Performance Evaluation of Nine Level Modified CHB Multilevel Inverter for Various PWM Strategies

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International Journal of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER)
Vol. 3, Issue. 5, Sep - Oct. 2013 pp-2758-2766
ISSN: 2249-6645

Performance Evaluation of Nine Level Modified CHB
Multilevel Inverter for Various PWM Strategies
P. Satheesh Kumar1, Dr. S. P. Natarajan2, Dr. Alamelu Nachiappan 3, Dr. B. Shanthi4
*(Associate professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mailam Engineering College,
Mailam, Tamilnadu-604304, India,)
**(Professor & Head, Department of Instrumentation Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar,
Tamilnadu-608002, India,)
*** (Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College,
Pondicherry- 605014, India,)
**** (Professor, Centralized Instrumentation and Service Laboratory, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar,
Tamilnadu-608002, India,)

ABSTRACT: In this paper nine level Modified Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter (CHB-MLI) is analyzed for the
various multi-carrier Pulse Width Modulation strategies. For the same nine level inverter output this particular topology has
reduced count of switches, on comparing with the conventional Cascaded H Bridge Multilevel Inverter. For a single phase,
nine level inverter output this topology requires one H-bridge and a multi conversion cell. Four equal voltage sources with
four controlled switches and four diodes comprise a multi conversion cell. Instead of sixteen controlled switches as in
conventional method, this topology requires only eight switches to obtain nine level output. The reduction of switches lowers
switching losses, cost and total harmonic distortions. Performance parameters have been analyzed for the nine level CHBMLI.

Keywords: Alternate phase opposition disposition, Modified Cascaded Multilevel Inverter H-bridge Inverter, Phase
disposition, Phase opposition disposition, Phase shift Pulse width Modulation, Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation.

I. INTRODUCTION
Multilevel inverter (MLI) has wide range of high-power applications and feeds demands in industries in recent
years. The aptness of MLI attracts the hot researchers in the direction of renewable energy sources for its numerous benefits.
As renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic, wind and fuel cells can be easily interfaced to a multilevel inverter
system of high power applications, MLI still gains further credit to its field. MLI can operate at high switching frequencies
while producing lower order harmonic components.
A multilevel inverter is a power-electronic system that generates a desired output voltage by synthesizing several
levels of dc input voltages. The main advantages of multilevel inverters are lower cost, higher performance, less
electromagnetic interference, and lower harmonic content [1].The most common multilevel inverter topologies are the diodeclamped, flying-capacitor, and cascaded H-bridge inverters with separate dc voltage sources [2]. The diode clamped
multilevel inverter topology, restricts the use of it to the high power range of operation. Moreover flying capacitor based
multilevel inverter also exhibits a disadvantage including more number of capacitors [3].
In recent years, the cascaded H-bridge inverters have wide applications. The merit includes modularity and the
ability to operate at higher voltage levels and as the number of levels increases, the quality of the output signal will be
improved. In addition inverter output voltage waveform will be closer to a sinusoidal waveform [4]. Moreover, high voltages
can be managed at the dc and ac sides of the inverter, while each unit endures only a part of the total dc voltage. Needs of
high number of semiconductor switches, involvement of separate DC source for each of H-bridge, voltage balancing issues
are the notable drawbacks of cascaded H bridge inverter.
On comparing with the usual Cascaded H-Bridge multilevel inverters, for the same nine level output, this Modified
cascaded multilevel inverter topology, the number of switches used reduced from 16 switches to 8 switches. Therefore for
this reason, this Modified cascaded multilevel inverter has some value of importance. Hence this paper focuses on applying
various multi carrier based PWM techniques to this Modified cascaded H Bridge multilevel inverter to analyze and compare
the various parameters like THD & Vrms.

II. MODIFIED CASCADED MULTILEVEL INVERTER TOPOLOGY DESCRIPTION
The general structure of the Modified cascaded multilevel inverter is shown in Figure 1. This inverter consists of an
H Bridge and multi conversion cell which consists of four separate voltage sources (Vdc1, Vdc2, Vdc3 and V dc4), four switches
and four diodes. Each source connected in cascade with other sources through a circuit consists of one active switch and one
diode that can make the output voltage source only in positive polarity with several levels. Only one H-bridge is connected
with multi conversion cell to acquire both positive and negative polarity.

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Figure 1: 9-Level Modified-Cascaded multilevel inverter
By turning on controlled switches S1 (S2, S3 and S4 turn off) the output voltage +1V dc (first level) is produced
across the load. Similarly turning on of switches S1, S2 (S3 & S4 turn off) +2V dc (second level) output is produced across
the load. Similarly +3Vdc levels can be achieved by turning on S1, S2, S3 switches ( S4 turn off) and +4V dc levels can be
achieved by turning on S1, S2, S3 & S4 as shown in below Table 1.

S.
No

Multi conversion Cell

H-Bridge

Voltage
levels

On switches

Off switches

On
switches

1

S1, S2, S3, S4

D1,D2,D3,D4

Q1,Q2

Q3,Q4

+4Vdc

2

S1, S2, S3, D4

S4,D1,D2,D3

Q1,Q2

Q3,Q4

+3Vdc

3

S1, S2, D3, D4

S3, S4,D1,D2

Q1,Q2

Q3,Q4

+2Vdc

4

S1, D2, D3,D4

S2, S3, S4,D1

Q1,Q2

Q3,Q4

+1Vdc

5

D1, D2, D3,D4

S1, S2, S3,S4

Q1,Q2

Q3,Q4

0

6

S1, D2, D3,D4

S2, S3, S4,D1

Q3,Q4

Q1,Q2

-1Vdc

7

S1, S2, D3,D4

S3, S4,D1,D2

Q3,Q4

Q1,Q2

-2Vdc

8

S1, S2, S3, D4

S4,D1,D2,D3

Q3,Q4

Q1,Q2

-3Vdc

9

S1, S2, S3, S4

D1,D2,D3,D4

Q3,Q4

Q1,Q2

-4Vdc

Off switches

Table: 1 Switching Patterns for 9 levels MC-MLI
From the above table, it is observed that for each voltage level, among the paralleled switches only one switch is
switched ON. The input DC voltage is converted into a stepped DC voltage, by the multi conversion cell, which is further
processed by the H Bridge and outputted as a stepped or approximately sinusoidal AC waveform. In the H Bridge, during the
positive cycle, only the switches Q1 and Q3 are switched on. And during the negative half cycle, only the switches Q2 and
Q4 are switched on.
The S number of DC sources or stages and the associated number output level can be calculated by using the
equation as follows,

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N level = 2S+1 …………………………………………………….. (1)
For an example, if S=3, the output wave form will have seven levels (±3Vdc, ±2Vdc, ±1Vdc and 0). Similarly voltage on
each stage can be calculated by using the equation as given,
Ai = 1 V dc (1, 2, 3,) ……………………………………………….. (2)
The main advantage of proposed modified cascaded multilevel inverter is seven levels with only use of seven
switches. For an example, if S=3, the output wave form will have seven levels (±3V dc, ±2Vdc, ±1Vdc and 0). The number
switches used in this topology is given by the equation as follows
N Switch = 2S+ 4 …………………………………………….……….. (3)

III. MULTIPLE CARRIER PULSE WIDTH MODULATION TECHNIQUES
In this PWM technique, more than one carrier wave which be either triangular or saw tooth wave form can be used.
This paper focuses on various strategies.utilising more than one triangular wave as carrier and the reference wave is
sinusoidal. Though there are many carrier wave arrangements, in this paper, the following four arrangements have been
carried out. THD and Vrms values for these four strategies for various modulation indexes are compared.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Phase disposition PWM strategy.
Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy.
Alternate Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy
Phase Shift PWM strategy.

In these Multicarrier PWM schemes, several triangular carrier waves are compared with the single Sinusoidal
reference wave. The number of carriers required to produce N level output is (m-1) where m is the number of carrier
waveforms. The single sinusoidal reference waveform has peak to peak amplitude of A m and a frequency fm. The multiple
triangular carrier waves are having same peak to peak amplitude Ac and same frequency fc. The single sinusoidal reference
signal is continuously compared with all the carrier waveforms. A pulse is generated, whenever the single sinusoidal
reference signal is greater than the carrier signal. The frequency ratio mf is as follows: fc / fm
3.1. Phase Disposition PWM strategy (PDPWM)

Figure 2: Carrier arrangement for Phase Disposition PWM strategy
The above fig. 2 shows, Phase Disposition PWM strategy (PDPWM), where (m-1) carrier signal with the same
frequency fc and same amplitude Ac are positioned such that the bands they occupy are contiguous. The reference wave form
is single sinusoidal. During the continuous comparison, if the reference wave form is more than a carrier waveform, then the
active switching device corresponding to that carrier is switched on. Otherwise, that concerned device is switched off.
The below fig: 3 shows Complete Gate signal for 9-level MC-MLI using Phase Disposition PWM strategy
Amplitude of modulation index for PDPWM is
ma = 2A m / (m-1) Ac …………………… (5)

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Figure 3 – Complete Gate signal for 9-level MC-MLI using Phase Disposition PWM strategy
3.2. Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy (PODPWM)

Figure 4: Carrier arrangement for Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy
POD PWM strategy is shown in fig.4, where the carrier waveforms, above the zero reference are in phase. The carrier
waveforms below are also in phase, but are 180 degrees phase shifted from those above zero. The reference wave form is
single sinusoidal. During the continuous comparison, if the reference wave form is more than a carrier waveform, then the
active switching device corresponding to that carrier is switched on. Otherwise, that concerned device is switched off. The
below fig: 5 shows Complete Gate signal for 9-level MC-MLI using Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy.
Amplitude of modulation index for PODPWM is
ma = 2Am / (m-1)* Ac …………………… (6)

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Figure 5: Complete Gate signal for 9-level MC-MLI using Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy
3.3. Alternate Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy (APODWM)

Figure 6: Carrier arrangement for Alternate Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy
The above fig. 6 shows APOD strategy where the multiple carriers having same amplitude are phase displaced from
each other by 180 degrees alternately. During the continuous comparison, if the reference wave form is more than a carrier
waveform, then the active switching device corresponding to that carrier is switched on. Otherwise, that concerned device is
switched off. The below fig: 7 shows Complete Gate signal for 9-level MC-MLI using Alternate Phase Opposition
Disposition PWM strategy.
Amplitude of modulation index for PODPWM is
ma = 2Am / (m-1)* Ac ……………………(7)
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Figure 7: Complete Gate signal for 9-level MC-MLI using Alternate Phase Opposition Disposition PWM strategy
3.4. Phase shift PWM strategy (PSPWM)

Figure 8: Carrier arrangement for Phase shift PWM strategy
The above fig. 8 shows PSPWM strategy where the multiple carriers having the same amplitude and
frequency which are shifted to one another by certain degrees decided by the No. of levels. Thus for nine level output, 8
triangular carrier waves which are phase shifted by 45 degrees is utilized .The reference waveform is single sinusoidal (i) for
odd mf the waveforms have odd symmetry resulting in even and odd harmonics and (ii) for even m f , PSPWM waves have
quarter wave symmetry resulting in odd harmonics only. Amplitude of modulation index for PSPWM is
ma = Am / (Ac /2). …………………(4)
The below fig.9 shows complete gate signal for 9-level MC-MLI using Phase shift PWM strategy

Figure: 9 – Complete Gate signal for 9-level MC-MLI using Phase shift PWM strategy
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IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
The fig. 6 shown below is the simulink model of the 9 –level Modified cascaded H Bridge Multilevel inverter using
power system block set. The following parameter values are used for simulation: V1 =100v, V2 =100v, V3 = 100v, V4= 100v
fc =2000 Hz and fm=50Hz .Gating signals for Phase shifted carrier wave arrangement and three different, level shifted
carrier wave arrangements are simulated for 9 levels MC MLI. Simulations are done for various values of ma and the
corresponding THD% are observed using FFT block and listed in Table 2 The V r ms (fundamental) of the output voltage for
various values of ma and the corresponding Voltages are listed in Table3.

Figure 8: Simulink Model of the 9 level - Modified Cascaded Multilevel Inverter-MC-MLI
Table 2: THD comparison

Table 3: Vrms comparison

Ma

PD
PWM

POD
PWM

APOD
PWM

PS PWM

13.66

1

399

397.8

397

399

16.89

16.65

0.9

358.6

356.6

356.7

358.7

17.02

17.14

0.8

318.4

316.5

316.8

318.3

Ma

PD
PWM

POD
PWM

APOD
PWM

PS PWM

1

13.63

13.48

14.04

0.9

16.74

16.72

0.8

17.1

16.85

COMPARISON OF THD

Comparison of Vrms

18

420

PD

400

16

POD

380

15

APOD
PS

14

Vrms

THD (%)

17

PD
POD

360

APOD

340

PS

320

13
1

0.9

300

0.8

1

MODULATION INDEX

0.9

0.8

Modulation Index

Figure 9 Comparison of THD

Figure 10 Comparison of Vrms

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The Simulated 9-level Output Voltage waveform of MC-MLI using PDPWM Strategy is shown in fig. 11 and Fig.
12 shows the FFT plot of 9-level MC-MLI Using PDPWM using PDPWM Strategy. The Simulated 9-level Output Voltage
waveform of MC-MLI using PODPWM Strategy is shown in fig 13 and Fig: 14 shows the FFT plot of 9-level MC-MLI
using PDPWM Using PODPWM Strategy. The Simulated 9-level Output Voltage waveform of MC-MLI using APODPWM
Strategy is shown in fig 15 and Figure: 16 shows the FFT plot of 9-level MC-MLI Using APDPWM using PODPWM
Strategy. The Simulated 9-level Output Voltage waveform of MC-MLI using PSPWM Strategy is shown in fig 17 and Fig:
18 shows the FFT plot of 9-level MC-MLI Using PDPWM using PSPWM Strategy.

Figure 11: Simulated 9-level Output Voltage waveform Figure 12: FFT plot of 9-level Output Voltage waveform
of MC-MLI Using PDPWM Strategy
MC-MLI Using PDPWM Strategy

Figure 13: Simulated 9-level Output Voltage waveform of
MC-MLI Using PODPWM Strategy

Figure 14: FFT plot of 9-level MC-MLI Using PODPWM
Strategy

Figure 15: Simulated 9-level Output Voltage
waveform of MC-MLI Using APODPWM Strategy

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Figure 16: FFT plot of 9-level MC-MLI Using
APODPWM Strategy

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Figure 17: Simulated 9-level Output Voltage
waveform of MC-MLI Using PSPWM Strategy

Figure 18: FFT plot of 9-level MC-MLI Using
PSPWM Strategy

V. CONCLUSION
Single phase nine levels Modified cascaded multilevel inverter has been analyzed for various multi carrier
sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation strategies. This topology has the credit of having only eight switches with four diodes,
instead of 18 switches in the conventional plants, which support reduction in switching losses, cost and circuit complexity.
Performance factors like %THD and VRMS have been measured, and analyzed for Phase shifted carrier wave
arrangement and three different, level shifted carrier wave arrangements both applied to the Single phase nine levels
Modified cascaded multilevel inverter. The values have been measured for various modulation indexes. It is found that the
PDPWM strategy provides appreciable %THD and acceptable VRMS. In addition, it is also observed that it has less number of
dominant harmonics than the other strategies.

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Performance Evaluation of Nine Level Modified CHB Multilevel Inverter for Various PWM Strategies

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