A Novel Four Level Shared Switch Converter With Buck–Boost Energy Recovery Stage for Switched Reluctance Motor Drive

Abstract

In this article, a new four-level shared switch converter with a buck–boost-based energy recovery stage is proposed for a switched reluctance motor drive. The proposed converter achieves a higher demagnetization voltage with a much lower voltage rating of the energy recovery capacitor, as compared to other energy recovery-based converter variants. Furthermore, the voltage ratings of the active switches in the proposed converter are lesser than that of the conventional converters, for a given demagnetization voltage. The availability of soft-chopping operation in the proposed converter is beneficial for reducing the high-frequency ripple in the torque and lateral vibration of stator poles. This article presents the converter topology, its operating modes, and the design of the energy recovery stage in detail. Experimental results are presented to show the drive operation of an 8/6 switched reluctance motor driven by the proposed converter. A detailed comparison of the proposed converter with the conventional counterparts is also presented.