A Control Strategy for Suppressing Submodule Capacitor Voltage Fluctuation of MMC Based on Circulating Current Voltage Drop Balance

The submodule capacitor voltage fluctuation of the modular multilevel converter (MMC) leads to the increase of the size of the submodule capacitor, the increase of system cost, and the decrease of system reliability and stability. In order to solve the problem, the mathematical model of circulating current voltage drop is derived, and the mechanism of circulating current on the submodule capacitor voltage fluctuation is studied through the submodule switching function. A control strategy for suppressing the submodule capacitor voltage fluctuation is proposed, which is based on circulating current voltage drop balance (CCVDB). The simulation model is built to compare three control strategies for suppressing submodule capacitor voltage fluctuation under the step changes of DC bus voltage and active power, namely, the circulating current is suppressed to zero, the second-order component of the submodule capacitor voltage is suppressed to zero, and the CCVDB strategy. The research results show that the CCVDB strategy can effectively suppress the submodule capacitor voltage fluctuation, reduce the capacitance demand, and reduce the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the submodule capacitor voltage, which verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the CCVDB strategy.