Patent ID: 11909302
Assignee: GE INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY LLC
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 10:
11. An electrical power system, comprising:
a doubly-fed induction generator having a rotor and a stator, the stator providing AC power to a stator bus;
a multi-level bridge power converter coupled to the rotor of the doubly-fed induction generator, the power converter comprising a first converter coupled to a second converter via a DC link, at least one of the first converter or the second converter comprising a plurality of switching devices arranged in an active neutral point clamped topology;
a controller communicatively coupled to the power converter, the controller comprising at least one processor configured to implement a plurality of operations, the plurality of operations comprising:
operating the plurality of switching devices in a plurality of operating states such that current simultaneously flows through at least two parallel recovery paths of the plurality of switching devices during operation of the power converter to minimize a commutation path of the current when at least one antiparallel diode or switch of the plurality of switching devices recovers, thereby reducing parasitic inductance affecting the antiparallel diode or the switch,
wherein the plurality of switching devices comprises, at least, a plurality of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules,
wherein the plurality of IGBT modules comprises a first IGBT module comprising a first IGBT switch coupled to a first antiparallel diode, a second IGBT module comprising a second IGBT switch coupled to a second antiparallel diode, a third IGBT module comprising a third IGBT switch coupled to a third antiparallel diode, a fourth IGBT module comprising a fourth IGBT switch coupled to a fourth antiparallel diode, a fifth IGBT module comprising a fifth IGBT switch coupled to a fifth antiparallel diode, and a sixth IGBT module comprising a sixth IGBT switch coupled to a sixth antiparallel diode, and
wherein the at least two parallel recovery paths of the plurality of switching devices comprises a first recovery path and a second recovery path, wherein the first recovery path comprises one of (1) the fifth antiparallel diode and the second IGBT switch or (2) the second antiparallel diode and the fifth IGBT switch, and wherein the second recovery path comprises one of (1) the sixth IGBT switch and the third antiparallel diode or (2) the third IGBT switch and the sixth antiparallel diode.