abstract—Modular multilevel converter is one of the new technologies that are developed for the multilevel converter topology. It has some advantages over the conventional converters such as high capacity, high efficiency and low total harmonic distortion. The harmonic concept relates closely to number of levels of output voltage and modulation techniques. Thus, this paper presents an analysis of different modulation techniques,namely sinusoidal pulse width modulation, third harmonic injection pulse width modulation and nearest level modulation, for the modular multilevel converter. The objective is to find out a suitable modulation technique that can reduce the total harmonic distortion and improve the efficiency of modular multilevel converter. The simulation results are carried out by using PSCAD/EMTDC simulation program.

Index Terms—Modular multilevel converter, modulation technique, pulse width modulation, third harmonic injection, nearest level modulation.

Department of Electrical Engineering, Jeju National University, S. Korea

Cite:Ngoc-ThinhQuach, Sang Heon Chae, Seungmin Lee, Ho-Chan Kim, Eel-Hwan Kim, "Analyzing Modulation Techniques for the Modular Multilevel Converter," International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 259-271, 2016.