Common mode and EMI concerns in PWM inverters supplying general loads

Thomas H. Ortmeyer Madelyn Baker Clifford Whitcomb

ECE Department
Clarkson University
Potsdam, NY 13699-5720
Abstract - Pulse width modulated (PWM)
inverters are increasingly present on the power
system. This paper discusses the generation of
voltage in the PWM frequency range by the
inverter, particularly for both the common mode
signals. A model is developed to study the
propagation of these frequencies through the
input and output leads of the inverter. The
paper provides a discussion of the various
techniques for reducing the inverter output in
this frequency range, and it is shown that both
common mode and differential mode noise
reduction should be considered. The need for
specification of the common mode output
voltage wave for many of these applications is
shown.
Keywords: Power quality, inverters, ground
current.
I. INTRODUCTION
This paper presents an analysis of common
mode harmonic levels in a balanced,
ungrounded power distribution system. The
objective of the work was to analyze common
mode problems in an ungrounded power
distribution system which includes electronic
power conversion. Common mode harmonics
are of particular concern because of increased
potential for electromagnetic interference
(EMI). The paper discusses common mode
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Naval Construction and
Engineering Program
LCDR, USN
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 021 39
harmonic generation and propagation. It also
considers methods of harmonic reduction. Finally,
the relationship to existing limits is considered,
particularly to the existing military standards.
The research described in this paper involved
computer simulation of various operating modes of
the system and subsequent symmetrical component
analysis of the result. These results show that,
under certain conditions, high levels of common
mode current may be present in the unintentional
ground path created by the system stray
capacitance. A passive inverter filter is proposed
and shown to minimize both the ground quantities
and the harmonic levels on the system.
II. MODEL OF SYSTEM STUDIED
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The power system was modeled as shown in
Figure 1. The system is fed from a generator
supplied 60Hz three phase AC source and includes
a DC link to a three phase AC load. Power
electronic converters are used to convert between
the DC bus voltage and the AC source and loads.
The transformer provides galvanic isolation
between the generator and distribution system,
with the acdc-ac system operated without
isolation. In the study system, this entire network
was ungrounded, as is common is shipboard power
systems. Similar results would be obtained for this
system with a single galvanic ground. While the
distribution system is ungrounded, stray
capacitance of various system components can
create an unintentional ground path for current
flow. These ground path currents can contain
substantial harmonics of the converter operating
frequencies and of the resonance frequencies of the
system inductance and capacitance.
Two base power system topologies were studied source frequency (60Hz in this case). PWM
Rsag
Figure 1 Model of system studied
for this project. For each, the basic system is as
shown in Figure 1. The first system studied had
the DC bus filter inductance entirely on the
positive bus (IPS1); the second system had the
DC bus filter inductance split evenly between
the positive and negative buses (PS2).
The three phase distribution transformer steps
down the three phase source voltage to 430Vac
(RMS, line to line). The transformer is
ungrounded; however, the transformer internal
stray capacitance provides connection to ground
(through Rsag, as shown in figure 1). The full
bridge six pulse rectifier converts the 43OVac to
1OOOVdc. The DC distribution consists of two
buses: a lOOOVdcbus and an 8OOVdc bus. The
DUDC converter is a one quadrant chopper that
steps the lOOOVdcdown to 8OOVdc. The three
phase six pulse inverter operates under
sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PWM) and
switches at 4.5kHz. The inverter converts the
800Vdc to 430Vac. The platform loads used for
this study arepurely resistive. As many systems
require that loads must be fitted with
electromagnetic interference (EMI) filters, a
capacitive filter representing composite filter
values is connected to ground through resistance
Remi as shown.
Power converters are Icnown to be sources of
harmonic voltages. Six pulse rectifiers are
expected to generate common mode voltage
harmonics on the load side at odd triplens of the
Remi
inverters can be expected to generate voltage
harmonics on the load side at frequencies:
(k(mf)*n)f,, for integers Rn, where fo is the
fundamental output frequency (60Hz) and mJ=fJfo
is the frequency modulation ratio (f , is the
switching frequency, 4500Hz for this study).
III. COMMON MODE ANALYSIS OF THE
SYSTEM
load cap. to 0.1-10 ufd
The converters act as common mode voltage
sources at certain harmonic frequencies. Current
flow will result based on the path impedance at the
excited frequencies. The most direct way to model
the common mode path is to model the converters
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as applying voltage from their tied input leads to
their tied output leads. Specific component
values used in this study are given in Table 1.
Note that the load capacitance to ground is a
function of the specific loads connected, and can
be expected to vary over a wide range as this
load varies.
The system was modeled using Pspice with both
dc link filter inductors located on the positive
converter output leads. Figure 2 shows ground
current levels predicted for various levels of
load emi filter capacitance. Current flow is
shown in each of four ground path elements
(Rsag represents the stray path to the
transformer, Remi the stray load path, and Cdcl
and Cdc2 stray capacitance of dc cables 1 and
2). The worst case occurs with load capacitance
at 0.7 microfarads, where the analysis predicts
systemresonance at 8830Hz. This value is
close to both 8820 and 9180 hertz, which are
inverter common mode excitation frequencies
(2fw&3f0). Table 2 shows the frequencies
present in the various ground current with
effective emi filter capacitance of 0.7
microfarads.
Table 2: Harmonic Current through Ground
Path Elements
As shown in Table 2, this particular resonance
involves the transformer stray czipacitance and
the emi filter capacitance of the load.
IV. GROUND CURRENT LIMITS
Existing standards discuss limits on the ground
currents for military applications. Two
particular standards apply-- MIL-STD 1399
Section 300A [ lland MIL-STD-416E [2].
MIL-STD 1399 Section 300A, section 5.1.3
applies a limit of 20 amps ms to hull currents on
the ship. MIL-STD-416E notes that supplies
which are alternator fed limit interference through
the application of the harmonic limits in MIL-
STD 1399 Section 300A (3% single harmonic
Conducted voltage, 5% voltage THD).
susceptibility limit CS109 in 461E contains limits
I
IPSI: RMS emund Current vs. EM1 Capacitance
120
I
- a c t 0.075 0.2 0.85 0.7 1 1.2 2 4 6 B 10
-% Cdc2 Capacitance (uF)
-~~
_ _ --.-
Figure 2 RMS ground current vs. load emi
filtercapacitance
for hull currents, but application of CS109 is
limited, and must be considered to be overly
restrictive for general use.
Table 2: CS109 limits, MIL-STD-461E:
Conducted Susceptibility, Structure Current, 60
Hzto100kHz
Frequency (Hz) (1620 14500 18820 19180 112000
Current (A) 10.8506 10.638 10.4145 10.3998 10.3017
In any case, the levels predicted in the previous
section are objectionable and must be reduced.
V. GROUND CURRENT REDUCTION
One potential method to reduce ground current
levels is to split the dc link filter inductors evenly
between the positive and negative bus. This will
reduce the primary system resonant frequency
below the switching frequency of the inverter. The
simulation, however, showed that the rectifier
harmonics can be excited with this configuration.
Predicted ground current flows are shown in
Figure 3. In this figure, the harmonics (h3, h9,
etc.), are odd triplen harmonics of the source
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frequency. Figure 3 shows current levels which
are substantially reduced from the highest levels
possible with the previous configuration. Figure
3 shows that six different resonant frequencies
will be excited over the expected range of load
capacitance. While the systemnow does not
exceed the 20 amp limit of MIL-STD 1399,
othier sources of ground current will also be
present on the system. Also, these levels are
above the more stringent CS109 limit of MIL-
STD 461. For these reasons, further reductions
should be considered.
VI. INVERTER METHODS
3. Filter the common mode quantities at the
source so that they do not enter the system.
The inverter common mode voltage generation can
be reduced through alternate modulation strategies
or by alternate circuitry, as discussed
elsewhere[3,4,5]. These methods provide reduced
voltage at some cost. The second possibility-
increased path impedance-- can theoretically be
accomplished by avoiding resonance or by
introducing resistance into the ground path. Either
of these methods have their problems-intentional
ground resistance can lead to safety issues, and it is
-difficult to avoid all resonances when the converter
switching frequency and filter parameters are
subject to change, and the load capacitance
I
Common Mode Harmonic Current vs. EM1 Capacitance
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
s
1.5
1
-I
- h33
*h39
+h45
- h51
0 5
0
0.1 0.15 0.23 0.35 0.42 0.55 0.7 1 1.4 3 5 6.5 8 10
Capacitance(uF)
Figure 3: Common mode harmonic current in IPS2 across a range of
system topologies
changes over a wide range with loading conditions.
The third alternative is to include common mode
filtering on the inverter. Figure 4 shows a passive
filter configuration which provides both common
mode and differential mode filtering. The inverter
output filter neutral is tied back to the midpoint of
the inverter input capacitor to provide a common
mode path for the filter.
61 order to reduce common mode harmonic
1r:vels caused by the inverter, there are a limited
number of choices:
1. Reduce the amount of common mode
2. hcrease theimpedance of the ground path
voltage being generated.
so that less ground path current flows.
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Three Phase
Inverter
Filter
-'
800Vdc Bus
To chopper
- -
Platform
Loads
with
EM1 filter
1, -
2.
- -
Figure 4: Modified filter design for inverter
==go
+fww.b,
This filter design was analyzed using the same
filter components as the previous differential
mode filter, which employed an ungrounded
wye connection. The effect of this filter
configuration was studied with both of the
previous dc link filter topologies previously
studied. The results of this study are shown in
Figure 5. This filter configuration does reduce
ground path currents for both systems. Figure
5A shows that the filter is able to avoid exciting
the strong resonance exhibited when the dc filter
inductances are located on the positive bus,
Figure 5B shows that the inverter output filter is
also effective in reducing the ground current
flow when the dc link filters inductances are
split.
0.2 0.4 0.7 1 1.5 2 4 6 8 10
Cspacltsnce (un
The study suggests that it is feasible to
implement common mode filtering through a
modification of the differential mode filter
which is required for voltage quality. While the
basic component values may be similar to those
in a differential mode filter, the common mode
currents will cause some level of increased cost.
VII. CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The work presented here has shown that
common mode currents can be a problem in
power distribution systems utilizing electronic
power converters. High levels of common
modecurrent circulating through the system are
possible, and can be a source of significant
Comparleon ol RMS Ground Curmnl YI. MI Capacitance
for IPS1 and IPS3
I '"1 ---1
I l " /
I o w l
I \
I I I
1 2 0 I I
Figure5 Ground current attenuation in both
systems by new filter design
electromagnetic -interference. Excessive levels can
occurs when one of the converters excites a system
resonance. As a typical system can be expected to
have multiple resonance points which will migrate
with system confiugation and loading, it is deemed
impractical to avoid ground loop flows by
selecting switching frequencies which avoid
exciting system resonances.
This study suggests that there is a need for
specification of the common mode output voltage
level for electronic power converters used in
general power system applications. This work has
shown that the inverter, in particular, can be a
source of significant common mode current.
REFERENCES
1. MILSTD- 1399 Section300. Interface
Standard for Shipboard Systems. Section 300A,
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Electric Power, Alternating Current. United
States Department of the Navy.
2. MIL-STD-461E. Requirements for the
Control of Electromagnetic Interference
Characteristics of Subsystems and Equipment.
3. A. von Juanne, H. Zhang, and A. Wallace.
An Evaluation of Mitigation Techniques for
Bearing Currents, EMI, and Overvoltages in
ASD Applications, Vol. 34, No. 5 (S/O 1998):
pp. 11 13-1 122.
4. S. Chen and T. Lipo. Bearing Currents and
Shaft Voltages of an Induction Motor under
Hard- and Soft-Switching Inverter Excitation,
JEEE Transactions On Industry Applications,
Vol. 34, NO. 5 (WO 1998): pp. 1042-1048.
5. M. Cacciato, A. Consoli, G. Scarcella, and
A. Testa. Reduction of Common-Mode
CLirrents in PWM Inverter Motor Drives, lEEE
Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 35,
No. 2 (MA 1999): pp. 469475.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the
support of the Ofice of Naval Research for this
project. They would also like to acknowledge
the efforts of Hasnain Merchant and Shanks
Nmbi in preliminary phases of this study.
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