Performance evaluation of competent AC-AC power conversion systems

AC-AC power conversion has become mandate for modern AC loads due to their standardized supply specifications and unavoidable options of being fed with common AC supply. This paper describes a comprehensive comparison of two competent AC-AC power conversion systems viz. diode bridge front end rectifier-DC link (capacitor)-pulse width modulated voltage source inverter (PWM-VSI) and matrix converter (MC). Though, the survival of VSI based systems largely fuelled by time to time application demanded modifications of PWM strategy, they suffer by poor input side performance, output voltage restriction etc. Highly motivated remedy for this issue is employing MC in AC-AC conversion. The system replacement may only be justified if comprehensive performance comparison of both is studied. Comparison on the basis of harmonic profile, range and controllability of output line voltage, and power factor and harmonic profile of the input current using MATLAB 13-Simulink (Ode 23tb-solver) tool for the RL load is presented.