Analysis on Circulating Current and Split Capacitor Voltage Balance for Modular Multilevel Converter Based Three-phase Four-wire Split Capacitor DSTATCOM

We propose a modular multilevel converter (MMC) based three-phase four-wire (3P4W) split capacitor distribution static synchronous compensator (DSTATCOM), aiming at compensating unbalanced and reactive load currents. Due to the zero-sequence current compensation, the circulating current characteristics of 3P4W MMC-DSTATCOM are different from conventional MMCs. Moreover, the distinct working principle of MMC would affect the features of split capacitor voltage. The decoupled positive-, negative- and zero-sequence second-order and DC components of the circulating current are deduced explicitly. Two proportional-integral controllers with dual dq transformation are employed to suppress the positive- and negative-sequence components of second-order circulating current, while quasi proportional-resonance controller is designed to eliminate the zero-sequence component. Besides, the phenomenon of the unbalanced split capacitor voltages is revealed, and fast-tracking balancing method by controlling zero-sequence current flowing through the split capacitors is provided. Digital simulation results verify the accuracy of the analysis and the feasibility of the suppression methods.